Monday, October 11, 2010

MONDAY MONDAY

Sometimes I wish I had young assistants better versed in the intricacies of the web to post links to all the statistical evidence out there that Obama and the Dems—as inept as they have proven to be in getting their accomplishments recognized and in countering the right's humongous influence on the media—have slowed, stopped or reversed, as the case may be, much of the damage the Republicans did to our country when they had control of the entire federal government and all its branches.

But then, no amount of evidence can convince those brainwashed into the right's perspective that either its positions are the only correct ones, or that there's no point in even bothering to vote because both party's and all politics are the same or similar enough to not warrant participation in the democratic system of electoral politics at all.

I know it's desperate right now, or at least feels that way to many folks, but the answer is not more Republicanism, the same rightwing policies that led us into this seemingly desperate situation. There is a reason when you travel in Europe and much of Asia the roads aren't potholed, the mass transit systems run smoother and faster, the infrastructure is new or properly maintained and not crumbling like much of ours, and the reason is that their governments spend more on these things and raise the revenue by taxes that the people understand go to making these things possible.

Ever since the so-called "Reagan revolution" that destroyed the unions that made wage earners capable of owning houses and sending kids to college on one income, the idea that "government is the problem" has taken hold, especially after rightwing Republican administrations, including Reagan's and the last one, deliberately hobble government agencies and policies (fewer regulators, allowing corporate lobbyists to write the laws for their own industries, putting unqualified political cronies in positions of authority so when crises hit they screw up (Katrina anyone?) etc.) and then point at the failed results as evidence that government doesn't work!

Life is too short to stress out over the right's lies and distortions and even destruction of so much of what makes this country great, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't vote in the elections next month. Because there is a great difference between those who would extend unemployment benefits in economic hard times (Democrats) and those would vote against that (Republicans) and those who would vote for extending healthcare benefits (Ds) and those who wouldn't (Rs) and those who would nominate and vote in a rightwing Supreme Court justice who votes to give corporations the same rights as individuals though not the same tax status etc. (Rs) or a justice who recognizes that the Constitution does not give anyone other than individuals those rights (Ds), et-endlessly-cetera.

Cynicism and/or the feeling of futility that the right's overwhelming media influence has generated (along with the center's—i.e. Democrats, who for the most part are no more "left" than traditional Republicanism pre-rightwing takeover—failure to outmaneuver the right) among those of us who don't share their views is understandable but not very useful or productive.

If I was younger I'd run for office myself just to have a platform to voice counter arguments to the right's and expose their lies and distortions. I did it back when I was younger and though I didn't win or even get that high a percentage of the vote, I still had an impact, along with so many others at the time, an impact that did lead to some pretty major changes that made this country more free, more equal, and more tolerant. But I can still vote, and intend to, and intend to continue to encourage anyone who I come in contact with to vote as well and to vote for their own interests which have been dumped on by the rightwing Republicans for decades now.

[PS: And yes "lefties" and "liberals" and "progressives" have good reason to believe that the Dems are too often influenced if not outright controlled by corporate interests as well, but as history has demonstrated over and over again, there is much more room for influencing Democratic administrations and politicians to move in the direction of more individual rights and more control of corporations than there is Republicans. There's a reason Wall Street is sinking tons of money into Republican candidates and the few Wall Street Dems are sitting on their money this go round, because Obama and the Dems have introduced regulations that no matter how much you may think don't go far enough, went far enough to piss off wealthy Wall Street Democrats.]

[PPS: Read Paul Krugman's NY Times column for today after I wrote the above, and he makes a much more cogent argument for the basis of what I'm saying.]

28 comments:

Jamie Rose said...

Here here Lals.

J

JIm said...
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Anonymous said...

raise taxes... YEAH!
cut services and Social Security...YES!
that will "solve our problems"

why not just drop these stupid fucking wars? then we can rebuild our sewer lines so that all of the crap can
freely flow?

JIm said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Robert G. Zuckerman said...

Michael, most likely the Jims of the world will never change their positions, no matter how many facts are presented to them. They ignore, negate and twist anything that doesn't conform to their fear, hatred, ignorance, self-righteousness and prejudice. It's like gun lovers forget why they want guns in the first place - in order to protect and defend. When presented with options that just may reduce or eliminate the source of that which requires protection and defense from, such as education, enlightenment, the fostering of tolearnce, acceptance and forgiveness, they vehemently choose guns anyway not realizing that it will perpetuate and prolong the problem they claim they wish to solve.

JIm said...

Robert,
Do you know what planet you are on? Guns?? Did you impute from Michael's Deletion that I was opining on guns. Your "Liberal Logic" shines through.

To repeat, Krugman is wrong, out of touch, stupid, because he thinks the Dem's problem is messaging. The Dem's problem is that socialism does not work and never has worked and Obamanomics is socialism.

PS- Michael, Thank You Sir, May I have another (Deletion)? Do you guys have any idea what losers you and your philosophy are? Onward to November 2nd. Sleep well sweet ignorant liberals. May you awake in a free society that respects individual liberties and the Founding Documents. Of course that would necessitate the defeat of Obama/Pelosi/Reid.

Anonymous said...

It is not so much the bitterness, hatred, and anger that I find so objectionable w/ these folks, but their pettiness. I can even take the distortions and outright lies, but the pettiness really nauseates me. Beyond contempt...Please Jim, just go away.

JIm said...

US Taxpayer funding for abortion in Obamacare is leading to the closure of Catholic Hospitals. Sister Jemma and Monseignor McCarthy would not be happy.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/10/11/the-presidents-nun-obamacare-s/3

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

"Liberals" "Socialists" "Victory Mosque" "Obamanomics" "Obamacare" -- name calling, labeling, sloganeering, trying to reduce complex human issues to buzzwords only perpetuates that which you purportedly allege to care about. Ignoring and failing to acknowledge the facts and actual achievments that have occured deprive power and validity from your position. For your position to have validity and power, it must acknowldege the facts, many of which have been cited in this blog over time.

Anonymous said...

"Do you guys have any idea what losers you and your philosophy are? Onward to November 2nd. Sleep well sweet ignorant liberals. " - Jlm

M,
IMHO, allowing this poster to continue to post on your blog is akin to permitting hateful, incendiary anti-gay rhetoric at the funeral of a fallen soldier in the name of upholding the first amendment. What value does he bring to this board? He obviously will not go away on his own accord. Use the veto, baby!

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

Veto-ing Jim is like putting a bandaid on something that needs to be healed from within. Cutting him from this blog because he says things we don't agree with or like to hear will not make him and the many others like him go away. From my perspective, let Jim wail as his rants are his own undoing.

By the way, Jim, do you have your own blog? It's free and you can sound off all you want. Thanks to the socialist commies who created the internet.

JIm said...

Robert,
I like Reagan's truth. We win! You lose! By "you" I mean socialism/Obamanomics and hopefully (but the outcome is very much in doubt) militant Islam.

PS Anonymous, Where did the gay stuff come from? Man, you guys are really reaching. Talk about anything except Obamanomics killing jobs. That crap worked 2 years ago when many were a glow with the "Hopey Changey" stuff. People are wide awake now. That sort of stuff will not work these days.

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

Jim, it was Bushanomics that killed jobs. It didn't start with Obama. It started and deepened with Bushanomics and Bushockandawe. Have the cajones to admit reality Jim. That's what I'm talking about. Your whole agenda is based on prejudice. "Pre" "judice."

Lally said...

Wow. Just away from the computer overnight for a few hours and unable to delete the silliness of continuing to call Obama and Democrats names (i.e."socialists"! no, they're Democrats! most of them in the center, some as far to the right as old style conservative Republicans, but because the right moved the goalposts so that anything close to the center is now "socialism" etc.). Would have deleted those silly lies, whether they have gained traction among the Faux News brainwashed populace or not (does not make them true), but will leave them now for evidence of how off the tracks the Obama haters and two party system haters have become. I can't think of a clearer examples of anti-democratic, anti-Constitutional government, double-talk, newsspeak distortions of reality. So for now they'll stand. And I appreciate your desire to allow them to continue Robert, but after a while they become too toxic for even me.

JIm said...

Robert,
I have readly admitted that Bush era Republicans overspent but the electorate seems poised to deem the Dems more destructive to employment, with unemployment to be at or near 10% for the forseeable future. Could we perhaps see a replay of the 1894
election with switch of a 100+ seats. Unemployed and Constitutinal loving Americans can hope and work for that. I suspect my election night will be happier than yours and Mike's.

Anonymous said...

I can hardly wait for the movie-version of this to come out...shoooting!
meanwhile

what IS going on in the Gulf? In New Orleans?

and

how come Kagan has decided to 're-cuse' herself from mor than 50 % of the cases on the Supreme Court's docket? that means a 4/4 dead-locked court

and that means State's courts decisions stand!

... according to The Constitution...

Illegals better run out of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and move into Hollywood!

Lally said...

Kagan was U.S. Solicitor General before being appointed to the court, so any cases she worked on in that capacity she has to recuse herself from. What's more interesting is why Thomas doesn't recuse himself from anything having to do with rightwing politics since his wife is now one of the most active speakers of the Tea Party movement and rightwing causes and she and he are the couple du jour of the right and also are two of the bigger donors and fundraisers for the right.

Lally said...

Oh, and if anyone wants to bother, you can go back to the very beginnings of this blog, when Bush/Cheney ruled, and find the rightwing troll(s) defending Bush/Cheney on EVERYTHING! It wasn't until they were gone that the right began including Bush/Cheney policies as part of the problem to make them seem like they weren't the lockstep rightwing bullies they are, including our main troll on this blog. It's all too hypocritical to even bother with, except they have the corporate (including foreign) money to push their propaganda ala Belusconi's control of the Italian media and now Rupert Murdoch's of much of England's and ours. And there are enough relatively smart people willing to seel their services for a good price to the right and come up with slogans and anti-think tank "white papers" to obfuscate the issues and confuse at least part of the ill-informed public into thinking that a democratically elected government is anti-democratic if the results don't favor the right, etc.

JIm said...

Mike,
You are correct in that I defended Bush on the war on Islamic Terrorism. You are incorrect about my defending the Republican's spending habits. I also criticized McCain as my least favorite Republican candidate since I viewed him as Democrat lite. As I remember McCain was your favorite Republican.

PS If you find a quote of mine that contradicts my assertion, I will recant. I do not think that will happen.

Anonymous said...

"We are still blessfully attack free. I don't think reports accompllished that. Congress pursuing their right to investigate the executive branch did not accomplish that. It is within the realm of possibility that vigorous exective lead offense aainst folks who wish to kill us accomplished that."

Your quote from 2007. I guess you won't agree now that it's a democrat in office.

JIm said...

Wow, Anonymous, you seem to have to much time on your hands. I must admit that I like my phrasology if not my spelling. Actually Obama has pursued most of Bush's war policy which has gotten him trouble with his base. He has expanded Predator attacks. There are even recent reports that Patraeus led surge in Afganistan is meeting with some success. The only problem I have is announcing a date certain for withdrawal much puts our allies and our troops in more danger.

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

We sit back and watch it in soundbite on the nooz, the surge, what is this 'war' but a money pit lining someone's pockets while we fill our shopping baskets and gas tanks at will? What the f*ck?? We've been Bushwacked. And the so-called Constitution lovers, most of them don't know jack about the Constitution even while invoking it mindlessly.

JIm said...

Robert,
I assume you feel Obamawacked also, since he continues and expands W's war Afganistan war policy. I believe even Biden said Bush deserved some credit for the seemingly successfull conclusion of Iraq.

I have been to four or five Tea Party gatherings at the Colorado State Capital building. The hottest selling items are copies of the Founding Documents and interpertations of the documents and its history. I suspect as a group, the Tea Party Folks are the most Constitutional savvy political movement in US history. I assume you speak with all the knowledge and authority of one who has never attended a Tea Party meeting and has not looked at the founding documents since your school days.

JIm said...
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Robert G. Zuckerman said...

You know what happens when you "ass-u-me" Jim. In fact, I carry with me everywhere a small booklet purchased at the New York Public Library some twenty years ago that contains verbatim the entire Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. It's interesting to refer to when folks start claiming kinship with the framers/founders with regard to things like the first and second amendments for instance.

One time I did side with then President Bush was when he tried to keep Terry Schiavo alive before she was judicially murdered.

JIm said...

Robert,
Maybe there is hope for you. Have you also been to a Tea Party Gathering?

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

No I have not. I don't see things in black and white or either/or. You probably would've liked my Dad. He was an Orthodox Jew who loved Israel, believed literally in the Old Testament, read the NY Times daily because it pissed him off but could finish the crossword puzzle in minutes. His dream was to get a Ford pickup truck with a shotgun mounted in the rack. At the same time he also believed that the Mothership landed in the Himalayans ten thousand years ago and spawned modern society. He taught me to be respectful to people I don't agree with on issues, like you and himself. And one of the last things he did before he died was to write a concise, brilliant treatise on how to solve global warming. See, people are complex, not just us and them.

JIm said...

Robert,
You are correct I would have enjoyed meeting your Dad. Just for chuckles you might consider attending a Tea Pary Gathering, not to be converted, but to notice the conviction that "Big Government Democrats and Republicans" have harmed the country and that Tea Party Folks are determined to hold politicians accountable and work for what they believe will be a restoration of Constitutional values of limited government. You will also notice families (children, parents and grand parents) in attendence. It is unlikely that you will see any racist signs or hear racist sentiments. More than likely you will see some African Americans in the crowd and on the podium. There will also be SEIU folks in purple tee shirts attempting to shout us down and intimidate us. All in all I think you find it a good and non threatening experience that renews your faith in America even though you may not agree with them. As a final note you will see the attendees clean up the area leaving it in better shape than when they arrived.