The last post I made ended with a statement that I believe it’s possible for, essentially, a conservative to be human. However, in my continuing observation of “what’s going on” in the world of American politics, it’s not happening imminently. The present leaders of the Republican party just don’t know when to quit. And, you’ve still got the remnants of the failed “Contract for (on) America” spewing their rath on the system they’ve been trying to destroy for the past 30 years. Dick Armey, the former House of Representatives “whip” under Tom Delay – a guy who’s about as mean spirited as they come and definitely a corporatist – is the head of a group called (of all things) “Freedom’s Watch” – don’t you like how these guys are so good at playing on words? – For example, if it says “Freedom’s Watch” it really means “Freedom’s Enemy.” This is the group which is gathering up “dirty tricksters” (I’m using the Nixonian term because these are the tactics that emerged during the Nixon era and led to Watergate – which I’m sure Republicans are still bitter about – all they did “back in the day” was break into a few offices and tap a few phone lines, what’s wrong with that?), putting them on buses, and sending them around to the town hall meetings on health care being held by Congressmen/women and Senators with the stated goal of disrupting the meetings in an attempt to stop the health care debate.

This is the kind of crap that began with the Nixon Presidency, continued throughout the 80’s and 90’s although it was much more subtle (robo calls, etc.), and then peaked again under GW Bush with the “master” Karl Rove. Actually, Karl Rove was mentored by Lee Atwater who was the master at winning elections at all costs. The sad reality is that the remnants of the Republican party are of the same ilk. They are in the habit of resorting to dirty tricks to get what they want, and, unfortunately, most of them are no more than puppets of the corporations who lavish money on them unabashedly – everyone knows they’re beholden to the corporate heads but they just seem to keep “marching on.” For some reason the national media, with a few exceptions chooses to look the other way regarding the effect of corporate money on our politics (I believe, last night, Keith Olberman was going to publicly list the Democrats who are taking money from the health care lobby and then failing to support the “public option” which 72% of the American public wants – I wasn’t able to watch it). By paying these disrupters who Armey is thrusting onto the scene during this August recess, clearly shows the Republicans have no shame. I often wonder, do they even think about the conseqences of doing nothing, which is what they are hoping for? (I believe the failure of our economy and our environment would be worth it to them as long as President Obama “fails” in the words of Rush Limbaugh – isn’t that kind of like being a traitor?)

Obviously, as just surmised, their strategy is the defeat of Barack Obama. The last thing they want to see is for Obama to succeed. I suppose they’re getting a little nervous as the economic news starts to brighten. I honestly feel they want the economy to go deeper into the abiss than Bush left it in January and/or they would love to see America attacked again. Based on that philosophy you would think, if they really think this health care proposal is so bad, that they would let it pass so that the horrible results would give them leverage in future campaigns. The reality is that they fully understand that Americans are paying twice what every other industrialized nation is paying for health care and getting worse results – add to this that the uninsured plus underinsured count is approaching one third of the nation – which is obscene in today’s world. How do these guys sleep at night? Well, I guess we know where their interests lie when we look at the FACT that the health care industry is spending 1.4 MILLION DOLLARS PER DAY in an attempt to defeat the reform legislation. While on the one hand they claim that the government can’t do anything efficiently, they seem to be insisting that the “public option” would put the for profit insurance companies out of business. Now, that doesn’t make sense to me. If the government is so inefficient what is there to worry?

Maybe what they’re worrying about is that their profits won’t allow for the 1.4 Million dollars per day given to politicians. If you haven’t heard of “K street” in Washington, it’s a bunch of Republican (former) politicians who have become lobbyists. They actually take jobs lobbying for firms they did business with in Congress once they leave. Now, I know what you’re thinking – and you’re right – the Dems are guilty as well, just not as organized as the Republicans. I mean, the other day, I heard that Tom Daschle – who was Obama’s original choice for Health and Human Services Secretary (thereby leading this fight) is actually lobbying against the “public option.” Why would this so-called good “liberal” side with the Republicans? Well, for the same reason Max Baucus of Montana and others in the Senate. THEY’RE TAKING TRUCKLOADS OF MONEY FROM HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES, BIG PHARMA, ETC. This is so obvious that it’s OBSCENE! When is the last time in America when we’ve had a true bi-partisan proposal? And by bi-partisan I mean, when 72% of the public are in favor of something. This support has to transcend party lines.

The problem with this support is that it’s on “Main Street.” We’ve already, in the past year, seen glaring evidence that our political leaders are focused on Wall Street not Main Street. Somehow, those of us on “Main Street” have to come together and make sure that we fix this problem. There’s been a lot of cleansing back in Washington, but obviously the work is only partially done. I know that we are all going to hold President Obama accountable for what happens here – and rightfully so. I’ve stated many times on this site where I believe he has come up short – but it’s not in his proposals. (If you haven’t read any of my previous posts, I’m no fan of the “reaching across the isle” attempts by President Obama and his refusal to hold the previous administration accountable for obvious criminal activity was pretty much a deal breaker for me – I don’t ascribe to the theory that our leaders are “above the law.”) The people who need to be held accountable here, in my view, are any Democrats who cave into the health lobby and vote against the clear will of the people. I could care less what their excuses are – they need to be voted out of office. EVEN IF DEMOCRATS ARE REPLACED BY REPUBLICANS. We voted out the Republicans because they were not responsive to the will of the people, WHY SHOULD DEMOCRATS GET ANY DIFFERENT TREATMENT?

Now, to me, the significance of this health care debate is symbolic. That is, I believe the long term damage of letting George W Bush, Dick Cheney, John Woo, David Addington, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, and the rest of the thugs in Bush’s administration “walk” will outlive any fallout from the health care debate. Eventually, we’ll get health care reform – and, hopefully, sooner rather than later, we’ll have the single payer system with not for profit hospitals that everyone knows is in the best interest of the people and the economy of this nation. Based on where they’re coming from and their known constituency you would expect a fight from the Republicans on this because they’ve been on the side of corporate profits over the interests of the average working class American since the days of Ronald Reagan – probably before – but Reagan made no bones about it and the Republican party has considered him their guru ever since (even though I still believe that ultimately, when all the history books are written, Reagan will be considered one of the worst Presidents ever). The fact that we had a President (GW Bush) who authorized war crimes – AND EVERYONE KNOWS THIS – and a sitting President (Obama) chooses to “look forward instead of backward” still makes me sick to my stomach – despite the health care debate. If you’ve noticed, the health care debate has removed the “Bush Crime family” from the discussion.

The list of abuses from the Bush administration was off the charts. But, I guarantee you that by “looking forward” Obama will be instituting some of them into his administration and – before you know it – they are accepted as Presidential powers. The wiretapping? Well, for those of us my age (baby boomers), we’re leaving a horrible legacy for our children and grandchildren. When future Presidents choose to “look forward” these abuses will slowly grow – I can see the day when it’s totally accepted that the government is listening to our phone calls (if it’s not here already) – you know the line: “I don’t care, I’m not saying anything to worry about.” That kind of rationalization makes me crazy. So, the Republicans are continuing to outsmart the Democrats. Largely because of their total disregard for integrity. They have turned the health care debate into a debacle – they have no shame – I’ll say it again, $1.4 MILLION per day is UNBELIEVABLE TO ME. SOMEONE OUGHT TO NOTICE THAT, AND CONNECT THE DOTS. And, then you have Armey’s army of disruptors. They don’t even hide this. EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE DOING. It really is obscene, but I’m not even sure what it is exactly that they’re trying to get here. Their motives might be something entirely different from what seems obvious. They’ve certainly managed to succeed in getting the torture issue resolved. IT’S PRETTY MUCH OVER! (although, never say die person that I am, I’ll continue to hope that Eric Holder “grows a pair” in the near future). I’m just wondering when the Democrats are going to understand that THEY’RE AT WAR! And the war isn’t in Iraq, it’s WITH REPUBLICANS! Will Democrats ever figure out that it would be so easy to put the Republicans TOTALLY on the defensive? It seems like they are always one step behind. All they would have to do is start the investigations of Bush and company, and the debate would totally change – AND, I GUARANTEE YOU, THE REPUBLICANS WOULD BE ON THE DEFENSIVE! (and, we could have a true health care debate – actually about how to make a plan that works)