Most countries regard their great national industries as being something precious and important for things such as employment and general prosperity. And they protect and nuture these industries so that the nation that calls them home can compete and prosper in the world economy.

But here in the United States we have a group of reactionary and economically destructive reactionary Senators who seem to revel in the destruction of our great national industries.

And their record pretty much speaks for itself. When the question of exporting employment to other countries, they supported it. When attempts were made to level the world playing field so that American industries can compete on fair terms, they howled about protectionism. When the banking industry showed signs of behaving irrationally, they pulled down any impediments to their economically ruinous actions and stood aside and watched as the nation's economy crumbled.

And when the American automotive industry ran into trouble due to an economy devastated by the policies of the very people we're concerned with here, they pulled out the rope and screamed for a hanging.

Who are these people whose hatred for America and its industries is so great they would sacrifice the nation's economic well-being?

Republican members of the United States Senate

You can read it on all the right-wing blogs. Barack Obama has turned his back on his
signature campaign issue of "Change" by selecting experienced and capable hands to
staff important jobs in his administration. Change under this suspect and obviously
disingenuous definition of the term apparently being the hiring of people with little
knowledge or experience in the jobs they have been engaged to perform.

Palinism, if you will.

Of course, what they do not wish to have communicated is that if you want real
"Change" from the kind of govt we saw from the Bush administration, what better
way to get it than choose experienced and skilled people? After 8 years of the
incompetence and wrongheadedness of the Bush years, what greater change than
having people around who are not only skilled at administration, but also are capable
of conjuring up the kind of vision that can actually create strategies that will
affect positive change in the future as well?

In other words, the kind of ideology that champions the likes of a Sarah Palin has no
place in the Obama administration. To work for Barack Obama you're not only going
to be required to have some experience, you are also going to have to know something
as well.

Unfortunately, it isn't just the Rush Limbaughs and Bill O'Reillys of this world that have
seen fit to trumpet the Big Lie. Many on the Left have seen fit to take umbrage as well
and, whether intentionally or not, have lent whatever credibility they have to this
decidedly reactionary and destructive canard. You can only wonder about the kind of
ideological blinders some are wearing. Blinders that have seemingly rendered them
incapable of comprehending exactly whose water they're carrying in this most dubious
of efforts.

In times as difficult as these it would be irresponsible to bring in people who do not
know what they're doing. Certainly the Bush administration taught us that. The
destruction of both the World Trade Center and New Orleans, the insanely promulgated
and administered wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the destruction of the American
economy through the gutting of even the most common sense controls, all have shown
us the consequences of appointing people for reasons of ideology rather than skill.

With a 65% "confidence level" rating (Gallup), obviously Barack Obama has the support
of the American people in his efforts to drag America back from the abyss of the Bush
years. And certainly that would be the greatest and most welcome of changes for a
country left in peril by years of mismanagement and incompetence.