Just Say No...Over and Over and Over

We all thought they were crazy when, after the pounding they got in the 2008 elections, the Republicans just shouted the same thing, but louder.  Repeating the dreaded "Obama--Pelosi--Reid" trilogy over and over and over again.  Accusing the Democrats of being left-wing radicals, and the more we moved right in the spirit of compromise, the more they accused us of being left-wing radicals.  Of refusing to listen to them.  Of refusing to compromise.

And, after two years of listening to the repeated lies and inconsistencies over and over and over, I see the voters hypnotically nodding their heads, right along with the discordant song Boehner and Demint are singing.

And what have the Republicans -- in one voice, over and over and over -- been telling us we want?  We want more conservative policies, meaning "cut taxes", which is about as deep as today's conservatives get.  We want the government to stop taking money away from businesses, because that's why we don't have jobs.

What's funny is that I don't even hear Democrats yelling back that it won't work because it didn't work before.  The more the republicans yell at the voters about us, the more defensive we get.

Remember when we first won in 2008, and we laughed in 2009 when the republicans accused us of not doing what they wanted?

What's also funny is that, even though the republicans have been saying in so many words that the changes they will make when they are elected is to return to the smaller Bush's fiscal policies, the polls are showing that the voters believe they will do things differently than they did the last time they were in charge of the country.

So we're in for a long election season, and I'm afraid a long two more years.  Of course, when they get elected, as long as they tell us we're happy to have them in charge, maybe it won't be so bad.  Unfortunately though, I believe they will continue to tell us it's the fault of Obama -- Pelosi --- and Reid, as we sink into the depths of our corporate-controlled despair.

Just Do It

Howard Zinn, famous for his People's History of the United States, died recently.  I miss him enormously.  So as we move into this election season, and it promises not to disappoint in triviality, misinformation and hate, I have been reading about the South.  I read Blue Dixie by Bob Moser, which I highly recommend, the thesis of which is the South really is a progressive majority, just waiting for some Democrats to take notice.  Oh, and also be progressive and not just imitation republicans.

I then discovered a book by Howard Zinn, called The Southern Mystique, which compiles three essays from 1959 to 1964, when Zinn was a young idealist teaching at Spellman College in Georgia.  The essays describe in I-was-there detail the struggles for desegregation in Georgia.  I was bowled over by the relevance of what Zinn was describing 45 years ago.  Just insert "Hispanic", "gay", or "Moslem" and there they are, the same bigots making the same kinds of stupid statements, and throwing their weight around while whining about being victimized.  And there's the Democratic administration, being cautious about making statements in support of the group that is being denied its rights for fear of offending the politicians on the other side that have absolutely no intention of compromising anyway.

I'm wondering about the Kennedys, Jack and Bobby, who refused to take a stand against the racism in Albany, Georgia, instead verbalizing support for the rights of the local communities and praise for law and order.  Is it the youthful idealism that they have in common with Obama, that naive belief that if you expect good from people they will be good?  Is it insecurity due to their young rise to power?

I want Barack Obama to read Zinn's words, and learn his lessons.  You need to stand strong for the rights of the individual.  You need to put your voice behind the laws of the Federal Government, and put the power of your presidency behind the law.  Stop equivocating.  We need a leader.

Because when gays have equal rights, when mosques can be built in any community, when Latinos are not harrassed for walking the streets of their towns, the fearmongers will go on to another topic, and we can go back to our lives, and those lives will be the better for the change.

Remember Change???

Everyone Has a Bad Day

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is one of my favorite people.  He is witty, and I believe, attempts to answer questions honestly, and respects the people who day after day hurl questions at him, hoping to get an answer that will make news, if not make Gibbs' day. 

But just as with flight attendants, even White House Press Secretaries have an occasional bad day.

Call it a consequence of the dog days of summer.

But Gibbs' controversial attack on the left needs to be examined by the White House, because it represents an attitude that has caused Obama's supporters on the left concern for awhile.

We understood the Wall Street bailout, coming during the changing of the administration, but we wondered why this literally golden opportunity to curb the wild extravagances of salaries and risk-taking was passed up.

When our President, who we thought was horrified by the abuses in Iraq and Afganistan, from prisoner abuse to Halliburton's bilking of the government, did not step up to demand a thorough investigation, we were dumbfounded.

And when Barack Obama did not stand up and use his bully pulpit to demand a public option, but allowed Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to struggle for months in the fight against one of the ugliest Republican Congressional blocks ever, we began to be infuriated.

And then our President, who we believed in with our hearts and souls, told us that we needed to be more willing to accept compromise.

I hate hearing the poll numbers.  Yet I understand them.  I too distrust the Congress, but like many Americans, it is because attempts to compromise have resulted in ever more inaction, in a time where not just action, but dramatic action, is demanded.

And I too, if asked, would have to say I am disappointed in President Obama's performance.  When he has stood up against his opposition, he has had some amazing accomplishments.   But the opposition is ferocious.  And uncompromising.  And we need a leader who will be consistent in his support for the goals and values he declared in his campaign.

So, no, I don't get my critical attitude from Olbermann or Maddow.  It comes from the same place Obama got his critical values, the ones that made him want to run for office and effect change.  Our ideals were once the same, and the White House needs to get back in touch with that.

And Robert, if you do that, I will forgive you your bad day.