Timothy Kline: Thoughts and Reflections

Obama institutes double-standards as part of his recovery plan

In what is clearly becoming more of the same old song and dance from Washington D.C., early morning television shows across the nation excitedly announced that the White House had forced GM CEO, Rick Wagoner, to resign from his position at the head of one of the financially troubled Big Three U.S. automakers. What would it mean? And what about Chrysler and Ford automakers? The news wires were abuzz with rumors and anticipation and, as has been the case for quite some time now, Wall Street, too, let their anxiety become known as the stock market reeled from the possibilities.

Even more interesting, amidst all of the hullaboo surrounding the Obama administration’s intention to set matters straight in the auto industry, is the absence of outcry over the patently obvious. Somewhere in the whispers going around the workplaces, coffeeshops, and offices, everyone admitted that Rick Wagoner drew the short straw, and was immediately served up as the sacrificial lamb in an attempt to make it look as though embattled President Obama was actively trying to fix things.

Still, there doesn’t seem to any end in sight to the outrageous policy of double-standards at work here, even in the new administration. Why was Wagoner removed from his position as CEO and yet CEOs and other culprits in the financial sector continue in their positions, unscathed—at least those who haven’t been handpicked to have roles in the new administration? Where is the demand for a plan from the Wall Street moguls in the same vein as that demanded from the Big Three automakers?

The answer, of course, has already been given to us: we are to look to the financial sector as our way out of this financial debacle—even though they are the very ones who brought it upon the American people—and the rest of the world, by extension! As for the “worker bees” of this country, they are expendable. Should the Federal Government force GM into bankruptcy (which now seems more likely than ever), union contracts are null and void—essentially, breaking the unions’ backs and any bargaining power that they have had up until now (their own greed notwithstanding). With the unions gone and the oligarchy retaining their comfortable seat at the table of the ruling class in Washington, we stand to see a change in so-called “democracy” that most will have never seen coming. After all, we Americans are now on the hook for trillions of dollars that we don’t have—and never will. You can be certain, however, that the government and its financial constituents will get what’s owed to them, by whatever means are necessary.

It’s truly disappointing to realize that Obama’s talked a good game up to this point, but his actions are getting to the point now where they speak louder than his words: One set of rules for the Wall Street moguls and another set of rules for working-class-based corporations. And why not? After all, some of the elected officials biggest contributors going into the 2008 elections were the very ones who have been romancing Congress for bailouts on a scale never before seen in the history of any nation up until now. And we haven’t even seen the end of those bailouts yet.

But if there’s been any consistency apart from the reaffirmation that Washington D.C. has been bought and sold to the rich and well-placed, and the working class American has been told to remember their place if he/she knows what’s good for them, it’s this: the vast majority of disgruntled Americans will heed the warning and bite their tongue, for fear that they, too, might lose what little they have—even though it doesn’t even belong to them in the first place. The United States of Sheep will continue to put up and shut up. It’s what we do, and we’re proud of it, too.