To add my voice to the clamor over the force resignation of Shirley Sherrod. The worst part of this isn't what Breibart did or what Fox News reported, you expect that crap from them. But the speed at which the Obama Administration bought into the lie without a whisper of investigation. They almost forced her off the road to resign, via Blackberry, as she was heading back to Georgia.
When the dust cleared, it came out that Breibart slipped another mickey to the Feds. Just like his bullshit over ACORN, he crafted a little video that caused everyone in the Administration to crap themselves. Now that new information and the complete, unedited video has surfaced, the Obama Administration stands alone, looking foolish, in need of new underwear.
I'm not sure Ms. Sherrod should take her job back if it's offered. The NAACP, which had originally blasted her as well, came out immediately with an apology and personal phone call from their president. They admit they acted rashly and bought into a lie from Fox News.
"A lie from Fox News" - Gee, ya think?
I wrote a diary at the Daily Kos titled "President Obama is a Coward". That was a cheap shot at the president, I admit it. but I stand by what I said within.
I posted a diary on Kos today. After basking in anger and disappointment over the lack of backbone from the Obama Administration, I took it upon myself to cast a metaphoric stone in his direction.
I always though Joe Lieberman would play a good Brutus.
Beware the Ides of March...
Caesar was told this by a soothsayer in Shakespeare's play 'Julius Caesar'.
The play involves treachery, shattered loyalty and the betrayal of those closest.
Upon his election and inauguration, Obama filled us with hope and promise. His words echoed our commitment to bring this country back from the shadow of Bush/Cheney. Eight long and painful years we languished in the swamp of fear and ignorance that permeated every branch of government. Obama represented change. We had given ourselves the tools to make that change. We had the will to move forward, to make some sacrifices if need be to get past the darkness. We were at the ready, tools in hand - all we needed was the signal to start.
It didn't come. Our leaders told us to wait, that fixing Washington would take a bit of time. We lasted almost a year before we realized it was just a case of 'don't call us, we'll call you'..
We thought we got beyond this shit. What we're seeing is the same show but with different characters. Like SNL, the previous cast has moved on and now we have a new set of players. But like the show, the new players are telling the same joke, pretending to be the same people and doing the same skits. We didn't laugh then and we aren't laughing now.
We put Democrats in place and elected a man of the people... or so we thought. All we did was change the cast, the same old jokes are on us. Joe Lieberman gets a standing ovation upon his return to the Senate after he all but kicked us in the groin by campaigning for John McCain (and coming a dog's hair from being his VP choice). Is that how Democrats handle treachery? With a round of applause and a kiss from Blanche Lincoln? We have a backbencher like Congressman Bart Stupak hold up months of hard work because he wants to be on TV.
I've spent a few posts here talking about courage. Not just bravery but courage of spirit, of conviction. The kind of courage that puts you against your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors when they want to take the easy way out. Courage to stand up to the fear and ignorance that lies over this country like a thick fog. We thought we had elected people who had that kind of courage. We carried them, put them in power, embraced them. For what?
We have been stabbed in the back. Et tu, Brutus!
Reform: "the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc."
For a year and a month, we've watched as one opportunity after another fittered away into the wind. Bold ideas, innovative solutions for the many ills and malice that affected us. The promised green industries, a real economic stimulus, thousands of job programs from building bridges and roads to repairing our crumbling parks and monuments disappear like so much smoke. Education reform, health reform, social reform and foreign policy reform had been our rallying cry. But if the people cried out in Washington and no one in Congress heard, did they make a sound?
What happened? We went to Washington full of hope and came away with nothing but a bag of rocks.
So, do we just put the rocks down, sulk back to our living rooms and coffee shops and wait for the next wave?
Most of the ones reading this will say no. They take the time to find the answers, to make the calls, to shake the trees to get the message out. However, there will be those who take this setback to heart and give up. This is where we find our courage.
The powers of our opposition have no problem with rallying the faithful. They can snap their fingers and 20 pundits and congress critters will bark in unison. They only exist to destroy Obama. they care nothing for the country, only the purity of their kind. The tabloid press will not help us. They have no interest in truth and fairness. Glenn Beck is more marketable than Edward R. Murrow. They will always look for the sensational, the scandalous even if they have to create it from thin air.
We have a lot to do. We have to rattle the cage a bit. There's an opportunity in Arkansas where Bill Halter is trying to knock Lincoln out of her Senate seat. We have to jump on this. Contribute if you can, but make some noise. Call CNN, MSNBC, ABC and tell them to put our leaders on their talk shows. Put Grayson, Kucinich, Sherrod Brown, or Anthony Weiner at the table with George Will and David Broder. Tell NBC to put Rachel Maddow on Meet the Press, even if they lose some of their regulars. Time to get rid of that dead weight anyway.
We also need our leaders to fight for us. Really fight for us. Harry Reid will never show spine. He will always give in to the big scary GOP. We need a Senate Majority leader that knows what the word 'majority' means. One that knows the difference between compromise and capitulate. We need leaders that will say to the President " Mr. President, here is the bill you asked for. It has a public option that covers every state and will hold the insurance companies accountable. It has regulations stripping these companies of their anti-trust exemption. It brings relief to families that have no option for care when they need care the most. Mr. President, this is the People's Bill."
The only way to get what we need is to hold them accountable at every step. Vigilance.
I walked away from this blog in December. I had a belly full of Reid, Obama, and the rest of the cowards in the Democratic Party. I felt that I was screaming into the wind. Since then, I've come to realize that I wasn't alone. That my voice, as loud and brash as it was, was part of a chorus. The larger the chorus, the louder the song. When I gave up the blog, I silenced a voice in that chorus. The song that needed to be heard was diminished. This can't happen.
So Shamanaqua is back - for good or ill is for Fate to decide, not the likes of me.
My thanks to Gordon and Fixer at Alternate Brain for keeping my mind operating while I stewed.
Special thanks to BK at Ornery Bastard for the ass kicking that got me to finally open the doors again. (I had originally planned for the first day of Spring but... WTF!)
Also to the memory of Jon Swift (aka Al Weisel) He gave me my first nod on the national scene during Blog Amnesty Day last year. He was a good man and force on the Web. He is missed but his legacy will live on.
What is it about the Right wing? They seem to live for hypocrisy. Usually, each of us can be counted on to do something or say something hypocritical – hell, its human nature. But we get schooled by friends or adversaries and shown back to the real world with our egos lowered a few notches. Not the Republicans. They seem to thrive on hypocrisy. It’s not even criticism anymore. They wear it like a badge of ‘honor’.
They speak out of every corner of their mouths, spewing any spurious tidbit of bullshit pulled straight from Karl Rove’s ass without any sense of regret. When called on it, they just wave the flag and accuse you of being a traitorous commie fascist who eats babies with hot sauce. They then smile at you and go on like nothing was out of place.
They speak to groups that they know will sit loyally in their seats without comment or criticism, staring into dead space with all the mental faculties of a dandelion, the attention span of a flea and the curiosity of driftwood.
I weep for America if these are the people that represent the electorate. We put Barack Obama in office but couldn’t defeat right wing crazies like Michelle Bachmann, John Boehner, and Eric Cantor. The current political playing field will look a lot different in 2012, no one will be looking at what’s best for America only what is popular.
Color me concerned, even a bit frightened.
The Democrats are in a position to cement their majority. They can take the lead on the issues that really matter to the ordinary people of America, not the lunatic fringe of the Right. These are inroads that can only reap rewards on those Democrats courageous enough to walk the talk. Courage is the only price they have to pay. Too bad it’s too big a price for many of those we put in Congress.
I watch the news. I watch the sessions of Congress and the meetings of committees led by people I used to admire and respect. All I see is fear and cowardice. The road to recovery is paved and clearly mapped out. All we have to do is put on our shoes and start walking down the road. Seems even that is too much for our leadership.
The Republicans have made their position crystal clear. They will do everything in their power to obstruct and destroy President Obama’s agenda. They will NOT compromise on this. Their leadership has voiced this in every memo and every media outlet right and left. Even the most inattentive backwoods hermit knows that the GOP is not going to help Obama in any situation.
Why do we still seek their support for our legislation? We know their answer. We know that they will vote NO. They may make noises resembling support or acquiesce but, in the end, all of our hard work making concessions will be for naught as they vote it down. So, why try? Leave them to their hypocrisy. The voters made them irrelevant; let’s keep them there. We have loose cannons in the Democratic caucuses that need to be addressed, why waste our energy and resources on a fool’s errand?
We, the progressive activists, put the hammer to nail building this agenda and the voters put their stamp of approval on it. They said, “YES, DO THIS!” Now, we put the message out to our elected officials and they fumble it trying to do this ‘bipartisan’ bullshit. It’s like the kid who gets his lunch money taken away every day bringing extra coin in the hope that the bully will leave him enough to eat with.
What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing in the same way over and over again but expecting different results?
We have to get a hold of this process immediately before the damage gets too big to fix. The Democratic leadership has to be pulled back into reality before they give away all of our lunch money to the Republicans. We’re bigger than them; we can say, “NO, I’m keeping my lunch money! Get Lost!”
Health care is the big issue dancing in the spotlight now. It’s so big it can affect the lives of every American right away. The only real solution is staring at us with big blue eyes. There has to be a viable, aggressive public option that can effectively compete with the private insurance companies. Too many legislators have accepted bags of coin from the insurance industry for real reform to take place. They are actively working against the best interest of the people in order to satisfy the will of their wealthy overlords. The money is too good to ignore. The smell of greed overwhelms the will of the voters.
This is what we have to fight. This is the face of our enemy.
Firedoglake has taken the lead in bringing some of the senators to task for their connection to the corporate lobbying groups with promising results. However, there are some who are anchored in their ways of greed and graft with their industry sugar daddies. Some of those people chair the very sub-committees and committees that we need to advance the public option. As it sits now, the public option has been watered down to the point of being an easy target for the insurance companies should it become law. It would be forced into obscurity and end up worthless and neutered by the forces it was originally supposed to compete with. Then, we would be back to square one with another failed attempt at reining in the one thing that would do the most to bring us out of this recession/depression. As Obama said, we can’t afford to fail this time. A failure now would doom Americans to many more years of skyrocketing health care costs, millions more denied care or coverage and an economy swirling down the bowl for no other reason than abject greed.
Aren’t we supposed to be better than that? There was a time when I thought we were.
Coleman's been nothing but a punk through this whole thing. He was in a close race and that gives him the right to making sure the count was done correctly but there comes a time that when all the agencies involved say there were no problems, no major discrepancies or errors, courts have decided unanimously, and the people have given both their vote and their voice to Franken you just have to bow out and take your lumps. This is a case of a person who has no character, no ethics, and no sense of fairness.
He's an asshole. I can't see where this is a plus. This is a has-been wingnut politician who hopes to make a great big splash on the national scene. Everyone in the world has an asshole and nobody's looking for another one.
This was at the Senior Prom in 1972 that's me next to him
Cool!
Now, Harry! You got your 60. Forget the Republicans! They mean NOTHING! Use your resources to keep the Dems in line. Gawd, why does that sound so unlikely? Why does my gut start to turn into knots when I think of Sen. Harry Reid doing his job? See my previous posts!
Can you imagine Chris Dodd in this spot? Or John Kerry? Hell, I would have loved to see Hillary Clinton in this job at this point just to see the heads explode all over Wingnutia! There are at least a half dozen Democratic senators who would take this opportunity to the Moon and back. John Boehner, Eric Holder, Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republican leadership would be cleaning out their shorts at this point had there been anyone else in the Majority Leader's chair.
We have our 60. It's not herding cats, it's pushing magnets together. They have a natural repellent bred into them. I say call a meeting of the leadership and make it damn fucking clear what the goddamn agenda is. Then work it! No more fringes! Cut them off right now. Corral those Blue Dogs and show them the millions of fucking dollars the DSCC has and how much it can raise. Show them the best primary prospects that are circling the pond in their home states waiting for the chance to feed on the bones of the incumbent. We only need the Republicans to provide stepping stones and doormats to get into the Senate Chamber. After eight of the worst, most damaging years that these sleazy bastards gave us on a silver platter, I wouldn't even clean my shoes before walking on them. Call me petty.
So, what are we going to do about Harry?
Congratulations, Senator Franken!
this just in: Bill O'Reilly got the news while he was in the grocery store. Clean up on Aisle Four!
Update: No, that's not really me in the photo. I kid.
I do go on about courage. It's not that I consider myself so courageous but I've been in the presence of those who've fit the bill. I try to live by their example, see the bullshit for what it is and not let it force me down a road I don't need to be on. This isn't rocket science, it's common fucking sense. There are standards of conduct that people should be living by, not anything religious or political but responsible. Treat others as you would have them treat you. Simply put, easily said and the most difficult to accomplish.
A standard like that leaves no room for greed, hatred or intolerance. It forces people to look at our neighbors in a new light, a new understanding. It allows us to see people as they really are and go from there. There will be lots of people who won't pass the test. Unfortunately, these people are just no damn good. Rather than go after them or react to them; we should just ignore them. Glenn Beck wouldn't be such a pain in our asses if he had no audience. He would be just another wingnut screaming at the wind.
But you say, how can we ignore these assholes? They infect us with their bile, foster open wounds in society and unravel any progress toward a better understanding between different groups. I say ignore by moving on without them. Cut them off from the discussion. Let them rant! If we engage the people who matter the most to them, their audience, that will leave them without a forum, without a base. Of course, there will always be a fringe who will buy into the poison Beck, Limbaugh, Savage Weiner, and the rest of the hatemongers sell. Fuck 'em. Isolate them by working for the folks who matter - Mom and Pop America. As long as we can engage the mainstream by showing them how important we think they are, they'll abandon the wingnuts like rats from a sinking ship.
For the most part this is happening now. Limbaugh parades his Arbitron numbers around like a gold star, making noise about how popular he is. Well, he has an audience, but a shrinking one. He takes weekly numbers and posts them as daily, his base is declining but becoming more vocal. He has to stir up the rabble, after all, the American people elected a black man as president despite his daily reminders of how awful that would be. As Gov. Schwarzenegger said on the Today Show a few years ago that 'Rush Limbaugh is irrelevant, I am not his servant." There's one Republican that won't be invited to the Tube and Lube party down in the Dominican Republic any time soon.
But Limbaugh isn't alone here. We have Michael Savage Weiner making fart noises about a 'fatwa' against Media Matters like this is supposed to send shivers of cold terror through their spines. Ordinarily this would be laughable, much of what the Weiner says is nothing but manure, however with the recent killings by right wing loonies we have to be aware of what these ass pimples are saying. It's no secret that they've come to realize just how powerful their words are to the Right Wing fringe. Despite the killings, perhaps because of them, the Crap Talkers on the Right are ramping up their vile. They all are counting on that lone listener who will hear the last word and snap. This is the antithesis of courage. A four year old girl touching a worm shows more courage than Limbaugh, Weiner, O'Reilly, or Beck have in their entire pathetic lives.
Cretins like these should play no role in the reconstruction of the American Ideal. They only exist to keep us honest, to reinforce the common threads that bring us together. They show us what happens when you lose all sense of community, all self-respect and get your head permanently lodged in your ass. They are the rats that congregate around our social garbage. If we deal with the trash, the rats will go away.
Talk show idiots aren't the only pustules on our ass. We seem to have developed a few in leadership roles too. The Republicans in Congress are a cadre of hacks, crooks, fools, and cheaters. Just put a camera in front of them and they can't help but prove this to the country. They have show the world they're an idiot. It's like a contest amongst them. Who can be the biggest idiot on the Network News?
Which brings me to the next part of this screed. The Democrats. I've mentioned the bad guys, now I need to bring up the 'good' guys. Who's a bigger fool, the idiot you expect to say something stupid or the one who comes out of left field with it? I expect the Right to be idiots, it's their nature. Can't expect the zebra to walk away from its stripes. But I had hoped to see the people I helped put in the majority show some spine. I thought that the only reason Democrats were so wimpy and soft on the Republicans over the last eight years was simply a measure of power. You can't do much as a minority party.
Boy, was I wrong! The Repugs have a smaller minority than what the Dems had and are hamstringing ever effort at turning this country around. The Dems have a fillibuster proof majority and they are being held up, frozen in fear. WTF?
I mentioned the cowardise of the Right Wing talkers, how disgusting they were. But I have to place the cowards in Congress, my own Party leaders, beneath the likes of Limbaugh and Weiner. They have the votes, they have the people's will, they have a strong leader in the White House and they still crumble like a graham cracker at every turn. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the biggest of the cowards. He's the worst of the worst. Our little girl with the worm could probably make Sen. Reid piss himself. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is not as bad but still terrified of the GOP. What are these marshmallows afraid of?
We should be driving our agenda through Congress like a Mack truck through a corn field. Progressive issues would be discussed and debated, voted on and put on the President's desk in record time. The recovery would be in full swing and the people would be reaping the fruits of their vote last November. But, NO! We have a couple of dozen Republican Senators running the show. Sen. Reid spends his day cowering under his desk so the leadership of the Senate is taken over by Boehner, McConnell and the rest of the GOP caucus.
I mention courage. There is no courage in the Democratic leadership. None. When challenged, they always seem to fall back on claims of strategy, chamber rules, and super-secret back room manuvering. Bullshit! The GOP has Reid by the balls, parading him around like a child's pull toy for all to see and laugh at. None of the other Democrats in the House or Senate seem to want to step up and challenge this. The ones that try are shot down in flames by their own party, leaving the Repugs to piss on the wreckage. How many times has good legislation been torpedoed by the Dem leadership, only to have the GOP pick up the pieces, toss it in the bowl and give it a final flush? The Recovery Package, EFCA, Closing Guantanamo, Single Payer Health Insurance, real climate change legislation, energy policy, immigration... the list of casualties goes on.
Who the Hell are these people working for? Certainly not me.
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Courage is a rare commodity in the halls of leadership today. I see faces on my TV box that are supposed to be in my corner giving aid and comfort to the enemy, namely the GOP.
Senator Harry Reid...grow a fucking spine. Jesus H. Christ, Senator, you fold more than an old lawn chair. He covers his yellow streaked ass by making it out that he's a crafty strategist. How can it be good strategy to cave in to your opponents at every turn? What, win the battle by losing the war? I think the reason he's so scrawny is from all the lunch money he had to fork over as a kid. I hear he was a boxer. Well, how many boxers lose a fight with their own shadow?
When I speak of courage, understand the distinctions I make when using a well-trod upon term. Courage is listed in the dictionary as: "the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery."
There are aspects of courage that are more observable, more apparent by action rather than attitude, than just a 'quality of mind'. Any one can talk a good game of 'courage' but what happens when they face that insular moment when the talk has to be substantiated? Courage isn't a soundbite, it doesn't exist only in novels and history books. It exists in the actions taken by those who need it - now.
One problem is that we are a visually based society. If we don't see it, it does not exist. We claim the reverse to be true as well; if we do see it, we believe it. Just seeing something gives many of us all the proof we need that a certain condition exists. Conversely, if someone tells us that something doesn't exist because he can't see it, we tend to believe him because he seems to have gone to the trouble of looking for it so it must be true. Seeking out verification for what we claim and what we believe is hard. Too hard for talking heads who make their living on the people's ignorance and the politicians who service them.
I consider most right wing talkers and bloggers to be abject cowards. I say most because recently I witnessed Chicago talk show host 'Mancow' Muller subject himself to water boarding to show that it's nothing but getting wet. He got schooled and schooled hard. He lasted six seconds without interrogation. Afterward, he related an epiphany - "yes, this is torture and I have to admit that"
That took courage. Not only to be subjected to the pain of the water board, but to go on to admit that he (and the rest of his cohorts on the AM dial) were wrong about this form of torture. So, give him props for doing something Hannity, Limbaugh, Fox Nuz, and Newt Gingrich would never do.
I look for courage in my leaders. Sounds sappy and trite but I expect the people elected to high office to have a modicum of courage to accomplish the task of running the country. I see it in the President but it's Deja vu' all over again when he starts backing off issues near and dear to progressives. We saw it during the Clinton years. Lots of speeches, lots of promises, then the aides and advisors come in and pour cold water over the whole agenda. Obama needs real leadership in both the Senate and the House. Instead he got cowards. Reid has to go. For the sake of the nation and the progressive movement in general, Harry Reid must be sent to the Old Washington Home for Cowards, Capitulators, and Compromisers.
The issues that mean the most to the American people are coming to the forefront now. Health care, education, economic assistence, global climate change, energy, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need, no - beg for a radical shift from the status quo solutions. We've done the ol' 'tried and true' and found them to be wholly inadequate for the task. The Repugs want the ship to stay the course. They're on the Titanic and still feasting from the buffet line. Why give up a good thing if it feeds the greed?
Courage. My dad has it in spades. He worked the woods for 50 years as a logger and helped raise 8 kids with near poverty wages. Our troops have it too. They serve with honor and distinction and still get the shitty end of the stick in pay, rotation, and respect. I've seen courage come from little kids, feeble old folks, and young people of all colors and creeds. But we are losing our center by not focusing on making a courageous life the only life we should be striving for. We teach our kids how to get around the rules, how to shirk the responsiblities inherent in life. They enter adulthood with the education to be a con artist, not a responsible human being.
I'm tired of watching my leaders cower under their desks in Congress. Sick and tired of seeing Repug wingnuts give wedgies and noogies to the people I have to rely on to run this country. The Democratic Party better take a long hard look at their leadership and start making some definitive changes while we still have control of Congress. Most of the Dems I see on my TV Box haven't the backbone of a marshmallow Peep.
This is our time. Time to boldly take the next step or fall back and let the cowards take over.
We worked our asses off to get here. Through the Reagan years and four years of Poppy Bush, we endured a lot of crap. In the 80's, the GOP came in and started their policies of corruption and greed. Reaganomics was a joke. It was only a scam to make the rich richer and the poor irrelevant. Even some Democrats got caught up it the bullshit 'cause no one can say no to a free lunch.
But we persevered. We got Bill Clinton elected and, although not exactly what we were hoping for, he was good enough to set the ship of state on the correct course. But somewhere along the way, we lost our courage. We became complacent and weak. We elected marshmallows instead of statesmen, chickenshits instead of cougars. Clinton did a lot to further our cause but he fell far short of the goals we needed to accomplish. We didn't take full advantage of the opportunities that were made available to us because we were afraid of what our enemies might think of us. We stopped in the middle of the race because we were winning. Somehow we considered that bad form.
It was this lack of courage that led to the election of the Village Idiot. We even shied away from standing up to the hoards of goons that took away the presidency of Al Gore. We sat back and bitched but didn't fight. The GOP saw that they were losing and pulled out all the stops, left no stone unthrown and snatched our victory out of our trembling fingers. They did it, not because they were stronger or smarter; they did it because they knew we would let them.
We suffered through eight fucking long ass years of an egotistically elitist buffoon as Commander-in-Chief, a megalomaniac as his VP, a cadre of crooks, liars, and thieves running the country with policies that put the United States in the same shoes as a Third World dictatorship. The effects of our cowardice will be felt for years, perhaps decades to come.
Now, we have a new leader. Somewhere, somehow we found the moral cahones to put a man in the White House who has the potential to put us back on track and take us to the Promise Land. Obama is showing all the signs that he has the stuff but do we?
Is this going to be Clinton Era 2.0? Will we lose our spine just as the big decisions need to be made? It happened once, will we let it happen again?
Look at the news running across the 'Toobs today. Everywhere we look we see the Bullshit Media licking the asses of the Republican Talkers for their next big soundbite. The airwaves are full of GOP crap about everything from Speaker Pelosi's torture memo to Obama's yet-unpicked Supreme Court nominee. The wingnuts are doing the same thing they did when Clinton was in office: control the word, frame the speech and make sure the Democrats have a nice, safe table to hide under.
Not this time! Not while I draw breath!
I didn't work my fat white ass off to see a bunch of mealy-mouthed Democratic marshmallows take this victory and piss it away. The time to take a stand is right fucking now!
Many of my friends on the web have a lot more traffic than I and I hope this call to arms sings for them. We have so many tools and weapons at our disposal. Jesus H. Fucking Christ on a Pancake, our troops are light years smarter than they are. We can control the news if we choose. All it takes is for the face of the Democrats to be someone who can fight back, not let the wingnuts shout them down. Put it to them. Make them ask the hard questions. If the Media won't, we should. Ask them over and over on every news talk show until they get it. Above all challenge every lie, every claim, every word that spews forth from the Repugs about every issue.
David Waldman from Daily Kos took a couple of wingnuts to the shed the other day. This is what we should be doing. Every Damn Time. No more Joe Lieberman. No more Evan Bayh. No more Ben fucking Nelson. it's time for the leadership to do what the fuck they're supposed to do. If a Democrat goes rogue and starts backing off the GOP, slap him/her down. This is no time for cowardise. It's long past time for courage. We have to learn how to grow back our spine.
The GOP is in the toilet now. We knocked them around and almost out of the way. Many would say we should back off and let them regroup. It would be the 'sporting' thing to do. Compassion and charity, I guess.
Bullshit! The GOP invaded our space, flaunted our laws, trashed the country, gave our enemies the resources and will to stand against us and pushed this country to the brink of a global economic disaster just to line their pockets and golden parachutes. We don't show compassion after that. The GOP is on the ground, we don't offer a hand up.
We step on their neck! No Mercy! No Quarter! Take the fight to them and never back down!
This is our time! Get off your asses and start fighting back!
Our president is afraid. He's terrified of the Spooks. I'm not talking about haunted houses or grim apparitions that go bump in the night; I'm talking about spies.
Spooks, or undercover agents, are letting our president know in certain terms that their loyalty is dependent on his willingness to keep the lid on any investigation of misdeeds, torture, and unconstitutional activities of the Bush Administration. The intelligence agencies like the CIA, NSA, DIS, etc. are making it very clear that they want this whole investigation of the previous administration placed forever under the rug.
So, why is the president afraid of these goons? The people, by every poll and measure of popular sentiment is firmly behind bringing the rule of law back to Washington DC and prosecuting the people that took America into the dark places. Why is it taking so long to get a real investigation going over the crimes of the Bush Administration? Crimes were committed. We have convictions, we have evidence, we have perpetrators, why don't we have more trials?
When Obama took office, he faced a complex of Capital City brick walls. He was an outsider that was chosen by people who were more than a little pissed off at the conventional wisdom and the insular bubble of Washington DC. He came into power to make change, change that was a definitive threat to that bubble. One of his first tasks was to take on the mantle of law enforcer, seek out the people that took us to war on a pack of lies and who shredded the Constitution for their own nefarious needs. However, he got schooled as soon as he stepped into the Oval Office for the first time.
The Spooks came for him. They were probably waiting in the Oval Office as he walked in. They represented the entire intelligence community. They had but one message: Back off.
Obama'sadvisers were the first to cave. Obama couldn't govern without the cooperation of the intelligentsia, the Spooks. The last thing you want is to piss off the Spooks, you'll find your stay in the White House shorter than you thought. John Kennedy found that out.
The Blogs and the Independent media have been screaming for investigations of the Bush Cabal. We've been tearing our collective hair out trying to get Obama to commit to starting an investigation of the Bush Crimes. The evidence is out there. You would have to be a complete moron or a Republican to not see it. What is taking so long?
Obama was still being independent when he choose Leon Panetta to head the CIA. Panetta was no Spook. He is a policy wonk, a government insider. He was an Obama man. The Spooks didn't take this too well. They wanted one of their own. They wanted a career man, a person who had a few CIA skeletons in his closet that could be used to keep him 'honest' or in line. They want the status quo. Basically, they want Obama to keep his hands off the Agency.
Our intelligentsia, the Spooks, have spent the last eight years doing what they do best. They've been fulfilling every Spooks fantasy by interrogating Iraqi prisoners in less than legal ways. They've been listening in on private phone conversations by ordinary people regardless of the constitutionality. They've been making people disappear into foreign countries so that other agencies can have some interrogation fun. Eight years of good times. Seems a shame that it all has to end.
Enter the Obama Administration and Change We Can Believe In. They were waiting for him.
Ever since the inauguration, Obama has been slowly but steadily moving away from initiating any investigation of the Bush Crimes. He has been Spooked.
It's going to take a lot of pressure to get Obama to change his mind. He still uses that old standby "We need to look forward, not backward". He will risk setting himself against the Spooks, something that may be more powerful than popular sentiment.
My question to President Obama is simply: Just who is running this country, We, the People or the Spooks?
There come a time when all roads lead out of town. When all talk is done and all things have been said. There comes a time when there is no safe refuge, no safe harbor to wait out the coming storm.
That time is now.
We tried it their way and lost. Lost big. They want to keep playing the same number on the same wheel but we have to cut our losses and move on. The Republicans, despite losing two elections and all of their base, still cling to the same old moves, the same disastrous policies that caused this catastrophe. They aren't stupid, they're delusional. They can't accept the fact that the country holds them responsible for this mess, that the people aren't blaming Bill Clinton like they want. They try and try to hold tight to that flimsy toilet paper ideology even as it gets pissed on by every economist of merit in the country.
President Obama made some progressives angry for reaching out to the GOP to craft a bill that's both effective and bipartisan. In the House, he gave up a lot and got handed back his lunch. No Republican voted for the bill. In the Senate, he's gone so far into the whole 'bipartisan' myth that he's heading into ineffective. What's more important, any bill or the right bill?
In return for offering his hand in cooperation, the Republicans filled it full of shit. They are so consumed by the election of Barack Obama, an African-American who has the real chance of becoming one of the greatest presidents in history, that they will allow the American economy and the people they represent swirl down the drain like a cold turd.
How's that for the Party of Patriots? They wave the flag then use it to blow their nose.
Obama has to do the unthinkable. He has to tell the American people that the Republican Party is not helping him. He has to put that bully pulpit to good use and make the GOP pay for its partisanship. The Dems need to grow a spine (as if that has any chance of happening) and hold their own membership together and forget the Repugs. Keep the Blue Dogs in line and shore up support with the progressives. If any Repugs get an earful back home, let them into the room but with a commitment to vote yes when all is said and done.
Play hard ball and you'll win. The rules have changed and the stakes are high. The country's got your back. This is no time to be Mr. Nice Guy.
The Democratic Party, with the deference of the President, is about to capitulate once again to the GOP.
After winning the most decisive election in the last 70 years, with the most abundant political capital seen in D.C. since Reagan, the Democratic Party is about to cave in to the weakest Republican minority in history. The Republicans have bullied this party to the point where the mere hint of opposition to Democratic policies causes them to fold like a lawn chair.
Jesus H. Christ on a Toast Point, get a fucking backbone! When will we ever learn that the Democratic Leadership has all the character of wet toilet paper?
sent to my senators:
How can we accomplish the task of bringing this country back from the brink if we repeatedly trudge down the same road that got us here? Why do you consistently insist on capitulating to the GOP? Look up the definition of the word 'coward'. Tell Sen. Reid what it means.
You won the White House. Act like it! Forget bipartisanship, you can accomplish our goals without the people who got us in this mess. Yes you can!
The only bipartisanship I want to see is when we knock 'em to the ground, step on their backs and climb out of the hole they dug us into. Get to work!
Someone send some calcium supplements to Congress, stat!
Now the clean-up can begin. Not just the bunting and the confetti on the National Mall, but putting the People's House back together after eight years of Bush & Cheney trashing the place. Like the morning after a teenager's party at his parents' house, we have come home to a disaster zone filled with stinking trash and broken furniture. And like parents, we can't reach over and pull the gizzards out of the offending teen, we have to be responsible and put things right. Then we can start pulling out gizzards.
Which brings me to the steps being taken to clean this shit up. From personal experience, I know that if something gets fucked up, the last person to decide how to fix it is the person who fucked it up. If I trashed my parents' house, I don't get to decide how to clean it. I get the honor of picking up the garbage, hauling the trash, gluing the furniture back together and anything else my dad tells me to do. Dad gets the honor of standing over me with his belt, watching me work. What do you think would happen if I told the old man that he should pay someone else to do the clean up so I can go out with my friends? Yeah, I thought so...
This country is broken. Broken in as many ways as you can count. Every time the Republicans took control of the situation, they made it worse. They saw this country as their personal playground. They didn't have to take responsibility for anything because they were The Boss and Bosses pass the buck. Missing money wasn't the fault of the person who took it, but the fault of the accounting geek who found out. Tearing up the environment wasn't bad if you could show how to make a shit load of money doing it. If someone pissed you off, you just called them an enemy combatant and put them in jail; no charges, no trial, no problem - simple. No one was going to hold them accountable, no one was going to call them on their bullshit; it was Good Times in the Good Ol' USA!
And the Democrats stood by and watched. They didn't raise their hand and say shit. They stood by and watched their sibling party trash the House. They watched as the furniture got broke, they watched as the windows were shattered, watched as the cat was shaved - stood by and did nothing. Now, when the time has come to pay the piper, they're standing there as the Republicans point to them and say "They did it!"
Fuck That!
President Obama has made a lot of progress in setting down what needs to be done. But what he doesn't need to do is let the Republicans to decide what happens next. They've already made it perfectly clear what they want to do. They want someone else to clean up this mess. They want to outsource it to anyone but themselves. They feel that the policies that got us in this shit hole are good enough to get us out. All I have to say on that is:
Dude, if you're trying to get out of a shit hole and the only offer of help from the Republicans is another shovel, it's time to stop asking them for help. We need to get OUT of the hole first before we start digging a new one. Understand this: the Republican Party does not want to help. They only want you to fail. Being all 'Kumbaya, let's be bipartisan' is bullshit.
This is how to solicit help from the GOP: Kick 'em in the nuts, step on their back and climb out of the hole. When they've learned their lesson, admit their mistakex and apologize, then we might lower a rope.
Sounds pretty tough, right? Sounds kinda cold-hearted and cruel. In fact, it sounds damned familiar. This is what the GOP has been doing to the Democratic Party for 25 years.
Let me pause for a moment to thank John Amato for his links above. He goes off on the same tangent as I but with a much larger audience. Right On, Brother John!
Here's the clip from the Rachel Maddow Show with Economics Professor Paul Krugman and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR). LISTEN TO THEM! Why? Hell, Prof. Krugman is only the most recent recipient of the goddamn Noble Prize in Economics and Cong. DeFazio is only the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. They know of what they speak, they've been dealing with this shit for years.
Who have the Republicans got? Rush Limpdick and BillO the Clown.
The graphic she had up showed that 33% of the stimulus package will go to tax cuts and only 18% for infrastructure.
Wha? 18%?
There's enough broken shit in this country to keep us busy for decades and the longer we piss around the worse it's going to get. That bridge in Minneapolis didn't fall because it was brand new, it failed because it was neglected. When will the next bridge fail, the next highway collapse or water main explode? What happens to the Gulf Coast when hurricane season comes upon us and another Category 3, 4 or, goddess forbid, a 5 slams into it?
Tax cuts are not the answer, they are the fucking problem. I don't want a check for $300 if I have to drive over a bridge that's ready to crumble. Keep the fucking $300 and fix the goddamn bridge. It's time we recognize that this mess is ours now, as in belongs to us. We didn't make it but we have to fix it. We have to take ownership of it in order to put it to rest. We cannot count on the Republicans to help and we shouldn't...here's why...
When Ronald Reagan made his wingnut speech about how government was not the solution but the problem, he set into motion the wheels of the GOP Gravy Train. Once they realized that they had the power of Nixon and the face of a movie star; the sky was the limit. America became their playground and they had a ball. Reagan ran up the deficit and the national debt like a drunken sailor, blaming Democrats at every step. Lee Atwater (rot in Hell, you bastard!) was Reagan's Merlin. He wove a spell of doublespeak and nuance that framed the discourse to flummox the media and the Democrats. He actually had some of the Dems believing that it was their fault. Can you say 'Blue Dogs'? I knew you could.
When Reagan termed out, they tried to do the same thing with Poppa Bush but he was no Reagan. He screwed the pooch and got kicked to the curb by Bill Clinton. Nothing could have pissed off the Republicans more than to see a charismatic Southern jimbo like Clinton take the White House away so soon after Ronnie. Well, we saw what it did to the GOP. They went apoplectic. Lee Atwater, on his death bed, passed his magic wand to Karl Rove then died in agony. (That's Karma, bitch) Despite America's need for real leadership, Rove took out his Faustian contract and put Poppa Bush's Dim Son in the White House. Eight long fucking years of corruption, torture, graft, violations of civil and human rights, and pissing on the Constitution. The worst part... they did it without an iota of regret.
That sordid chunk of history shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Republican Party looks out for their own self interests, always thinking of '#1'. It also shows that they care as much for the American people as they do for their hired help - keep them in the dark, pay them next to nothing and if the authorities get too close, turn them over to the INS for the reward. Self-centered, greedy, soulless cretins all. They lie, cheat, steal, and would toss an old lady under a train to get to a nickel off the ground. They have NO honor - none, zip, zilch, nada, no way, no how, not now, not never. Trust and Republicans should be treated like matter/antimatter; they cannot exist in the same place at the same time.
So, President Obama, put away your bipartisan speeches and put on your hip waders ass kickers. Take out the bulk of those bullshit tax cuts and put back the projects that were removed. I would rather have a steady paycheck repairing a bridge or installing cable across the country than a single check for a few hundred dollars.
Besides, I would only use it to buy weed anyway.
Update: I changed 'hip waders' on a suggestion from BK at Ornery Bastard. Puts the cherry on the post.
The last eight years couldn't have been a bigger clusterfuck if you wrote it down as fiction. Even then, you'd have been laughed out of every publishing house in the country.
And we own it all to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. In a just world with real laws and real accountability, these two fools would have been stripped of their office, taken before a court of their peers, convicted and jailed for high treason. We can dream.
In reality, the abysmal record of this collection of toadies, yes men, pundits, and party bosses that serve as our nation's law enforcement officials will probably land these cretins a goddamn medal, a fat book deal and scrub history of every iota of truth about their nefarious deeds.
But that's not why I wrote this.
There's a buzz - OK, a rancor about what Pres. Elect Obama will do with all the Bush vermin infesting our government when he takes over. Lots of people, whom I respect greatly, want him to start proceeding now with investigations and indictments of the big players with the small fry served up next.
While there's only a few days left, and Bush (erg...it pains me to type this!) is STILL president. Obama has to be a bit cagey with his intentions for the legal proceedings to come. Bush still has lots of ink left in his Pardon Pen for a great number of people, people that deserve to be slapped in irons for long, hard years.
Should Obama make noises about commissions and special prosecutors, he might cause concern in Cheney's Dungeon which will translate to pardons for him, his lieutenants, vassals, and minions. We don't want that.
So, all I've heard from Obama has been a lot of talk about reconciliation, bi-partisanship, getting beyond the Bush years and starting a new page. Fucking garbage.
I hope that this is just Obama's way of deflecting attention away from his real intentions so he won't show his hand to Bush and Cheney. Get them to think he's all 'Kumbaya, we forgive you. Let's all hold hands across the world and have a big hug!'.
Don't think that for an instant, a fucking microsecond, that if the situations were reversed the Republicans would show the same consideration. They would (as they did in 2001) pounce like a hyena on a baby gazelle.
Laws were broken, people were killed, the good name of America was trashed, we tortured innocent people and sent many more to countries that could do even worse. How can we just look the other way and say "Oh,that Bush! He's such a minx! We forgive him this one time. Now, can we get back to work?"
A lot, and I mean a lot, of Congresscritters actually do feel like this should just be put on the shelf for history to judge. They're chickenshit bastards, each one. They are so terrified of the GOP that, even with the majorities the American people gave them in the last election, they still tremble at the thought of being called names. Among these Denebian Slime Devils, is one Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader.
Harry Reid must go through a case of Pampers a day. I've never seen a more cowardly, chickenshit, worthless excuse for a human male. My three year old grand niece saying 'Boo!' would make him soil himself. He's not the only one, add to his name each of the so-called Blue Dogs - or Bush Dogs. Together as a group, you couldn't come up with a single vertebrae, let alone an entire spinal column.
These cowards have to be put on notice. We prosecute law breakers in this country regardless of the consequences to your golf game or dinner invites. To bring this country back from the edge of the fucking abyss we may have to piss off a few Republicans - Heaven Forbid!
This shit makes me shudder with anger. How fucking dare they even consider letting off one of the most corrupt administrations since Warren Harding? Who's leading the party, slugs or soldiers?
In a little less than a week, we will see how this plays out. But I guarantee that I will be on this page with a vengeance if the Cowards of the Congress get their way.
Wait for the Inauguration, then hit them with subpoenas, congressional hearings, grand juries, the Big Chair, the fucking kitchen sink and Aunt Emma's wood stove. Bring the whole hornet's nest into the light of day and let the American people see just what went on in the Bush White House for the last eight years.
It's 2009 and in a just a few days, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.
There will be a lot of great speeches, lots of promises made and hope will rain down from above. We've worked hard for this moment and we should take a wee bit of time to revel in it.
But its scary out there. Shit just keeps piling up deeper and deeper, day by day. The economy is tanking far worse than people realize, unless you're one of the 'lucky duckies' who've already lost their job. Retailers took a solid blow to the gut this holiday season. The time of year they use to pay for the rest was more than a little disappointing. It was down right brutal.
Fear is growing across all sectors of the country. Manufacturing centers are shutting down. Some are closing for the holidays, others for the season, and some forever. Retailers are cutting back drastically, layoffs are growing stores are closing. Some of the most familiar names in retail will be closing their doors forever. The big box stores who can weather these times will do everything they can to stay profitable. It's an economic Katrina out there.
I have a job. Still. I hope. I've worked for two major corporations the last 15 years. From the trenches, this disaster looks surreal. I see the effect this has on my coworkers and managers. I see the effect it has on the upper level managers that answer to corporate icons. This shit is real and it is going to get worse. There is no stimulus that can come fast enough to help most of the people brought down by this collapse. We are the walking wounded.
People are scared. My parents have seen their retirement funds impacted. They were luckier than most. Some good people, hard working folks who more than earned their golden years, have seen their nest eggs scrambled and eaten by this collapse and nefarious investment goons like Bernie Madoff. There is no place in Hell deep enough for people like him, no punishment too extreme.
I have a lot of faith in Pres. Obama's desire to bring us out of this mess. However, even the most optimistic course of action will not have any effect for months, perhaps years. Realistically, knowing what we know about the bastards in the GOP and the spinelessness of the Democratic leadership, there is little to no reason for much optimism. Pres. Obama will have to fight and fight hard on every front to get some of his recovery plan in place. Pessimism is getting thick as a London fog around here.
Cynics like myself can be irritating but we are useful. We need to be realistic and grounded as we revel in the Inauguration celebration.
The first thing I suggest we do is shortly after the inauguration, march en masse to the Halls of Congress and hold Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi's feet to the fire. Sack up or sack out! The times need real fucking leadership, not wimpy capitulation disguised as political manoeuvrings.
The GOP is at its weakest point in a generation. The people are squarely in Obama's corner and the political capital has never been this high. We cannot squander it on pissy little baby steps. We have to be as bold as the man taking the helm. Face down the Republican Leadership. Call them on their bullshit! If they threaten to hold up legislation, let them! Let them face the Wrath of the People. I have my doubts about this. I don't think it's in Harry Reid's DNA to be combative. He's too close to some of the opposition. He's too concerned about how they'll 'feel' about him afterward.
Grow a spine, Senator. If they stand in your way... let them eat your dust as you push by them. The GOP is in no position to control the debate any more. They lost that right on Election Night. Don't give it back to them.
