Web Letters: Establishment Disorder

My allegiance to Barack Obama came about as a direct result of my support for Howard Dean four years ago. This time the effort of the grass roots was successful and I remain optimistic.

I share William Greider's hopes and can only wait for Wednesday with bated breath. What a two years it has been. For a while I was sure the Clinton machine would defeat Obama as I think it did Dr. Dean. Of course, I base this on nothing other than my intuition. He did overcome and I have enjoyed sending him $25 from time to time over the two-year campaign period. This is exactly what I did for Howard Dean.

This economy is frightening. I have two sources of income: Georgia Teacher Retirement and Social Security. I do own my home without mortgage and my automobile, which is fourteen years old. I pay very little taxes but realize that taxes pay for roads, police, fire departments, water, sewer services and garbage collection, to say nothing of schools and social services. I fear that the teacher retirement fund may go bellly up and I will be in a pickle. Guess "fear" is not the correct word, but it is a bit scary.

Clear, concise voices such as Greider's will lend force to the ideas of widows such as I who care very much about social and financial justice. Keep up the good reporting and keep up the optimism. It helps me keep up the desire to continue to work to bring our country back to where I feel it should be.

Nancy Shea

Savannah, GA

I was watching Fareed Zakaria's program Sunday, and Rubin was interviewed. I had the impression that he was not interested in any government positions. I think he wants to stay away from Congressional committees. However, the next Secretary of the Treasury shouldn't come from Wall Street. If you could find an academic who didn't believe in an unregulated economy, he or she might be a good bet. I suspect that the next administration will be a little more careful, but the same idiots will run the economy. The world will be plunged into a deeper depression, and recovery will be harder, but change will eventually occur. Both political parties will be punished at the ballot box for their economic failures, and in Congress, it may begin in this election. By 2010 or 2012, both houses of Congress and the sitting president will be dead meat if they do not get away from their "free trade" and "free market" agenda. Economic recovery can only occur behind a wall of tariffs, so that the working middle class, supported by American industries, can have the disposable income to support the American market. There is no market without the working middle class!

Pervis James Casey

Riverside, CA