My disgust with the Republican party, more specifically the Bush administration, is what motivated me to start writing this “blog.” I have long felt a deep sense of gratitude that I was fortunate enough to have grown up in the United States of America, and better yet, was able to make it through college (took 25 years :o), and have been able to participate in the economy as a paying taxpayer for most of my adult life (I’ve been officially a member of the “work force” for 45 years). In fact, due to a couple “road bumps” along the way, every year when it’s time to pay my taxes, I give thanks – because I know what it’s like to not have to pay taxes – in my case because I had no income on a couple of occasions. I think this is what drives some of my frustration with Republicans. They seemingly complain about any taxes they have to pay while, at the same time, complaining about how government services are inadequate. To me, it’s the old “I want something for nothing” routine, and it’s part of the hypocrisy that seems to permeate both political parties in this great nation.

The United States of America became a great nation on the backs of the blue collar working men and women who built the cities, the roads, the railroads, the dams, the electical grid, and on and on. Entrepenuers have created thriving businesses which have accelerated the modernization of the entire world, and the workers they hired have been the most productive work force in the history of the world. Millions of Americans have volunteered to participate in our military, which at one point in our history, was the saving grace of the world as the German military machines were thwarted during both “World Wars” in the first half of the 20th century. The signs of a “train” headed in the wrong direction appeared in the early 60’s as our leaders allowed us to be drawn into the Viet Nam conflict based on fear of communism. I always thought the Viet Nam conflict was such a profound blunder that our leaders would never allow something like that to happen again – certainly not in my lifetime.

The sixties spawned the “hippie” movement, ushered in the era of casual drug use – especially among younger Americans, and a seeming willingness to protest the actions of the government by a large section of what is now the so-called baby-boom generation. Unfortunately, this is the generation which includes George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and – I have to add – myself. During the Viet Nam conflict there was a military draft which was designed to spread the “burden” of “service” across the board, but, in reality, people like Bush, Cheney, and others were able to “skirt” the draft by having prominent parents or other ways of receiving deferments from service. In my case, despite my attempt to be a US Marine, I received a deferment due to an injury in football which made me, according to the Marine doctor giving the physical “unfit for service.” Many people told me how lucky I was at the time and it took a few years before that really sunk in.

However, the reality was that over 50,000 Americans – including 13 members of my graduating class from high school – paid the ultimate price for cavalier decisions made by our leaders. This experience, and watching what happened to my highschool classmates who served in Viet Nam and returned to a nation which would virtually ingnore their sacrifices – amidst the great debate generated by the war – was what caused me such angst when George W Bush repeated the incredible blunder of Viet Nam by launching an invasion of Iraq in 2003. The subsequent years brought me out of my political “hibernation” which led to my reading of, up to today’s date, close to 30 books chronicling the internal workings of our government – mainly in the GW Bush years, but beyond as well. In fact, I have friends where I work who don’t even want to talk to me any more, because I would bring each book to school (I’m a public school teacher) with the idea that maybe they should read them – and knowing what is actually happening in our nation’s government is just too depressing for them. The truth is, we have, as a nation, been taught that our government is good and honorable, and we (myself included) have a tendency to just trust them to do “the right thing.”

This is a government, when you dig into what is happening, that consists – at least in the Congress of Washington DC – of a group of Senators and Representatives who have universally been bought off by the huge multi-national corporations which have been recently defined as “too big to fail.” As taxpayers, we continue to work our butts off every day – statistically, for less return for more production – so that these Congress people can dole out our tax dollars to these corporations by the TRILLIONS! This is what gets me to the part that is so annoying. It is a virtual given that our leaders in Congress are basically pathological liars. When it is pointed out that this is the case, people respond with phrases such as: “Well, duh!” It has gotten to the level of the absurd – IT IS DESTROYING THE VERY NATION THAT WE ALL LOVE! And, I don’t feel I can “attack” the Republicans anymore without some kind of Democratic disclaimer. I have a sticker on my car which says “Enough is Enough, vote Democratic.” I put that on during the election of 2006 with the hope that a Democratic victory would bring our brave soldiers home from Iraq. For the first time in my life, I sent money to various Democratic candidates in a miniscule attempt to be a part of a significant change in direction of this nation. Obviously, the Democratic party has shown itself to be almost exactly what the despised Republicans claim – “spineless.” (that’s my word which summarizes what I feel is representative of claims I’ve heard for years from Republicans about Democrats)

This is exactly why the Republicans claim Democrats are “inferior” when it comes to “national security.” Of course, the claims are ludicrous, because no one could be worse than the Republicans since George Bush took over relating to National Security. But, the reality remains that the Democratic party continues to show itself as spineless in many ways – and just as “mortgaged” to big business as the Republicans – maybe nearly as mortgaged would be a more appropriate way to say it. The bottom line is prostitution is wrong no matter how much you’re charging the client. And we, as voters, seem to have no good options at this point. I apologize for the lengthy history lesson, but felt it was necessary to get to my main point of the evening.

I’ve been railing against the “overtures” President Obama has been making to Republicans almost since he took office. The crimes committed by the Bush administration are no secret. There isn’t a lot of investigation necessary in at least a couple of areas because the perpetrators have admitted on national TV that they committed war crimes in one respect and direct violations of wiretapping laws in another. In fact, it almost seems impossible to get Dick Cheney to shut up about authorizing torture directly in violation of our own laws and the international laws of the Geneva Conventions. These politicians are very cagey and everything they do is calculated. And, I don’t put President Obama above the fray in this regard. There’s a lot for me to like about what Obama wants to accomplish and it is true that in his first four months in office much has been done. The problem I’m having is that while much of the “much” is good, the bad part could be REALLY BAD. For some strange reason, Obama being a Constitutional scholar, the President is not only furthering the notion that our nation’s laws are enforced selectively – HE IS DOING IT IN AN EMPHATIC MANNER! I’m afraid the damage may be irreverseable – because realistically, and he I’m sure is well aware of this, if his “base” rebels the “other option” is back to Republican rule! Ughhhhhhh!!!!!

His refusal to REALLY “clean up the mess” of the Bush administration is BAFFLING! He’s implying that by getting Wall Street “back on track” our nation is on the way to recovery. The problem I have with that thinking is that if the “Bush Crime family” as they are so affectionately referred to by many on the “left” is allowed to “get away” with their crimes – A TERRIBLE PRECEDENT has been embedded in our legal history books. And, I’m beginning to see some either naivete on Obama’s part, or more realistically, some calculated voter manipulation that is not encouraging. I’m very concerned that the nomination of Sonia Sotomayer for the Supreme Court is being used as a way to stop the torture debate in it’s tracks. We now have a debate raging that was entirely predictable and seems to be getting fueled, very subtley by the White House – I suspect as a way to end the debate over whether or not Bush and company should be prosecuted. The end result may very well be they will be “off the hook.”

Let me explain in more detail. The Republicans made it clear they were going to attack whoever Obama nominated for the Supreme Court vacancy. Therefore, their diatribe is not worth responding to. When the Republicans take one phrase spoken years ago completely out of context to claim this woman is a racist – IT’S NOT WORTH A RESPONSE. Give me a break! The Republicans claiming a Latino Woman Judge is a racist – talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Here’s the rub. Today, I listened to the White House explaining how “she could have probably used different words to make her point.” Absurd! If you read the whole text of her speech, her words make perfect sense. And, I’m not trying to get caught up in the debate over this appointment – in fact, my point is I believe the appointment itself and its timing is designed to end the torture debate by switching the national debate to a nomination which Obama is certain to ultimately win. Very canny political move – gets his nominee on the court and when all is said and done Cheney will be out of the news and we’ll be arguing about something other than torture and other laws violated by the Bush administration.

I can only bring myself to believe the motivation is that President Obama doesn’t want to take the chance that he will have the next President coming after him. You know, like doctors protecting other doctors, lawyers protecting other lawyers, etc. You can’t say, on the one hand when you’re giving a national speech to explain what will be done with the detainees at GITMO that “We are a nation of laws” and our laws are enforced fairly and without prejudice – and then, on the other hand, turn your back on clear criminal activity without being just as wrong as the people who came before you that you’re protecting. I have never written anything in my life which I have more hope that I’M WRONG! But, I’m beginning to see a brilliant calculating politician in Obama who will very likely get some very important accomplishments through Congress, but at the same time, is risking leaving us with a legacy that our leaders are above the law and confirming President Nixon’s claim that “If the President does it, it must be legal.” There have been many courageous efforts to disprove that claim – in my lifetime – but for some reason we now have a President who is willing to undo all that work. The other night I listened to a very refreshing politician (well former politician) make a profoud point that I hadn’t even considered, but since has really resonated with me. Jesse Ventura said: “The only possible reason Obama’s not prosecuting the Bush administration is because Democrats are culpible.” After thinking of Nancy Pelosi’s incredible “Impeachment is off the table,” and the actions of many Senators (including Obama) caving in on the war and the FISA bill – inexplicably – I believe Ventura is RIGHT ON!