2 posts tagged “politics”

Six months have gone by since Obama was sworn in.  In that time, the GOP has squabbled within their ranks over who qualifies as a genuine Republican.  They have stood in the way of much-needed progress in the critical areas of economic reform and job creation.  By shutting down the program for retrofitting federal buildings for energy efficiency, the GOP guaranteed higher cost of doing government business, and further delaying the inevitable renewable energy revolution.  They have proven that they are more willing to politicize important issues such as health care reform.

When was the last time you heard an earnest, coherent alternative plan from the GOP to counter Obama's proposals?  Obama has even reached across the isle for input searching for areas of consensus.

Enter, again, the far right to screw things up.

Repubs2009

William Kristol has today put the call out for GOPers to obfuscate, delay, stall, block, while at the same time keep up appearances of being productive.  To FAKE it. What?  Why?

Well, it appears that William Kristol, one of the architects of the far-right's equally brilliant plan to invade Iraq at all costs, feels the need to justify the actions of an otherwise apparently rogue South Carolinian Republican Senator,  Jim DeMint. Speaking on health care reform, DeMint showed his true colors:

“If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo,” DeMint told the group, according to the Politico’s Ben Smith. “It will break him.”

President Obama recognized the opportunity to expose the real agenda of the Party of No Ideas and made mince meat of Sen. DeMint.

"Think about that,” Obama said of DeMint’s remarks. “This isn’t about me. This isn’t about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America’s families, breaking America’s businesses and breaking America’s economy. And we can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care, not this time, not now.” Obama vowed to fight against “the politics of the moment.”

Let's go back to 1994, and back to William Kristol, who basically called our the GOP hounds against health care reform then.  It was clear in his message then, and today, that the exercise in demonstrating the appearance of political power (which is severely lacking) is more important to the far-right Kristol than the implications of such politicking on policy.  His ploy appeared to work then.  But all of our eyes have been opened wide.  Remember what happened the last time a GOP member listened to William Kristol and the rest of the far-right?

No big surprise here for those of us with our eyes open.  The blatant, raw preference for no-ism over progress of any kind is precisely the kind of errant politicking that has weakened the GOP.  Rush lost it when he said he hoped Obama would fail.  Cheney lost it when he tried to kick out the moderates.  Whether health care reform flies or not, this is pure posturing by the far-right.  William Kristol felt the support for health care reform among the Democrats last week begin to decrease based on fiscal projections, and his call for rallying the GOP troops is really a call to take credit for the inevitable.

Get Real, Mr. Kristol.  You fail to understand the new politics of the 21st century.  Your ploys and tactics are tired and worn out.  They fail to inspire.  They lead to GOP Presidents making fools of themselves by invading other countries without warrant, and they have lead to Mr. DeMint looking like a stick in the mud, a representative of the Party of No Ideas.  If only you hadn't pushed so hard for pre-emptive war in the Middle East, doing so much damage to the GOP that they will not likely recover again for decades to come.  Maybe then someone might listen to your advice.  Someone other than the GOP News Outlets, that is.

Here is a message to GOP candidates: Get Real.  If you play with this type of dangerous politics, and continue to gloat over increasing job losses, with no effort on your part to bring to this Democratic Congress and to this Democratic President real alternatives that you think will genuinely work, your local constituents will continue to lose their jobs, continue to struggle with sick family members with no health care insurance, continue to see the price of everything they seek to purchase grow further and further out of reach.  And you won't be able to run against Obama.  You'll be running against candidates who report that you have done nothing.

It's really, truly time to put partisanship aside, and for every candidate to take action and make a real impact that will improve the economic situation in the US.   This does not mean rubber-stamping every one of Obama's initiatives.  It does mean making progress.  Progress is made by proposing genuine alternatives that are likely to work.  Or modifying a standing proposal.  The only people who care about who gets credit for bills that work are the people who will vote for you.  Sponsor bills.  Get moving.   Don't listen to the talking points from the far right of your party; that kind of politics is the exact wrong kind to practice in this climate.  Your party is broken and suffers from a great sickness.  Their messages are colored by the terrible advice from the far-right that has ruined this country.

Give yourself a book of work that is greater than "I stopped Obama".  Something to take back home that says "I did this for you.  We made it happen.  It's not perfect, but it's much better than nothing.  And it was made better than nothing because I put my individual creative effort into it.  Even when others in the GOP were sticks in the mud.  To make things work takes creativity and compromise".

Heck, I might even vote for a Republican that talked like that. 

Wake up, America!  Let's get real.  We prefer to live under so many delusions.  We sop up the lies, fabrications, justification, palliative comments.  We are willingly mislead when the truth is too hard to bear.  We ignore the truth even when it's right in front of our faces.

Without analysis, we consume positions as facts, adopt perspectives from leaders on how they make us feel, without any understanding of the long-term consequences of those perspectives to ourselves, our families, and our local and global neighbors.

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