It’s getting more difficult all the time to fight off the feeling of frustration as I watch the American political scene unfold “right before my eyes.”  I’m struggling with how on earth an American political party can become as dishonest and disengenuous as the Republican party and still have a national presence.  And my heart wants one of the parties to address the “real” needs of the everyday American people, but it just isn’t happening.  I want to say the Democrats aren’t spineless (although they appear to be) yet my instincts are telling me they are, in general, every bit as much at the mercy of the multi-national corporations as the Republicans.  It seems as if the members of Congress willing to stand up for the principles that we were taught in school were the foundation of this nation are few and far between.

Then we have the President who I so willingly supported, voted for, and to a degree campaigned for – who seems to be all too willing to accept “compromise” which is nothing more than a sell out to the monied interests who have a stranglehold on Washington DC.  When I saw the “consummate” politicians he surrounded himself with once elected I became a bit nervous.  As the year has unfolded my worst fears seem to be on the horizon.  I believe President Obama is a good man with a good heart, I’m just not convinced at this point that he’s the fiery leader I felt we were in desperate need of when I originally threw my support his way.  I know he has the intellectual capacity to take that role, I’m just not seeing it happening.  I keep telling myself that being surrounded by Rahm Emanuel, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, and trying to bridge the gap with Republicans who despise him is a failed direction he should be able to detect and change.  I continue to hope for that change because these people are all about the status quo – business as usual – which is what appears to be happening in our nation.

This is not a “business as usual” time – and, I’m tired of all the excuses about how nothing can be accomplished due to the obsinence of the Republicans in the Senate.  What I’m seeing is the same old way of solving problems with the same unacceptable results – WHILE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS ARE GOING HUNGRY, LOSING THEIR HOMES, and losing everything they’ve spent their lives working for.  It would not be difficult to make a clear case directed toward the public as to why this is happening (Republican rule).  AND IT’S RIDICULOUS to be pandering to the ones who created this mess in the first place.  I’ve said from the very first few days of the Obama administration that his “need” for “bipartisanship” was a HORRIBLY BAD IDEA!

What the President should have been doing was confronting the confrontational nature of the Republicans and PUSHING true progressive solutions to the problems created by the Bush administration and 30+ YEARS OF SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS!  The whole theory  behind this “trickle down” approach to managing our economy NEVER MADE ANY SENSE in the first place – but these Republicans mastered the art of cramming propaganda down the American public’s “throat” until enough people fell for their nonsense allowing for disastrous political victories (disastrous for what was a robust middle class prior to Reagan which is now a shell of what it – the middle class – was in the 70’s – of course, on the other hand, a HUGE WINDFALL to all those in the upper income brackets and – more importantly – the corporate “heads” who now virtually RUN OUR GOVERNMENT) which have nearly bankrupted our nation.

Here’s what is really depressing when I think about “what’s happening.”  The unemployment rate in the United States, as of Thanksgiving 2009, is somewhere around 17+ percent.  Of course, the government reports numbers considerably less than that – although still DISASTROUS – I guess to keep people from using the “D” word – instead calling this a “severe” recession.  But, when you look at the number of foreclosures, when you listen to all the people who are homeless and have been looking for work for over a year, when you hear stories of THOUSANDS applying for minimum wage jobs, when you talk to numerous parents working multiple jobs thereby leaving their children to “fend for themselves” most of the time, and when you count the number of banks not “too big to fail” which have failed – you realize THERE’S A HUGE PROBLEM OUT THERE.  How bad does it have to get before we call this the depression that it is?

We know that the Republicans don’t care about anything except that President Obama fails.  Therefore, THEY SHOULD JUST BE WRITTEN OFF.  It’s time to end the political nightmare in Washington.  For this to happen we need LEADERSHIP!  The President is the one who is going to have to supply this.  He has the “BULLY PULPIT” and it’s high time that he start using it.  He needs to go on the attack so that the government can step in and really STIMULATE our economy.  OUR PEOPLE NEED JOBS, and they need them now, not in the two or three year time period the economic advisors to the President are predicting.  I’m already tired of hearing Geithner explain how job creation is always the last phase of a recovery.  It’s almost as if President Obama’s advisors have “drunk” the trickle down “coolaid.”

Here’s the deal; if President Obama is going to continue with a policy which rewards Wall Street for their bad behavior by condoning what amounts to a “top down” approach to solving our problems, he’s going to be a one term President.  And, it won’t be due to Fox “news,” or Rush Limbaugh, or Sarah Palin – it will be because the President has chosen to abandon the progressive views of the people who got him elected.  Already we’re hearing rumblings of discontent from the White House about the number of “liberals” who are “jumping off the bandwagon.”  As if, they just have assumed all along that the “base” will stick with the President through “thick and thin.”  As far as I’m concerned, I made it clear that Obama would not get the “sheep mentality” from me that GW Bush got from Republicans and all of the “ditto heads” who simply do/did what Limbaugh and the rest of the Republican leadership tell/told them to do.  I started predicting trouble for Obama as soon as he chose to “look forward instead of backward,” therefore letting Bush/Cheney and the Republicans “off the hook” for potentially destroying this nation as we know it.

Let me explain why this was such a STUPID move.  The constant vitriol coming from the “right” (wrong) was totally PREDICTABLE.  We’ve had to listen to the likes of Glenn Beck calling the President everything from a non-citizen to a racist to a communist to a nazi (of course, if anyone thinks like a nazi it would be Beck and or some of his cohorts – like Limbaugh, Cheney, etc) – we’ve had to listen to Rush Limbaugh say “I hope Obama fails,” and do everything in his power to influence his “ditto heads” to hope for the same thing (notwithstanding the FACT that would mean America would fail), and worst of all for me we’ve had to listen to Dick (head) Cheney going around the country doing everything from bragging how “waterboarding” isn’t torture and provides “actionable intelligence” (both easily proven lies) to undermining President Obama’s attempts to fix the HORRIBLY FAILED political and military DISASTERS Cheney was largely responsible for (along with his good buddy Donald Rumsfeld) in Iraq and Afganistan.  Cheney committed treason when he “outed” Valerie Plame of the CIA to get even with her husband for telling the truth about how Bush/Cheney were lying us into the Iraq fiasco.  That wasn’t good enough for him, so he’s still going around trying to make his own folly look good while unpatriotically undermining our present Commander in Chief.  To listen to Cheney you would think he wants another terrorist attack on this nation in order to make himself feel better about allowing 9/11 to happen on his watch.  THIS MAN MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH JUST KNOWING HE’S STILL WALKING FREE!  Cheney and the rest of the Republicans continue to believe our laws don’t apply to them – they (and America) desperately need to learn that DECISIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES – and, America is a nation of laws NOT MEN!

I believe almost all of the partisan rancor in Washington would be in the process of subsiding had Obama not only allowed, but pushed for, the investigation of and – where appropriate – the prosecution of the Bush/Cheney administration for all their criminal behavior.  I spent the Thanksgiving weekend at a Christian Retreat Center with a group of people who I love – mostly members of the “Christian Right” who just go along with the Republicans because they believe Republicans want to end abortion.  They have NO IDEA WHAT REPUBLICANS ACTUALLY HAVE DONE AND STAND FOR!  These people live to do things to help the least fortunate among us and they just don’t understand the degree Republicans block their own efforts.  When I think of them voting for Republicans I think of the saying about when you “cut off your nose to spite your face.”  A full public investigation of the Bush administration would have put many “truths” out there where even the Fox “news” crew couldn’ hide them.

America DESPERATELY NEEDED to know what had happened in “our name,” when Obama was elected.  He failed the test MISERABLY.  I don’t know if he ordered his Attorney General to “look the other way,” or if Eric Holder did this of his own volition and Obama didn’t intercede – but, regardless, this will go down as a TERRIBLE DECISION that will cause this nation to carry the burden of the Bush/Cheney debacle for maybe years to come.  And, if Obama does end up being a one term President – unless he’s defeated from within his own party we will have another Republican in the White House – and I GUARANTEE YOU – any Republican who moves into the White House without having Bush/Cheney REBUKED will take over where they left off!  Those of us who spent so much energy getting Obama elected will have to endure an encore performance of the unitary executive “theory” imposed on America by Dick Cheney and carried out by GW Bush.  I don’t believe I was the only American who was counting on Obama to reverse their wrongs!

The end result of all this has been a stimulus bill which was woefully inadequate to address the unemployment disaster happening in America over the previous two years and evidently – based on the political will in Washington – the next two years AT LEAST;  an energy policy which probably won’t happen due to the lack of will to confront Republicans, and a health care “reform” bill which will likely be a “boon” to the insurance industry, cause even higher rates for “we the people,” and will possibly “hamstring” the Obama administration for the next few years.  Believe me, if the health care bill is passed without giving the majority of Americans the “choice” to buy a medicare like “public option” as an alternative to the price gauging insurnace companies, the backlash will come from Obama’s own supporters.

This is a time in American history when we are in desperate need of courageous leadership.  And courageous leadership doesn’t mean politics as usual.  We need our LEADER to stand tall for PRINCIPLED legislation which will reverse the 30 year assault on the New Deal agenda which created our great middle class in the first place.  So far we’ve only seen agressive legislation in the Wall Street bailouts and VIRTUALLY NO RE-REGULATION to go along with it.  Health care reform appears headed for disaster and unemployment seems destined to rise for at least another year.  The more I learn about Tim Geithner, the more I believe he’s as connected to Goldman Sachs as Henry Paulsen was.  And Larry Summers helped create the deregulation which caused this mess in the first place.  Rahm Emanuel is the epitome of a Washington “insider” directing the “change we want to believe in” by playing politics as usual.  As I continue to be grieved by all the stories I’m hearing about the millions of Americans who are losing all they’ve worked so hard for I can’t help but wonder; How can we achieve the “Change we can believe in” through politics as usual?

There can be no doubt that the HORRIBLE mess this country finds itself in is the result of 30 years of “supply-side” economics which has brought us to the brink of total insolvency. The national debt is approaching 12TRILLION DOLLARS, and putting the brakes on the spiral of debt seems to be beyond the reach of our present leaders in Congress. And, for me, worse than that is the reality of our new (well, it’s almost a year in office now – so new is close to the wrong word) President being unable to make a PRINCIPLED stand on just about anything. Had I known that Barack Obama was a TOTAL PRAGMATIST, someone obsessed with consensus building at the expense of REAL CHANGE, I would have cast my ballot in a different direction. I long ago, on this site, pointed out that Obama’s refusal to hold the previous Republican administration accountable for egregious lawbreaking was a “deal breaker” for me – and I would look elsewhere to cast my next vote. I have since refused to send any money President Obama’s way (I did send money to Alan Grayson of Florida and the ACLU, among others) and I wrote a THREE PAGE LETTER to the President explaining to him why his decision to let Bush/Cheney et al OFF THE HOOK was such a TERRIBLE decision!

Of course, the President isn’t going to listen to my complaints because – how could he? How could he hear anything over the roar from the “tea baggers,” the Limbaugh’s of this world, the Becks, the O’Reilly’s and the other blowhards on the right who are hell-bent on undermining everything Obama does? The sad thing to me is that President Obama may be undermining his own administration by his actions that are becoming MORE AND MORE disgusting to his very “base.” I started pointing out, soon after the inauguration (here I go again, “patting” myself on the back), the “red flags” I had concerning Obama’s decisionmaking. I would often say, “I hope I’m wrong.” And, I’m still pretty much saying that, but the more I observe, the more I listen to people, and the more I reflect on the decisions Obama is making, has made, and is sticking with – THE MORE I’M AFRAID I MIGHT BE CORRECT! (go ahead and read some of my posts from early this year – it’s a bit startling when 6th grade school teachers are able to possibly give better advice than the President’s own advisors – and believe me, I don’t live on an “island” by myself – the size of the “chorus” of disenchanted “progressives” is growing as I write this)

I don’t even think I’m talking about the Republican party resurrecting itself (although I do occasionally have Jeb Bush nightmares – I honestly believe he’ll be the next Republican nominee if Obama is considered at all vulnerable in 2012) – at least in its present form (I’ll have more to say on that later in this post). What I’m talking about is what I see as the continued deteriorating of the country I love and the apparent inability or unwillingness of the leaders of this nation to address the issues STRAIGHT UP! It seems like the political reality in America right now is that we have a lot more anguish in front of us before the people and the leaders realize the gravity of the situation we find ourselves in. And, while I believe the Republicans have pretty much led us into this “place,” I expected the Democrats under OBAMA’S LEADERSHIP to dramatically change the direction – FAR MORE THAN THEY HAVE. Of course, what they are giving us is something along the lines of “We’re a lot better than Bush/Cheney.” Or, “we are a better alternative to McCain/Palin” – both of which are true. But, if the glaring problems faced by this nation aren’t solved – and if we don’t DRAMATICALLY change “course,” it won’t matter much that Obama is “better” than Bush. We’ll still be in an untennable situation which could, conceivably, RUIN this nation for our children and grandchildren. And, make no mistake about this – it’s us (I’m a full-blooded BABY BOOMER) who are responsible for the state of affairs we find ourselves in.

A little history lesson: The United States of America was essentially run by a “greedy few” leading up to the stock market “crash” of 1929 – the Republicans were in control of the White House (as they have been for much of the previous 30 years prior to the Obama administration), Corporate “heads” weilded considerable power, regulation was “light,” and working class families were STRUGGLING big time (sound familiar?). Along comes the New Deal which introduced radical solutions to these problems followed by WW II which kind of “cemented” New Deal innovations into the “mainstream” (such as Social Security, etc.) and then the “60’s” with Civil Rights legislation, Medicare, and the peak power of the union movement. The greatest “middle class” in the history of the world was the result and “things were good.” Well, except for the Viet Nam fiasco which virtually turned father against son, neighbor against neighbor, and brother against brother (kind of like Iraq in its infancy – of course, by now most Americans realize the folly of Iraq – as they eventually did with Viet Nam). Many people my age became very active protesting against the war in Viet Nam and knowledgeable about contemporary politics.

But, it seems after the war controversy died down, many of the Viet Nam “activists” became what were called “yuppies.” They had gone from the hippie movement to the mainstream of America. It seemed as if once the war was over, many people – including myself – settled into what they envisioned would be the good American “middle class.” And it has been good – many of us have prospered – some amazingly so. Over the years many of us became what was (I thought) erroneously labled as the “silent majority.” Yes, we were silent, but NO many others besides myself did not agree with the direction this nation turned with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. That was like “turning back the clock” time as the Republican party was determined to UNDO THE NEW DEAL at all costs and to PILFER as much money as possible from this middle class which they DESPISED (they not only hate unions and health care legislation, they even hated and tried to prevent the minimum wage – if it was up to them we wouldn’t have weekends, there’d be no “overtime pay,” and Social Security would be a bad dream).

The hardest part for me was watching as the Republicans JUMPED on the abortion issue and TRICKED millions of working class Americans to vote against their own best interests TIME AND TIME AGAIN without even having a clue as to what other things these Republican politicians were up to. The really sad part of this, for me, is that I take my Christian faith very seriously and the “base” of the Republican party during these years was the so-called “Christian right.” Many of the Christians in this un-holy coalition to this day have NO IDEA what some of the things are they voted for. They still see Reagan as their “beacon” despite the fact he had a secret ILLEGAL war going on in Nicaraugua, he was trading arms and drugs with the Iranians, his CIA was committing DEPLORABLE acts in South and Central America, his economic policies were the initial FUEL for the huge debt we now are encumbered with, his administration was responsible for arming Saddam Hussein with the chemical weapons Hussein used on his own people and the Iranians, and last but NOT LEAST Reagan was all about DESTROYING THE UNION MOVEMENT in America! Many of the people who voted for him were the very members of the middle class which he was trying to undermine.

The people behind the scenes in the Reagan administration have remained in Washington since that time and were instrumental in the destructive policies of the GW Bush administration which brought us to the “brink” of another Great Depression during Bush’s reign in office. We got a dose of supply side economics on STEROIDS under Bush/Cheney and they left office with a national debt approximately twice what it was when they took office. Worst than that, they inherited a budget surplus which would have wiped out the debt in approximately 10 years had they “stayed the course,” but – of course – the Republicans don’t think along the lines of fiscal responsibility unless there’s a Democrat in the White House. Does anyone besides me find it the HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY to listen to Republicans complain about the debt in Obama’s first year (remember, we’re still operating under the final Bush/Cheney budget)? I couldn’t believe that Obama INHERITED a deficit of almost a TRILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS (in just one year) from Bush/Cheney on top of an economy that was in almost free fall. And, these disengenuous Republicans were blaming it on Obama before he was even inaugurated – Oh yes, and don’t forget that both the Iraq and Afganistan occupations, which were costing American taxpayers between THREE AND FOUR BILLION DOLLARS PER WEEK, weren’t even counted in the deficit by Bush/Cheney – despite the FACT that EVERY CENT SPENT IN IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN had been BORROWED!

So, after thirty years of this nonsense “We the People” finally elected someone who was going to institute “real change” and point this nation back in the direction which created our great middle class in the first place (there’s not enough time tonight to discuss all the disasters of the Republican rule – like almost all of our manufacturing jobs now being manufactured over seas – among other disasters) – RIGHT? Well, again I hope I’m wrong – but I’m just not too enamored with President Obama at this point in time. It’s like he’s willing to take anything he can get from Congress – and the buying of our legislators is so RAMPANT and OBVIOUS as the stimulus bills, energy bills, and the health care bill work their way through the house and senate that it seems the best we can hope for is legislation which appeals to the special interests but solves nothing as far as our nation’s woes are concerned. The leaders in Washington willing to make a principled stand on ANYTHING are few and far between. I watched in dismay the other day, for example, as the Democratic leaders in the senate had to bribe their own members JUST to get enough votes so the health care bill – which appears will be a huge “boon” to insurance companies – could simply be debated (and the “bribees” made it clear that the “investment” [bribe] wouldn’t get their vote when it counts – when it’s time to actually pass the bill, that is). The REALLY TROUBLING part of this is that these last few senators – aka “the holdouts” – were clearly in the “pocket” of the industry which was supposed to be reformed by the legislation and the price of their “votes” was to reduce the effect of the reforms on that industry should the legislation pass – WHICH THE “HOLDOUTS” PROMISED TO PREVENT from happening! I’M NOT SURE WHAT BOTHERS ME MORE – THE LEVEL OF CORRUPTION IN OUR GOVERNMENT, OR THE ACCEPTANCE OF THAT CORRUPTION BY THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC and the legislators themselves! There should be massive outrage at this process at a time when 45,000 people are DYING each year from lack of health care – and yet our leaders are more concerned with the “donations” they are receiving from the industry which is bound and determined to keep the “status quo.” This doesn’t seem like the America I grew up in.

I listened to a short speech President Obama gave tonight as he “toasted” the Prime Minister of India in one of Obama’s first “state dinners” at the White House. The thought that crossed my mind was I’m tired of listening to the man. I’m beginning to feel as if his words are totally hollow. I was certainly looking for someone who would put up more of a “fight” against these despicable Republicans. Bush/Cheney SHOULD be answering to a grand jury on a plethora of issues, not the least of which would be authorizing WAR CRIMES. The Republicans in Congress should be facing a leader who calls them out on their obstructionist tactics and puts principle in front of wishy washy political moves. Joe Lieberman should lose his committee chairmanship and be told to caucus with the Republicans where he belongs. The Democrats should use the clout they have to modify the procedural policies in the House and Senate to get this desperately needed legislation passed which would provide health care to all Americans and would be designed to actually get people who are unemployed BACK TO WORK! Stop waiting for these mysterious market forces Republicans are fond of talking about to work and actually start rebuilding the failing infrastructure and economy of this nation. And short of ACTUALLY BRINGING OUR TROOPS HOME (which was the promise) DEMAND THAT “We the People” pay for these two occupations – NO MORE WAR BY CREDIT CARD!

The financial industry desperately needs to be RE-REGULATED (re-instituting Glass Steagall would be a good start), the large banks and the large communication conglomerates need to be BROKEN UP so that NONE are “too big to fail,” The health care solution should be a SINGLE PAYER Medicare for all plan that would actually INSURE health care for all Americans and remove the profit motive from the “middleman,” Energy and the environment should be agressively addressed with a direct and realistic policy regarding “Climate Change” (you know, lets not wait until Los Angeles and New York are under water before we address this problem – as the Republicans would have us do), an increase in the gas tax should be immediately imposed with the money going directly into rebuilding our hiways and bridges, the “Bush taxcuts” for the “wealthy” should be IMMEDIATELY reversed and taxes on the top 1% of Americans should be increased to a level which recoups the money lost during the Bush years, there should be a tax of maybe .0025 on EVERY SHARE OF STOCK traded on Wall Street until all the TARP money has been repaid and ALL THE MONEY GUARANTEED BY OUR TREASURY for potential bank losses is covered (keep in mind that the American taxpayers are “on the hook” – potentially – for MANY TRILLIONS more in losses from these banks who are “too big to fail”), and there should be strict limits on corporate lobbyists and the money they are using to “PURCHASE” our Congress! I could go on, but I’m already WAY OVER MY LIMIT of thougt for the evening! :o)

I fully realize that it would be a stretch for any administration to do even half of these things which are ALL desperately needed to return this nation to the thriving democracy which “sports” a middle class which is the envy of the entire world. Under Bush/Cheney we became the laughing stock of the entire world. Even illiterate people in places like Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and many other parts of the world were just shaking their heads and wondering how can a nation with as much wealth as the United States be so stupid? The answer to that, in my mind, is that GREED is a mighty INVISILBLE force that can overwhelm you (and a nation) – and, before you know it or understand what has happened, an entire country is acting like an addict. We know what we’re doing is wrong, we know it’s unsustainable, and tragically – despite knowing how to fix it – our leaders don’t have the will to fix the problem! Therefore, THEY BECOME THE PROBLEM! And the saddest part of all this for me is that President Obama is running out of time when he can blame our problems on Bush/Cheney. When it became apparent that Obama was going to allow the Bush/Cheney crimes to go unaccounted for the writing was on the wall that the “Change we can believe in” was little more than a slogan. His subsequent actions and lack thereof have just confirmed to me that the best we can hope for at this point in time is a partial return to the “Clinton years” economically and a continuance of the partisan bickering, socially, which has tormented this great nation since the day Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves some 25 years ago. I will continue my search for a political leader who has the courage to stand up to the “forces on the ‘right'” and who is willing to actually fulfill his/her oath to faithfully uphold our sacred constitution!

There’s so much I could write about and I wish I could just stay focused on a positive discussion of the important issues at hand.  For example, a very dear friend of mine is lying in intensive care tonight – I’ve spent the bulk of this evening praying for a miracle – and, thus I’d like to discuss the importance of health care for all Americans.  In fact, I’m not particularly happy with the impending legislation moving through Congress and being bludgeoned along the way by the obstructionist, naysayers on the “right.” (how did they ever get that name when they’re always so wrong?)  A significant majority of Americans realize that until we take the profiteers out of the middle of health care decisions we will have a broken system.  And these profiteers are making enough profit to be able to spend in excess of a million dollars per day for over one year in an attempt to block any reform to our broken system.  The 45,000 Americans dying annually due to lack of health insurance doesn’t bother them one bit – the only thing on their minds is increasing their profit margin for their shareholders.  To say that our system is SICK, is an understatement!

To me, what’s SICKER is the constant barrage of lies and anti-American rhetoric coming from the “right” in the guise of “patriotism.”  The other day I listened with utter contempt as Rush Limbaugh went on another of his dishonest, disengenuous, disgusting rants about the Obama administration (it seems like this is the normal feeling when I listen to Limbaugh).  This time he was complaining about the announcement that – after almost 8 years – the perpetrators of 9/11 who have been captured will stand trial in New York for their criminal actions.  He actually said that the Obama administration and those who support this action (prosecution) “HATE AMERICA.”  I can’t tell you how much offense I, personally, take everytime I listen to this blowhard accuse me and millions like me of “hating America.”  If anyone hates America and what it stands for, it’s Limbaugh and the people who are behind his propoganda campaign to destroy everything that’s been accomplished in this nation in the past 80 years.  His rational for being so upset about this trial is his prediction that the trial will end up being all about the Bush administration and their torture tactics – and, I suppose, their inhumane treatment of detainees in general.

For one thing, to say that someone who wants the Bush administration held accountable for their criminal behavior “hates America” is absurd on it’s face.  They tried to destroy everything America stands for in the name of profits for their suppoters – even to the extent of obscene war profiteering in Iraq and Afganistan while our troops (who they claim to support were going without the basic necessities necessary to keep them as safe as possible).  Their cronies have heisted TRILLIONS from our economy with much of it being stashed in overseas banking accounts so that they can avoid paying taxes.  Dick Cheney’s Halliburton moved to the Middle East to avoid investigation for fraud and abuse in Iraq and probably to avoid paying taxes on the Billions they’ve taken from the American taxpayers as well – for just one example (and Cheney profited handsomely from his “trust” – containing his Halliburton stock which appreciated, by some accounts, over $100 MILLION during the Iraq occupation via no-bid contracts – while our troops were dying on the ground).  If these people have done nothing wrong they should welcome any investigation into their activities just to clear their names.  However, they – AND LIMBAUGH – know full well what any investigation will turn up and they want nothing to do with it.  So, Limbaugh is starting with the “Hate” speaches already in defense of any possible disclosure of the horrific torture tactics of Bush/Cheney et al in these trials of the 9/11 perpetrators.

Here’s where for once, I HOPE LIMBAUGH’S CORRECT!  I can’t express how much I hope the torture issue  becomes center stage in the American political discussion.  If it has to happen in the trials of these terrorists, so be it.  It should have already happened and we could have had the discussion – all the while listening to Limbaugh and his ilk trying to convince the American public that waterboarding is not torture – despite the FACT we prosecuted the Japenese for waterboarding our troops during WW II, and we prosecuted our own troops for doing it in Viet Nam.  It’s been listed as torture for longer than either Limbaugh or myself have been alive.  And, the worst part of all this is that waterboarding isn’t even close to the worst thing done in our name under the Bush administration during the 7 years of their prosecuting the wars in Iraq/Afganistan.  I won’t get into all the gory details, but suffice it to say that many “enemy combatants” – not all of which were necessarily even “combatants” have died at the hands of those acting with authority from Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Tenet/Gonzales/Addington/Rove/Yoo et al while in “custody” – these people look at the Geneva Conventions with disgust.  In fact, it’s these people who are disgusting – the crimes we’re talking about are international war crimes – and it’s a blight on our nation that we are allowing them to walk away from these deeds “scott free” – their actions have left a “wound” which will never be “healed” without the missing national discussion/debate.

Here’s where I wish I didn’t want Limbaugh to be correct.  These crimes shouldn’t be made public during these trials.  Of course the prosecution (Obama administration) – despite the claims of Limbaugh – will do everything they can to keep the torture issue out of the trials.  The FACT Sheik Mohammed was waterboarded 183 TIMES IN ONE MONTH would naturally cause any evidence gained from that point on to be non-admissable in court – so one has to assume that Eric Holder, Obama’s Attorney General, has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction without anything said after the torturing began.  I just don’t think it’s possible to refuse the defendant his/her right to present a case.  Maybe they can keep it out somehow and, in this way, we could see the Obama administration playing to the “ditto heads” instead of those of us who worked so hard to get him elected only to see him refuse to even allow investigations of the Bush administration – despite public admissions by both Bush and Cheney that they authorized waterboarding.

Everyone in Washington DC knows that if investigations start they could go on for years – because the abuses are so egregious.  I’m sure Obama is taking a calculated gamble that people like me will ultimately forgive him prior to the 2012 elections.  And, I have to say that, to me, this is nothing more than POLITICS AS USUAL in America.  That is why I’m looking elsewhere for a candidate to support for the next election.  I’ve voted in every Presidential election since 1968 – sometimes holding my nose as I cast my ballot – and never with greater disappointment at the results than this past election.  It’s not that I don’t support, like,  and admire Obama – I was just expecting a statesmen of the caliber of a Roosevelt or Lincoln (which, in my view, is what is desperately needed in America) and what we have is an extremely smooth talking politician.  The refusal to hold Bush/Cheney accountable, the refusal to take decisive action in Iraq (as promised), and the apparent willingness to accept whatever comes his way as far as “health care reform” and other significant legislation,  is just not working for me.  As far as I’m concerned Rush Limbaugh and his ilk are not even close to angry enough.  Obama has been WAY TOO NICE TO REPUBLICANS and I’m not sure he understands the importance of soundly defeating what they presently stand for.

I believe people like Limbaugh and the others like him actually believe they will be back in power in the next election.  They are counting on the American public’s ignorance regarding their lies and obstructionist behavior.  And, in many ways, I believe the Democrats are playing right into their hands – by risking so much on a health care bill that they’re unable to deliver without providing 40 million new customers for the health insurance industry which is already ripping us off.  Additionally, there’s a lot more that Obama is doing which is turning off his supporters on the “left.”  It will be more evident as time goes on.  Many people I know (these are people who pay attention and have advanced college degrees – I suppose Limbaugh would call them – and me – elitists, despite our far less than $400 million salaries) have no idea, for instance, that Obama is supporting several Bush policies in court – such as illegal wiretapping and using “state’s secrets” claims to protect government secrecy – indiscriminately.  To me, along with the protection of the torture abuses, these choices are “deal breakers” and I believe more and more “progressives” are joining me in this conclusion.

So, we’ve got people like Rush Limbaugh claiming that those of us who actually want our government (whether or not it’s Republican controlled or Democratic controlled) to operate according to the constitution “Hate America;” and we’ve got a Congress which seems unable to overcome the HUGE amounts of money being spent by lobbyists intended to defeat legislation which, if passed, would actually jumpstart the recovery from eight years of Bush/Cheney;  and we’ve got a President who is so obsessed with bi-partisanship (sucking up to people who overtly despise him) that he’s unwilling to take a firm principled stand on key issues such as the stimulus bill and health care – the single payer option being “off the table” (anything is better than nothing).  Just writing this is kind of depressing.   Ralph Nader is looking better and better.

It is the Republicans like Limbaugh that I believe everyone should be trying to expose for what they are and the way the Democrats and Obama are going about things only empowers them.  I really hope I’m wrong on this, but if you check back to many of the previous “rants” I’ve made on this site, many things I’ve predicted have been right on.  And, I’m not trying to say that as a pat on my own back (well, maybe a little :o) – it’s just that a middle school teacher shouldn’t be able to figure this stuff out better than our leaders.  What is wrong with Washington DC?  The politicians there seem to have a requirement that they be out of touch with the reality of their constituents in order to serve.  People are dying while they argue about legislation that won’t solve the problems, even if it gets passed!  If I had it to do over again, I would be solidly behind Dennis Kucinich in the Presidential primaries.  He’s the only one besides Bernie Sanders (Independent from Vermont – who wasn’t a candidate for President) – and maybe Alan Grayson, a first year Congressman from Florida, who has the GUTS to tell it like it is in Congress.

Republicans have been against everything that is valuable to the middle class in America for the past 100+ years.  They were against unions (unions brought us the 40 hour work week and the weekend, for starters), they were against everything good in the New Deal (which brought this nation out of the previous bank meltdown in the 1930’s), they’ve hated Social Security since it’s inception, they fought tooth and nail against Civil Rights, they fought against Medicare and Medicaid, they hate the minimum wage laws, they hate Public Education (they’re trying to create a permanent “underclass”), they’ve fought against women’s rights, they were even against children’s health care, and now they’re fighting against gay rights and universal health care.  An example of what they’re “for” would be the Medicare bill passed under Bush where the government was “forbidden” from negotiating the lowest rates from the Pharmaceutical companies costing our seniors BILLIONS of dollars in drug expenses.  And, now that President Obama wants to prosecute the 9/11 perpetrators in court Rush Limbaugh and the Republicans are AGAINST THAT!  To the point of accusing anyone who believes we are a nation of laws as being “America haters!”  Despite his “fear” (isn’t that what terrorists are trying to accomplish – create fear?) I believe this is still a great nation of laws, not withstanding Limbaugh’s and those associated with the Bush “regime’s” attempts to undermine it, and we have nothing to fear from prosecuting these criminals.  And, if the Bush torture policies are made public during the 9/11 trials, America will be better for it!

I’m still following the investigation and public commentary relating to the shooting at Fort Hood last week.  The shooter survived and is recovering in a hospital bed (I’m guessing much to his chagrine) and the accusations being thrown around are pretty wild, although they seem to be calming down the more that comes out.  As mentioned in my last posting, Rush Limbaugh was quick to attempt putting the blame on President Obama, as he does for everything he sees as a possible negative – and he even tried to bring the good Reverend Wright back into the picture.  Joe Lieberman immediately wanted to imply that there had been a terrorist attack on “Obama’s watch,” presumably to make himself and all the other neo-cons out there feel better about the FACT that the WORST attack in the history of America happened on Bush/Cheney’s watch.  What’s interesting, and what might be behind these people quieting down a bit, is that as the information grows it becomes more apparent that if this was “terrorist related,” it was the Bush administration who should have removed this guy who was promoted to Major – under their watch – from the active military.

And, all this information just goes to show that the illegal wiretapping that has become common place in America isn’t so effective – considering that one branch of our intelligence service doesn’t know what the other branches are doing – THE SAME THING THAT ARGUABLY ALLOWED 9/11 TO HAPPEN!  When Limbaugh and Lieberman and Hannity and the rest of the right wing whackos point out that the shooter was communicating via email with the Imam of the very Mosque where the 9/11 highjackers met, they are virtually making the point I’ve  been harping on for almost a year.  The 9/11 highjackers had their phones tapped well before the attacks, but our different agencies like the NSA and the FBI don’t communicate with each other.  THEY, UNBELIEVABLY, DON’T SHARE INFORMATION!  They didn’t do this  before 9/11, and OBVIOUSLY they didn’t learn anything because now we’re hearing they had enough info on Major Hasan for several people involved to call him an “extremist” that “you wouldn’t want to be caught in a foxhole with.”  And, the guy was about to be deployed to either Iraq or Afganistan.  This information came to light during the last year of the Bush administration and the only thing that is obvious from all this is that they hadn’t fixed the problem which led to 9/11 six years after the fact.

Whether the problem still exists 10 months into Obama’s Presidency is somewhat a moot point as far as this incident is concerned.  The reality is that if Lieberman, Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, Savage, and the rest of them want to call this a terrorist attack and find blame, they’re going to have to go back to all the information which was overlooked on this man which CLEARLY happened on Bush’s “watch.”  So, if the Commander in Chief is responsible for all the actions of his/her (I’m presuming that at some point a woman might become President – boy wouldn’t that set these haters off, especially if it was a Democrat) surrogates, then THIS IS BUSH’S FAULT!  Personally, I in no way want to blame Bush for this attack, I just want to point out how ridiculous people like Limbaugh and Lieberman are.  I wish they’d just go away.  I’m seeing Lieberman as someone who has, presumably, desires to make a lot of money outside of politics because he’ll never get re-elected, so I wish he’d just resign from the Senate and let the voters of Connecticuit correct the mistake they made when they voted him in over Ned Lamont.  This nation would be in a lot less turmoil with Lamont in the Senate right now – and the people in Connecticuit would be a lot better off also, unless they all work for insurance companies.

With a little leadership maybe something good will come from this tragedy.  Like getting the FBI, the NSA (as long as they’re going to keep data mining our emails), the CIA, the military intelligence people, and the homeland security people to combine their data bases and work together on information regarding people considered possible extremists such as Major Hasan.  What we don’t need is the stereotypical attack – this time on Muslims (again: re – 9/11) – based on fear as America has become famous for.  We definitely need to protect our borders and our people as best we can, but we can’t allow ourselves to succumb to fear whenever something like this happens.  It does seem a bit ridiculous to me that the flaws in the system haven’t been addressed since 9/11, but that’s just me – I would want the various agencies talking to one another if it was up to me.

My wife gets many of the right wing emails going around that are part of the anti-Obama conspiracy fueled by overt racists who hate the idea of a Black man as President.  Yesterday I got two “anti-Muslim” emails forwarded to me because two “devout Muslims” were appointed to positions in Obama’s administration by Janet Napolitano who is the head of Homeland security – and the right wing racist whackos jumped on that as an attempt to scare the unsuspecting into thinking Obama’s “not keeping us safe.”  The implication was that “the fox is in charge of the henhouse.”  One of the emails quoted an anti-Michelle Obama article from “The Canada Free Press” and the final caption said something like “even the Canadians can see what’s wrong in our White House.”  Well, a little research (WHICH NONE OF THESE PEOPLE WHO PERPETUATE AND/OR RECEIVE THESE HATE EMAILS EVER DO) showed that the “Canada Free Press” was nothing more than an Obama hate site which isn’t even – evidently – from Canada. 

The first thing I saw when accessing the site was the Obama countdown clock to the end of his Presidency.  I, personally, don’t have a problem with the clock – I remember many of them for Bush from the “other side of the isle,” what bothers me is the PERPETUAL dishonesty of everyone who seems willing to see America go down, as long as Obama “fails,” as Limbaugh so succinctly put it.  The two men referenced in the other email turned out to be quite distinguished – and quite loyal Americans, one of them recently a senior advisor to the Attorney General in the Bush administration – a much more significant position to the one he has now in Obama’s administration (Obama has appointed many Republicans to his administration contrary to the Republican loyalty oath required of the Bush White House) – the originator of the email was implying that no Muslim should be allowed to work for our government.  Of course the email didn’t point that out – it was simply trying to get people who look no further than the heading or the dishonest comment to believe that President Obama is employing devout Muslims at a time when another Muslim just murdered 13 of our troops and that this is dangerous.  This kind of crap is getting out of hand.  The people writing all these emails are empowered and enabled by the neo-cons who are out front spreading the lies like Limbaugh and Lieberman were before anything about the shooter was known after this horrible trajedy at Fort Hood.  If the American people are smart, Rush Limbaugh’s and Joe Lieberman’s attempts to undermine Barack Obama will only lead to further decline in the Republican party!

I’ve read with horror for the past few days about the 13 soldiers killed and the 38 wounded at Fort Hood in Texas, presumably the Army’s last bastion before sending our troops off to Afganistan or Iraq for the umpteenth tour of duty while the rest of America argues about health care. There is much to learn about the shooter, but some of the comentary since the shooting is UNFORTUNATELY predictable. Of course, Joe Lieberman couldn’t stay out of the fray – he’s trying to really prove that he’s a neo-con Republican who’s pulled off the coup of coups by holding down a committee chairmanship in the “good ole boys Senate” which has a near 60 vote Democratic caucus. When he was not held to account for his backstabbing of President Obama during the campaign and his support of the Republican duo of McCain/Palin – I mean, can you even imagine where we’d be with John McCain at the helm (he would have thought the economy was on sound footing as he took the oath of office) – I knew RIGHT THEN we were in trouble and that President Obama wasn’t what a lot of us thought him to be. Just on general principles the Democrats should have run Lieberman out of the party – but, of course, no one in Washington (with the exception of Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kuchinich and maybe Alan Grayson) has “general principles.” The shooter in Texas was still in a coma with authorities trying to piece together a motive, and yet, it didn’t take Lieberman more than a day or two to start crowing that “the second worst terrorist attack” on American soil had happened (which was absurd for more than one reason) and to begin the Muslim extremist rhetoric designed to rile up all the right wing neo-facists in our country who hate the President (and hate Muslims).

And, of course, the first one in line – AS ALWAYS – was the liar of liars, Rush Limbaugh who blamed the attacks on President Obama. Limbaugh is so obsessed with blaming every possible thing he can come up with on Obama that he tied the shooter into the Reverend Wright controversy of the Presidencial campaign. This guy is worst than a blowhard because he actually has managed to get a bunch of “ditto heads” out there to believe what he says is true. He’s part of the propoganda campaign that’s been part of the Republican mantra since the late seventies or early eighties where they’ve been playing against vulnerable people’s fears to scare them into thinking Republicans actually are the party which would “keep us safe.” All the while these people are trampling on personal freedoms as if the Constitution is just a worthless piece of paper. Obama deserves fair criticism, but how can you give it to him in the present atmosphere in Washington? In fact, just last week, I watched in amazement as John Boehner, the minority (Republican) leader of the House of Representatives, stood on the Capital steps in front of a bussed in crowd of racist Obama haters (about 4000 strong that the right wing of the Republican party pulled out of the backwoods somewhere), held up what he called his pocket version of the Constitution as if to read from it, and then quoted the Declaration of Independence. I immediately thought, this confirms my suspicions, THESE RIGHT WING REPUBLICANS ARE IDIOTS!

These people can’t even give a little space to the relatives of all the victims of this horrible shooting while the Army “Brass” sorts out the details and deals with the perpetrator. They are going to take every opportunity to create division in America so that they won’t be looking at a generation of being in the minority of American politics. It’s clear they’ve decided that the only way for themselves to have a chance is by playing the fear card. I’m sure they’re frothing at the mouth to try to place a terrorist attack on “Obama’s watch.” What you won’t get from these thugs as they try to convince you that they support our troops is any kind of compassionate look into what our troops are enduring. They would like everyone to think that life is hunky dory in America’s military. Well, if you believe that I’ve got the perverbial bridge to sell you. You don’t have to look very hard to see past their nonsense.

First of all, most of our regular Army (and reserves) has had multiple tours of duty in Iraq and/or Afganistan. This isn’t like a year in Hawaii. Combat duty in Iraq or Afganistan has to be like Hell on earth. Every moment of every day you must have to wonder if your time is coming. And, it’s unimaginable to me what these troops are being asked to endure as far as the killing of Iraqi’s and of their own comrades. Something like one in four is coming home with PTSD – and that’s only because the military is, JUST AS THEY DID AFTER TROOPS RETURNED HOME FROM VIET NAM, doing everything in their power to discourage soldiers from seeking medical assistance. The stories of medical treatment for our troops if and when they return home is deplorable. For a time, the conditions at Walter Reed were made public, but the outcry was no more than a whimper because the Bush administration, at the time, had a stranglehold on the media’s coverage. I’m still hearing stories of soldiers waiting nearly a year to get medical treatment when they return, and by the time they get the treatment, they’re soon to be redeployed. I’ve personally heard of soldiers serving five or six tours of duty in either Iraq or Afganistan. THAT’S IN SEVEN (PLUS) YEARS! Aside from how inhumane that is, there’s barely time for some of them to get any downtime.

Is it any wonder that the suicide rate among Iraq/Afganistan vets is skyrocketing – DO WE HEAR NEWS STORIES ABOUT THAT? And, what about the divorce rate? Or the violence committed by returning vets? Or the homeless vets? I’ve heard of reserves going for 15 month tours and coming home to a job that doesn’t exist anymore and they’re then facing unemployment. There’s no way I’m going to justify in ANY WAY what the shooter did at Fort Hood, but the more information that comes out should alert people that we have a HUGE problem with our military. We’ve been warned by EXPERTS for years now that our troops are STRETCHED THIN, but – between our politicians (who have no guts) and our Generals (who expect every soldier to fight to the death, even if the civilian leaders have blundered us into a mess – like Iraq via Bush/Cheney) – we seem to be willing to keep pushing until something breaks. And, if these wars were worth it you would have the general population WILLINGLY supporting every effort these brave troops are making.

But, it’s obvious that the population is not supporting these wars – except for their double speak – ESPECIALLY THE REPUBLICANS. I mean, when do you cut taxes and then send America’s finest to battle with less than what they need? The answer to that question SHOULD BE NEVER, but as we all know, that is the scenario of the Iraq fiasco. President Bush was once asked how the American people could sacrifice for the troops (I saw this interview with my own unbelieving eyes) and he answered, “KEEP SHOPPING.” I almost fell off my chair when I heard him do this. And, the worse thing was that there was hardly a whimper from the media. I honestly don’t know to this day how many Americans actually know he said that. It was well known that our troops were hitting IED’s (Improvised Explosive devices) with their vehicles and getting killed because the vehicles were not properly armored! This was part of the news, but the people still voted Bush/Cheney back into office (well, that is according to the rigged voting machines in Ohio).

I just finished reading “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges which documents the “Christian Right’s” attempt to take over the Republican party and create a totalitarian “Theocracy” in America. As a member of what I guess I’ll have to call the Christian Left, I’ll have a lot more to say about that book and that movement later – it’s a real eye-opener if you’re looking for an interesting read. Essentially these people, and the present Republican party is filled with them – people who think tolerance is intolerable. Some of the most famous of the national Christian leaders, unbeknownst to most people I know, have ties to the Ku Klux Klan, the John Birch Society and other radical racist right wing movements. Of course, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s been researching the recent past of our leaders associated with the Bush/Cheney White House. These people were/are planning on a “permanent Republican ‘majority,'” which would remain in power ad infinitum through a stranglehold of the media, the Congress, the Courts, and the White House (which is why they are so desperate to “help” President Obama fail – his success would totally ruin any chance of them fulfilling this plan). They are a combination of Corporate heads, Right Wing fundamentalist Mega Church leaders, and politicians with ABSOLUTELY no scruples – and they have a long line of groups of people they hate (Blacks, homosexuals, and Muslims are at the top of the hate list – oh yes, Democrats!) Their goal is power at all costs, and when they tell you something, usually the opposite is true (I could go on and on about that, but – again – a story for another night). What you need to understand tonight is when they tell you they’re supporting our troops – well, you know what I’m going to say about that.

While those at the head of the line in the Republican party are profiting off of our troops instead of supporting them, unfortunately the Democratic party is pretty much living up to the definition given them by these Republicans: WEAK! They are living up to this “slam” by writing a health care bill that will provide a huge influx of new customers to the health insurance companies who are gleaning BILLIONS from the system and who are the problem by making excuses that their 80 vote majority in the House isn’t enough to pass a bill that would be what the people actually want – while at the same time continuing “Bush’s” wars. The voters voted in the Democrats in 2006 to actually “do what’s best for our troops” then – and they’re still in Iraq, at almost the levels “pre-surge.” Total withdrawal will leave somewhere between 50,000 and 75,000 “non-combat” troops in Iraq while we ramp up Afganistan so that we can keep deploying our brave soldiers endlessly. We really don’t have politicians in Washington who have the guts to “do what’s best for our troops.” Everyone knows that Iraq was a TOTAL FIASCO, but – just as in Viet Nam – we MUST continue losing soldiers and ruining the lives of the ones who survive SO THAT OUR POLITICIANS CAN SAVE “FACE.” Well, I’ve got news for anyone who reads this post, it’s too late to save face. Through our invasion of a soveriegn nation which had nothing to do with 9/11, torture, and alliances with the worst regimes in the Middle East and Central Asia, we have demonstrated to the rest of the world that we’ve become a rogue nation. At some point our leaders need to decide if Iraq and Afganistan are more important than our own military (not to mention our economy – bin Laden couldn’t have planned this any better himself). Fort Hood should cause us to ask: Are we supporting our troops or destroying our troops?

The past few days I’ve been listening and/or watching many “pundits” analyze the recent elections with, seemingly, always an attempt to connect the results, one way or the other, to President Obama.  This just seems to be the way in America anymore.  Instead of focusing on getting it “right” regarding solutions to all of the problems President Obama inherited from the utterly incompetent Republicans before him, it seems everyone – including the members of Congress who are screwing things up so badly – already have an eye on the midterm elections of 2010 and the Presidential election in 2012.  I keep wondering, “When will we allow (and expect) our leaders to perform without always having an eye on the next election?”

It doesn’t take a lot of thought or research to see the folly in the present way of “doing business.”  I’m not wanting my thoughts tonight to drift into an extensive discussion of the health care debate presently “raging.” but just the thought that the insurance industry is spending over one million dollars PER DAY to defeat reform, should be the main topic of discussion regarding this legislation, in my view.  This is open BRIBERY of our elected officials – and we, the voters, seem all too willing to accept it as “business as usual.”  This is disgusting to me.  Where do people think all this money is going?  And, why isn’t there more discussion as to the FACT that if the health care industry can spend a half a BILLION dollars to prevent reform – THEY’RE MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY?  In all of this: the health care debate, the virtual ignoring of two occupations costing the US billions EACH WEEK, Congressional leaders standing on the Capital steps with “birthers” and “deathers” carrying racist signs regarding our President calling for “revolution,” and a media that seems totally focused on creating as much division in our country as possible (creates ratings I guess) I’ve listened in the past few days to one “report card” after another on our President’s performance in his first TEN MONTHS in office.

So, I’ve decided to give my own “report card” on our President (the first President I’ve enthusiastically voted for in my adult lifetime – I’ve been following politics since the days of JFK – and voting since the first term of Richard Nixon).  I’m a sixth grade school teacher and in our school district progress reports give the teachers the following options for mid-term grades: doing excellent work, doing good work, doing adequate work, needs to improve, may fail, is likely to fail.  I’m going to use the same criterion in weighing in on Obama’s performance thus far in his Presidency.  For most teachers these categories align sequentially with the A,B,C,D,F grades that are given at the end of the term.  For me, however, the category “needs to improve” can apply to any student who I feel isn’t working up to their ability level.  In other words a student could end the term with an “A” in my classroom and still get a “needs to improve” as a progress report “grade.”  That being said, it might be fairly obvious that my grade for President Obama up to this point would be “needs to improve.”

I’ve consciously tried, of late, to focus my criticisms on this site as much toward Republicans as I can, although I’ve been clear since before Obama took office that I would not be a “rubber stamp” as the Republicans were – to all our detriment – during the Bush/Cheney administration.  There is no doubt in my mind that Obama was the FAR BETTER CHOICE during the previous election – can you even imagine Sarah Palin as Vice President, a heart beat from the Oval office (with a President having a history of cancer and being in his mid-seventies)? – and I, for one, am adamant that I want our President to succeed (in all honesty, I wanted Bush to succeed – simply put, HE DIDN’T).  Additionally, most of what Obama says and much of what he’s trying to do I heartily endorse.  However, so far, President Obama seems far more the “consummate politician” as opposed to the courageous statesman that I was hoping for when I voted for him.  I don’t in any way want to be “piling on” with Republicans who are opposed to EVERYTHING Obama does, I just feel there are some things that should be “going down” differently.

I “get” him trying to be the President of “all Americans” as he put it on the evening of his election.  I just think he’s trying too hard to appeal to the moderates out there (often times, I put myself in that category).  From a political point of view that may be the less risky path if getting re-elected is your main goal, and the reality is that the Republican party is imploding right before our eyes – possibly allowing Obama to feel more comfortable in looking away from those of us in his “base” who were expecting a clean break from the “atrocities” of the Bush/Cheney vendetta on America, but I expected our President to fulfill his promises – even though, in America, we’ve come to expect politicians not to fulfill their promises – this was part of the “change” I thought I could believe in.  In my humble opinion, that’s not necessarily happening, which is why I give him a very cautious grade.

I’ve already pointed out on this site that Obama’s refusal to allow investigations of the criminal behavior of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Gonzales/Rove/Addington and others is a “deal breaker” for me.  That is, I’ve stopped sending money to Obama and I’m not intending to vote for him (although I continue to strongly “root” for his success).  I believe this is a MONSTROUS mistake which will have lasting NEGATIVE effect on this nation in the years ahead.  In essence, President Obama has – by “looking ahead” – endorsed the position Nixon took after the Watergate breakins that “if the President does it, it must be legal.”  I have no idea how a constitutional scholar could come to that conclusion, but he’s even managed to stave off investigations in the Senate from Leahy’s judicial committee and in the House from John Conyers judicial committee.  The end result is that our former President and his VP both ADMITTED TO AUTHORIZING TORTURE on national TV and have been essentially “enabled” by Obama’s decision.  Just writing about this makes me sick to my stomach.  The last time I was solicited for money I wrote a handwritten 3 page letter to the President pointing out my frustration with this action on his part and, of course, I’ll get no response and they will continue with the attitude that “who else would he vote for, a Republican? I don’t think so.

Well, they’re correct that I won’t vote for a Republican under the present and forseeable future of that party, but I believe they are taking a calculated risk that enough Democratic leaning independents (like myself) won’t “abandon ship” to cause them to lose in 2012.  As I stated earlier, TOTAL POLITICS! The RIGHT thing to do would be to honor our legal system, our constitution, his pledge to uphold the constitution when taking the oath of office, the supposed FACT this is a nation of laws and not men, and his PLEDGE in the campaign that if there is evidence of lawbreaking there would be justice and that “NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW” in America.  I’ve stated this before several times on this site, but if Obama’s “looking forward and not backward” precedent was applied to all Americans there would never be a person convicted of a crime again in this nation.  YOU HAVE TO LOOK BACK – because the investigation HAS TO TAKE PLACE AFTER the crime has been committed.  And, President Obama’s reluctance to do this makes me wonder what is HE authorizing?  I’ve heard that “rendition” is still an accepted part of his administration.  Well, all that means is “enemy combatants” are being tortured in other countries and by non-Americans.  The result is the same.  And, what about the wiretapping policy of Bush?  President Obama’s Justice Department is defending the Bush position in Court.  Is it possible that he’s continuing the data mining of our phone calls and emails that was going on during the Bush years?  He voted for the FISA legislation which allowed the Telecoms to get away with enabling the FISA abuses of the Bush administration and we haven’t seen his promised action to “fix” that bill yet, either.

There’s another area that I believe is a vulnerability for Obama.  Concerning the famous saying “it’s the economy, stupid” in regard to what wins and loses elections I’m very concerned about some of the direction I’ve seen from the Obama administration regarding the economy.  As I stated at the time, I felt the “stimulus bill” was flawed from the beginning because it was too small (considering the gravity of the situation when Obama took office) and there were unnecessary tax cuts for those of us who still had jobs with not nearly enough money designated for infrastructure rebuilding – ie job creation.  And, members of Obama’s administration are talking about the lagging job market in the “SAME OLD” terms I’ve been listening to for the past 50 years – every time there’s a recession.  This leads me to believe that we are getting more of the same as far as the economy is concerned.  To me, Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers don’t represent the “change we can believe in.”  I realize the TARP bailout program for the banks was initiated under Bush and the problem was totally exacerbated by Bush’s economic nightmare which was imposed on us for eight years, but I’ve seen little to make me believe there’s going to be actual reeling in of Wall Street with tight regulations of the financial institutions who threatened our economy and very likely will do so again.  The bankers on Wall Street, from what I’ve observed, have put an exclamation point on the FACT that their bonuses and exhorbitant salaries are far more important to them than the economic health of this nation.

I honestly expected President Obama to have the courage to revoke the RIDICULOUS Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in this nation which fueled the huge deficits of the previous 8 years, upon taking the reins of the government.  Instead, it appears he’s going to allow them to expire – TAKING THE EASY, NON CONTROVERSIAL WAY OUT!  To me, that’s a symptom of the problem.  And, everyone knows that the corporations of America are shielding TRILLIONS of dollars from taxes in places like the Cayman Islands where bankers conspire with rich Americans to cheat our tax system out of BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS of dollars – for pure greed!  These corporations are making obscene profits, they are benefitting the MOST from our government’s services – in some instances receiving millions or billions in government subsidies, yet they do everything in their power to avoid paying their “FAIR SHARE” in taxes.  Of course, most of these corporations are heavily indebting the Republicans in Congress who continue to rail against taxes as their main source of support in continuing this reverse Robin Hood policy, but I’ve seen little from Obama’s administration aimed at correcting this HUGE problem!  (remember, the deficit was 1.4 TRILLION dollars that Obama inherited – if that doesn’t give him the grounds to go after these “tax havens” it will never happen)  Unless something changes drastically, the stranglehold on our government by the “multi-national” corporations won’t end any time soon.

Finally, the occupations of Iraq and Afganistan.  Recently, I’ve written several posts regarding Obama’s impending decision on the “course of action” for Afganistan.  There can be no doubt that Afganistan/Pakistan is the BIGGEST problem left for Obama to solve by the Bush administration.  Essentially, Bush/Cheney combined ignorance with ignoring to leave Afganistan as a borderline “failed state” with a population who are sick of Americans occupying their country and a government that is corrupt and dependent on the drug trade for survival.  On top of that, both the Taliban and al Qaeda are “alive and well” operating out of Pakistan and reconstituted, to a significant degree, from the funds Bush/Cheney sent to Pakistan propping up Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani dictator who was a known supporter of both the Taliban and al Qaeda prior to (and after) 9/11.  While I believe we would be better off getting ALL our troops out of both Afganistan and Iraq, I’m not even hopeful at this point.  I believe President Obama will accede to the wishes of the Generals who want an additional 40,000 troops in Afganistan (at least partially) and, by the time Obama’s most ardent supporters get their focus back on Iraq, I believe he could lose a lot of support from both fiascos.

Not only are our troops still in Iraq, at essentially the pre “surge” levels, but Obama has taken the same approach to Iraq that he took to the tax cuts.  He’s simply letting Bush’s policies “play out.”  With the exception that Obama’s planning on a force of upwards of 75,000 “non-combat” troops in Iraq INDEFINITELY!  This is close to as much of a deal breaker as the “looking forward” policy is for me.  One of the main reasons I voted for President Obama was that he assured me he would bring ALL THE TROOPS home from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.  Now, he’s conveniently “honoring” the troop removal agreement Bush/Cheney made with the Iraqi’s which will get the troops out by, supposedly, the end of August of 2010.  Well, first of all, that will be 20 months – which, I suppose, would be grudgingly acceptable, IF ALL THE TROOPS WERE COMING HOME.  But, they’re not.  In fact, less than half of them are coming home.  If you read Thomas Rick’s Book “The Gamble” you will understand that our Generals feel it will take a generation to appease the “rift” between the Shia and Sunni which will “explode” if we remove all our troops – so, Obama is planning to label about 75,000 of our troops as “non-combat” so that he can claim “all of our combat troops have been removed.”  This disgusts me, and I truly hope that I have this one wrong – but, everything I can find tells me this is the best we can hope for.  This is disengenuous at best.   Obama is risking his relationship with a large number of his base on his Iraq/Afganistan continuance of the Bush policies.  He acts like he doesn’t want confrontation with the people who we voted him into office to confront!

In summary, President Obama has attempted to avoid conflict by enabling the criminal activity of the Bush administration to go without investigation, he’s supporting Bush/Cheney policies (wiretapping, state’s secrets) in court, he watered down the stimulus package for three Republican votes at the expense of millions of infrastructure jobs, he chose to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire instead of the courageous stand of repealing them, he hasn’t shown much “backbone” in holding multi-national corporations accountable for their tax-cheating and there hasn’t been much in the form of Wall Street regulation, he’s continuing the Bush policy in Iraq and he’s probably going to succumb to the wishes of his Generals in Afganistan who want an Iraq-like “surge.”  For me, despite his attempts to get a watered down health care bill through Congress (like with the stimulus bill, seemingly more interest in one Republican vote than focusing on the ideals of his own party) and some other promising decisions he’s made which put him WAY ABOVE Bush or any alternative the Republicans might offer, the best grade I can give Obama is “Needs to improve.”  At some point I’m hoping Obama will make courageous stands on progressive principles instead of continuing the “EASY WAY OUT” approach he’s taken in his first 10 months.  In my view, his rhetoric far exceeds his actions!

I’ve been watching with interest as the White House has “nudged” Fox “news” in a way that has stimulated a bit of dialogue on what their (Fox “news”) REAL purpose is. Of course, few “out there” will take the “bait” and we will continue to lack for actual news coverage as the cable networks focus on ratings and entertaining. Even when I try watching the local stations or the national news on the main broadcast networks, NBC, CBS, and ABC I come away shaking my head. I suppose I need to discipline myself to watch the CSPAN networks and make my own interpretation of what’s going on, but – of course – like most of the rest of America I DON’T HAVE THE TIME. And, I would be OK with what’s happening right now if I thought for a minute that the news broadcasters were “investigative” reporters who would be putting the pressure on our government as the fourth “leg.” I’m old enough to remember the Viet Nam War and the Watergate breakin and the reporters who were reporting what was actually going on.

For example, in the 1968 Presidential Convention – right in the middle of the Viet Nam conflict – there were riots all over America and they were reported as they happened and there was no “hiding” of pictures. I’m someone who voted for President Obama, but I’m aghast that he’s chosen to be “bullied” by the military and the CIA in, not only hiding pictures of what our troops and representatives have done in our name, but in supporting legislation which makes it easier to do that in the future. We voted for change AND I’M NOT SURE THAT THE CHANGE WE’RE GETTING IS THE “CHANGE WE NEED.” Make no mistake, President Obama is a darn site different and, in my view, better than the previous administration. BUT THAT’S NOT SAYING MUCH! So what we have today is a President who recognizes the problem with “fixed” news, yet who signs a bill that insures a lack of information being available to the public going forward. But, I digress……

I don’t see how anyone could not be better than Bush/Cheney – well, now that you mentioned it, McCain/Palin would have been more than most of us could take! So, the fact there is a President which I feel is more in tune to the will of the working public, doesn’t excuse this continuance of secrecy in our government which is furthered by “news” organizations who participate in the partisan “rancor” which permeates America at this point in time. In the sixties and seventies we had a news media that was willing to expose corruption and abuse NO MATTER WHO WAS DOING IT. If you remember – well, even if you don’t you can take my word for it – the Watergate hearings were FAR LESS divisive (especially when it became evident that Nixon had obstructed justice) than what you have in Congress today. Even though Republicans didn’t like it, they didn’t spend all their time trying to impede the investigation more than a lawyer who is defending his/her client in court. Justice was always going to happen (or at least that was the way I saw it at the time) Senators back then realized that what one President gets away with “today” is potentially what another President will feel empowered to do “tomorrow.”

That is to say that Republicans today might not be so excited about GW Bush’s illegal wiretapping policies if they find out that Barack Obama is following suit – only aiming the “satellite” in a different direction. It was reported that the “target” of much of Bush’s illegal wiretapping was the press. Of course, all the while as it was happening I remember Sean Hannity – for one – on Fox “news” saying how important those privileges were – TO PREVENT TERRORISM. Well, what do you think Mr. Hannity would think today if he found out that he was the “target” of government eavesdropping. I’m sure that would just confirm in his mind that President Obama is a Communist, Socialist, Fascist, or some such other term which actually implies the type of authoritarian powers which appeal to Republicans. Guess what, the next time a Republican’s in office, he’d (Hannity) be singing a differnet tune again. Which kind of gets me back to my original thought for the evening – Fox “news,” as EVERYONE KNOWS, is just a “wing” of the Republican party. They are an integral part of the propoganda scheme that’s been shoved down the throats of unsuspecting Americans since the early days of the Ronald Reagan Presidency. Control of the media was a key component of the “Permanent Republican majority” strategy of Lee Atwater and inherited by Karl Rove. On the one hand I see the President challenging their credibility, but as mentioned above, on the other hand I see him hiding things from the American people (including the crimes of Bush/Cheney) – BOTH ARE WRONG!

That is why I’m glad to see someone taking on Fox “news” besides Keith Olberman – but it should be someone other than the President. Politicians from BOTH SIDES OF THE ISLE should be able to see the danger of a “news” outlet participating in the caucus of a political party. Now, I’m not so naive to miss Olberman’s bias or Rachel Maddow’s bias or the bias of just about any “commentator” these days. I don’t consider these people news journalists, but they are journalists and, while there’s no way to expect them to have no biases, it is absurd to have a group who are using the EXACT SAME keywords being “thrown out” by the Republican caucus and then claiming they’re “FAIR AND BALANCED.” I remember noticing this years ago – one “pundit” after another would come onto the cable “news” broadcasts and spew the “company” line while pretending to be giving actual facts (I believe the Democrats practice a crude form of this by necessity, but they’re no match for the Republicans). THIS IS WRONG. As soon as I believe Keith Olberman, for example, is regurgitating the “message” handed out in the Democratic caucus, that will be the last day I watch his show on MSNBC. I once heard GW Bush make the comment that to get people to believe the “propoganda” (he actually used that word, I’m sure there were some people behind the scenes unhappy he did it, but most people missed it) you’ve got to “say it over and over until it sinks in.” THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN DOING FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS.

And EVERYONE KNOWS their main outlet is Fox. It’s owned by Rupert Murdoch, who’s not even an American (I have no idea why that doesn’t set in on more people), and run by Roger Ailes who’s an avid Republican supporter and part of the “inside” of the Republican party. THAT’S JUST NOT RIGHT. It’s not that they shouldn’t be able to do business, it’s that they shouldn’t be able to call what they do “news.” There are too many Americans who actually believe what the people on Fox say is “fair and balanced.” The other day I wrote a piece about an article I read in the Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer – a regular on Fox. I couldn’t believe he could pass off his venom on the Post, but putting him on TV as some kind of “expert” is ridiculous. What he is, as are most of the rest of them, is someone who’ll sit in front of a camera and say what he’s told by the “powers that be.” I talk to one person after another who are dismayed at the shape of our “liberal media,” and it always comes back to the fact we have a spineless Congress who are pretty much (with a few exceptions like Dennis Kuchinich, Alan Grayson, Ron Paul, and some of the new ones) bought and sold by the multi-national corporations who control this nation.

Murdoch and Fox were the beneficiaries of the Telecommunications act which was signed by Bill Clinton and allowed the consolidation of media outlets resulting in a constantly contracting number of options for those of us seeking information. In fact, THANK YOU AL GORE for inventing the internet! :o) OK, I’m kidding, but without the internet we would be TOTALLY SCREWED. And, I guarantee, the forces behind Fox and other right wing “water carriers” are frantically trying to figure out how to increase their “footprint” on the internet. I don’t follow Sarah Palin, but I keep hearing reports of her Facebook postings. I also don’t participate in Facebook, but it seems to be an effective form of communication for her, and I expect the Republicans to be more active on the web as time moves forward. I believe they understand they got their “clocks cleaned” on the web in the last two elections and they have the money to fight back. So, it behooves any American who cherishes the idea of a truly free press and investigative reporting to support the anti-Fox movement. THEY ARE NOT FAIR AND BALANCED and anyone with half a brain can easily figure that out. Just yesterday I accidentally logged into a program that had Glenn Beck on it. I’m sure the guy is laughing all the way to the bank, but the reality is that people like him who are willing to say or do anything for money ARE DANGEROUS! I could only handle about one or two minutes of his diatribe, but he was equating our President with Communists or Fascists or something of that nature. And, the way he was going about it was so ridiculous and irrational that I had to wonder what mentality would someone have who would actually listen to that and believe it’s true? It sounded overtly racist to me and it was a far cry from the criticisms I heard about GW Bush for the eight years he was in office (Beck was trying to equate Bush’s lies to something Obama said as an equivalent lie – his diatribe was a lie in itself, but the logic TOTALLY ESCAPED ME – it went something like if Beck disagrees with Obama, Obama must be lying – as opposed to with Bush – his lies about Iraq were PROVEN) but what was evident was that Fox “news” is NOT FAIR AND BALANCED, they are trying to undermine the Presidency of Barack Obama! Democrats weren’t trying to undermine President Bush, they were just trying to get him to bring the troops home and to tell the truth about the war efforts – which didn’t happen in either Iraq or Afganistan. The differences were policy differences that were debated, but they never openly tried to undermine his Presidency – there’s a big difference from trying to change someone’s policies to insuring their (and therefore America’s) failure.