I can’t blame the Republicans for what happened yesterday. They did what they do… win elections by any means necessary. They are expert at running campaigns based on fear and misdirection. When they aren’t solid on issues, they create new ones that play much better… the “Boogieman” issues that they can use to make people afraid and play on that fear and insecurity.
I’ve been saying it for years; the primary Republican concern is the well-being of business. Everything else is merely the window-dressing used to get elected. They glommed on to religion and values by demonizing gays and abortion providers and naughty words on TV. (Sex is out but blood-spattering violence is fine!) Every so often, they throw a bone to that crowd and appoint some tight-sphinctered moralist to a watchdog position in the FCC or the Justice Dept. That leaves them free to dismantle the industry regulation that saves lives but costs money.
So I don’t blame a snake for being a snake. I blame the Democrats and Independents that sat on their button-pushing thumbs and stayed home. I blame the people that only came out in 2008 to support their brother Barack and be a part of history, but didn’t bother to come back again to ensure he could have people around to work with him.
I blame the gullible who believe the onslaught of negative, misleading ads, bought and paid for by big-moneyed interests from inside this country and out.
I blame the Roberts court that thought it would be a good idea for billionaires to pay for a flood of advertisement designed specifically to sway people.
I blame the Democrats that didn’t have enough balls among them to get shit done when they had the chance. One thing I’ll give The Shrub credit for is ramming his issues through Congress.
He basically said, “Don’t like this bill? Tough shit. We won.”
We should have done the same thing. Now we have two years of gridlock and watered down bills to look forward to. Meanwhile, the country spirals down the drain.
Random thought: John Boehner is so orange, when I carved his face in a pumpkin last weekend, three Insurance Industry lobbyists showed up to give him checks to distribute on the House floor.
I saw an article already this morning about how Boehner wants to “Shelve the health care monstrosity.” Which part? The part where your 20-something kids can be carried on your insurance? The part where you can’t be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition? The part where your kids are covered? Please remember that they are NOT going to end the requirement to buy insurance… at least not without a great deal of attention and pressure brought to bear. The insurance industry loves that part of health care reform. They just don’t want to have to do anything that might require them to pay for anyone’s health care.
He’s also promising limited government. I wonder if that means they’re going to stop the government from limiting the right of its citizens to marry or adopt. Or limit the government’s push into the decisions regarding a person’s reproductive choices. Or limit the broadcast of research done on the government’s dime, when it contrasts with certain government official’s desired results. Will Boehner’s government limit the medical choices of those that suffer from debilitating diseases, from cancer to Parkinson’s?
I’m not holding my breath. I believe they’ll mostly concentrate on limiting big business’s exposure to anything that may decrease profits. That, my friends, is the Republican Prime Directive. Everything else is just window dressing.
16 comments:
I voted, but being in the great state of Utah, my vote was wasted because of all the freaking sheep republicans here. I'm pissed.
Dazee,
You have it the way Republicans have it in Baltimore. The Dems could run a turnip against the Republicans and win.
At least you have lots of pretty scenery and nature. All we get for the trouble is smog, congestion and crime.
Nancy Pelosi to Diane Sawyer: "When I have time, I will call you up and tell you how I FEEL."
So much for sophmoric questions.
He basically said, "Don’t like this bill? Tough shit. We won."
It's hard, because I want to play fair. I don't want the other side forcing all of their legislation through, so I don't want my side to do it, either. But when you have one side who spitefully derails everything the President suggests just because he's . . . Black? . . . smart? . . . actually knows the law? . . . it's difficult not to want to cram my leftwing nutjob legislation down their hateful little throats.
Anyone who votes one party one election and then switches the next election because they're "frustrated" should be excused of his voting rights. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, Ohio.
"I blame the Democrats that didn’t have enough balls among them to get shit done when they had the chance."
Yes, exactly. And for everyone, party aside, on giving up too soon.
Long road ahead of us, I'm afraid.
Shit.
Mary Ann,
"Gee, Diane, how would YOU feel if you were nothing but a fucking punching bag for the last 4 years?"
Mundane,
Big difference between the Repubs and the Dems; They will do whatever it takes to get their way. We want to make everybody happy while we're doing it.
Again, I point to our childish need for immediate gratification, egged on by Fox News and talk radio. Does no one understand that there are no switches to be flipped?
They cry about limiting government but crucify Obama for not fixing everything NOW!
Sherry,
A long road with gridlocked traffic. Nothing's moving anywhere.
OK, so I'm not going to really get into this in depth because my views differ from yours. I am long winded, though, so I'm going to TRY to be succinct.
I agree that many people were lackadaisical in this election and if they had not been, the results would have likely been different in many areas.
I would, however, like to applaud the people who DID show up for one thing: voting for something they believed in.
I, personally, am not a fan of a lot of Obama's policies. I, personally, am not a fan of the way both major parties run things. I hate most politicians and, being from Louisiana, have a tendency to vote for the lesser of two evils.
While I find it somewhat offensive to say that only the republicans campaign on fear mongering and misinformation, I cannot deny that they do. The dems, however, do it as well.
I don't want everything fixed "now", nor do I necessarily want a more limited government. I just want it done MY way LOL
What the people showed last night - the ones who CARED ENOUGH TO VOTE - was that the way things have been going the last 2 years is not the way they would like. It's not that the best candidates won. It's not that the "better party" won (b/c let's face it - I'd like to start over with a completely new congress) and it's not that "anti-obama" or "tea partiers" won. It's that people said "whoa whoa whoa... I have been paying a little bit of attention to some things and I'm not a fan of that".
I don't think Obama is a bad president. I completely recognize that your country is in a shithole state right now and has been my entire life. NOBODY is going to be able to change it to where it's the way *I* like it.
I'd like to see reform of old policies before new ones are put in place. Fix medicare & medicaid before adding the new healthcare plan. Stuff like that.
In my pipe dream world, this midterm election makes people pay attention so that the NEXT election there are only INFORMED voters and every damn one of them shows up.
I think I gave 4 cents. Sorry.
psst: The part where you can’t be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition?
There are already federal laws in place requiring that this not happen if you have had ANY sort of insurance within 6 months of a group plan (including COBRA). MAYBE not individual, (I can't remember), but a group plan. So... I don't see that as an issue.
At least that nutjob in Delaware lost. THANK GOD.
You said it, Bluz. Limiting the government of all things socially important. Why can't the government focus simply on health care, spending and employment? Why do they have to make abortions and gay marriage top priority? I...I just don't get it. Priorities, people. Priorities. Focus on the fact that our country is sinking, we're not stopping global warming and everyone except those who work hard are getting richer.
Democrat or Republican, we need SOMETHING. Anything.
If we've learned anything, it's that everything can change in two years. The day after the 2008 election, the Republicans were dead and burried... for years. Now the pendelum has swung back the other way. Who knows what 2012 will bring. No one can say. Fact is, I'd rather lose this election than the next one.
Love Senate Whip McConnell's statement. "Job #1 now is to make sure that Obama is a one-term president." Hmmm. Whatever happened to jobs being the #1 priority? Oh, that was before the election....
Cassie - no kidding! Abortions & gay marriage? REALLY?!
Plus, I love how places like GM employ thousands of people all over the world, possibly including child laborers, yet can't keep the people int THIS country employed. Why? Because in india, singapore & china, it's $1/day for those people. Here, it's much more. Yet we turn a blind eye, the company gets stupid republican TAX CUTS for shipping the jobs elsewhere, etc.
Tort reform.
Lobby reform.
No pork.
Miley,
Your first comment came out fine… not sure what you’re seeing. Sometimes Blogger doesn’t post it right away but it shows up later. But I saw your first comment right after you posted it. I was heading for bed so I didn’t feel like answering right then.
Republicans wrote the modern book on campaigns of misinformation, as far as I’m concerned. Hell, there’s even a term for it… Remember “Swiftboating?” You know, that’s when you find some anonymous, well financed people with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, have them set up a PAC, then invent some attack issue to beat into the ground, and then as soon as the election is over, the issue fades away and is never heard about again.
It’s even easier now, after the Roberts court decision on free corporate “speech”, so you have groups like the Rove’s Chamber of Commerce and megabucks financiers like the Koch brothers placing zillions of dollars in advertising for nothing but attack ads. They can make any charges and allegations they can think of and there is zero recourse, other than educating ones self on the issue. (Which is rarer than a thick steak.)
To an extent, all political advertising is on shaky ground. One of the most common things is saying “He voted against this or that…” It may be technically true but more likely it was one item on a huge appropriations bill that had a greater need to get passed. So it’s technically true but completely misleading.
Then there’s the out and out falsehood about how our taxes went up. They didn’t, unless you’re loaded. And more misdirection about the scary-named “death tax” that only kicks in when you’re inheriting millions. The way the Republicans carry on about that, you’d think the taxman is showing up at the wake. But it’s the kind of issue that shows how the Republicans are primarily concerned with the welfare of the wealthy. The rest is just shit to use to get elected.
Republicans scream about the Stimulus, but they’re also right there in line with their hand out for the money, then they stand there and campaign on how they brought jobs to their state or district. Like it or not, the Stimulus brought the country back from the edge of depression. It might now have been executed flawlessly, but it the country would have been screwed without it.
They also scream about the bank bailouts, which were initiated under Republican control. And out of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent, all but $50 billion have been recovered. Yet, who’s out there campaigning about bank bailouts? The Republicans/Teabaggers. Yet they ALSO want to get rid of the banking regulations that were just put in place, to prevent that kind of bank failure in the first place.
It’s completely disingenuous and completely commonplace. I don’t see the Democrats doing anything even close to that level of misdirection and hypocrisy.
Lastly, about pre-existing conditions, that’s of little use to those that don’t have insurance in the first place, of which there are millions. And when they show up in the emergency room and get treatment anyway, it’s you and I that foot the bill. So why not make the care more efficient and not based in the ER?
So how’s that for long-winded?
MBG,
Thanks goodness for small miracles. That at least goes to show that there are more rational people in Delaware than sex-fearing, self-fearing, progress-fearing whack-a-loons.
If Christine O’Donnell wasn’t cute, she couldn’t have been nominated for PTA Secretary, let along Senator.
Cassie,
I don’t think they really DO care about abortion or gay marriage. They only use it as a tool to get elected. Then every once in a while, they have to actually deliver something so they can KEEP using that strategy. So that’s why you saw that big loud campaign about abortion insurance coverage during the health care reform debate.
You’ll never see Republicans address the environment because that would be bad for business. That’s why you see them contort themselves the way they do to deny that “man” has anything to do with climate change. A) It will cost businesses money to change their behavior to reduce emissions and/or conserve. B) The energy industry, (Oil, coal, and even Forestry) have a vested interest in keeping people doing exactly what they’re doing… burning fossil fuels. It’s no accident they are all HUGE Republican donors.
Bagger,
The Republicans have been issuing statements like McConnell’s all along, but no one has been paying attention. Except on Fox, where they consider that kind of sentiment a virtue.
Also, Eric Cantor issued a statement today that the Republican-led committees will be spending more time “investigating and exposing lapses in the Obama administration.” There is zero purpose to this other than to create campaign issues for 2012. Welcome to 1998 all over again.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101104/ap_on_bi_ge/us_house_cantor
Miley (again),
I agree with a lot there.
Tort reform: agreed.
Lobby reform: agreed.
No pork: well, yes, in theory. But one man’s pork is another man’s vital public service. It’s very hard to define. But I’ll tell you this… the pork should at least be public! No more anonymous earmarks. If they want the cash, the details need to be identified.
It gave me an error the first time.
Down here, the campaigns are run EXACTLY the same.
I honestly don't give a crap if so-and-so voted for stem cell research if that's what his constituents wanted.
Unfortunately the nitpicking mudslinging falsification campaigns have been around since... Well, since John Adams and Thomas Jefferson ran to be the 2nd president of the US.
Adams won, the Federalists (thanks to Alexander Hamilton, among others) went against him, Jefferson won the next election.
It's the same crap every time.
I know the pork thing and I get WHY people do it, I just wish there was more integrity in the whole system
Oh wait. There goes my pipe dream again.
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