Final musings on a lost decade

    The decade now passing started with the economy in dire straits.   Unemployment was nearly ten percent, the democratic congress had passed Obamacare and had come under sustained fire from the newly minted "Tea Party" for fiscal recklessness.  As studies have since proven, the teabaggers for the most part were reacting badly to the election in 2008 of the first black president in our history.
     The racist animus which drove many to vote republican in 2010 was accompanied by the religious intolerance of white evangelicals who feared the loss of our "Christian nation" if tolerance of muslims, LGTBQ people and  other undesirables such as jews and  blacks became the norm.
      This combination of economic and religious revanchism led to the election of an historically unqualified and badly flawed human being to the presidency in 2016.   Despite the economy functioning well for a minority of population it is doing well enough for tRump to run and possibly win in 2020 despite his impeachment.   Much of his support continues to come from those who have either benefitted from the economy or who derive satisfaction from the president*s championing their social values.
      As anyone who reads this knows by now, I have little love for the decade now passing.  I can only hope we reach a higher level of political and economic comity in the 20s as well as developing the will to stave off ecological catastrophe.  Meanwhile, I will continue to enjoy the company of the Divine Mrs. M, our children and grandchildren.  They are truly what makes life worth living in these times.