I’m a sixth grade teacher, obviously, not a professional journalist – but I really enjoy writing. As I’ve stated several times on this site, it’s therapeutic for me. I’ve been monitoring the politics of America for over 40 years (actually, my BA is Political Science), and after about 4 or 5 years of Bush/Cheney I just couldn’t take my own silence anymore. The only way I was able to get out the frustration was to start this site, kind of as a personal journal. What I discovered was that, even in the middle of cyberspace, there are no truly personal journals. Somehow, people find you. I’ve had as many as 200 visitors to my site in one day. I realize by the accounts of most websites that is minscule, would put them out of business. But, when your expectation is ZERO, then any visitor is a surprise. That being said, I believe it is the constant traffic to this site (which seems to be slowly increasing) that helps to motivate me to keep writing.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney are gone (but not forgotten – at least in my mind) and President Obama is the first President I’ve been solidly behind during a campaign in my voting lifetime (although I have my issues with his Presidency as well). I was just as excited when Robert Kennedy was attempting to unseat President Johnson amidst the Viet Nam fiasco in 1968, only to be TERRIBLY disappointed by his assasination. Since that day only President Carter has enamored me enough to become a supporter – albeit, after his election. I must admit that I didn’t expect a peanut grower from Georgia to be such a powerful figure in the fight for equal rights among African Americans, women, etc. He was a good and honest man, which seems to be a liability in our culture. I approved of President Clinton and Vice President Gore’s attempts to streamline government and to balance the federal budget – I was just never able to accept President Clinton’s behavior. In my mind, when all is said and done, I believe it will be President Clinton’s behavior which led to the Presidency of George W Bush. And, I’m still not certain what it will take to overcome the damage done to this nation by the Bush/Cheney administration.

It was apparent that the dialogue in this country was becoming toxic, at least from the “right,” during Clinton’s years. The constant attacks in the media and all the “investigations” in Congress once the Republicans gained a majority were obscene. Unfortunately, Clinton had his affair with Monica Lewinsky which overshadowed the toxic behavior of the Republicans – at least in the eyes of the media (my take, of course). During the Bush/Cheney years which followed the Republicans dismantled as much of our government structure as they could while, at the same time, keeping up the propoganda campaign which was designed to make the word “liberal” a “dirty word.” Well, I believe they were successful, because in about the midterm of Bush’s administration you started to hear the word “progressive” instead of liberal. The truth is that all these words have pretty much lost their meaning. I mean, anyone from my era, if they’re honest, would have a hard time connecting the word “conservative” with the present day Republican party.

Conservative used to mean traditional values, “pay as you go” regarding finances, and honest Christian values. I can’t see any of that in the present Republican party. In fact, when I watch and listen to the leaders, it is a rare occasion when I hear something that is honest or genuine. And, just the fact that “liberals” have caved into the idea that it’s a bad word, speaks for itself (are there truly any liberals left out there?) The word “liberal” has traditionally been associated with the Democratic party, but – I for one – am struggling to call the Democratic party “liberal” as I’m watching the present debates over health care, global warming, energy, etc. With a 60 member caucus, it seems like if Democrats really were liberal, we would all have the “option” of a national health care insurance policy, energy efficiency would be encouraged by the government through incentives, and we’d be listening to the overwhelming number of scientists warning us about the impending warming crisis.

Instead, what we’ve had to deal with in the past 8+ years are “conservatives” who want to “drill, drill, drill; who pushed us into Iraq – the most UNWISE decision (maybe) in the history of this great land – I believe for their oil, who allowed terrorists to attack us and then didn’t catch them when they could have (instead choosing to go for Iraq’s oil), who believed in and authorized torture, who listened to our phone calls without warrants and read our emails, who virtually allowed our economy to be stolen by the very rich – at the expense of our 401k’s and retirement accounts, and who now – after being resoundedly rejected at the polls – are still yelling the LOUDEST and the LONGEST in an attempt to undermine the Obama administration’s every move. And, the “liberals” in the Democratic caucus seem unmoved by the urgency many Americans are feeling toward resolving the problems those very Republicans created.

Since the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency the dialogue in America has become even more toxic. That, in itself, should explain who’s in control of what the Republcans refer to as the “liberal media bias.” This “liberal media” covers virtually every sick demonstration led by racist white supremicists who can’t stand the idea that our commander in chief is not a “white” man, while failing to inform the citizenry of the details of proposed public policy (is there anyone out there who really understands what “public option” means?). They are OPENLY trying to undermine the Obama administration – THEY’VE SAID THIS PUBLICLY! Rush Limbaugh, the leader of the present day Republicans, said, “I hope Obama fails!” He’s repeated this over and over. The guy is a long time proven racist (he even lost a job on Monday night football because he couldn’t keep his racist thoughts to himself for even one week) and now you can hear him “pine” that there is nothing left for “White males” in America. Jim DeMint, a sitting senator from South Carolina, openly called for President Obama’s “waterloo” on the senate floor when talking about the reason for defeating the health care reform that our nation needs so desparately. I even saw and heard him call a group of people patriots during a demonstration in Washington when the person standing right in front of him held a sign that read, “The zoo has an African lion, the White House has a lying African.” In other words, these “conservatives” are willing to sacrifice the interests of millions of Americans to satisfy their own racist disgust with having a Black person elected President of this nation. Obviously, to them, if President Obama succeeds, THIS COULD HAPPEN AGAIN! More white people might figure out that a person’s skin color really doesn’t have anything to do with the content of his/her character or his/her intellectual capability.

What generated my thoughts for today was that yesterday President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace prize – one of the most prestigious honors a person can receive worldwide. It was not only a total surprise to most Americans, but also to President Obama. I heard his acceptance speech – he said he was “humbled” to receive the award, and he said he didn’t feel he was deserving to receive an award based on who the previous recipients are. Of course, I knew that immediately this would become a negative issue with Republicans. I haven’t even tried to find examples of the “right wing” response, but I can guarantee you it will be negative. Speculation: They’re (the Europeans) trying to influence Obama, or what has he done to deserve this, or maybe the traditional Republican complaint – why didn’t Reagan get this award? All I can be certain of is that their response will be negative, JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE THAT COMES FROM THEIR MOUTHS. Even the article I read that informed me he had won the prize, in the NY times, pointed out in it’s subtitle this was a “potential political liability.”

Only in today’s America could winning a Nobel Peace prize be considered a “potential political liability.” This is like the attempt to gain the Olympics for Chicago. Republicans were chearing that our nation lost a bid for something that would be a huge benefit, simply because they don’t want our Black President to succeed at ANYTHING! This has gotten to the point of being absurd – and I don’t understand why that, in itself, isn’t the driving force behind our national dialogue. HOW DID WE GET TO THE POINT WHERE IT’S NOT SHAMEFUL TO “ROOT” FOR THE FAILURE OF OUR NATION? I really don’t get this. The part that bothers me the most is that there are millions of Americans who, for whatever reason, choose to be uninformed on the issues of the day – and, while I fully understand the need for two vibrant political parties to make our nation fuction in a healthy way, this present day Republican party – with leaders like Limbaugh, Beck, Boehner, McConnell, DeMint, Hannity, Savage, O’Reilly, Rove, Cheney, Bush, etc. – has GOT TO GO! Rooting for the failure of our nation should not be acceptable, no matter who’s doing it!