the GOP, like a "sociopathic ex-boyfriend"

[mnaz]

some amusing commentary I read on AlterNet. (Amusing, and a little discouraging).

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/201 ... o-one-can/

I don’t know why the same guys who did such a bang-up job in the campaign can’t handle messaging now. Why have they have been so tone-deaf regarding the need for vigorous and relentless action on jobs, or, failing that, a fist-shaking rage at whoever (fat cats, the GOP) stands in the way of such action? Why couldn’t they process the mounting discomfort with the health care plan?

on the other hand, as I've said, I see fewer and fewer differences between the dems and the repubs at the federal level. they're both highly sold out. still, it's disappointing. obama's team, while it has whiffed on some of the big things (git'mo, etc.), has managed to accomplish a few "needed reforms" (even if they're terribly watered down). remember when hopes were so sky high for this team just 18 months ago? unrealistic, I suppose.

[mtmynd]

mnaz : "unrealistic, I suppose."

When any President has their hands tied by an unwilling majority in Congress, who should the finger of blame be pointed?

If a President willingly goes before Congress with offers for the country that will do the greatest good for the greatest number and that request is ignored by the majority, therein lies the biggest threat to positive change our country faces, IMHO.

The GOP once was a proud and respectable Party that played the game of politics fairly as could be expected, as did the Democrats. The smell of money has corrupted that GOP into Greed Over Principle and these guilty bastards become richer by accepting the bribes offered them like no other time in our country's history. I know there are Dems who must share the blame in this bribery scheme but not to the extent of this pathetic Party of No who has weakened the future of America drastically with their inability to accept the very change that will drive the country forward rather than in park while drinks are served to the corrupted in a decadent celebration of Greed.

Our future has no choice but to rely upon our leadership in order to strengthen the voice of the people and their needs. In my naivete I still hold faith in Obama to win out in the end to do the right thing for the general populace rather than the 1 percentile that controls so much of the Nation's wealth. Should Obama lose in the end I will be hard pressed to believe this one man did not try to make a better a world for his children and their children's children.

[mnaz]

oh, I agree, Cec. the GOP started it, whored itself out to much more complete corporate domination long ago. and the dems began to follow in earnest after the reagan years. the "blue dog" dems are a major reason why health care "reform" got done so crappily.

I don't really think it's O's "fault," per se, although like the author here suggests, he really hasn't led as forcefully as I thought he might in terms of taking the case directly to the people, and yes, maybe actually calling out FAUX and the like, and the juggernaut of deceit in general. hell, I think I might have set up a special team just to deal with those FAUX bastards full time. but anyway . . . I basically agree. if the system is broken or seriously corrupted, then there's only so much one man can do. even the president.

[mtmynd]

Here it is, some one yr and a half into his Presidency, and even tho all things are far from perfect regarding the world situation and the country's problems, but there is still 'something' about the man that leads me to believe he is far from being finished with bringing about what is important for the the Nation's future.

Unfortunately, like in today's MSNBC headlines, we read -



The North Iowa Tea Party... if this particular piece shit isn't bought and paid for by the GOP and their fear mongering bullshit, my name is fucking garbage. The GOP, once again, proves they are shameless in their stupidity and ignorant of the direction America must take in this new millenium. They are so goddamn blind to the reality that lays before us that it is a pure embarrassment in the eyes of the rest of the world. These people need to be arrested and fined for their absolute idiocy. period.

[mnaz]

the "tea party" is an enigma to me sometimes, though no mistaking it is right wing in origin. based on radio snippets I've heard, seems even some near-moderate types (supposedly) bought in, saying things like, "at this point we don't care if it's dem or repub, government is too far out of hand, they have too much power, and they take too much of our money, blablablah." (heard some of these folks on the progressive talk station here a few months back).

but yeah, no doubt, GOP "leadership" is behind much of this shit if not most. probably most. but man that billboard, that's over the top. that is some stinking excrement. good grief, did they really arrange that? did I over-estimate the rate of fade in the inevitable fading ignorance factor in this fast-changing world? wow. and if G-O-P is not (directly) responsible for these affronts, I suppose we can't rule out racist concerns either.

[mtmynd]

I'm sure some power people within the GOP are behind billboards like this. I have no doubt that the Republican/Conservative morons are terrified and have been ever since Obama was duly elected President. Prior to that time there was no such thing as a Tea Party.

The people who follow this TP deal are of 2 schools - scared to death and armed to defend themselves and the school of white superiority, i.e. those who honestly feel that the country was founded by whites and the whites should never relinquish control over that power. Both suit each other and find a sick solace within each others belief systems. Are there other than whites within the Tea Partiers...? I'm sure there are, but it is those folks who feel nobody can or should run the country but the white power.

What these folks seem to ignore in favor of their beliefs is that the entire world, including the U.S., has exploded in population over the past 30-50 years to the point, in our country, the combination of Afro-American and Hispanic-American has grown far larger than the Tea Partiers recognize or even accept... and those that realize the fact are letting their minds terrorize themselves in thinking these two races will overcome the whites and ... who knows? wipe us out? It's unfounded fears and that, IMHO, is the very foundation of what caused the Tea Party to grow every since Obama stepped into office.

[mnaz]

no doubt there's a white power angle to the movement (fear of "brown people," as Randi Rhodes puts it), but I can't get a good sense what percentage it really is. 3.2 percent? 53.2 percent? at any % it is unfounded paranoia, but I'm sure it exists.

I don't know what to make of the overall movement other than, well . . . various manifestations of paranoia, no doubt amplified by the ominous and dire economic developments of the last year and a half. a lot of people have lost a lot of their perceived wealth, on paper and otherwise, and they're pissed.

wiki actually traces the roots of the movement back to the financial collapse at the end of the bush admin.:

The Tea Party movement is a United States movement that emerged in 2009 through a series of locally and nationally coordinated protests.[1][2][3][4] The protests are partially in response to several Federal laws: the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ("bailout"),[5] the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("stimulus package"),[6][7] and the 2009–2010 health care reform bills.[8]

another thing about that fucked up billboard, it's not even anywhere near competent history or political science. hitler's regime was fascist, not "socialist," similar in nature to what these fuckers voted for in 2000 and 2004. Imagine that!

[mtmynd]

"wiki actually traces the roots of the movement back to the financial collapse at the end of the bush admin."

yes, I see that. In my fading memory I really have no recall of the movement back in '08... only because they have become so blatant since in the two years since, Obama's time where they are doing these outlandish comparisons as witnessed on that billboard.

That type of media coverage, billboards, has to have a source of monies and the obvious is some radical, Obama hating right wing assholes who think they can run the country better than what the majority would like to see. "The North Iowa Tea Party" probably doesn't even have enough members to cough up the funds to buy a page in the Des Moines Times back page.

[mnaz]

the power-obsessed corporatist right wing capitalized on the movement, which grew to new heights after O took office. FAUX News (and other GOP organizations) "fanned the flames" (and poured on the fuel). no doubt the GOP has given "behind-the-scenes" aid to some of these fringe nutjob groups. seems likely, at least. I mean, we're talking about karl rove types, right? rove certainly had no compunction working openly with folks such as those "swift boat" thugs.

[mtmynd]

the GOP is horribly out of line with anything progressive (small 'p'). they are like getting 4 year olds to eat broccoli when it comes to doing anything positive for the country.

[mnaz]

we've really come to a crossroads. complete trust in the (self-monitored) corporate privatization of everything? or government maintaining responsibility for some key functions? that's been one of the central philosophical debates in politics, especially beginning with the reagan years. the corporatists believe letting corporations have "free run" of the place will actually make society better in the long run, and bu$hco pushed this belief to new heights. I should think by now that everyone can see the dangerous shortcomings of such a philosophy, with the corruption-and-greed-fueled financial meltdown, lack of oversight re: BP and the horrendous spill, the blatant abuses of blackwater usa in iraq, and other such things.

[mtmynd]

in full agreement with you on that, amigo. the government is seen by the GOP as an intrusion on the so-called free market. I prefer to see the government as a grandfather-figure that makes sure there's no 'hanky panky' going on behind closed doors that isn't benefiting the 'family of Americans'... and this is generally been the attitude behind the Democrat Party... the party of the people, etc, etc.. I still see Obama as that historical figurehead and hope he continues. that, IMHO, would only go to strengthen the party but the country as a whole.

btw: comment on the over-used expression by the GOP : "the government is too big." the country is big... there are 308 million plus Americans and when a country gets that populated, the only recourse is a 'big government', albeit a fair and just government that represents the people and not that very small minority that controls over 24% or the national economy.

[mnaz]

yes, and this whole nonsense fearmongering muck-raking about "socialism." "socialism" has always been part of the mix. and don't think the corporatists aren't into socialism (effectively) when they ask Joe Taxpayer to bail out their millionaire corporate cronies, or ask his sons and daughters to go off and fight their oil wars. it's like a few pundits have been saying the last few years-- "privatize the profits and socialize the losses." a sweetheart deal for a few.

[mtmynd]

Socialism... that fearful word that has haunted the U.S. for a long, long time, rears it's head once again in the halls of Congress from the terror-freaks, the current crop of the GOP, the same folks who drained the Treasury, waged war against Iraq and Afghanistan, lowered taxes for the wealthy and insist that any government programs 'smell' of that horrid idea, 'big government'. Meanwhile, under their breath, they dream of 'big corporate rule'... and the chance to grab some of that 'big cash' by voting for the Corporocracy.