In my last post I postulated about what it might be like if up to three Republicans would jump on board with Teddy Kennedy’s health care bill which emerged from the Health committee he chaired prior to his brain cancer making it impossible for him to continue working. The bill was “ushered” through by Kennedy’s close friend Christopher Dodd and it includes the so-called “public option” which myself along with, I’m certain, most Americans can only surmise what “public option” means. Personally, I picture it as a medicare for all type option that would allow me the opportunity to get the same coverage I’m getting through Blue Cross with less of my premium dollars going to corporate overhead -which includes both the exhorbitant salaries executives seem to feel entitled to these days and the branch of Blue Cross which is dedicated to denying benefits to customers. I was suggesting in my post that, not only would that ensure Kennedy’s dream of health care as “a right not a privilege” would be the final piece of his legacy, but also that it could lead to the end of gridlock in the Senate (and, maybe as important, the revival of the Republican party as something other than corporate panderers).

Kennedy’s passing is obviously of interest to millions of Americans and his influence in Congress is and will continue to be legendary. Yesterday I listened to an interview of Nancy Reagan as she spoke highly of Kennedy as a good friend and someone who constantly was in touch with her and her husband as he was succumbing to Alzheimers. Despite the fact Kennedy and President Reagan were almost polar opposites politically, he, according to Mrs. Reagan, was always respectful and since the Reagans left the White House Kennedy had never forgotten even a birthday without flowers or well-wishes. Tonight I heard Orrin Hatch speak at Kennedy’s memorial service further demonstrating Kennedy’s history of working with those “accross the isle.” We are seeing our new President trying to emulate that approach – which is where my thought is tonight – but with much different results than Kennedy’s. I’m going to see where my thoughts lead me on that topic tonight.

Barack Obama owes his Presidency to Teddy Kennedy. I don’t think there are too many people who follow politics that don’t understand the significance of Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama during the primaries of 2008. At the time the Clinton “camp” reacted quite bitterly to the endorsement, presumably knowing the impact it would have. If you don’t remember the primaries of 2008 roughly one third of the delegates to the Democratic convention were called “super delegates.” That means the voters in the primaries do not determine, ultimately, the party’s nominee. This was the Democrats response to the nomination of George McGovern back in the early 70’s which led to a Republican landslide. The idea of the super delegates, presumably, is to prevent the voters from “making a mistake.” That is to say that if the “big-wigs” of the Democratic party determine the candidate who won most of the delegates from the actual voters can’t win the national election they can “choose” someone else. In fact, right up until the end of the campaign, Hillary Clinton made a huge push to convince the super delegates that she was the most electable candidate and that Obama couldn’t win. I believe Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama guaranteed that strategy to failure.

And, right from the start of Obama’s Presidency, I’ve been writing about how I believe his overt strategy of bipartisanship is doomed to failure. I don’t know if he’s trying to follow in Kennedy’s footsteps as someone who can work “across the isle,” but even if he is – he’s going about it in entirely the wrong way. Kennedy was not overt in his workings with Republicans. He was called the “Lion of the Senate” for a good reason. He would routinely take Republicans “to the woodshed” publicly, and then in private carry on his civil and caring relationships, presumably during those times working out the compromises which has made him legendary. President Obama entered office at maybe the most challenging time for any President in our history. The economy was close to ruined, the government beauracracies were decimated (purposefully) by Bush cronies, the military was/is stretched razor thin by overcommitment to two “endless” occupations, our international image was in ruin, and trust in our legal system was on the verge of collapse. I will give President Obama an A for his ambitious agenda, despite the fact it’s scaring many people because it is encompassing a lot of MAJOR legislation in a relatively short period of time, but his grade for carrying out his agenda is not so good.

President Obama has been “right up front” with his attempt at bipartisanship. This is in the face of a Republican party that, for one thing, WANTS HIM TO FAIL. It has been clear to me, right from the start, that any Republican votes Obama can snag on his legislation are not worth the “compromise” it takes to get them. Additionally, most of Kennedy’s bipartisan workings were “behind closed doors” – at least that’s how it appeared to me. I had no idea he had such close relationships with so many Republicans. Kennedy did not mince words when he was on the Senate floor and attacking, and when he sensed he had the upper hand on an important issue he went for the “jugular.” Obama, on the other hand, has been right out in the open with his “courting” of Republicans – even while they are “stabbing him in the back.” Example: on the health care debate on one day Obama praises Charles Grassley for working in a bipartisan manner and the next day Grassley says the bill has “death squads” (he used the term “the government will pull the plug on grandma”) and adds that he won’t vote for any health care bill (including the one he’s helping to draft). Obama is constantly being undercut by his own STUBBORN determination to have bipartisanship.

Here’s my main point. President Obama owes his Presidency to Kennedy’s endorsement (in my view). It’s time for him to start acting with the clarity and courage that was the hallmark of Kennedy’s tenure in the Senate and I’m sure what Kennedy expected to see from him. Kennedy was not afraid to do the “right thing.” He voted against the Iraq invasion and he led the battle for many civil rights issues and health care reform was his ultimate objective. As an advisor to Obama I can’t imagine Kennedy endorsing some of Obama’s decisions since he took office. I know presume that Kennedy was working behind the scenes on the health care bill – for example, I’m sure that the bill that came out of Kennedy’s health committee had his stamp of approval on it – but I’m not sure how happy he would be with President Obama overall. Take for example the two wars (occupations) mentioned above. For some reason Obama seems to be getting “sucked in” by the “military industrial complex” as it was so aptly named by President Eisenhower. The sixteen month “promise” from Obama’s campaign is no longer even remotely realistic as far as exiting Iraq. In fact, the question now is are we actually going to exit Iraq? The American troops have pulled out of the cities, but they’re still there – all 131,000 of them – which is the “pre-surge” number – THAT’S THE SAME NUMBER OF TROOPS WE HAD IN IRAQ AT THE TIME OF THE 2006 ELECTION – violence is increasing in Iraq, the al-Maliki government is suspect, Moktada al Sadr is returning within the next year, and I’m CERTAIN OUR MILITARY IS LOBBYING FOR AN EXTENDED STAY – BEYOND THE NEGOTIATED “END-DATE.” It is really discouraging to me that President Obama is following the Bush negotiated exit strategy – I don’t see any sign of courage in the decisions coming down on Iraq. I have no doubt that Kennedy, if in Obama’s shoes, would have half the troops home by now.

Then there’s Afganistan. Obama is escalating our involvement in Afganistan and NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHY. I’m not hearing anything about why we’re there (other than to continue fighting the Taliban – this could go on for years upon years) or what “success” would be. Nothing about when we’re getting out, and nothing about the strain this is putting on our troops AND OUR ECONOMY! I mean we’ve got all these Republicans fighting against health care, complaining about the budget deficit, but seemingly OK with two EXPENSIVE miltary occupations (the bill for Iraq and Afganistan would easily cover the cost of health care for our own citizens – how ridiculous is that!?) As of my writing this post we have close to eighty thousand troops in Afganistan PLUS AT LEAST AS MANY PRIVATE CONTRACTORS – INCLUDING BLACKWATER. I really do often think that I WANT MY MONEY BACK from Obama. These two occupations look like, to me, more evidence of Obama’s strong desire to please Republicans. I mean, at least half of our troops SHOULD BE HOME FROM IRAQ BY NOW and by what authority is Obama escalating the occupation in Afganistan? Can you imagine being one of the troops who’s being deployed for the 4th or 5th time? THESE TWO OCCUPATIONS DON’T MAKE ONE OUNCE OF SENSE.

On the domestic “front” I don’t see a lot of courage coming from Obama either. Well, it took some guts to put out such significant legislation, but Obama had to know what a fight he would have in getting the health care bill passed. Coddling Republicans, which is what appears to be Obama’s strategy, is not, has not, and WON’T WORK! Publically, we shouldn’t see any of this “coddling.” If he want’s to give Republcans an opportunity to influence the bill it should have all been done privately. Sure, Republicans should be able to join in the discussion, but Obama should have guarantees as to what they “bring to the table” before he gives them a “platform” from which to speak. IT SHOULD BE CLEAR THAT IF THEY WANT TO CONTINUE THEIR OBSTRUCTIONIST BEHAVIOR, THEY’RE ON THEIR OWN! He really does give the impression of being weak the way he’s going about this. And, because he’s made this the “centerpiece” of his agenda means he should be emulating Kennedy’s “lion” approach all the more. Obama shouldn’t be acting “wishy-washy” at these town hall meetings. For example, it would be nice for him to state that no bill will be signed without a “robust” public option – AND THE PEOPLE SHOULD UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THAT MEANS! He can’t do that because even President Obama doesn’t know what “public option” means, because he’s leaving it up to the Congress to come up with the bill. OBAMA SHOULD HAVE SET DOWN THE PARAMETERS OF WHAT’S ACCEPTABLE RIGHT FROM THE START! The Senate, left to their own “devices,” likely will come up with something that is a boon to insurance companies. If President Obama wants to gamble his second term I would prefer that he chose the “high road.” That is, use the majorities in Congress which “we the people” gave him, pass true progressive legislation (no Republican votes is OK), and let the success or failure determine the consequences. STOP WATERING EVERYTHING DOWN SO WE CAN HAVE BLAMING MATCHES WHEN IT ULTIMATELY FAILS! For once, make a stand, and give your supporters what they understood you to promise during the campaign. Health care reform without a government run option will be little or no reform at all.

I hope that Kennedy’s passing inspires President Obama to emulate him (politically, I included that for all you Kennedy haters who would bring up Kennedy’s personal failures) and get tough on the Democrats that we voted in to allow him the support for “the change we can believe in.” There is nothing Obama can do that won’t be met with skepticism and ridicule by Republicans, that is a given. So, just focus on what’s “right” from the progressive standpoint and take the “lion” approach to getting it passed. President Obama should be able to get at least 50 votes in the Senate to pass the legislation that the people want and not the insurance companies. He should refuse to sign anything less, and if there aren’t 50 Democrats willing to support this, then it’s up to “we the people” to take care of that. Every Democrat who sides with the insurance companies should be publicly exposed so that they can be removed from office come 2012. When 72% of the American people agree on something, it shouldn’t be this hard. Senators who value campaign contributions over their constituents should be removed from office!

Oh yes, there’s one more thing I believe President Obama MUST do if he’s to be the President many progressives thought they were voting for, and that is to BRING OUR SOLDIERS HOME! That is just more pandering to the right wing. The troops should have never been in Iraq and the sooner they’re home the better, and the reason for going to Afganistan was 9/11 – not an endless occupation with no purpose. When President Bush redirected our troups to Iraq and allowed Al Qaeda to escape Afganistan he BLEW IT! Osama bin Laden would like nothing better than for the United States to bogged down in these wars until we’ve totally bankrupted ourselves. It’s time to GET OUT OF BOTH OCCUPATIONS! (I have no doubt Senator Kennedy would agree with that last statement)

I like many was saddened by the passing of Edward M Kennedy last night. He was appointed to the Senate during my sophomore year in high school when his older brother was elected President. At the time I, like most Americans, was focused on his brother who was assasinated during my high school career on a day when the world seemed to stand still, at least from the perspective of my school. Not too many of us were into politics, but virtually everyone stood around in shock with many many tears being shed. I started college during 1965 which was when the Viet Nam fiasco was accelerated due to the phony Gulf of Tonkin incident – the first President (Lyndon Johnson) who lied us into war in my lifetime – OK, we were already tangled in the Viet Nam conflict, but Johnson found a way to escalate the situation and ultimately over 50,000 Americans and untold Vietnamese paid the supreme sacrifice because of Johnson’s decision.

Being somewhat brainwashed out of high school I, during my junior year of college, enlisted in the Marine PLC (Platoon Leader Corps). A leg injury prevented me from fulfilling the obligation I signed up for and it wasn’t long after I was discharged from the Marines that I realized I could no longer support the war my government was fighting. This led me to my first political campaign in 1968 for Robert Kennedy. Kennedy was trying to get the nomination over long odds against Huber Humphrey who had been Johnson’s Vice President (Johnson pulled out because he understood the blowback about the war would prevent him from being re-nominated). Kennedy pulled off a victory in the California primary and everything started looking up for the anti-war movement (at least from my perspective) – hopes that were dashed shortly after Kennedy won the primary by an assassin’s gun. Robert Kennedy’s death on the heels of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and JFK essentially “took the wind from my sails.” I watched politics more distantly after that, occasionally getting my interest peaked, but continually feeling a sense of frustration to the point where I just stopped talking about it (until, of course, GW Bush and the Iraq occupation which led to this site).

Teddy (Edward’s nickname to most people) Kennedy kind of became a national leader by default, pretty much because of his brother’s stature. He proved over the years, however, to be an incredibly dedicated and brilliant politician and he got an enourmous amount of legislation passed during his 47 years in the Senate. One only has to look at the gridlock that has been the norm over the past 10 – 15 years – something that seems to be peaking as I write this piece – to understand what a brilliant Senator Kennedy was. He accomplished enough to be one of the greatest legislators in the history of this great nation despite having a large “block” of people who virtually despised him. Today as I was driving around in my car I heard one of Kennedy’s “haters” call into Thom Hartman’s talk show and blast Kennedy as essentially a murderer. If you’re not old enough to remember, Kennedy was driving a lady named Mary Jo Kopechne home after a party and drove off of a bridge into the water around Chappaquiddick Island, freeing himself but unable to save her. Many people have held this against Kennedy, like the caller to Hartman’s show, and they can’t get past it. Hartman acknowledged that it was a “fall” on Kennedy’s part, but interestingly quoted scripture to the guy who was portraying himself as a Christian as he reminded him about the importance of forgiveness. I too had always questioned Kennedy’s role in Kopechne’s death, but as Hartman pointed out, Kennedy did so much more significant “good” since then and “who hasn’t screwed up?”

Kennedy was instrumental in so much legislation that benefitted working class people, minorities, women, poor people, children, and I could go on, that he was regarded as the “lion of the senate.” Kennedy’s main goal was health care reform. He was determined to see the day when universal health care in the United States was a right and not a privilege. In fact, there was a lot of speculation that Kennedy’s main reason for “throwing his weight” behind Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential primaries was because he felt Obama had a better chance to get REAL health care reform than Hillary Clinton. One of the many health care reform bills being considered in Congress at present came out of the Senate Health committee which Kennedy chaired up until his death. Christopher Dodd of Connecticuit took the “reins” of that committee when Kennedy became too ill from brain cancer to show up for work in the Senate and pushed out a bill that fulfilled Kennedy’s wishes. The bill, as you might imagine, has a “strong public option” as one of its key ingredients. Of course, if you’ve been following the health care debate in Congress, the Senate has been “bogged down” by another competing bill being drafted in the Senate Finance Committe which is chaired by Max Baucus of Montana – a so-called blue dog Democrat who has accepted huge amounts of campaign donations from the health care industry – something exceeding 3 million dollars (I believe it might even exceed 4 million).

It is the enabling of this committe by President Obama which has spawned the erosion of Obama’s support among his own supporters. Baucus, Kent Conrad, and Chuck Grassley (Republican from Iowa) were supposedly creating a bipartisan bill which could gain, according to Grassley, 70 votes in the Senate – although, since then I’ve heard Grassley say he’s not going to vote for his own bill! It is Obama’s insistance on finding a bipartisan solution to the health care legislation which has his own followers anywhere from “jumping ship” to deep frustration. Both Grassley and Conrad have stated publicly that there will be “no public option” in the final bill. Unfortunately, Kennedy’s health prevented him from participating (in person) in the debate over the legislation and it looks a lot like the Senate Finance committee is writing a bill that will be a “boon” for the private insurance companies – which, if it happens, I believe really will be Obama’s “Waterloo,” which is what Limbaugh and the other right wingers are hoping for.

The House “progressive” caucus is on record as saying that any bill without a “robust” public option won’t pass the house with their support. Considering it is unlikely that a single Republican will vote for anything Obama is in favor of – remember their stated objective is OBAMA’S FAILURE – I take my hat off to these House Democrats. No bill is better than a bad bill – and a bill without a true “medicare for all” public option is unacceptable to enough Democrats and independents like me who tend to vote Democratic under the present alignment of the two parties to undo the President if he’s not careful. Considering the high esteem which most in the Senate held Kennedy and considering one of the bills coming out of the Senate was the one supported by Kennedy (the Health Committee’s bill), I’m really hoping that President Obama gets behind that version of the bill and sets down a marker where he won’t accept less – PERIOD!

Who knows, maybe there’s a Republican or two who want to go down in history as the one(s) who finally broke with the obstructionist wing of the party and got behind the Kennedy bill so that it would pass with bipartisan support. OK, I’m probably dreaming, but this is a golden opportunity for a Republican to go down in history as a hero. None of them seem to have the courage to “buck” Rush Limbaugh and the other bloviators on the right who are inciting one fringe group after another in an attempt to cause as much chaos as possible. Do you remember Limbaugh’s “operation chaos” during the last Presidential campaign? Most of these guys on the right have no interest in what’s best for this nation, their only interest is in power and siphoning as much wealth out of the system as they can before they are finally unearthed as subversives.

Here’s the question all these Republicans are facing right now. The whole world is going to be watching and listening to the Kennedy story and his wish for health care to be a “right not a privilege.” WHAT KIND OF PERSON CAN REALLY ARGUE WITH THAT? I’ll tell you, even the people who have been used by these right wing groups as “paid protestors” would benefit from a health care system that provided more for less. I MEAN IT SHOULD BE A NO BRAINER – but the Republican water carriers have an unlimited amount of money behind their obstructionist campaign because the health insurers, the pharmaceutical compainies, many of the hospital chains, and other health providers are reaping huge profits they (understandably – from a greed standpoint) don’t want to give up. A few million dollars to buy off Senators is a small investment for them compared to the BILLIONS of profit they’re reaping each and every year! For them, IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT’S BEST FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, it’s about what’s best for their shareholders and their CEO’s and other upper level executives. When the CEO’s of private health care insurance companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars each year, WE KNOW THE SYSTEM IS MESSED UP!

This is what Kennedy was fighting for all these years and he felt that with the election of President Obama his dream of universal health care would become a reality. So, I’m suggesting right here that anyone who reads this page call their congress person and demand they vote for the Kennedy version of the health care legislation. Call President Obama and tell him that anything without the ROBUST public option (a medicare for all option – with competitive reimbursement to doctors and hospitals) championed by Teddy Kennedy will get vetoed. And lets all start contacting Republicans in the hope that there might be a Republican in the Senate who wants to go down in history as putting his/her country ahead of loyalty to Rush Limbaugh and the corporatocracy that is essentially bribing them. Edward M Kennedy was famous for working “across the isle” to get significant legislation through the Senate. Wouldn’t it change the whole atmosphere in Washington if one or two, or maybe even three Republicans found the courage to stand with Teddy Kennedy on health care post mortem?!

Today it was announced that Attorney General Eric Holder has expanded the role of the special prosecutor who is investigating the destruction of CIA tapes which showed the waterboarding of at least two “enemy combatants.” Our government is finally going to investigate whether or not CIA and contracted interrogators (most likely Blackwater contractors) “went too far” in carrying out the (illegal) orders of “enhanced interrogations” during the Bush crime years. Well, at least this is a first step in America reclaiming her place as a leader in “human rights.” Now, I’m not so naive to think that some of the stuff which came out during the Bush administration hasn’t been going on for years, (if you want to read a good book which will enlighten you on the subject, read Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine”) but with Dick Cheney apparently “calling the shots” our CIA (and others) went WAY BEYOND any reasonable parameter as far as what was “acceptable.” In fact, in documents made public today (and, if you’ve seen the documents you will understand why what little money I have for donations is going to the ACLU – because without them, the Obama administration would “get away” with allowing the Bush administration to “get away” with war crimes) members of the CIA speculated themselves that they were probably committing war crimes. I put both of those “get aways” in quotes because, as far as I’m concerned, if the investigation isn’t allowed to go all the way to the “top,” if warranted, then Barack Obama and Eric Holder become complicit in the alleged war crimes.

And, the first reports out hint the prosecution is to be limited to the “operatives” who were interrogating prisoners under the guidelines set up by the likes of David Addington (Cheney’s legal advisor), John Yoo, and Jay Bybee (who was given a federal judgeship as a reward for enabling torture for the Bush administration through phony and legally faulty “memos”). You have to keep in mind that while under questioning by a Congressional committee Mr. Yoo, when asked if burying a man alive and then digging him up before he died was torture, answered that he wasn’t sure – it would depend on the circumstances! These people were/are THUGS who believe that the United States President has the right to do whatever he wants if he claims it’s in the interest of national security. We will never know how many detainees have died in the so-called “war on terror” without a much more thorough investigation than the one proposed. The book “Ballad of Abu Ghraib” documents one instance where top “security” personnel interrogated a prisoner to death – LITERALLY – and then just left him for the suckers who were taking all the pictures to take pictures of the corpse. THAT DEATH HAS NEVER BEEN INVESTIGATED to REALLY FIND OUT where the orders came from. No one’s been held accountable – except, indirectly, Lindy England and the other grunts who were convicted of abuse at Abu Ghraib. Everyone knows that the orders for the deplorable behavior there came from at least Donald Rumsfeld’s desk – and he will probably never have to answer for his actions.

The documents released today verify at least one additional death and when you look at them, you realize THERE’S A WHOLE LOT MORE TO COME OUT! Where’s President Obama’s transparancy that he so willingly promised? These CIA documents looked like some little kid got loose on them with a large tipped sharpie – well over half of them were redacted. WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT INSIST ON HIDING INFORMATION FROM THE PUBLIC. Those of us who have been paying attention are not going to be surprised when we find out how involved Dick Cheney and George W Bush were in ordering what they call “enhanced interrogation” and what the rest of the civilized world calls TORTURE! I’m not sure what President Obama is thinking here. Why did the ACLU need to go to court to force these documents to be made public? And, does the President really think that the ACLU is going to stop pursuing this issue with the conviction of a few “operatives” who “went too far?” Let’s just get all the information out there and get on with it.

It looks like the ACLU and many of Obama’s “base” are going to force President Obama to do the “right thing” here. I’m not the only American who feels that when my government does something like this I’M COMPLICIT IF I ACCEPT IT AS OK! In fact, I would venture a guess there are millions just like me out there. I mean, here’s some of what WE ALL KNOW if we’ve been watching the news or reading the paper in the past year. First, both President Bush and Vice President Cheney admitted on national TV that they authorized waterboarding which, according to our own laws, international law, and the Geneva conventions has been considered torture for generations. President Obama and Attorney General Holder have both said that waterboarding is torture and they both know that Bush and Cheney have admitted to authorizing it – therefore, I really don’t understand how they can block a thorough investigation of this (today’s news says that the only thing investigated will be the abuse by CIA and contracted operatives). Remember, as I understand the Geneva conventions, failing to prosecute known war crimes is a crime in itself.

Second, we know that Sheik Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times IN ONE MONTH, and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in one month (someone must have thought they had a lot of information). The initial interrogator of Abu Zubaydah, when questioned before Congress, claimed that all of Zubaydah’s information given to him was gained prior to the waterboarding – once the waterboarding commenced the guy shut up. Which leads to the next thing we KNOW: despite Dick Cheney’s claims to the contrary, there is absolutely NO EVIDENCE that waterboarding or other forms of torture gain any kind of pertinent information. In fact, the evidence points in the opposite direction. Evidence gained through torture is totally unreliable (not to mention, it’s inadmissable in court – of course Bush never had any intention of going to court with any of these so-called “enemy combatants” – his plan was, evidently, to leave them at GITMO or the other “rendition” sites until “Hell freezes over”) according to experienced interrogators who claimed they were able to get reliable information from “combatants” with traditional interrogation methods – information which was actually “actionable.”

Third, we know that the torture went WAY BEYOND waterboarding. I mean when you’ve got John Yoo giving you the legal “permission” and, as stated above, he’s OK with burying someone alive “depending on the circumstances” you know the possibilities are endless. And, it appears that the Bush administration was quite creative in their ideas on how to torture people – I guess the word for it would be SADISTIC! From putting a man in a box the size of, or maybe a bit smaller than, a coffin filled with bugs (knowing he had a fear of bugs) and closing the cover and leaving him in there for hours – to forcing prisoners to get naked, putting hoods over their heads and putting them in human piles or forcing them to simulate sexual acts, or chaining them against the bars of their cell and parading females by taunting them – to just simply severe beatings of them. The stories seem almost endless, yet the investigation seems like it will take MORE THAN AN ACT OF CONGRESS to get it started in a manner which will hold the people who authorized this behavior to account.

Finally, there have been reports of how – during the initial invasion of Afganistan – “suspects” (remember, the Americans were paying Afgans and Pakistani’s up to $20,000 for info on who to arrest – and many of the “suspects” arrested were totally innocent, simply a thousands of dollars bonanza for some dishonest Arab) – were carted to the secret prisons in vans which had NO air vents to the rear compartments where the detainees were crammed in. I have read reports where entire truckloads of detainees were DOA (Dead on Arrival) when the truck(s) pulled into the detention site(s) because they suffocated on the trip – remember, in Afganistan the temperatures are REALLY HOT sometimes and, regardless, people need air to breathe. I can’t even imagine how horrible it would be to be in the back of a van, crammed with as many people as they could get in there, and having NO air – I WONDER IF JOHN YOO WOULD CALL THAT TORTURE? (maybe John should get a trip, just by himself, in one of those vans so he would have a better frame of reference) An untold number of these “detainees” died en route to their “prison” and no one seems too concerned about that. Hopefully, this proposed investigation will get to the truth – AS UGLY AS IT’S LIKELY TO BE – so that Americans can face up to what has been done in their name. WE SIMPLY CAN’T ALLOW THESE ACTIONS TO GO UNPUNISHED! The soul of our nation is at stake over this!

All of these FACTS are why I’ve been HARPING on this since President Obama first said he was going to “look forward and not backward.” HE DOESN’T HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO DO SO! The number of people killed because of our inhumane treatment of these prisoners MUST BE MADE PUBLIC. Restitution should be made to the families of the victims! THIS IS A MUCH MORE IMPORTANT ISSUE – FOR THE LONG RUN – THAN HEALTH CARE REFORM! I agree that the health care reform is an important issue and also must be resolved, but the very MORAL FABRIC of our nation is at stake over this torturing issue. MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA HOW DESPICABLE THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WAS. The world will view us as we view the Chinese or Russians or Iranians or Iraqi’s if we don’t rectify this problem.

I really want to see this issue on the front pages, on the nightly news, and I want to hear how people like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, John McCain (especially McCain), Sarah Palin, James Dobson and the Christian “Right” (wrong), and all the other right wing Republicans try to rationalize this away. It’s time for President Obama and the Democrats to do what they should have done on day one once they had control of the government and that is to have a VERY PUBLIC investigation of what was done under GW Bush and for Americans to have a PUBLIC DIALOGUE about where they REALLY stand on HUMAN RIGHTS. We hear the Republicans attacking Castro, the Chinese government, SADDAM HUSSEIN, the Iranians, the Russians – especially under communist rule, and many others ALL THE TIME over human rights abuses. Let’s find out where they REALLY STAND on the issue. I want to hear them defend Dick Cheney’s position that torture is OK – I WANT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC TO HEAR WHERE EVERYONE STANDS ON THIS ISSUE! And, I really want us, as a nation, to find out EVERYTHING that went on, to take responsibility for it – not just say “it won’t happen again” – to hold anyone who committed war crimes accountable (show the world we can police our own – we REALLY ARE A NATION OF LAWS), and to provide restitution to the families of the victims.

As I’ve stated many times on this site, as a Christian myself, I find it deplorable that the Bush administration and the Republican party, as it’s presently constituted, finds its base of support from the so-called Christian right. This torture issue is a good example of the falacy of Christian leaders trying to mobilize people into a “block” with the intention of creating political “power.” Shouldn’t Christians be more concerned with their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ? I know that many of my Christian friends have little to no interest in politics, so they are vulnerable to leaders whom they trust but whom have alterior motives in causing them to become this right wing voting “block.” I would invite any of my Christian friends who might happen upon this site and who are part of the divisive Republican party to read John Dean’s “Conservatives without Conscience.” I honestly don’t understand the following: How can any Christian support a political party which believes in torture? The evidence I’ve seen suggests that the Christian “Right” not only is supporting Republicans involved in torture, but they are – whether they know it or not – supporting the militia movement which is showing itself at rallies where our President is speaking bearing arms. Many are also showing themselves as racists – which is a topic for another day’s rant!

You’ve heard the saying “Deja Vu, All over again.” Well, I’m very worried that we’re seeing a repeat of a disaster in American politics which really turned our nation in a downward direction in 1980. For those of you that remember Jimmy Carter, you may understand my point this evening. Jimmy Carter was a wonderful man, honest as the day is long, compassionate, and very intelligent. He came to the White House from the governorship of Georgia, and like Bill Clinton after him, he proved that not all southerners are racists. In fact, it was during the time of Carter when I took a second look at race relations in this country and realized that a lot of the so-called “liberal north” (like Boston for one example) had covert race issues which were more of an issue than those in the south where people were right up front with racism. Carter was a man who clearly understood that “all men (women) are created equal.” He made some courageous stands that either had, or would have had, long term positive effects on this nation from an economic perspective, and he took major steps as an American President who favored peace worldwide.

If you remember, Carter was undone by the “left wing” of the Democratic party in 1980 when he lost his bid for re-election to Ronald Reagan. Reagan brought the fringe right into prominence through some cagy, underhanded tactics that have been the mantra of the Republican party ever since. Most people don’t remember John Anderson, but he was the disenchanted Republican from the left side of the party who ran as a third party candidate. I have been convinced ever since that election that Anderson’s campaign was totally funded by the pro-Reagan Republicans because Anderson garnered the votes of the disenchanted Republicans (which would have otherwise likely voted for Carter) and the disenchanted Democrats. The likely scenario would have been that these disenchanted voters (and there were millions of them) would have voted for Carter or maybe not at all – but Anderson’s position on the ticket likely resulted in the “Reagan Revolution.” People also either forget, or didn’t know, that Reagan’s campaign made a deal with the Iranian government to hold the hostages (who had been captured during the Ayatollah Khomeini’s coup d’etat) until he took the oath of office. Both of these “tactics” gave Reagan the “bully pulpit” he needed, as an accomplished actor, to push the right wing “trickle down” agenda down our throats. We’ve been suffering from this for the past 30 years.

Essentially, Carter was undone when Teddy Kennedy decided to run against him in the primaries, turning people like my Mom – a lifelong Democrat – against Carter. She, along with many other Democrats, ended up voting for Anderson, unaware of the long term damage to her beloved country. My Mom died last year before she could accomplish her last wish, which was to see GW Bush voted out of office. It took her a long time to understand how good Carter really was, despite all the attacks in the “liberal” media. He was, and in many circles still is, considered weak – despite the fact he initiated energy policies which, had Reagan not reversed them, would have this nation close to energy independence as I’m writing this. He had solar panels installed on the White House in an attempt to show leadership in our need for alternative energy – and, of course, Reagan had them removed almost immediately when taking his turn at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The CAFE standards set by Carter, which were also reversed by Reagan (in favor the the gas-guzzlers), would have the average American vehicle getting between 30 and 40 mpg today. And Carter’s involvement in negotiations with the Israeli’s and the Arab nations set the table for possible mid-east breakthroughs that were only followed up by President Clinton in the nearly 30 years since Carter left office. His lasting legacy remains the hostages held in Iran for 444 days which included the last year of Carter’s Presidency. Carter proved to me that the lives of the hostages were more valuable to him than his re-election. He OK’d one rescue attempt, but refused to commit to a retaliatory strike against Iran and many in America saw that as weakness. It confirmed to me how much I respected Carter – A POLITICIAN WHO PUT PRINCIPLE BEFORE HIS OWN RE-ELECTION! When’s the last time you saw that?

So, now we have another good, honest, intelligent person in the White House who seems to me to be a man who believes in principle (to a fault, in my opinion, regarding “bi-partisanship”). He, like Carter is a good husband and father, and to this point I have no reason to believe he’s a dishonest politician (although I’ve got some worries about things he’s doing which nobody’s asking him about). The sad part of the Obama legacy could be very similar to Carter’s as well. He stands to be undone by the left wing of the Democratic party. Essentially, in this case, they are the one’s who Obama energized in the campaign and who are responsible for his election. However, just as in the late 70’s they expect the President to follow through on issues of importance to them. Today, I saw clips of Obama speaking to a right wing talk show host and answering questions to the host’s right wing audience (the host claims to be moderate – which may be true, I’ve never listened to the guy’s program, he’s from Philadelphia). More evidence that Obama’s quest for bi-partisanship is intense. I’ve been saying this almost since his first days in office, it appears to me that President Obama is spending (far) more time talking to Republicans than to those who “got him there.” It’s starting to look like he’s taking his supporters for granted. He even seems somewhat astonished by the backlash coming from the “liberal” Democrats – which is somewhat alarming to me.

I REALLY DON’T WANT OBAMA TO BE A ONE TERM PRESIDENT LIKE CARTER WAS! But, I’m beginning to wonder what he’s thinking. Is it his advisors? Or is he not as intelligent as I gave him credit? Or, worse yet, is he a moderate to conservative Democrat who campaigned as a “Progressive.” I’ve mentioned in previous posts the “red flags” which I’ve tried to look the other way from during his first 6 months in office, but Obama himself has put the onus on this health care debate – which, in my opinion, HE CLEARLY WASN’T READY FOR. Now, he’s in a position of “guaranteeing” to his supporters that “we will have a bill.” At the same time he says that he also says that he still hopes to have Republican support for the bill. I’m sitting here thinking that if there’s one Republican vote for the bill, IT WON’T BE SOMETHING THAT WILL REFORM HEALTH CARE. President Obama has stepped right into the Republican’s trap, and I’m not sure how he’s going to get out of it. And, for those of us who are his original supporters the horizon could look very bleak. I SUFFERED FOR EIGHT YEARS UNDER BUSH! I’m starting to suffer under Obama, which I thought would be unthinkable. And, can you imagine in 2012 another Bush – or worse still – SARAH PALIN? I honestly don’t know how I’ll deal with that. I’m almost thinking I hope Mitt Romney wins the 2012 Republican Primary – wait a minute – I didn’t really say that did I?

It’s starting to play out like the Republicans couldn’t have orchestrated it better. President Obama is undermining his support within his own base. President GW Bush, VP Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, David Addington, John Yoo, John Ashcroft, and many others will not only all walk away from their crimes scott free, but they leave a legacy of executive abuse that will be etched as precedence for the incoming President in 2012 if Obama fails to be re-elected (this is the part about Obama that REALLY BUGS ME – he says America no longer tortures, but by letting the torturers “off” he’s really saying we don’t torture while he’s in office, we’ll let the next President decide for himself if we should torture or not – because Obama has confirmed Nixon’s claim – “IF THE PRESIDENT DOES IT, IT MUST BE LEGAL”) – and it’s looking more and more as if that (Obama as a one term President) could happen. It almost looks to me as if President Obama thinks he can go around the country refuting Republican lies, as if he’s still on the campaign trail, and somehow convince the American people to continue to support him. And, the worst part of that is he’s focused on the people who aren’t going to support him, at least their congressional delegates aren’t going to support him, no matter what he says at his town halls and on these right wing radio shows. Obama has a 60 VOTE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS IN THE SENATE. He should be doing whatever he has to do to get those Democratic Senators in line to support his “signature” legislation – PERIOD!

As I said yesterday, President Obama needs to REGROUP and fast. Take a look at who the advisors are, and get rid of the ones who are telling him to keep sucking up to Republicans! If the health care legislation is passed and it doesn’t give me the option of joining a government run “medicare” like plan which would compete with Blue Cross in benefits, but without all the profit motive and heavy administrative costs, I will be really bummed. The only reason there’s such a debate going on is obvious – the health insurance industry doesn’t want to give up what I’ve heard is 800 BILLION DOLLARS in annual profits. For heaven’s sake, that amount is almost enough to pay for the plan itself – the one being proposed. The point I’m trying to make is that I’m really worried that President Obama is going to receive the same fate as President Carter. We voted out the Republicans because they were terribly corrupt. We not only didn’t picture President Obama on this constant mission to turn Republicans to “our side” (really, I’m an independent, but I can’t imagine voting for a Republican under the present circumstances) but expected accountability for their previous misdeeds. There aren’t enough Republicans left in this nation to vote President Obama out of office – UNLESS – people like me vote for a third party candidate, or don’t vote at all because they’re so discouraged at feeling betrayed by everyone who ever takes public office. The way to remind people that Republicans created the mess we’re in is NOT by sucking up to them! There’s not a Republican left in the Senate that deserves anything more than our disdain, and if President Obama wants a chance for success he’d better soon figure out that his “base” deserves his FULL ATTENTION! To hell with the Republicans! PERIOD, END OF STORY!

There’s an old saying, “those who choose to ignore history are bound to repeat it.” Just as I never in my wildest dreams figured we’d ever repeat the mistake of Viet Nam, now we’re stuck in two Viet Nam like situations – orchestrated by politicians who managed to avoid Viet Nam in their day.  Additionally, we’re faced with the real possibility of the Democratic party turning on their own President with the likely result a President who at one time was considered an impossibility for the office getting elected (Reagan was once considered too “out there” to be President – so all you people who think Sarah Palin is history and too “out there,” be careful – and don’t forget Jeb Bush who’s “laying in the weeds” waiting for the right moment). And the reality is that it’s President Obama’s responsibility to make sure this doesn’t happen. I TRULY HOPE HE UNDERSTANDS THIS!

What is it about these Democrats that makes them want to be the minority party to a bunch of thugs? I really don’t get it. I’m watching this present “health care debate” with astonishment. It’s not a debate at all. How can you call it a debate when the people you’re supposedly debating are doing nothing more than OBVIOUSLY playing you for a sucker? And, why on earth can’t these Democrats “get” this? When I voted for Barack Obama I was thinking “finally, we’ll have someone with some intellect in the White House!” The problem, or so it seems, is that President Obama doesn’t understand how to deal with people that despise him. As I’ve been saying for months now, this “reaching out” to Republicans is going to make Obama a one term President. The worst part of that is that the Progressives who voted Obama in will not get the legislation they were expecting (and, believe me, it will be at least another 15 years until we have another chance to implement a people friendly health care system if the present attempt fails), they will end up putting up with another Republican administration (God, help us!), and all the misdeeds that Bush/Cheney put in place will still be “on the books” because of the errant attitude of “looking forward and not backward.”

Now, I fully understand how presumptuous it is of me to be giving President Obama advice (I’ve been doing this for several months now, and he’s surely not going to follow it, even if he somehow reads it), but my never say die attitude forces me to keep trying (if enough people email him this, maybe …… well, who knows). I’ll tell you why I feel like I need to keep doing this. The present debate has been manipulated by Republicans to the point where there’s no way the Democrats can win, short of tearing up everything that’s been talked about and starting over. I guarantee you, at this point, even if there ends up being a so-called “Public Option” on the final bill, it will be far removed from what most people picture in their minds what a “public option” should look like. I would bet that most people figure the “public option” to be something along the lines of a “medicare for all” policy that everyone would have the option to buy into, should they choose – therefore, public OPTION. However, I’m guessing that this so-called option will be so watered down that no one will recognize it. The fact that President Obama himself has said Repbubicans have over 160 amendments in this legislation tells me to “watch out.” What we’ll end up with is legislation which somehow makes the insurance companies EVEN MORE MONEY! Remember, the main agenda of the Republicans is to help Obama fail (and to help insurance companies make more money – they could get the old “two birds with one stone” here). THEY WILL DO NOTHING WHICH MIGHT HELP HIM SUCCEED! That’s just the reality!

So, President Obama, please listen carefully. Your “reaching across the isle” strategy is not only turning off large numbers of your “base” it’s totally playing into the hands of the Republicans who won’t sleep well until you’re out of the White House. They figure that the only job for someone of African descent in the White House is on the kitchen staff or the janitorial service. I know you don’t want to hear this about your former colleagues in the Senate on the Republican side (and, unfortunately, I think there’s some on your own side as well) – but, keep in mind these thugs run everything by Rush before they make it public – and, if you don’t know where Rush is coming from, then what happens is all on you. Those of us on the “progressive” side of things – you know, liberals before Republicans managed to make liberal a dirty word through their propaganda machine which has been picking up steam since the 80’s – are counting on you to put up a better fight to put these criminals “out to pasture.” This is why it was such an egregious error on your part when you decided that a President couldn’t possibly be a war criminal. You might as well have injected those in the Republican party with a shot of adrenaline – Mr. President, if this doesn’t work out, you will be responsible for the resurrection of a bunch of people who your supporters put up with for eight long years (actually, longer than that, because GW was just an extension of the “Reagan Revolution”) and worked diligently to get rid of – supposedly, ONCE AND FOR ALL!

All you had to do was get out of the way of the justice system, which – AS YOU SAID – clearly states that NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW! I would love to hear Rush Limbaugh criticizing your administration for upholding the constitution FOR ONCE IN MY LIFETIME! We’ve put up with Iran/Contra, Watergate, and worse than both of those Bush/Cheney et al! And, EVERYTIME, the Democrats (well, except Watergate – and the truth is that Democrats and Republicans alike stood up against Watergate – but that was before corporations owned our Congress – LOCK, STOCK, AND BARREL!) let the Republicans off the hook. The problem with letting Bush/Cheney off the hook is that THEY COMMITTED WAR CRIMES, THEY WIRETAPPED AMERICAN CITIZENS ILLEGALLY, THEY OUTED A CIA AGENT, THEY REFUSED SUBPOENAS TO CONGRESS, THEY LIED TO CONGRESS AND EVERYONE ELSE – ALL THE TIME – AND THEY UNDERMINED THE VERY JUSTICE DEPARTMENT THAT WE THOUGHT YOU WOULD RESTORE TO RESPECTABILITY! Your “looking forward” has itself undermined everything your supporters stand for. You’ve even gone into court defending some of the indefensible positions of the Bush administration. You might be OK with being a one term President, but there’s a bunch of us out here who don’t want a Republican in 2012, and it’s almost as if you’re alright with that.

I’m going to assume that you really do want to do what’s best for America. So here’s some more advice. STOP THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE RIGHT NOW, AND PREPARE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN – WITHOUT REPUBLICANS! Enlist your supporters for the fight, because the real “war” in America right now is for the soul of this great nation, and if you don’t get over “bi-partisanship” and SOON, your supporters could be right back where they were before you entered the scene. NO ONE I KNOW ANTICIPATED YOUR KEEN DESIRE TO PLEASE REPUBLICANS! Anything you do that has their support will ultimately loose your support with your base. You need to GET THAT THROUGH YOUR (THICK?) HEAD right now. Once you have scrapped the present fiasco – WHICH IS GUARANTEED TO BE A FAILURE, (THE REPUBLICANS WILL VOTE AGAINST IT, AND DESPITE THE FACT THEY WILL BE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FAILED PARTS OF IT, THEY WILL TURN AROUND AND BLAME YOU FOR EVERYTHING – the classic LOSE LOSE situation for you!) – make a health care plan that you can explain to the people and take it out of the hands of the Congress to write it. THAT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE, admit it and move on. When you come up with the new plan, make sure that the “pure” public option, that is a Medicare like plan that every American has the option to buy into, is part of the proposal – AND MAKE IT NON-NEGOTIABLE! If the health care insurers don’t like it, well TOUGH S*@#!

While you’re working up the new plan, push through a second stimulus bill that is solely aimed at creating jobs – and STOP WORRYING ABOUT REPUBLICAN VOTES! If you respond to the people who voted you in, THEY WILL STICK WITH YOU! It’s this coddling of Republicans that’s making your supporters crazy. If you can’t see the writing on the wall, we can! You watered down the initial “stimulus” package to get three Republican votes. IT’S NOT WORTH IT! We still have almost 10% unemployment – and, I’ll venture a guess that the true figure is more like 15%. Put your focus on JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. Let your surrogates put together a much more easily understood health care proposal – the single payer option would obviously be best, but a “Medicare for all” TRUE OPTION would be acceptable, and let the ground forces help you get it passed. The reason your support is waning is because EVERYONE KNOWS that the present legislation is watered down already – and you seem to be still looking for more compromises! ughhhh! Plus, even your own supporters don’t understand what’s in the legislation. Believe me, despite the fact many still trust you, HARDLY ANYONE – EITHER PARTY – TRUSTS CONGRESS, and that’s who’s writing this bill.

Oh yes, before you do anything after you scrap the present legislation, you’ve got to turn the justice department loose on Bush/Cheney et al. Stop with the enabling of their crimes. Give the Republicans like Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, DeLay, McConnell, Boehner, Palin, and the others something to complain about. While they’re busy complaining about how waterboarding couldn’t possibly be considered torture, and how even though Abu Ghraib was ordered by Rumsfeld, he shouldn’t be held accountable because if the “grunts” hadn’t taken pictures no one would be the wiser for it, you can be busy creating jobs for America’s middle class (while you’re at it, let’s pass the employee free choice legislation). And, let them make the argument again that Valerie Plame Wilson was just a desk secretary. There are enough TV sound bites to put these guys away for years (let alone what you’d find in normal “discovery” from a legitimate investigation), and there are a lot more people than myself who wonder why we’ve got some Privates and Sargeants who were poorly trained for the job they were given at Abu Ghraib and were doing what they understood had been ordered – and now are in Leavenworth while the people who authorized their actions are writing memoirs and making millions. Mr. President, with all due respect, if you continue to ignore the torturers you become culpible. According to the Geneva Conventions, as I understand it, you don’t have the option of “looking forward and not backward.” We all know that you understand that both Bush and Cheney committed war crimes (authorized waterboarding – admitted on national TV by both men), therefore, if you do nothing about it, you become part of the problem. I’ll end by asking you, can you tell me that you are absolutely NOT continuing the Bush wiretapping abuses? I REALLY hope I’m wrong on that one, because it will come back to “bite” you if you’re still doing it. Mr. President, the only thing being accomplished by your coddling Republicans is the restoration of the Republican party! They are not laughing with you, they’re laughing at you!

I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be writing in this “blog.” It all started when I felt such frustration over the Bush administration’s policies and the failure of the Democratic Congress (elected in 2006) to both end the Iraq fiasco and impeach the President and Vice President who had both clearly committed “High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” I have always been one to believe that the constitution would carry the day, no matter who was in the White House. I still remember the Watergate hearings, when the Congress of the United States showed that it had some integrity and there were statesmenlike members on “both sides of the isle.” Even Republicans in those days realized that the “President isn’t above the law” contrary to the claims of Richard Nixon. Well, George W Bush and Dick Cheney failed to understand that and were enabled, first by a rubber stamp Republican Congress and then by their “spineless” Democratic comrades, and finally by Barack Obama himself. As long as I live I’ll never forget the words of Nancy Pelosi when she became the first woman Speaker of the House; “Impeachment is off the table.” I should have known right there and then what lay ahead. The discouragement I’m feeling watching these Democrats in action is tempting me to go back into my “happy space” where I just ignore what my government is doing.

And, as much as I want to “bow out” of the dialogue at this point, I still have children and grandchildren who will be well-justified in asking “What the H were you people thinking?” when they understand how much “We the People” have taken from them in the past 30 years. Most of my ranting has been against Republicans, and they are deserving of every rant I can muster up, but lately I’m feeling more and more like ranting about Democrats. In 2008 we voted in enough Democrats to make the Republicans irrelevent – which is right where they belong until they change their tune. In fact, I’ve often thought (and written) about the need for a third party because the Repubicans are so “out there” that I figured it won’t be long and only the hard core 20 -25% would be listening anymore. I mean, for heaven’s sake, Rush Limbaugh is the de facto head of their party. THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE TO ME! The Republican politicians seem to be running everything by Rush to make sure it’s OK to say in public. Well, I couldn’t imagine anything making these thugs relevent again. However, it’s now become clear to me where I was wrong and what can bring them back into prominence – a combination of an un-educated public and DEMOCRATS! The truth is that the mess we are presently in is the result of eight years of Bush and his “rubber stamp” Congress and a bunch of Democrats who’s favorite saying is “We don’t have the votes.”

I confronted my local Congressman at a Town Hall (one that convinced him not to have more town halls – and we were civil in our disagreement with him) when he announced he would support the “surge” after the 2006 election. While it’s true that the “surge” was responsible for reducing the violence (short term) in Iraq – and believe me, I would like nothing better than to see a stable Iraq – NONE OF THE POLITICAL OBJECTIVES WERE OR HAVE BEEN MET because of the surge. The fissure between Sunni and Shia is deep and it’s still there. The Shia are in control now and are showing some signs of restraint, but the fact has always been that if Iraq is going to stabilize it will be because of what the Iraqi’s do – not Americans. I will always question whether putting off the inevitable (Iraqi’s deciding if they want a stable government) was worth the lives of well over 1,000 American troops, not to mention all the wounded, along with the BILLIONS of dollars spent there by us EVERY WEEK (and, unfortunately, counting). My Congressman is a Democrat and he clearly went against the will of his constituents in making that vote. So, I confronted him saying “I can understand you feeling an obligation to the Iraqi people, but what about our own people?” “If you have to vote for the surge, the least you can do is vote to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney,” (the whole auditorium broke into loud applause as I finished my sentence) and Congressman Baird’s response was the famous Democratic response to just about every important question: “We don’t have enough votes in the Senate (to convict).”

What these Democrats don’t seem to get, is that they are losing their “base” with all these timid responses to hard questions from their constituents. One thing that will get Republicans back into power will be a low voter turnout in the upcoming elections, and that is exactly what the Democrats are going to be facing in 2010 and 2012 if they don’t get their act together and FAST! Just as Nancy Pelosi didn’t have the right to take impeachment “off the table,” Obama didn’t have the right to “look forward and not backward” when he took office. They are not only ignoring us, they’re ignoring their Constitutional duties. We voted Republicans out OVERWHELMINGLY in the last election and by looking at what’s going on in Congress YOU WOULDN’T KNOW IT. Yesterday I watched in dismay as Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, said on national TV, “There will be no “public option” in the impending “health care reform” bill,” because “WE DON’T HAVE THE VOTES IN THE SENATE.” He then added, we never have. Well, what he forgets is that they did have the votes – they had them on November 4th, 2008. When they won’t have them will be in November of 2010 and 2012 if they vote against their own President on his “signature” legislation. I’m not the only “progressive” member of society who is sick to death of that excuse.

Now, I’ve stated in previous posts why I believe President Obama is making some critical mistakes in his first year in office. I have railed against the idea of “bi-partisanship” with these Republicans (in their present form) and I believe putting all his eggs in the health care basket (not even knowing where his party stood) was a huge mistake. So, now that the cards have been dealt, the reality is that for those of us who want President Obama to succeed, somehow this health care legislation has to make it to his desk WITH THE “PUBLIC OPTION” IN TACT! I salute the house Democrats who have stated that they will not vote for a bill without the so-called public option. I totally agree with them that we are better off with nothing than with what Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, and Charles Grassley – all recipients of millions from the health care lobby – come up with. President Obama needs to get out front and declare that he won’t sign a bill without the public option, and “We the people” need to let our Congresspersons know that we will hold them accountable for voting against it. That gets me to the main thought for the evening. President Obama needs to step it up. Even if he doesn’t get a bill, we – meaning those of us who got behind him in 2008 – need to see him standing tall for what we voted him in for. We’re smart enough to figure out how messed up the Senate is. And, I realize that they only get voted in every 6 years, but we can send an even stronger message in 2010 if we feel it will be worth our while.

However, President Obama hasn’t shown me he’s up for the challenge. I’m seeing too many signs of him being “wishy-washy” on important issues. I’m not one who would mind seeing the Republicans sleeping on cots in the Senate while they filibustered every piece of legislation offered up by the Democrats. I would like to feel that President Obama is actually leading the Democratic party as opposed to some kind of facilitator in “reaching out to Republicans” and constantly seeking bi-partisanship. The fact is that there isn’t a Republican who’s going to vote for anything that might make Obama successful. They have stated very clearly that their main objective is that President Obama fail. Unfortunately, the Democratic Congress is making that all too real a possibility. As the saying goes, someone needs to “grab the bull by the horns.” And that someone, by default, MUST BE PRESIDENT OBAMA! I’m on record as stating that his unwillingness to press for investigations of Bush/Cheney et al was a “deal breaker” for me. My thinking was that I’m just one vote, and it won’t make that much difference. But, that unwillingness is proving to be just a symptom of a bigger problem – instead of being the statesman we anticipated, Obama is looking more like the consummate politician who’s trying to make everyone happy. The end result of that: NO ONE ENDS UP HAPPY! (When I say “no one,” I’m obviously talking about progressives – BECAUSE THE COURSE OBAMA IS LEADING IS MAKING REPUBLICANS VERY HAPPY!)

President Obama is playing right into the hands of the Republicans. I’ll give them credit, they are a lot more “forward thinking” and “united” than the Democrats. Some Dems think that’s good – that the party is so diverse, and to a degree I agree with that – but, on REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF the Dems have proven themselves OVER AND OVER AGAIN to be cowards (or, worse yet, bought by the same corporations who rule the Republicans). I still remember one analysis of the Republican’s strategy in 2008 was to give up the White House for 4 years, anticipating that the American public would forget how incompetent they were under Bush, and then take back the White House in 2012. At the time, I thought they were dreamers. Well, they’re looking less and less like dreamers the more these Democrats show their disrespect for the people who voted them into office. Trust me on this one, these paid disruptors at the town hall gatherings during this August recess, are miniscule in comparison to all the good working class people who went to the polls last year and are just expecting their President and Congress people to follow through on the campaign promises – including a health care bill WITH A PUBLIC OPTION! If the Democrats allow these thugs to influence their vote on this health care bill, THEY DON’T DESERVE TO BE RE-ELECTED. And, if Obama doesn’t step up and show some assertive leadership here, HE WON’T GET RE-ELECTED! (and, I’m not talking about going around the country giving Town Hall meetings – I MEAN, TAKE CHARGE OF THE SENATE DEMOCRATS AND GET THEM ON BOARD HERE – OR ALLOW US TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.) My own Senator, Maria Cantwell, much to my chagrine is one of the “balkers” on the “public option.” I’m planning a visit to her office, and I’m sending no more money to her and hoping to be able to support someone else should she allow herself to be bought off on this. AND, BELIEVE ME, THE ONLY REASON A DEMOCRAT WILL VOTE AGAINST THE “PUBLIC OPTION” IS BECAUSE THEY’VE BEEN BOUGHT BY THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY! When 72% of the public wants something and they vote against it, there’s no other rational explanation. If they had any guts, they’d be pushing for a single payer “Medicare for all” plan that would really be the best and most efficient way to insure all Americans.

I’m going to try to get tonight’s thoughts out without too much patting myself on the back – well, on further consideration, that’s not possible. I’m going to do some “patting.” I’ve been listening to this health care “debate” to the point it’s making me sick to my stomach. I’d just like to push the calendar ahead a few months, get whatever they’re going to come up with over, and move on. The problem is that this whole debate reminds me of the phrase, “be careful what you wish for.” The President let it be known that this was the “signature” legislation of his first term in office and wanted it passed by the August recess for Congress (we’re seeing the result of that not happening as I write). At the same time, he keeps on with this attempt at “bi-partisanship,” whatever that means in today’s America. It is becoming evident that what I’ve been saying (OK, I’m not the only one) is true. There will be no meaningful “bi-partisan” health care legislation. In fact, if the Republicans get their say in the bill, President Obama is going to lose a bunch of support from his “base” because what they want and what the Republicans want are NOT COMPATIBLE!

All along, since the first days of Obama’s Presidency, I’ve been asking “why would you want Republican input on any important legislation?” Didn’t the years 2001 through 2009 tell you anything? They want tax cuts – especially for the wealthiest Americans, they want no regulations on business (despite the FACT that deregulation of the financial industry came close to (and still could) destroy our economy), they hate “government” and are – and have been – trying to destroy it, and they have proven over and over again the saying – “If their lips are moving, THEY ARE LYING!” Why would anyone civil want to “negotiate” with someone who has that bent? I certainly don’t get it. I understand that President Obama wants to be the Democratic re-creation of Ronald Reagan as the “Great Communicator.” Honestly, I get that. However, let me remind anyone who might happen upon this site that there’s not been one Republican in my lifetime who was eager to be bi-partisan – including Reagan. Let’s just look at the last 8 years. Yes, the Democrats showed an alarming tendency to go along with Bush administration proposals, but it wasn’t on a true bi-partisan basis, it was at the threat of “agree with this or we’ll attack you as obstructionists.” What did that get us? Well, for one thing – as we now listen to Republicans complaining about the deficit – Bush took a 250 Billion dollar surplus and turned it into a 500 billion dollar/year deficit (which he managed to balloon to well over a trillion before leaving office) with a single stroke of his pen when he signed the so-called “Bush taxcuts” into law in his first year in office. Actually, some of the Democrats actually went along with him on that one – but, I don’t think he asked for their feedback (they’re just spineless).

We all know how he crammed the Iraq occupation down our throats – which wasn’t really “bi-partisan” because Bush/Cheney et al had no conscience in their lies and, again, with a bunch of spineless Democrats got a bill with some Democratic signatures on it, but you couldn’t call it “bi-partisan” unless you were a fool (or maybe better, because so many Democrats were fools). This happened over and over. The Patriot act started the assault on our civil liberties – again with a bunch of spineless Democrats who don’t have the nerve to stand up to these Republicans because they realize that the so-called “liberal media” is controlled by Conservatives – like GE, Rupert Murdoch, and the like. They all care more about their own re-election than what is in the best interests of this nation. There was the Military Commissions Act where, along with the spineless Democrats who were really “tag alongs” and not bi-partisan participants in the bill, the Bush administration attempted to (only to be stopped by the Courts) revoke the right of Habeas Corpus, a fundamental human right since the days of Jesus Christ. And, the warrantless wiretapping, do you think they gave a hoot what Democrats thought. Unfortunately, the Democrats did participate in the FISA legislation which enabled Verizon and ATT&T immunity from participating in the illegal wiretapping of American citizens – which, I firmly believe, continues to this day. The first red flag for me regarding President Obama, was when he voted for the FISA bill while still a Senator. Thinking back, I should have pulled all support for him the day he chose to do that. (I did write a letter to him, and got a “hollow” promise back that he intended to “fix” that bill once in office – obviously a lie)

So, now we have a President who is a “master communicator” out on the “stump” pushing for his health care bill. Believe me, that’s the perfect scenario for all the Republicans he’s trying to “work with.” Even if they somehow come up with some miracle package on this that actually benefits consumers the politics involved are so disgusting that the “aftertaste” of the whole thing is going to be sickening to many Americans. Let me give you a good example of why this all is so ugly. The other day you had President Obama doing a Town Hall somewhere in New Hampshire, trying to give the people a positive view of what is being proposed. Sticking to his “bi-partisan” theme he chose to single out Chuck Grassley, the senior senator from Iowa as a Republican deserving of praise. Now, before I get to how Grassley showed his appreciation for that, let me point out that Grassley’s on the Senate Finance committee chaired by Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, and between the two of them they’ve cashed enough campaign donation checks from the health care industry to start their own insurance company. I guarantee you, when either of those two are thrown out of office (and, as far as I’m concerned, THE SOONER THE BETTER) they will immediately accept multi-million dollar lobbyist jobs for the health care industry in Washington DC. OK, Obama’s just said what a great guy Grassley is and out comes the knife – you know, the one low-lifes stick in the backs of people who are unsuspecting and/or naive.

I suppose Obama will rationalize this as “Grassley’s just playing to his base” – which, if he does, just confirms how ugly and dirty politics is in this country – and that maybe the Republicans are correct when they suggest Obama is weak. The next day after Obama’s praise I heard Grassley speaking to a town hall in Iowa confirm to the audience that they have every reason to fear this healthcare proposal because it does contain a provision which will kill elderly people (I’m paraphrasing – he confirmed the “death squad” fear tactics of the right wing). Of course, that provision WHICH HE WAS LYING ABOUT, was in the bill his committee was considering – so the next day he claims he’s gotten the provision REMOVED from the bill! OK, so Grassley is trying to portray himself dishonestly as some kind of hero to the right wing fringe (I mean, how could HE get the provision removed? – how could he get anything removed? – he’s one of a small minority in the Senate – theoretically, his vote counts for NOTHING!). But, it gets worse. The second day after Obama complimented Grassley, Grassley is on tape as bragging that he was responsible for stalling the legislation so that it didn’t pass before the August recess (which may or may not be true) so that the “grass roots” (you know, the paid disrupters from Freedom Works – Dick Armey – and the other right wing mouthpieces for the health insurance industry) could disrupt all these town hall meetings. PRESIDENT OBAMA, WITH FRIENDS LIKE GRASSLEY, YOU DON’T NEED ANY ENEMIES!

So, here’s the deal – and the reason I’m patting myself on the back. I (along with millions of other Americans) voted for President Obama because I was certain we would get something different from what the Republicans have been jamming down our throats for the past 30 years. I recognized from day one that the Republicans weren’t going to support a thing the President did. It was my understanding that the Democrats “got” that was why everyone was trying so hard to get them a 60 vote caucus in the US Senate. With a 60 vote caucus WE DON’T NEED A SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTE! Therefore, the question becomes, WHY THE HELL ARE WE TRYING TO GET REPUBLICAN VOTES? Bi-partisanship would be great if there was some kind of civil discourse out there. But these people ruined our economy, have come close to ruining our millitary, they’ve trampled on our constitutional rights, they’ve turned us into a nation of torturers (and we will be until the day that justice prevails over political expediency), and THEY LIE ABOUT EVERYTHING! When is it going to sink in with the Democrats? DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND SCREW THE REPUBLICANS! You watered down the stimulus bill for three unneeded votes. And, now you’re going to pass something that nobody likes in an attempt to be bi-partisan. DEMOCRATS, YOU’RE FALLING INTO THE TRAP THAT THE REPUBLICANS SET FOR YOU!

The sad truth is that the Republicans fully understand that their lack of conscience is a huge advantage over the Democrats. The rest of us out in the “heartland” and beyond are depending on the Democrats to “grow a pair!” President Obama, you are the leader, MAKE THE BREAK! Let everyone know that you’ve tried to get them “on board” but they just want to stand in the way of everything, so we’re (I guess that means you and the Democrats in Congress – but, at some point, you might consider those who voted for you) going on without them. YOU DON’T NEED THEM. Even if you can’t get all 60 in the Democratic Caucus to vote to end debate on the health care bill, PASS IT USING RECONCILIATION! That’s how Bush got through the obscene tax cuts which started the free fall of our economy and that’s how Clinton, before him, passed the economic package which led to the surplus that Bush bludgeoned. The Republicans are going to complain, they’re going to call you a socialist – and worse, they’re going to accuse you of ruining our system, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO! Remember, a large percentage of the people complaining at these town hall meetings are there because you are Black – for no other reason! You won’t be able to get their support under any circumstances. SO, LET’S QUIT TALKING TO THEM AND GET THIS THING OVER WITH – and end up with a bill that is actually going to work for the American people.

I’ve said before that I believe it was a mistake to put so much “on the table” with this legislation. That gives the Republicans the opportunity they were looking for – which is to defeat President Obama. THIS IS NOT ABOUT HEALTH CARE – most of the people complaining at the town halls are conservative, elderly WHITE PEOPLE. Come on now, I don’t think our school system is so bad that people can’t add two plus two – these people are mostly happy with their government run healthcare – Medicare – they just can’t handle the idea of Obama as President. Can you imagine what would be said in our “liberal news media” if the shoe was on the other foot? The Democrats didn’t have the nerve to challenge Bush on any of the legislation which slowly brought this nation to it’s knees – but what if a bunch of Blacks would have been storming around the country shouting down Republicans everytime they were trying to have a dialogue? Can you imagine the result? Do you honestly think we’d be talking about “free speech” rights? I still remember a little old lady being arrested in front of a venue where President Bush was speaking because of the shirt she was wearing. Do you really think a group of Blacks complaining about his policies at a town hall meeting would have been tolerated? I’ll say this again, what should have happened from day one of the Obama administration is the actual “cleaning up” of the mess left behind by Bush and company (if you don’t undersand this – listen closely – well, read closely – the people causing all this angst are the remnants of Bush/Cheney and they feel empowered because no one’s doing anything about their tactics – both, Bush/Cheney’s during their administration, and those constantly disrupting afterward – and, TRUST ME, the place to start to “fix” this problem, is AT THE TOP). That wouldn’t include “looking forward” and it wouldn’t include putting the Presidency on the line with such poor foresight. I realize that no one is going to listen to me, but if Bush and Cheney were facing charges for being War Criminals right now, we could be having debates about health care that were centered on what’s best for the people of this great nation (the Republicans would be busy complaining about how waterboarding isn’t really tortrue – no matter what the Geneva Conventions say). By “looking forward” Barack Obama has empowered the constant lying by Republicans to go on unabated! It’s not too late to fix that, but what I’m seeing is a Democratic party that’s not quite ready for prime time, and a President who is trying too hard to be a unifier! If Obama fails, we could end up with another Bush in the White House – and, for me, if that happens, it won’t be a proud day for America!

Honestly, I “get” the importance of health care reform. However, Political Science 101 tells me that maybe we’re going about this “ass-backwards.” I realize that President Obama had a lot of “political capital” when he assumed the White House. His approval ratings were in the 70’s and everyone was painfully aware of the blunders of the previous administration. President Obama had no choice but to have an agressive initial agenda. The truth was that the economy was in “free fall” from a President who seemed to be AWOL during his last year in office – especially the last 6 months when the economic nightmare, which those of us on Main Street could see, became visible to those on Wall Street and in Washington DC. Initially, the President got it almost right – he pushed through a massive “stimulus” bill. The problem I had with the stimulus bill was that, in an effort to get THREE Republicans to vote for it, about 300 billion dollars went into needless tax cuts for the “middle class” when it could have gone into “infrastructure” projects which would have EMPLOYED WORKERS. However, the need for the stimulus bill was obvious to all but those who continue to believe that the solution to every problem in America is tax cuts. (what we really needed along with more infrastructure spending was tax increases – a national commitment to PAY FOR STUFF- I’ll get to that later)

Bills were pushed through the Congress and a new candidate for the Supreme Court was announced, all to the chagrin of the right (wrong) wing Republicans. They’ve been using terms anywhere from Communist to Nazi ever since, only accomplishing that it’s clear to anyone they don’t understand the terms they’re using – well, to anyone except the unsuspecting and uneducated “base” of their party. Now, we’re in this huge fight for health care reform – a political calculation on Obama’s part that it’s the right time to do this (and I honestly hope he’s right) – while a huge number of people in this nation have no job, or a job that doesn’t pay the bills for their family, or like the single Mom from my church who wasn’t there Suday because she now has to work Sunday’s on HER SECOND JOB! Therefore, in my view, this health care debate is a HUGE GAMBLE. I remember when Hillary Clinton attempted this in the early part of Bill’s Presidency. When it failed it was “off the books” now for over 15 years. YES, WE DESPERATELY NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM. Three quarters of all Americans agree on this, in fact, over half want a “single payer” system – a “Medicare for all” system with some upgrades to Medicare. The problem, obviously, is that the health care industry DOESN’T WANT THIS. And, they OWN a large majority of the members of the Senate and possibly enough in the house to derail this legislation. Believe me, if it’s derailed it won’t come up again next year. Which leads me to the even worse possibility that some “compromise” will be made that is a bigger disaster than what we have. It will leave us thinking the problem is solved and it will lead to another 15 years until we address it again. THIS IS A HUGE GAMBLE ON OBAMA’S PART (that’s twice I’ve said that, and it could come again).

Let me give you a better and more practical scenario of what SHOULD have taken place. UNEMPLOYMENT! President Obama could have focused more effort on creating jobs for those on the Unemployment roles – through retraining programs and government incentives to businesses – including the incentives to start new businesses that are “eco-friendly.” All President’s go through periods where their approval ratings go down. But you have to consider that the Republicans essentially control the “liberal media” (what a joke that is, huh?) and any Democratic President is going to be the recipient of a constant battering from the fringe elements of the Right Wing. We saw this for eight years under Clinton, and we’re seeing a repeat of it under Obama. Think I’m off base here? Well, lets consider the last two Presidents before Obama. Bill and Hillary Clinton were under eight years of investigations over a failed land investment (Whitewater) where they were trying to invest $10,000 in order to “cut off a fat hog.” At the time, I was just out of the Real Estate business, and I remember thinking if people are upset with them losing ten grand on that, I hope they don’t start investigating some of the deals I’ve seen as routine in my years in the business. Virtually no one, who was at the top of the Real Estate business where I live, could have run for public office under that scrutiny.

Then you have George W Bush. Bush was flying around for the 2000 election in a jet provided by Ken Lay CEO of ENRON (remember, the guy who mysteriously died the weekend after being indicted – the guy who was on Dick Cheney’s “energy taskforce”) The collapse of Enron – which was running a scheme that rivaled Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and then some – left millions of Americans with a huge hole in their retirement portfolios. Was there EVER an investigation into the connection? NO! And no investigation into the connection with Cheney either – in fact the Supreme Court (which put the bums in office in the first place) refused to cause Cheney to have to divulge who was in his “task force.” (does “why we invaded Iraq” ring a bell?) Cheney outed a CIA agent (this is treason) and no Congressional investigation. Bush authorized warrantless wiretapping – no investigation. Torture – no investigation. And, to top it all off, the news media pretty much accepted BOTH (the Clinton harrassing and the ignoring of Bush crimes) as OK. This points out another of the problems Obama has in getting meaningful healthcare legislation through – BIG CORPORATIONS CONTROL THE MEDIA – we will see and hear what they want us to. So, I’ll say it again, with unemployment OVER TEN PERCENT – I know the government says it’s 9.4 – but there’s untold millions of workers who have quit looking for work – health care reform is a BIG GAMBLE.

Now, if the Democrats would “circle the wagons” and quit even talking to Republicans and just pass a bill that they know “We the People” want, then I might change my tune. But, this idea that we need “bi-partisan” legislation only leads me to believe that the Republicans will have a say in the final product, and therefore, the final product will favor insurance companies. Did you hear the news yesterday about the CEO of United Health Care’s salary? The dude is making over $102,000 PER HOUR! THAT’S OVER $800,000 PER DAY! Are you kidding me? And the CEO’s of the top five health care insurance companies ALL LIVE IN HOMES valued over 40 MILLION DOLLARS! Now, this wouldn’t be so obscene if there weren’t 50 million Americans without healthcare (which those with healthcare are paying for), if the insurance companies weren’t spending almost 10% of their premium income denying healthcare, and if the profits of these companies hadn’t risen five-fold in the last 8 years. The truth is that about 25% of every dollar of my premiums go for the “overhead” that pays these people – in the case of United Health care – a quarter of a BILLION dollars per year! Personally, I’m OK if this guy joins the 15% of Americans on the unemployment lines should we come up with an option that causes these companies to have to compete in the marketplace.

Getting back to my point, if we can’t get a GOOD BILL we’re better off with no bill, in my view. And, President Obama has gambled A LOT on this legislation. Here’s my worry. What if the Republicans succeed in derailing this legislation (and, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that they are very determined to do this – they’ve pulled out “all the stops”)? Then, how much “capital” will Obama have left? Will he be able to get additional stimulus through which will actually have a dramatic effect on the job market? Will he be able to make a case that the inner cities could be rebuilt by the people who live there – thus solving two problems – restoring the cities and creating jobs for the most affected group of people in the country? The estimate is that to bring our “infrastructure” up to code would cost $2.2 TRILLION. Will Obama have the political capital to address that need? (The Republicans seemingly would let all the bridges crumble to “save taxpayers money”) Will Obama have the capital to address the huge deficit that, while some people seem to think is no problem, I believe is destroying the fabric of this nation? Let’s face facts – President Obama at some point is going to have to RAISE TAXES. We have two wars we’ve put on credit cards, we’ve borrowed almost $4TRILLION from the Social Security Trust fund (with, in Republican thought, no intention of ever paying it back), and there was over $10 Trillion in debt when Obama took office with the last year of Bush’s budget (remember, Obama’s first deficit will be next year) leaving a deficit of an unbelievable $1.7 TRILLION!

In summary, we need more jobs and we need to get the national debt under control. Once those two things are addressed, I believe the healthcare debate becomes more doable – because President Obama would have a much more solid constituency (especially, the people who would then have jobs). With Republicans, raising taxes is a dirty word – they like to run up debt. However, it wouldn’t take much to turn this around. For example, I believe that the public will only support a certain price for gas, whether it’s going for taxes or going to the oil companies for profit. Therefore, the federal government could raise the gas tax – somewhere in the range of 20 cents/gallon to maybe 50 cents/gallon – and ALL AMERICANS WHO DRIVE WOULD BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE REBUILDING OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE and therefore, helping to create jobs – a national necessity! Congress should have reversed the “Bush taxcuts” immediately as a show of responsible government – that, in itself, would raise a fair amount to cover what are obscene deficits (Republicans complain about “Obama’s deficits” and their solution is more tax cuts – I hope America has finally seen past that ploy). And, I for one, believe that President Obama could reverse the tax cuts put in place in the stimulus bill to buy three Republican votes – and address the nation and say that the deficit is a national emergency and we all, not just the top 2%, need to participate in getting it under control. We need to pay for whatever our troops need, and we need to pay for these wars up front – if they’re worth fighting – or get the H out of Iraq and Afganistan! Of course – concerning heath care, if Democrats and the President will stop trying to be bi-partisan and just pass the legislation which “We the People” want, this would all be a moot point.

I remember back in the early nineties when Bill Clinton won the Presidency, thanks to third party candidate Ross Perot, who garnered a fair percentage of the votes from people like me who were disgusted with the federal deficit run up under Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush. I wasn’t much of a Clinton fan at the time, although I started to come around as the deficit was reduced and the economy showed the results of a government which was “paying as it went.” Of course, as a Christian and a father of two beautiful young ladies, I was totally turned off by the Lewinski affair and the lying about it. However, I was more turned off by the incessant Republican attacks on Clinton – which happened for virtually his entire term in office. I will always believe Clinton’s sexual misconduct was the only reason George W Bush stood a chance in 2000, and, I believe, once the truth about the voting in Florida becomes known, we will all know that GW Bush was an illegitimate President right from the start. The only thing which keeps me from extreme bitterness about that election to this day is the FACT that Al Gore chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate, and Lieberman turns me off more than GW Bush. I realize he wouldn’t have had the type of power Dick Cheney exercized, but the thought of Lieberman being Vice President, to this day, makes me shudder!

I remember researching GW Bush prior to that election and finding that the man had NO CREDENTIALS to make him a likely candidate for President. The more I found out about him, the more astonished I became that he somehow managed to win an election on a national stage. That was the real beginning, for me, of questioning just what had happened to our so-called “liberal” news media. I mean George W Bush had never really done anything that ended in success. Every business he became involved in was the result of his family connections and money, and every one of them ended in FAILURE, with the exception of his being granted partial ownership in the Texas Rangers baseball team – again, only because of his family connections. He managed to help get a new stadium built and then sold out his interest in the team with a profit of something like 10 million dollars. Other than that, pretty much everything GW touched was a collossal failure. Even his political career was the benefit of his Father’s influence and it was non-distinguished (unless you consider the huge number of executions that took place on his “watch” while Texas’ governor as being something of distinction).

His grasp of the English language was such that he needed a script for everything, he needed advisors to keep him from being in situations where he had to think on the spot, and he followed the advice – regarding his message – of the guy who said, “Keep it simple stupid.” That, along with the Republican “machine” worked to get Bush into the White House. I still remember the most profound statement I heard during the campaign, although it took me a couple years to totally appreciate the brilliance of it. Jay Leno, on the Tonight Show (which I rarely watched) compared Bush/Cheney to the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” I’ll never forget him saying, to the laughter of the audience – with no one understanding how spot on his words were at the time – “Bush needs a brain, and Cheney needs a heart.” As it turned out, Bush will go down in history as one of the worst Presidents ever and Cheney is considered by many more than me to be “heartless.” I believe it took Bush about 6 years to figure out how much he was poorly served by Dick Cheney. I know that many “pundits” say, to this day, that their relationship is still good – but, I believe that is mostly because they need to be united in defense of their illegal actions in an attempt to keep the Obama administration from “looking backward.”

I’m saying all this to frame my thoughts for tonight. The 28 years prior to the election of Barack Obama, for me, were FULL OF FRUSTRATION. Even when President Clinton was reducing the deficit (to me, managing the economy is job number one for the President) all the Republican rancor combined with the Lewinski affair kept me pretty much turned off by my government. Bush’s tax cuts and his misadventure into Iraq just put me over the edge (hence this blog). I have two grandchildren and the thought of Bush leaving office with a 1.7 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT (for just his last year in office, on top of doubling the national debt during his term, despite inheriting a $250 Billion surplus upon his election), and an economy in complete shambles, two unwinnable poorly managed wars which were destroying our military, and a Republican party that had evolved into something I imagined might be a political party in Russia or something like that – TOTALLY MEAN SPIRITED – left me in great anticipation of a restoration of the country I love and knew before the so-called “Reagan Revolution,” once Barack Obama took over the Presidency.

Well, if you’ve been reading any of my other posts on this site, you’ll know that I’m feeling a bit naive on the one hand and, probably a better word for it is disappointed in our new President. I thought he would come in and have the guts to start reversing all the abuses that took place in the previous 8 years and ALL WOULD BE WELL. I knew there would be a fight because I knew that the Republicans weren’t going to agree to anything. It was obvious to me that the idea of a Democratic President didn’t sit well with them, but a BLACK PRESIDENT was more than they could stomach. It was also obvious to me, RIGHT FROM THE START, that the only thing important to the Republicans was the FAILURE OF BARACK OBAMA! The slogan John McCain used in the Presidential election, “Country First,” went out the window as soon as they all digested the fact that our commander in chief was half African. And, one interesting thing I”ve noticed since then is that the only people willing to use the “race card” since Obama’s election are the Republicans. They are showing their racist selves in so many creative ways (“tea baggers,” “birthers,” and outright accusing President Obama and his Latina selection to the Supreme Court as being racists – OK, I have to add this here although it wasn’t my original intent – and if you don’t know these guys and what they stand for, Google them – Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Jeff Sessions, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and I could go on ALL CALLING OBAMA AND SOTOMAYOR RACISTS! – THIS, IN ITSELF IS BEYOND THE PALE) – and the “Liberal Media” is letting them get away with this.

These Republicans are so repulsive to me that I hate the idea of writing anything that is “anti-Obama.” On the other hand, I REFUSE TO ACT LIKE REPUBLICANS did with GW Bush and just agree to everything. Somehow, we have to get this country back to the place where there can be a debate on the issues and people can express their views in an adult manner. I’m an Independent voter and I always look at the issues before I decide if “I’m for it or against it.” So, despite the fact I feel like I’m helping the Republicans by pointing out the things I see wrong with what Obama is doing, I have to keep doing what I think is right. I guess my hope would be that someone in Obama’s administration would get wind of what A LOT OF PEOPLE BESIDES ME ARE SAYING and get him to re-direct his course of action. Just as I pointed out that ALL THE MISBEHAVIOR AND LAWBREAKING of the Bush administration will EVENTUALLY come out, so will the actions Obama’s taking that are not in harmony with the impression he left on his voters during the campaign. This morning I read a column in the NY Times by Frank Rich that gave a hint of what I believe is certain to come.

Obama’s supporters are caught up in the “health care debate” and many people believe that is the make or break legislation for his Presidency. And, to a certain extent, they may be right – because, the media is really good at one thing, and that’s manipulating the public – although, I believe the media is constantly being manipulated by the politicians themselves with the Republicans MUCH BETTER at this than the Democrats. However, the Republicans are so extreme in their beliefs at this point that I’m not sure they can become viable again without someone TOTALLY DIFFERENT emerging who is willing to CHANGE THEIR BASE. But, rest assured, THEY’LL KEEP TRYING. Getting back to my point, as Rich started to point out, but didn’t do it very well, Obama’s reneging on much of his promises of reform will probably turn off many of his supporters as it becomes known (it’s already happening with me). The term Rich used was that Obama was “Punking us.” Well, I believe Rich has a point – at first I thought maybe he’s reading my blog – but Obama is “Punking us.” By “us” I mean the millions of “progressives” who supported him and trusted him to follow through on his promises of “Change we can believe in.”

I’ve listed this stuff before, but I’ll do it again because I’m so passionate about this – AND IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR OBAMA TO CHANGE. First, he’s refusing to investigate the Bush administration’s illegal activity (or even allow investigations – although I know there’s continued pressure for this because the ACLU is pushing for investigations of the torture program and the warrantless wiretapping programs – I know this because what little money I have for the “process” is now going to the ACLU) – many people besides me heard Obama state clearly that “no one in America is above the law” and “if there’s evidence a crime was committed it should be investigated and prosecuted.” SO THAT’S DISAPPOINTMENT NUMBER ONE for me. Then, you’ve got the so-called “transparency” promise being hidden by secrecy MORE AND MORE – and we’re only in the first eight months of Obama’s Presidency. Additionally, there are still the PRE-SURGE number of troops in Iraq and, despite Obama stating that we will be out of there, he’s now following the plan negotiated by Bush and there’s ample evidence that we’re going to be in Iraq far longer than anyone who voted for Obama anticipated. Many will feel “Punked” when the reality of this becomes “news.” Then, you have an escalation of the war in Afganistan without so much as an explanation to the American people what the purpose is and it appears that it could become the new “Iraq.” After reading the book “Three Cups of Tea” I could be convinced that we have a role in Afganistan, but this unilateral escalation with no explanation is QUITE DISTURBING TO ME. On “top of all that” you have the wiretapping policy of GW Bush. I’ve heard more than one Obama associate saying that “President Obama doesn’t want to give up this authority.” Well, to me as I’ve stated many times on this site, I DON’T BELIEVE HE HAS THE AUTHORITY.

President Obama is not only continuing Bush’s warrantless wiretapping policy (with the data mining and all) BUT HE’S DEFENDING THE BUSH POSITION IN COURT. And there are other Bush abuses that Obama’s Justice Department is defending in court (some relating to GITMO). It’s like IT’S JUST TOO HARD TO GIVE UP POWER, EVEN IF IT WAS GAINED ILLEGITAMATELY. And now reports are coming out that Obama is continuing the practice of “signing statements” that Bush abused beyond imagination – this is where the President signs a bill and then makes a “signing statement” pointing out that he doesn’t intend to follow a provision of the bill. I was hoping Obama would reverse most, if not all, of the Bush signing statements – but he’s following the same course. THIS IS ALL VERY DISTURBING. I don’t think I’m the only American who was trusting President Obama to reverse many of the Bush abuses – AND I’M SHOCKED THAT HE’S FOLLOWING THE SAME PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR! So, reality is setting in for me and, I believe many other “progressives,” – and, I think, Frank Rich almost had it right – but it’s way more than the health care debate (I’m beginning to think what we’ll end up with there is something that’s worked out in the back rooms of Congress – JUST LIKE IT’S BEEN DONE FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER – not “Change I can believe in” – and I believe the health insurance companies will come out of this feeling their HUNDRED’S OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS USED TO BUY OFF CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE – was money well spent. President Obama continually told us “This is our time” during the campaign – well, as Rich put it – “WE’VE BEEN PUNKED!” I was up for a fight to put these Republicans and their mean-spirited agenda OUT TO PASTURE. What we’re ending up with is POLITICS AS USUAL, no sign of courage in Washington DC, and something that sounds different coming out of Obama’s mouth, but looks the same when one takes a close up look at the process.

I’ll say this again, because it’s not too late for the “change we can believe in.” President Obama, the people who voted for you, by and large, were sick of George W Bush and the Republican party. We don’t want a health care bill that represents their values (which would be more profits for the insurance companies), we don’t want you to look forward and not backward – we WANT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE TORTURING AND THE OTHER ILLEGAL ACTS – I mean a CIA agent was outed for God’s sake – THAT CAN’T BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN! We want the transparency you promised! We don’t want the government intercepting our emails and phone calls – you can stop terrorist attacks without shredding our bill of rights. We don’t want the signing statements, we don’t want you defending Bush/Cheney in court, and we DON’T WANT YOU COW TOWING TO REPUBLICANS. PUT UP A FIGHT – they are not going to “like” you, no matter what you do! (well, some of them might, but they’re not the leaders – ie Limbaugh, et al) President Obama, we didn’t vote for you to defend the Bush administration, we trusted you to make sure their abuses NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN in America! It really does feel like we’re being PUNKED!

Today I read a column in the New York Times by Paul Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton (I think) and an excellent OP-Ed contributor at the Times, talking about the protestors who are “disrupting” the town halls being held by Democratic Congresspersons around the country during the August recess. In his article he points out what the “news” media has been focusing on regarding these protests. For example, there are many who compare them to the protests orchestrated by Tom DeLay after the 2000 election designed to stop the recount in Florida (which was successful). And, I suppose, there are a lot of similarities – so, why not? If it worked once why not try it again, right? Certainly, the Republicans have shown themselves over and over to believe in the philosophy that the “end justifies the means.” This is nothing new for them, they’ve been on this course since I can remember. Krugman also points out that many of the “protestors” have been paid by two organizations: first, Freedom Works – an organization (which seems to be opposing freedom) led by the former House Majority leader Dick Armey (one of many Republicans now bilking the public as a lobbyist after being forced out of Congress for ethics violations) and second, “Conservatives for Patient’s Rights” led by Rick Scott – formerly the head of Columbia/HCA which is a hospital chain most noted for paying a 1.7 BILLION DOLLAR fine resulting from their practice of OVERBILLING the federal government and state governments on medical claims. Scott was thrown out because of this but evidently had no criminal liability (sound familiar? If these Republicans were ever honestly investigated, who knows how much graft would be uncovered?). As every fairminded person I’ve talked to – Republican and Democrat alike – this kind of “dirty trick” is disgusting. The stated purpose of these “disruptors” is to have no debate at all. To stop the debate so that they can stop the legislation supposedly allowing them to DEFEAT PRESIDENT OBAMA.

Now, this is where it gets more interesting. When I look at the crowds on TV and the people who are making the big ruckous one thing comes immediately to my mind. Most of the people shouting down the Congresspeople trying to get a feel for where their constituents stand on the legislation are older than me. That would mean that most of them are Medicare recipients. So, therefore, I see something really DISENGENUOUS in their message. HOW CAN YOU BE PART OF MEDICARE AND ARGUING AGAINST “GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE” AT THE SAME TIME? That’s the part that really sticks out to me as I watch this soap opera like scenario playing itself out. And, of course, the present legislation is FAR REMOVED from “government run health care.” I watched one lady, who had to be at least 70, yelling how she didn’t want anyone to take away her health insurance. Well, her health insurance is MEDICARE! Ideally, wouldn’t it be great if there was MEDICARE for ALL? Yes, there would have to be a change in the rates paid to doctors and, I’m sure, many other changes and “upgrades” to the system, but I’m pretty sure that the money most of us who are insured are paying would go a long way toward paying for a strong Medicare for all system. In fact, from what I’m reading, everyone could be covered and I would be paying LESS NOT MORE!

Back to Krugman’s point. He finally started to talk about what I’ve been talking about for months (you don’t think he’s one of my 50 viewers per day do you? :o) and that is the strong group of Americans who just can’t handle a “Negro” (my word) as President and Commander in Chief. I watched one pitiful lady CRYING as she wailed out: “I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!” And a bunch of people in the audience cheered. This was a Town Hall in Arkansas – and it wasn’t health care which was bothering them. Another group in Missouri, at a town hall for a Republican (a friendly audience – no protestors at this meeting) cheered loudly when the Congressman referred to the treatment Democratic Congresspeople were receiving as “Lynchings.” Call it a Freudian Slip, but these people are not hiding anything from me. Blacks are OK as long as they are sports heroes and holding menial jobs. The idea of a Black person (remember, President Obama’s the result of a “mixed” marriage) as President is more than they can handle. When you get all the right wing “talkers” fueling their emotions it starts to get dangerous – AND IT’S STARTING TO GET DANGEROUS.

Barack Obama was RIGHT ON when he pointed out, during the campaign, that many of these people vote against their own self-interests because politicians “play” to their fears and prejudices. This has been clear with the abortion debate over the years, the wars and terrorist claims, and now virtually everything our “Black” President is doing – not because it’s not the right thing to do, but because – WHAT IF HE’S SUCCESSFUL? Would that mean more Black Presidents in the future? Or, what about a Latina President – I mean look at the Supreme Court – we now have a Latina WOMAN on the Supreme Court. The Republicans made it clear what they thought about that in the confirmation process – a process which they knew they would lose right from the start – but one where they felt it necessary to feed the racists in their “base” to “recharge” them after the loss in 2008. I’m honestly not sure what these thugs are thinking – I can only hope that the backlash they receive is severe enough that we don’t have to continually endure this type of degradation. I look back to the eight years of Clinton – and I really hope that we don’t have a repeat of that performance here. The people “protesting” against health care reform stand to benefit from it, just like everyone else. So, to me, the objection clearly is the color of our President’s skin.

Which gets me to Krugman’s final point. With Rush Limbaugh working for Obama’s “FAILURE” at every opportunity, with the Republicans disregarding anything that would resemble integrity, with reports that white supremist “cells” are springing up all over the country – THE REST OF US HAD BETTER FIGURE OUT SOON THAT THIS REALLY IS THE “WAR WITHIN.” It would be foolish to underestimate these right wing (you put the word in, every word I’m thinking here is inappropriate for a sixth grade teacher). Krugman pointed out that the “base” that got President Obama elected had better get re-energized (my words) or there could easily be a defeat of the health care legislation. I will take it a step further, Obama’s Presidency could well be in the “balance.” There’s a lot of positive news pouring in, which conceivably could counteract the defeat of the healthcare legislation, but Krugman has a good point which might go unnoticed by virtually everyone – including Krugman.

Obama’s support is dwindling. Some of that dwindling comes from the very person writing this post, ME! I’ve been on “Red Alert” for some time. I believe the Republicans are much better than the Democrats at making a plan and sticking to it. They are setting one trap after another for Obama – and the prize is the independent voter (again, like me). Last night I heard Keith Olberman making light of a Republican Senator who was complaining that President Obama was collecting email addresses of “opponents.” Olberman’s point was – this Senator was behind President Bush’s “warrantless wiretapping” program – evidently thinking it (the wiretapping program) was a thing of the past. I’ve got a surprise for Mr. Olberman. THE WIRETAPPING PROGRAM IS STILL ONGOING! President Obama has shown (in my view) a disturbing lack of resolve in reversing many of the abuses of the Bush administration. The reality in my eyes is that “if I have the power, why give it up?” This is what is bothering, I’m sure, many more of Obama’s supporters than me. I’m guessing the number of people who are disgusted that Obama is “looking forward” and not backward regarding the “Bush Crime family” is in the millions. Everytime he takes another “Bushlike” action, the more people will “jump off the bandwagon.” I didn’t vote for President Obama because of the color of his skin and he doesn’t have to prove anything to me – HE JUST NEEDS TO HONOR HIS PROMISES. So, as much as I like most of what he’s trying to get accomplished, if he continues to “cow-tow” to Republicans, if he continues to resist “UnBushing” the executive branch, if he continues to look the other way at crimes committed by our elected leaders my support is weak at best.

If you’ve been following the news lately I’m sure you’ve heard the reports on Blackwater (now called XE – pronounced ZEE) – the militia started by Eric Prince and now infamous for the random killings (more reports surfacing every day) of civilians in Iraq. Prince considers the Iraq war a “crusade” and – based on reports from his former employees – was complicit in encouraging and then covering up many murders of Iraqi civilians during their tenure as “bodyguards” for our diplomats over there. Astonishingly, they are still over there – despite being “banned” by the Iraqi’s. I wrote around one year ago about Blackwater – wondering what they will do once they are no longer employed by our government. THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ARMY – FULL OF DANGEROUS MERCENARIES, SOME FROM THE WORST PARTS OF THE WORLD – THEIR OWN AIRFORCE, AND INTELLIGENCE DIVISION. These guys are affiliated with the militia movement types, like Chuck Norris and the people who are successionists, and THEY HAVE A BOATLOAD OF MONEY. So, this war I’ve been talking about, could become more than a war of words. The inciteful language used by people like Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, Savage, and others – including many Republican members of Congress – could lead to something tragic. I guarantee you that these people don’t want a BLACK PRESIDENT! Remember what happened to George Tiller – the doctor who was performing late term abortions (virtually everyone of them was the result of a dead fetus or a mother who was fighting cancer and needed chemo which would kill the baby – EVERY procedure was performed to protect the health of the Mother)? Bill O’Reilly led that public “fight” against Tiller which resulted in him being murdered while sitting in church – and, believe me, there wasn’t any regret from O’Reilly and the people he incites.

What’s going to happen if one of these “low-lifes” who are being incited against a Black President does something stupid? Obama definitely needs his “base” to rally around him, but I, for one, need to see more of a progressive statesman than a middle of the road politician. It almost appears that, in this health care debate, Obama and the Democrats are trying to make as many people as possible happy. To me, that is what is threatening to turn me off. When Obama was elected I and, I believe, millions of others like me were tired of Republicans and what they stand for. Now, I’m already tired of President Obama’s trying to get their bipartisan support. The way for President Obama to get my enthusiastic support again would be to fight back as if he finally understands the magnitude of this war. He probably does, and I’m guessing that the reason there hasn’t been the investigations I believe should be MANDATORY is because of the fact Obama knows how these people will react if a Black President and Black Attorney General “go after” their hero – George W Bush. The truth is that these people represent a minority of America – as Cheney so eloquently put it – THE DARK SIDE – and they, along with the rest of us, need to know the TRUTH of what our government has been up to in the past – NO MATTER WHERE IT LEADS US! I, for one, am tired of wondering what despicable act my government is up to today. The fact that I supported President Obama, doesn’t mean that he gets a free pass on despicable acts. Krugman was exactly right, if Obama’s “base” doesn’t get VERY ACTIVE he stands to lose the health care battle. This would threaten his chances for re-election – and once that happens it would then be too late for any investigation. And, in my view, not investigating the “Bush Crime family” would be a despicable act!