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.