Just Another Everyday
November 2002
by Glenn Pfeifer

FZ's depressing social memoir above was penned sometime during the L.A. riots. (The 'original' ones from his generation, not the most recent 'can't we all just get along' ones.) Unfortunately, I had to recall these lyrics recently getting sick in front of my own TV. However, it wasn't the hate and aggression SO MANY Americans, black and white, seem to be born with that inflicted my latest societal malaise. It was this past November 5th. The morning after Election Day 2002.

Can anyone actually remember campaign promises? (Besides political journalists…and even their memories are selective.) It seems that no matter what the prize is, Senate control, House majority, State house, or the big seat itself - there's always a big promise - the one that differentiates you from your competition, that helps voters shape their perception of you. If this sounds like the lingo of a branding plan - the same types I come up with for a living to sell cereal, laundry detergent, and frozen vegetables - then you're sharper than many of your fellow voters.

But back to the actual promises. I do recall a few through the years. Presidential elections seem have the most staying power in my limited retention so I'll try and focus on those. William Jefferson Clinton was going to accelerate the "growth" of the American economy and spur investment among the "working class." (You do recall that the 'spur' was needed back in 1992, when the elder George was in the hot seat?) I suppose that when you look at his track record, Bill did what he said he was going to do. Hence, he enjoyed a "successful" two-term Presidency. Without fanfare, no…but successful, I guess so. And boy did you see nearly everyone on both sides of the donkey vs. elephant taking some sort of credit for the "new economy" in 1999. Everyone wanted a slice of the voter pie that came with the cash windfall that occurred on Clinton's watch. Hell, Gore even took credit for inventing the Internet. Trouble is, now that the smoke has cleared, and we've replaced those mirrors with new ones, all we really witnessed was the largest sham in the history of Wall Street. Better yet, it's a sham that the Clinton administration not only encouraged, but may have personally benefited from (allegedly, of course.)

So now we're left with the furthest division of extreme wealth and extreme poverty our land of plenty has ever seen. The shams that made headlines (Global Crossing, Enron, Tyco, etc.) notwithstanding, where do you think members of Congress (and their families, friends and close advisors) came out when the bubble burst in March 2001? Funny, but I haven't seen Trent Lott, Tom Daschle, or Dick Cheney make statements about losing their life savings or their entire 401Ks to accounting fraud. They are really lucky to be such smart investors, selling at just the right time. I, for one, am impressed. Oh, I forgot, Mr. Cheney doesn't need to divulge when he sold stock and how he managed the firms of the Director Boards he was on…because those are his private papers. So I guess we'll never learn his and other politicians' investment strategies, and how we can time that next stock market crash, too.

Actually though, nobody seems to give a shit if Bush, Cheney, Clinton, and the whole Lott of them are lying thieves. In fact, NEITHER party made a big campaign issue out of corporate scandal in this year's election. It's a microcosm of American apathy and political maneuvering when Bush's approval of a huge corporate fraud law made front page headlines…but his rollback of the funds he approved to fight that fight two months later was buried on Page 4. There's also that little matter of expanding the S.E.C, giving them more power to fight scandal…that seems to have disappeared in the pork somewhere between campaign finance reform and the line item for Jesse Helms' lifetime supply of Depends. I think we can all give Slick Willie a round of thanks for laying the greed groundwork, or at the very least giving the seeds plenty of water and sunlight. Thanks Willie. My generation, (the one looking at $500,000 starter homes) thanks you. My father's generation (the one looking at working until they're 72) thanks you. You diddled, uh I mean did, a great blowjob, uh I mean job, in your successful two terms. You should feel proud.

The promise list goes on of course: There's Newt's plan for America in '94 in the newly-controlled Republican (a.k.a. NRA hoes) House; Bush Senior's "Read My Lips" debacle before he actually had to deal with a Democratic (a.k.a. Centrist hoes) Congress; Reagan's trickle down theory, you know the one that created the first extreme wave of wealth and poverty in 1980s America…not to mention the tidal wave of weaponry used to fight that gang/crack war while the actor backed the NRA every chance his make-up artist allowed him to.

I'm actually not sure if the puppet heads on my TV last week are the real root of my sickness, or the American voters are. We have essentially become exactly what our government hoped we would; model citizens of the American Way. We're all out to get as much as we can at all costs. Personal financial gain and entitlement are paramount in our career goals. We create long, convoluted arguments around our issues until we all tire of talking about them, so they go away. And we sue someone when we feel we've been wronged, or at the very least, duped out of our cash by someone craftier than ourselves. We are the leaders of our Status Quo. The DC spin machine is only the craftsman. See you at the next election.

(Glenn Pfeifer is a volunteer staff writer for 2 Walls Webzine)