THE AMERICAN DREAM

Last night John Boehner choked up over his victory and his achievement of the American Dream. And he promised that the new Republican Congress will listen to the voice of America.

That's great. Will you even listen to the voices that you don't normally pay attention to?

Because, for your information, John, there is no such thing as the American Dream for most Americans. Lots of people think there is. But it really doesn't exist. Not only for the people normally named in this kind of exposition, Blacks, Indians, Hispanics/Latinos. But also for most whites in America, the poor and not the middle-class. When a person works into their fifties then gets laid off and can't find another job, then the American Dream is dead.

And when big money interests pay the bills to elect politicians who will most likely make new laws to help the rich get richer, then the American Dream is dead.

When we cheer the rescue of miners in Chile and continue to allow whole mountains to be stripped to extract minerals and refuse to enforce the safety rules for our own miners, then the American Dream is dead.

I could go on and on, but that would merely be beating a dead horse.

But here's one final comment. People work all their lives and finally reach the point where they can just survive on Social Security and Medicare and dream of improvements in their medical coverage. Then we hear people like Boehner who have achieved their American Dream say they want to repeal the new health care plan, and their friends want to totally eliminate social security and Medicare, then they are themselves killing the American Dream for the rest of us. And that puts them in the same group as the big money interests that are buying our democracy from under us.

Oh, gee, do I sound bitter? Maybe it's fear that my wife and I may become destitute at the hands of these self-centered politicians and lose the tiny bit of the dream that we have achieved.