Just One of those Things?

Not only did he sweep into office on the commitment of hope and change, but his charisma with millions of admirers seemed like the beginning of a long romance, one which would be cemented into an enduring and prosperous marriage with the American public.

Yet the honeymoon turned quarrelsome almost from the beginning and, if the polls are correct, some people in the wedding party may want a change in the family.  

When I thought about the developments of the last two years, the lyrics of an old Cole Porter song delivered by the Chairman of the Board came to mind.  As I began humming its melody today, one of the stanzas seemed appropriate no matter what the outcome of today’s elections:

“If we'd thought a bit about the end of it
When we started painting the town
We'd have been aware that our love affair
Was too hot not to cool down.”

The fallout from that torrid affair several years ago is now spilling all over the political landscape and into the lives of millions of ordinary Americans at home, as well as into those of U.S. men and women fighting in far off lands. 

The collective hope of many and the promise of harmonious change that emanated from the campaign speeches of Barack Obama now seem like a distant clarion call. Change did occur, but it has left millions badly bruised and has produced too many casualties.

If meaningful results aren’t produced, it could be:

 “So good-bye, dear, and amen
Here's hoping we meet now and then
It was great fun
But it was just one of those things.”

Americans are a patient and forgiving people, but only if they know that its leaders are genuinely moving in the right direction.