The right doesn't own this.
I remember when Obama got elected. I was sitting with some friends, drinking beers and watching the states turn blue one after the other. I’m not some kind of liberal democrat, mind you, and I didn’t vote for Obama, but I have to admit that it was exciting and triumphant knowing that McCain and Palin weren’t headed to the White House. The neighborhood erupted in celebration as California and Ohio came back for Obama. We were going to have our first black president, and what’s more; an overwhelming popular reversal of the neoconservative hegemony we had endured for eight long years.
Even as we celebrated, filled with cheap beer and hope that democracy could claw us out from under the crushing weight of imperial corporatism, I was skeptical. I was skeptical for two reasons and as usual, I was completely correct. The first thing I doubted was Obama’s sincerity and courage. It’s easy to say things like ‘healthcare reform’ and ‘close Guantanamo,’ on the campaign trail. It’s another to actually do them. I knew he was facing a shadowy legion of ruthless international corporate interests who would rather assassinate him than compromise, and one way or another, these idealistic and righteous things were just not going to happen- but it’s the second reason I want to talk about now.
I knew that the Republicans would fight him tooth and nail. The neoconservatives had their way for two of the worst presidential terms in our nation’s history. Everything they touched turned to shit, starting, of course, with the 9/11 attacks. We then saw the entire political spectrum shift to the right. Militarism rose, xenophobia became commonplace, and nationalism became the refuge of every scoundrel. Inside this Trojan horse of blind nationalism skulked a multitude of other neoconservative values; low corporate taxes, privatization, a dismantling of education and science, militarization of police, violation of civil liberties- the list goes on and on. On his way out the door, Bush signed away trillions of dollars of printed money to the financial institutions that had just finished looting their customer’s accounts and consolidating their own control.
If the democrats took power and fixed even one thing, it could sink the GOP for decades. The RNC knew this. The military industrial complex knew this. The religious right knew this. I knew this. That’s why it’s clear in many cases throughout Obama’s term that the number one goal of the GOP was to sabotage Obama and indeed the entire political process. The damage they would do to the country could be spun and mitigated, and ultimately would not be worse (for them) than any success by Obama. This is exactly what they have done. They have moved the goal post on the president on a number of issues. They have created fiascoes out of routine functions. They have refused to compromise.
You see the Republicans don’t represent ordinary Americans. They represent the people who got them elected- the people they work for. The people they will literally go to work for when they leave office; huge multinational corporations. How, then, can they win elections? How can they muster people to vote? They can only do this by appealing to the darkest, least rational parts of our psyche. They rally the religious fundamentalists and the bigoted nationalists. In a word, the fools. There’s a reason that urban, college educated people are liberals. There’s a reason that Fox News viewers are the least informed on important issues. There’s a reason the republicans want to undermine education.
Misdirection. They took the bait.
Take veteran lobbyist and speaker of the House John Boehner’s speech last night. It is the quintessential example of lies and twisted rhetoric designed to deliberately mislead people about the past. I’m not talking about Nixon- Reagan era pro-business policies; I’m talking about the very recent history of only a few years ago. You don’t need an educated economist to go back and explain why ‘trickle-down,’ economics doesn’t work as advertised. You can simply look at Bush’s two terms in office, where the taxes on the rich were as low as they’ve ever been and industry, especially the financial industry, was dangerously unregulated. By their definitions, shouldn’t employment have skyrocketed? Shouldn’t American business have been booming?
Instead the companies hoarded their treasure- the treasure they squeezed from powerless borrowers. They bought one another and consolidated their control into even fewer hands than ever. If they employed people, it was overseas where wages are lower and worker’s benefits were not protected. They bought even more politicians and were able to afford a re-branding of the discredited neoconservative movement as “The Tea Party.” The name has changed, but the ideals have not changed one bit. Roll back the public safety net. More war. More police. More corporate- government partnership. Nationalism. Christianity. Xenophobia. Less civil liberty.
This 2012 presidential race is going to be a tough one. Obama has done so much failing recently that the normally disenfranchised people who, for once, got out and voted him into office might stay home this time around. The GOP has been working overtime setting the stage for a return to power with everything from media blitzes to Gerrymandering to budget manipulation.
In closing, most people in this country are reasonable. They like the Bill of Rights as is, they are fiscally conservative, socially liberal, and rather isolationist on foreign policy. But if you line up with the republican party as it is and has been since 9/11, then you are an idiot. You’ve been fooled over and over again and if you’re reluctant to challenge your own prejudices, it just might be because you’re a bigot too. You look like a sucker to me and the whole Republican/Corporate partnership. When our rather new democracy was being crafted the right to vote was only given to white landowning men. The thinking being that anyone else would not be well informed enough to make political decisions for the rest. Well everyone can vote now, and as a whole the American people have obligingly donned their harness- bit, blinders and yoke.
Compare Bush unemployment to that of Clinton and Obama. More people working, less on the system, less on the tit of the government. Spin it spin it. Least informed my ass.
Try it yourself, jackass. Go ahead, spend even 60 seconds researching shit and find out what a fucking tool you are. Go ahead, I’ll wait: http://www.bls.gov/data/
You are a totally uninformed individual. As it stands now, the unemployment rate is the highest it has been in 18 years. Who was president 18 years ago you might ask? Bill Clinton. Also, a democrat. There are more jobless Americans now than there have been at any time in the last 52 years. Who was president 52 years ago you might ask? Harry Truman. A democrat. Although Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president for over a decade leading up to that. He was a democrat too.
If you want to talk about political dishonesty, why dont you look at the dead people that voted democrat in the presidential election. Thanks right. People who were deceased somehow voted democrat in Illinois.
How about you also look at Rod R. Blagojevich, the previous governor of Illinois who tried to get a personal gain out of Obamas empty seat in the senate. Did I mention he is a democrat?
You said the republicans are using Gerrymandering to help win the upcoming election. Are you even aware of what it is? Probably not, but I dont feel like explaining it. I will say this: Gerrymandering has been illegal since 1842, but up until that time had been primarily used by the democrats.
Your saying Obama cant get anything done because of republicans? Try his lack of experience. He went from a community organizer to the president with less than 200 days in the senate in between. He has little to no experience what-so-ever.
I could keep refuting you all day, but this politically informed 17-year-old has school work. I suggest doing more research before you begin writing and voicing your opinion on the internet.
Served.
This article wasn’t really about Illinois politics, but you did touch on some other things I wrote about. First I’m going to need you to show me that unemployment peaked under Bill Clinton- I can’t find that data. Just give me a link.
As for the Gerrymandering- I’m talking about the Republican initiatives in Pennsylvania and Texas.
Basically I agree that Obama has done a terrible job dealing with the lockstep Republican machine, but I think there’s another reason behind your emotional, un-cited, and off-topic reply; this article is about you. Sounds like you’re a Republican, but that’s just a guess. If you are, then you’re either an evil teenage billionaire, or a dumb sucker. Here’s hoping you learn something before you’re old enough to vote against your own interests.
I couldn’t find the article again. It didn’t say that unemployment peaked under Clinton, but it stated that the unemployment rate is the highest it has been in the last 18 years. 18 years ago was during Clintons presidency. It was an msnbc article online.
I am not a Republican. When I can vote I will register as conservative.
Well you are a toolbox. I can practically see the puppet strings you’re dangling from. Let me guess, they lured you in with hate toward welfare queens and border jumpers, right? You don’t really like the gays, and you think that your taxes should be lower?
Now you’re a foot soldier for the super rich, and what did they break you off? Fucking sucker.
You are a totally uninformed individual. As it stands now, the unemployment rate is the highest it has been in 18 years. Who was president 18 years ago you might ask? Bill Clinton. Also, a democrat. There are more jobless Americans now than there have been at any time in the last 52 years. Who was president 52 years ago you might ask? Harry Truman. A democrat. Although Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president for over a decade leading up to that. He was a democrat too.
If you want to talk about political dishonesty, why dont you look at the dead people that voted democrat in the presidential election. Thanks right. People who were deceased somehow voted democrat in Illinois.
How about you also look at Rod R. Blagojevich, the previous governor of Illinois who tried to get a personal gain out of Obamas empty seat in the senate. Did I mention he is a democrat?
You said the republicans are using Gerrymandering to help win the upcoming election. Are you even aware of what it is? Probably not, but I dont feel like explaining it. I will say this: Gerrymandering has been illegal since 1842, but up until that time had been primarily used by the democrats.
Your saying Obama cant get anything done because of republicans? Try his lack of experience. He went from a community organizer to the president with less than 200 days in the senate in between. He has little to no experience what-so-ever.
I could keep refuting you all day, but this politically informed 17-year-old has school work. I suggest doing more research before you begin writing and voicing your opinion on the internet.
Caleb – do yourself a favor and do the most basic of research before typing.
I did not research where Google got it’s info, but from the looks of it Ronald Reagan was in charge the last time things where worse than now. 92 had a crappy peak – Bush Sr.
http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=z1ebjpgk2654c1_&met_y=unemployment_rate&tdim=true&fdim_y=seasonality:S&dl=en&hl=en&q=what+is+the+current+unemployment+rate#ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=unemployment_rate&fdim_y=seasonality:S&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=state&ifdim=state&tdim=true&hl=en&dl=en
I agree with Caleb. Like you’re a total Cadburry Egg, man. What we need are more of them Faberge Eggs. Fuck you! (Bullshit)
No, no what we need is less debate, more people swinging their cocks around, more fucking agendas, and yet more fucking agendas. Let’s all just get drunk and swing our fucking agendas around. Bullshit.
Pathos is fucking pathos; douchebags are douchebags; bullshit is bullshit; let’s move on.
Ron Paul is the solution. He appeals to both the left and right and hasnt changed his political views one bit over the past twenty years. Fuck the bullshit, fuck the patriot act, END THE FED!