CFO Velma: The
New Voice of our American Misery
By DICK MORRIS
Published on
TheHill.com on September 21, 2010
The MSNBC cameras unwittingly -- and probably unwillingly -- captured a
Joe the Plumber moment during Monday's town hall meeting called by
President Obama to discuss the economy. Expressing the frustration of
tens of millions of Americans on a day during which the economists
called the recession over, Velma Hart, a self-described CFO, wife,
mother and veteran, expressed her "deep disappointment" with Obama's
economic record -- to his face.
"I've been told that I voted for a man who said he's going to change
things in a meaningful way for the middle class. I'm one of those
people, and I'm waiting, sir. ... I'm waiting, but I don't feel it yet."
Calling herself "exhausted" by the rigors of the task of defending
Obama, she lamented that she and her husband had thought the "franks and
beans" era of their lives had drawn to a close but said she hears it
"knocking" at the door. She finished with a heart-rending question to
Obama, asking if anxiety is to be her "new reality."
Wow.
This cry of distress coming from an African-American supporter of
Obama's will echo in each of our hearts as the fall elections approach.
When we were in the midst of a recession, even the Great Recession, we
came to expect high unemployment, much like those in the tropics expect
a storm during the rainy season. But we are like those who are
experiencing daily rain in the dry season now that the recession is over
and unemployment hovers around 10 percent. Is this, indeed, to be our
"new reality"?
The Democrats are gleeful over the missteps of Christine O'Donnell. Too
many leading Republicans do not realize all our fates in the midterm
election are tied to her. If the Democrats can discredit her, they can
discredit all of those like her and raise doubts about dozens of GOP
candidates who would otherwise be victorious. If the grassroots Tea
Party is foisting unqualified candidates upon us, and if our very own
party leaders think this is true, what a weapon we are handing to the
Democrats. Those Republican leaders who would criticize the O'Donnells
of our party must realize that she is here to stay, she is one of us
now, and she deserves all our support. Fortunately, the grass roots
knows this fact and has showered her campaign with donations and
support.
But the juxtaposing of the O'Donnell-witchcraft story and the
Velma-the-CFO story on the same day speaks to a more profound point: As
Democrats line up to savage the likes of Sarah Palin, Christine
O'Donnell, Sharron Angle and Rand Paul, they fail to realize that this
election is not about them. It is about us. It turns not on their
biographies, but on our misery. We have watched one of the most activist
presidents in history, blessed with the most compliant of Congresses,
pass program after program, virtually without modification or even
significant amendment, all the while assuring us that they would lead us
out of recession and into recovery. Now that the recovery is supposedly
upon us, we realize, to our dread, that it may be a future of permanent
unemployment, just as they have in Europe.
This is the agony that impelled Velma the CFO to speak out. It is a
deeply personal distress and speaks to each of our expectations for the
rest of our lives. If the candidates who dabbled in witchcraft as
children or who preach an overly strict personal morality are the ones
who back cuts in government spending, a reduction in the deficit, no
higher taxes, an end to government takeover of our healthcare system and
no cuts in Medicare, then we will vote for them anyway.
Were the election more academic, were it waged on issues of less
personal moment to each of us, it would be different. But who can ignore
the witchcraft being practices, not by high-schoolers, but by
legislators in Washington hoping to summon prosperity from the other
side by spending us into oblivion and taxing us to death? That is the
witchcraft that worries all of us.
And worries Velma the CFO.
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