The ride of our lives

In my business (Oil and Gas) we knew the rise was over several months before the world knew it was. One of my superiors used a very good analogy: "We heard the chain stop" and we knew what would come next.

We've all ridden a roller coaster at some point in our lives and we can remember that familiar sound of the clicking chain pulling the cars up the first big hill. Clicking and clacking as we are pulled up this huge rise whether we want to go or not, it's too late, we're locked in and we are along for the ride. As we near the top we can see for miles and feel unbeatable, but we're too busy taking in the sites and revelling in our triumph that not all of us notice (but some do) that the clicking sound of the chain has stopped. For a moment most of us are weightless and euphoric as all brace for the next big thing...in this case, the fall and decline of Obama worship.

The chain has stopped clicking, we are at the top of this liberal/socialist roller coaster. There will be a lot of screaming, arms waving, lots of drama, pomp and circumstance, but it will soon be over and America will wake up and realize that Obama is not going to be able to wave his magic wand and fix everything. That he will not be able to deliver on most of his lofty campaign promises. This is his best moment. George Bush was so hated because mainstream media has spent 8 years herding people's opinions that way but more because he was faced with crisis after crisis and did what he has done better than many presidents, he made the tough decisions. Those tough decisions inevitably alienate people. The reason people love Barack Obama is because the media has done the exact opposite for him but more importantly because he has no history, he has made no major decisions, he has not had the fortune or chance to make decisions that alienated people. So, he too, will feel the sting of hatred, it will just take longer to surface.

That slim margin of people who voted him into office will begin to wonder why their lives are not suddenly better. There was no check in their mailbox, no new car in the driveway, no letter from their mortgage company telling them that their mortgage had been paid off. Their employer is still bracing for the worst, they will still see their taxes go sky high to pay for bailouts and nationalized health care, groceries and household goods will continue to cost more and more, they will see their friends, family and neighbors will lose their jobs left and right, lose their houses and disappear and know that their children and great grand children will be enslaved by this deficit and we will have gotten nothing for it.

Welcome to the roller coaster ride of your lives folks, you're strapped in and at the top of the first big hill. If you now feel like you didn't want to be on this ride, the time to act was 4 years ago while you were still in line. All we can do now is ride it out, hold on tight, pray our safety restraints do their jobs and the ride will be over and we can gather and regroup for 2012.