Well…just a short comment on the speeches that Obama gave over the last week…it’s about damn time! It’s about time he finally stood up and said enough to the repub smear machine and called them out on the economy. What was Boehner’s response? More tax cuts and slashing spending is all the economy needs to get going again…and believes that the policies that did not work for the 8 years when the Bushies were in power have magically changed and will work now. If the Dems can’t beat these know nothings, they deserve to lose and if Obama can’t clearly relate the differences between the Dems and repubs and highlight the good work that has been done; maybe he doesn’t deserve our support anymore. But, then, I put my thinking hat back on, tamp down the emotions, and remember what this country was like when the repubs were running the show and objectively see that the Dems couldn’t screw this country up as much as the repubs if they try….and, at least they have the integrity to not try….geez…
Category Archives: Politics
I just don’t understand…
Well…have been reading the polls lately and one thing strikes me as a great example of the schizophrenia that the US electorate suffers. Why is it that the Democrats are always held responsible for everything, even things that are out of their control when the repubs can screw the whole country and preside over the greatest redistribution of wealth upwards in history and no one cares? I think it may just be ignorance since the leaders of the repubs proudly display the lack of “book learnin’” and exhort their followers to demonize those who have advanced degrees and who can think. If they could, think that is, they would remember their 11th grade economics that taught that employment is a lagging indicator in any recession; especially one this severe. I am kind of hoping that the repubs take control of the House so people will have their memories refreshed on how bad their policies are for the working people of this country…geez….
Why are they rooting for the US to fail?
Well…a thought came to me this morning when I was at the coffee shop reading the newspapers. That’s not the only place thoughts come to me but it seems that way sometimes…and it was not really a thought but a question. Why are everyone on the right rooting for the US economy to fail? Whenever more bad news is reported, the commentators that call themselves patriots on the right gleefully gloat that it’s all Obama’s fault and that nothing he has or will do will have any effect. This has been true for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, too, and I wonder why no one on the left is calling them on this ghoulish behavior.
I know why they are doing it, it’s just more of the scorched earth policy that the right has used since the early 90′s; led by the same guys, our old buddies Newt and Karl. When are we going to start recognizing that these two are responsible for most of the rancor that passes for politics these days? But it doesn’t have to be that way…we can change it if we just stop listening.
Charles Krauthhammer drives off the deep end….again….
Well…Chuck has done it again with his column in the Detroit News today. How can he, with a straight face make this assertion: that the Dems have presided over a huge expansion of government power, intrusiveness and debt and that is why the people are angry. How many time do I have to keep comparing what the repubs did when Bush was in power? How many times can these guys just outright lie and people will keep listening? Let’s look at the facts; expansion of government power? How about the Bushies assertion of the unitary executive branch when Cheney and his Ilk brought back the saying from the Nixon days that if the president does it, it’s not against the law. And then proceeded to usurp the Senates power to ratify treaties by ignoring the Geneva Convention’s sanctions on torture? A truly egregious expansion of executive power that was outside the system of checks and balances. But okay if the repubs do it.
Let’s talk about intrusiveness next. What can be more intrusive and against the constitution than spying on the entire country without the warrants that are required by the fourth amendment? I’m sure ole Chuck is linking his point about intrusiveness to the new healthcare law but the analogy is flawed since there are many things that Americans are required to do by law.
I cannot believe that ole Chuck wants to talk about debt. Let’s just take a dive down the rabbit hole where he lives and rebut that whole assertion. Where did 30% of the structural deficit come from that the repubs have now taken to heart as their major issue? The Bush tax cuts, and when we take into account two unfunded wars, the huge medicare drug benefit, and the TARP program, the repubs must have no shame to call the current digging out from under their pile of crap “socialism”.
To the last point Chuck makes, that because the popular opinion opposes any policy, it should be abandoned and the progressives are on the wrong side of popular opinion. It’s because the progressives are ahead of popular opinion that makes them progressive. In the 60′s public opinion opposed the Civil Rights Act…so, according to Chuck, it shouldn’t have been enacted. Now public opinion has turned against the Afghan war. So, Chuck, should we be bringing the troops home? Public opinion supported racial segregation; should we have kept it?
I don’t know why they keep paying this guy to spout his simplistic, prejudiced crap….geez…
Hell freezes over….I agree with Kathleen Parker…
Well…it was a nice morning out at GH..huge waves and warm water made me grin like an idiot and got a bunch of good rides in body surfing. But, that’s not the topic as you can see from the title. I’m sure you know Kathleen Parker…the well-known conservative columnist, her column today is a mirror of what I have said on many occasions; that we need to start trying to reclaim what it means to be an American and start talking to each other again. I also agree when she she puts some tenets down on paper…be considerate, mind your own business, and don’t talk about religion…one of the things that I was told when I was younger was to never talk either politics or religion; something that I had lost for a while and wasted so much sound, light, and fury on it….I have become more calm since following that simple dictate.
What really heartens me about Kathleen’s column, along with some from others on the right like David Brooks, is that there are thinking people on both sides of the aisle that can see that the current course this country is on is unsustainable and we long for the time that lies and inflaming of passions will make way for reasonableness. I just hope the demagogues don’t win….geez…
August 29th part two…
Well…there was a Sunday Funday after all…but I don’t think there will more topics today since I just don’t have anything itching in my head…I do have an idea about the need for everyone (including me) to stop calling people names…but there are times when you need to do that to get your point across but, only when it is the truth…sometimes, idiots are idiots and liars are liars and need to be labeled as such…and there are so many more of them on the right…another thing that just popped into my head as I’m writing this…do we progressives lose elections while adhering to our principles or do we get down in the swamp with the righties? I lean toward principles, as you know, but it is hard to sit and watch while lies and race-baiting dupe the American people into voting for the righties. If they win this time using these tactics, I’ll probably just fold up the tent and just try to survive..but I reserve the right to say I told you so when the repubs screw everything up and give even more of the country to the rich…geez…
Only three more of these and this will be my most prolific month ever….can I say yay?
Boehner’s still an idiot…
Well…who is the right and their point man, John Boehner, going to attack next? Mom? Apple Pie? The latest in his daily string of craziness was to go off on federal workers; spouting the lies that federal employees make more than ones with comparable jobs in the private sector. When do the lies stop working? When are we as a country going to stand up and tell these guys that they have to have more in their heads than their warped opinions, that we will no longer listen to the demagogues when they blatantly distort the facts for political gain. The facts in the case are that many non-partisan studies have been done comparing private and public sector pay and invariably find that the private sector workers make more.
Why this attack on his fellow Americans? People who just want to do their jobs don’t need to be demonized by this idiot and his fellow repubs and their lie that federal workers are overpaid is a direct extension of their tactics over the years to attack the middle class. The ironic thing here is that this moron IS a federal employee and the 195K+ he makes makes him one of the highest paid of them all…geez….
It’s extortion by any other name…
Well…John Boehner has sunk to a new low even for him and the rest of the repubs….in a speech he gave a few days ago, this idiot put forth the proposition that the reason that business is sitting on the sidelines in the faltering recovery is the uncertainty about what regulations my be imposed in the future. He even suggested that Obama fire his entire economic team because of the lagging pace of job creation since they’ve had a whole 19 months to do it. Really, John? After you and your repub buddies had 8 years to screw it up and had a net job creation when you were in control of zero…that’s right…zero net jobs added. And now you’re urging your business cronies to sit on their hands unless you get what you want…that is to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich and less regulation for business. By anyone’s definition this is just a blatant case of extortion and you should be ashamed that you put your status as a lap dog for business ahead of a nation that is suffering.
What do you offer that is new; that is different than your policies that ruined the economy? Why are you waiting to do something until after the election? If this crisis is so urgent, (and I believe it is) why aren’t you working with the administration to help get the jobs engine going again? Why aren’t you talking to your business cronies and asking them to help get the engine going? Stop the political posturing and tanning and get your butt to work helping America get going again…until you do, shut the hell up and leave us alone….geez…
Let’s just refuse…
Well…I’m back and I don’t know how formed this idea is but let’s give it a try…what if we just refuse? What if we just refuse to be scared of immigrants? What if we just refuse to be scared by the imagined threats to the Constitution? What if we remember our high school economics and refuse to believe the laughable and discredited ideas of the Laffer Curve where the right tells us cutting taxes means more revenue? What if we refuse to believe that Afghanistan is as important as the politicians tell us? What if we refuse to be led around like sheep by Fox news and start to think for ourselves? What if we refuse to believe that the First amendment only applies to Christians?
I truly think we need to start to say no to the politicians who use fear for political advantage and re-take the fearlessness that has made this country great…what would have happened if Newt and McConnell, and the rest of the fear mongers were around during World War two? They would have wrung their hands and told the country to fear the enemy, that they were too dangerous to take on…you know that is what they do today with the Islamist terrorists and aren’t you tired of living in the swamp of fear that they spew everyday? Let’s prove to them and the rest of their fellow travelers that the US is still fearless, that we can and will take on any threats without cowering in the corner as they would like us to.
The only thing I’m scared of is that we will lose the great American character that welcomes all religions, that helps those in need, and who always does the right thing even if it’s not popular…that’s the definition of leadership that we need to restore and very few of our “leaders” know anything about that….geez…
Why are we such chickens these days?
Well…had this thought while I was reading some of the online papers this morning and I will be adding to it as the day goes on…I think I’ll need the bike ride to solidify it but I’ll start with this….when did we, as a people, become so scared of everything? When did our courage start to melt with just the building of the Park 51 project in New York? Or any building for that matter…why are we so scared of immigrants and a bunch of cave dwellers in Afghanistan? There was a time that we believed we could handle anything; any challenge that faced us and our leaders were of the same thoughts..now it seems that our leaders (mostly on the right) think that we should fear threats that our previous generation, and my generation would laugh at…after all, we made it through the cold war looking at a USSR that had 20 thousand nuclear weapons pointed at us and the largest army in the world sitting on the border with Western Europe. Do you think the threat from Islamic (or any other type of ) terrorists is of the same scope? We have gone from leaders who believed that the US would prevail in any conflict to the Newts and Palins who believe that building an Islamic center in Manhattan threatens our way of life. They should be ashamed that they don’t believe in this country…..geez….