“Pundit with a clue” kind of ignorant

In response to a formerly rec-listed diary on dailykos I have this to say:

From a Washington Post article: “The Post-ABC poll found that the number of liberal Democrats who strongly support Obama’s record on jobs plunged 22 points from 53 percent last year to 31 percent.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/more-americans-unhappy-with-obama-on-economy-jobs/2011/07/25/gIQABJ9sZI_story.html

So, perhaps the problem is not simply “Progressives don’t have a clue” about the President, and it may have more to do with the President not understanding progressives.

Same thing goes for moderates, with the latest Pew Poll showing Obama’s approval down to 36% among independents.
http://people-press.org/2011/07/28/obama-loses-ground-in-2012-reelection-bid/

Now, I don’t like to call the people who support the President without question names or disparage their positions, but clapping louder is not going to get us anywhere when important problems like the future of our social safety net is at stake. Or when the people who are supposed to be advocating for democratic values propose plans entirely made up of tax cuts in order to appease the unappeasable.

I have yet to hear politicians on the left making a strong case for a truly democratic type debt-limit solution. Yes, we know that these kinds of plans are unlikely to get past both the Senate and the House, but they should be pushed anyways to get those proposals included in the national conversation.  We cannot put the blame solely on Democrats within the two houses, because the President should be leading the way by promoting more democratic proposals and encouraging his party to come up with workable plans to show a contrast from conservative ideology.

If you do not try, you cannot succeed.

THAT is what the so-called-pragmatic President Obama has failed to understand about the debates over the deficit, the health care debate, and the Bush tax cuts. He has failed to promote progressive ideals. And yes, having an ideology is NOT necessarily a bad thing.
We all have ideals; the only thing that separates the ideological from the supposedly non-ideological is how fiercely those people will defend their own personal truths.

I’ve heard a lot of talk about the alleged strategy of the Administration, yet we have all seen less than stellar results. Pursuit of perfection being the enemy of good policy is not the issue here.  What is disturbing is the rightward slant of every single political issue with a halfhearted and weak progressive response. While progress is much harder than destruction, with few exceptions we have seen politicians on the left from the top down compromising on important issues far too often, and working from a position of weakness.

Defending the Administration when there is legitimate criticism will not protect the President, and condescending to progressives about how little we understand the President will not win over the people who are concerned about the possibility of losing important benefits.
I believe that my position is similar to many on this site and progressives in general. We WANT to support the President, but we have cause for doubt. Part of the President’s job is to win our trust and lead on important issues.
It is our job as Progressives to push for improvements and demand accountability.

Why do Republicans oppose Democracy?

First off, I have three major examples of what I am talking about here:  

1. The California Republicans who have decided to form a so-called-“Taxpayers Caucus” in order to take away California citizen’s rights to vote on tax cuts. (Orwellian doublethink on par with the “Patriot Act”)
2. Wisconsin Republican State Senate majority leader making the decision to remove Democratic State Senators voting rights illegally because he is holding them “in contempt” for avoiding the vote on their Union busting bill.
3. Michigan Governor getting the House and Senate to pass bills to give him “emergency  management” powers so that he can dissolve town governments and school boards, fire elected officials, nullify local laws, and declare collective bargaining contracts null and void.

 

It would probably take much too long to detail the Republican war on women which seeks to remove any kind of rights that they have to make family planning decisions and to redefine the definition of rape so that it only includes violent rape with evidence of physical assault, because otherwise you were obviously asking for it ladies (and women would have to earn that rape ruling from a judge if they wanted to get an abortion).

                So while our unemployment rate has blown up and the income gap has grown astronomically, the Republicans have decided to blow their political capital on destroying unions and removing rights from any group that might possibly oppose them.

                I distinctly remember the November elections last year where the only thing any candidate was talking about was the economy. How many solutions have the Republicans really come forward with since then?

What has actually happened are measures which are decisively harmful to our economy. Republican governors have railed against… well, rail projects; huge programs which would help us simultaneously rebuild our deteriorating infrastructure and provide many people in the construction industry with useful jobs. They have decided that their state budgets should be balanced on the backs of teachers and other civil servants.  They decided that it was more important to give rich people extra money than it is to provide granny with the funds to scrape by without having to resort to cat food for sustenance. (who likes death panels now?) They decided that it was important to give tax breaks to companies which outsource jobs.

In short, Republicans have chosen corporations over people. Profits are more important than worker’s rights.  Neo-liberal policies which provide corporate welfare over the welfare of the American people are the most important thing of all, because the mantra is: if we displease our corporate masters they will take away our jobs and it is only through their grace and kindness that we have any employment at all.

Symptomatic of the problem of corporate influence turning Republicans into stooges for the elite is the fact that we are represented by people who have no idea what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck. That is why they have no problem talking about cutting spending on social programs which they would never have to use. Every single member of Congress represents the top 10% of earners in this country. Not to say that they’re all bad people, but to demonstrate that we lack representation. As Michael Moore has stated, 400 people have the same wealth as half of the people in this nation combined. With the Citizen’s United ruling, those people have even more opportunities to leverage their wealth against the rest of us in order to influence laws which could possibly have a negative effect on their profits.

The system is gamed and the only thing which could possibly oppose that order is people powered organizations such as unions and votes from a population sick of being passed over in favor of the rich.

So now that you know the Republican game plan, what can you do about it?

1. Support Unions! Donate time and money.
2. Encourage people to vote!
3. Sign recall petitions for government officials who oppose democracy or spread the news about it.

The only way that a democracy like ours can survive such a concerted assault from within is massive participation and opposition.  As much power as corporations have today, we can overcome them with strength of will and numbers like they have never before seen.

Thoughts about the Tucson shootings

I have to give credit to G2Geek on dailykos for introducing me to new terminology. That term would be Stochastic terrorism.

“The stochastic terrorist is the person who uses mass media to broadcast memes that incite unstable people to commit violent acts.”

It has been pointed out by some people that in the Tucson shootings it can not yet be said for certain what really triggered Jared Loughner to attempt a political assassination shooting rampage.
That being said, there has been a series of events which taken into account paint a picture of certain media personalities on the right stirring up outrage and ideological hate against their opponents, and there has been evidence that if their intentions are to promote violence against those on the left, it is working.

Here are the reasons why we know that the baiting by right wing talk show hosts is working:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/Jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/
2 dead 7 wounded
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/05/31/tiller/
1 dead
http://mediamatters.org/research/201010110002
2 police wounded
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/emerging-portrait-richard-poplawski-
3 dead 2 wounded

There is also the Hutaree militia, the right wing group which planned on blowing up the police.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/TheLaw/michigan-christian-militia-hutaree-targeted-law-enforcement/story?id=10228716

It’s not as if Republicans in Congress weren’t given a chance to dial back on the rhetoric either.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/dnc-claims-steele-rejected-civility-statement.php

So is it really surprising then, when we have elected officials telling people “don’t retreat, reload” and opposing candidates holding target shooting events with the goal to “Get on target for Victory in November Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly,” that people are saying that violent political rhetoric is a big contributing factor to what happened in Tucson?

Is there any doubt that when some people with less than healthy minds see elected officials and respected media figures saying that THOSE PEOPLE are at fault for all of their current problems and suggest violent action such as “second amendment remedies” they might see it as a call to action?

I don’t see those statements as unreasonable.

So while Fox News attempts to spin this incident into a “liberal attempt to turn a tragedy into a political statement,” you might find it difficult to believe when there is no remorse exhibited by the likes of Sarah Palin for her bullseye map of Democratic candidates.

And until you start seeing Democratic politicians and even the top media figures on the left calling for their followers to take out Republican politicians, is it really believable that there is equally violent speech and action on the left?

No, false equivalency is alive and well in the media.

The other relevant issue that comes to mind when talking about the Tucson shootings, is what kinds of measures could have prevented this from happening?

Why, as a country, are we unwilling or unable to see gun control as an important consideration?

Arizona has some of the weakest gun control laws in the country; being one of only three states that allow residents to carry loaded, hidden guns without background checks. Arizona recently weakened its laws to allow guns in bars, and currently has a bill up for debate to allow guns on school campuses.

Please tell me, in what kind of world is it beneficial for people to freely carry weapons in school? Surely there were people in Representative Giffords assembly who had guns on their person in one of the most firearm friendly states in America.

So where was the open carry hero that took out Loughner and saved the day?

Oh really?

The hero was an elderly lady who grabbed the magazine while Loughner was tackled by two men?

Surprising how that “everyone carrying guns prevents crime” thing doesn’t work out in the real world.

How many of these kinds of incidents does it take before the loss of life due to the availability of weapons without background checks overwhelms the need of assault weapons for the average person?

If you could say that any good could possibly come from these shootings, hopefully these two issues are addressed.

Otherwise, this will be just another “lone wolf” incident without solutions.

Austerity Measures

So now that we’ve bailed out the rich after they gambled our money away, it’s the poor who should suffer for their sins?
They want to take away unemployment benefits and keep the Bush tax cuts for the rich.
“Austerity measures” only effect poor people.
Who are the people that really need social security or medicare: rich people or poor people?
Whenever people talk about “austerity measures” in reality they mean screw the poor.

Say what you REALLY mean Republicans!

And YOU Democrats, have a little backbone!

If this whole thing about forcing the Republicans to vote against the Obama tax cuts (and not extending tax cuts for the rich) falls through, you do realize that you will be in the doghouse? This kind of half-assed “bipartisan”-minded bullshit could cost you the 2012 elections if you’re not careful.

Do you know what the Republicans think bipartisanship is? Concessions by democrats. It is never the other way around.

You speak with your actions. If you are willing to give in to the Republicans on an issue that has overwhelming public support, you will not be looked upon kindly the next time the votes are counted.

We KNOW the Republicans are only about politics. They say so themselves. They could care less about how well this country does.

Senator Mitch McConnell: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

You can’t be much clearer than that.

Who ARE these people?

Who are these people that VOTED for the criminals, thugs, crazies, obstructionists and liars?

Criminals like Rick Scott who was once the head of a private health care company convicted of $1.7 BILLION in Medicare fraud or Rick Perry that uses hurricane funds to do construction on the governor’s mansion. Thugs like Rand Paul who allows his supporters to rough up people who don’t believe the same things that he does, and Joe Miller who has his private security guards “arrest” (or more properly kidnap and assault) a reporter at a public event because he doesn’t like the questions that he is getting asked. Crazies like Governor Jan Brewer who makes false claims about beheadings in Arizona. Obstructionists like EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN IN THE SENATE, voting against some bills that were originally proposed by their own people. Liars like Rep. John Boehner who said that there was “zero jobs created by the stimulus” in the state of Ohio.

Apparently these deep character flaws were not enough to dissuade some voters from “sending a message” to Democrats about the economy that is not recovering quickly enough (for them).

Were these people in a coma and forgot that the Bush years happened?

Then you have people running on plans to repeal EVERYTHING in the health care bill.

What is wrong with allowing care for people with pre-existing conditions?
Or allowing parents to keep their children (up to 25) on their insurance plan? Or closing the hole in Medicare part D?

Sure there are parts of the health care plan that many people (including me) disagree with, but is it really necessary to throw the baby out with the bath water?

I’m f***ing baffled.

Oh and just try to sell me that bullsh** myth that Republicans believe in “smaller government.”

Yeah right.

You know what a really small government is? An oligarchy or a monarchy, that’s a really small f***ing government.

Yet for some reason, every time that Republicans gain control of the government, you see a LARGER government.

And somehow we’re supposed to believe that they can reduce the deficit AND cut taxes for the richest people in the country AT THE SAME TIME!

(let’s not bring up that the income gap between those fortunate few and everyone else has grown by leaps and bounds. Now, who’s engaging in class warfare?)

These people are motherf***ing MIRACLE WORKERS!!!

Why do these people even want to run for government positions if their mantra is “government is not part of the solution, it’s part of the problem”?

To prove that they’re right?

We’re going to be in trouble if we can’t start convincing more people to put some thought into what kind of candidates and extreme positions that they are voting for.

ESPECIALLY in this age of unlimited corporate influence which allows the people with the most money to monopolize media airtime with their propaganda.

What I plan on talking about

So I’ve started a blog…

First off, I just wanted to see how this would work. I do like using sites like Facebook and dailykos to really get an idea of what is going on in the world. I have written a couple diaries for dailykos, but I tend to lurk without posting much. I suppose you could say that it is my conversational style in general; to observe what is happening and rarely give my own thoughts except when I feel there is a truly pertinent point to make. It’s not all serious as that, but I like to know what kind of trouble I would get myself into before I leap, and I go by Mark Twain when he said: “Know the facts first and then you can distort them as much as you please” (which happens to be my signature on dk).

My political views tend to be on the left of the left, which of course I see as the only sane place to be <grin>. I have come to this world view from careful consideration of what kind of system I believe works and what does not work. I like to think that my position tends to rely more on the facts of the situation, but emotion can get involved. Mostly, I like to to view things from a “big picture” kind of vista. Why is it better to be liberal than conservative? When they are broken down to their base elements:

liberal=generous, favorable to progress or reform, favorable to maximum personal freedom

conservative=disposed to preserving existing conditions, cautiously moderate, defender of the status quo, greedy

If you were to learn of an alien culture from another planet and they told you about their political system using similar terms, which qualities do you think would be more desirable? It is true that politicians do not always live up to the ideas which are espoused by the ideals that they supposedly adhere to, but I would rather have the person who governs based on the ideas of progress, reform and personal freedom than the person who wishes to maintain the status quo.

Another quote that I believe is representative of my thinking (and I believe is often misused) is from JFK: “A rising tide lifts all boats.” Which I believe means whatever is beneficial to the least among us benefits us all. Of course, Republicans have been misusing that quote for years, as some kind of justification for tax cuts for the wealthy. Funny how that works out sometimes.

So now you know; this is my thought process and how I got here. This is my blog and I will see how it progresses and develops in time. Hopefully my words will give readers something to think about in the future.

-Brandon