Lost My Appetite

The talk at dinner last Saturday night turned to politics. Normally, I don't like to mix meal time with messy conversations that might disturb my digestion, but I was pretty familiar with the group and I guessed that I wouldn't run into much discordant discourse. Then came the question: "Are you disappointed?"
He was talking about our president. The one that we elected. The Hope and Change guy. The wind that was going to sweep into Washington and make everything alright. And it didn't happen. What did I expect?
I expected that the wars would be over. I expected that our troops would be home and that diplomatic solutions would be applied to situations in the Middle East. I expected that the economy would begin to rebound based on the enormous surge of green business generated by the new administration. I expected that education funding would be restored from the top down, and that Bruce Springsteen would be appointed to a cabinet level position for Boss-ness.
That didn't happen. Now we're in the way of the pendulum swinging back the other way, and compromise is the only thing that is keeping us Democrats from being swept to the side. Or at least that's what they keep telling us. The embattled ones, anyway. The pundits as well. If we just back off all that high talk and rhetoric and start making some deals, things will be just fine. They can go back to normal: Tax breaks for everyone! Don't ask, don't tell! Cut spending, unless it's defense-related! Drill baby, drill!
My wife suggested that we are all in love with politicians when they are running for office and immediately let down once they get into office. The reality is so much harder to manage than the potential. Solar powered high speed trains would have been nice, though.
Yes. I'm disappointed. I wish we would have spent the evening talking about the new judges on "American Idol."