I’m a long time independent voter who supported nothing but Democrats in the last two elections due to the complete incompetence of GW Bush.  In fact, I voted for Democrats in 2000 because I could see what was coming regarding Bush.  The ONLY thing that surprised me about Bush’s administration is that I had miscalculated how EVIL Dick Cheney was and how much influence he would manage to GRAB during Bush’s term in office – especially, the first 6 years.  In fact, now that I have my thought for the evening going, I started getting really turned off by Republicans after the election of Ronald Reagan and the ALL OUT ASSAULT on America’s unions that followed.  It was Reagan who turned the Republican party into the “trickle down,” greedy – cut taxes for the wealthy – group who have disdain for the New Deal which built the middle class of this nation into the envy of the rest of the world.  The dirty tricktsters with the attitude of WINNING AT ANY COST started with Nixon, but hit “full speed ahead” under Reagan.  Over the 30+ years of the “Reaganomics,” or voodoo economics, as George HW Bush called it in the 1980 campaign, this nation’s government has been depleted to the point where republicans had almost succeeded in destroying it (with the exception of their masterful way of collecting corporate welfare!)

So, with all the damage done by the previous administration, everything SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD – AND GO – for President Obama once he took office.  Well, tonight the results are in from Massachusetts and the nude MALE model running as a right wing Republican for Ted Kennedy’s senate seat appears to be “in,”  therefore OFFICIALLY ending the fiasco of the 60 vote democratic majority in the Senate.  (there’s hope for Sarah Palin’s son in law after all :o)  The other night I wrote a post hoping that Obama would “get it” no matter the result in Massachusetts – because everyone knew that, at best, the democratic candidate Martha Coakley would win in a close race, and it was possible Kennedy’s seat would go to a republican.  The democrats hit the panic button a week or two prior to the vote – not even considering the people of Massachusetts would think of such a thing.  Well, all I can tell you is that I’ve been predicting JUST THIS for MONTHS NOW!  I still fail to understand why a 6th grade teacher on the “left coast” could figure this out, and our leaders in Washington seem almost CLUELESS!

I’m trying not to get angry at them.  But, when I look at this from a purely selfish point of view (that’s what we Americans have evolved to, isn’t it, SELFISH?) I get pretty upset.  I mean, I feel as if I was tricked during the last election.  And, it’s not that President Obama isn’t a lot better than ANYTHING the republicans could come up with, because he is.  It’s just that he promised “change I could believe in,” he said, “now is our time, America” – as if something was going to be different.  But, other than what you would expect from a change of party in the White House, NOT MUCH IS DIFFERENT!  I mean, everything that’s come out of Washington seems just like BUSINESS AS USUAL to me.  And, I’m even tired of all the pundits that don’t seem to “get it.”

I listen to a lot of progressive radio (and, some conservative – just to keep a little perspective) when I’m driving to and from work.  I do believe some of the “talkers” do understand the pent up POPULIST rage in this country that comes from both THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT!  But, by and large, many of the people who SHOULD be on Obama’s side DON’T seem to “get it,” and it’s not doing him any favors.  Tonight, on the way home from work I listened to Randi Rhodes – who was still predicting that Coakley would win in Massachusetts – go over this long list of reasons why Brown – the republican candidate who eventually won Kennedy’s seat – is “just a shill.”  Randi, who I believe is VERY INTELLIGENT, was pointing to all the republican initiatives the man was supporting without knowing why.  Well, to me, Rhodes has become a shill for Barack Obama.  And, he DOESN’T NEED THAT – he needs someone to be telling him the truth.

Caller after caller tries to tell Randi what the problem is, and she continually uses the excuse that “we don’t really have a 60 vote majority in the senate,” or “it’s Washington and you (meaning the caller) are stupid – and don’t understand how things work here.” Tonight, she even claimed that it was Harry Reid who insisted that Joe Lieberman be given his “chairmanship” of a committee in the democratically controlled senate despite his TURN-COAT support of John McCain and Sarah Palin in the last election (can you just imagine where we’d all be if Lieberman’s judgement was honored on that one?).  Well, the CALLER WAS CORRECT in pointing out that Barack Obama was the one who told Reid to give Lieberman his “committee.”  I specifically remember the President elect  insisting that the democrats “forgive” Lieberman in order to keep him in their caucus.  And, I expect them to continue to do this even though they’ve lost the “magic” 60 vote majority because Obama will hold out hope that some republican will jump ship in the next year.  THIS IS BORDERLINE STUPID!

Obama’s advisors, like Rahm Emanuel, Timothy Geithner, and Larry Summers are ALL long time political Washington insiders who DO NOT represent change.  In a brief answer to people like Rhodes – many of us DO understand how Washington works, AND THAT’S WHAT WE VOTED TO CHANGE!  It’s like the threat of a filibuster makes democrats run for cover.  No one’s willing to FIGHT the good fight in Washington DC.  The health care bill is going to be a joke – unless you’re an insurance company who’s going to get government subsidized customers by the millions – with only a few strings attatched that can easily be worked around.  That bill took up almost an entire session of Congress while millions upon millions of good American jobs were lost in the “real world.”  And what do we hear from Geithner – “it’s going to take years to recover these jobs – this could be a jobless recovery.”  That’s JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE. 

And, how about the Black community, or the hispanic community who rested such high hopes on our new President.  What has he done OVERTLY – in a way that shows STRONG LEADERSHIP – to address their needs.  The unemployment rate – and, I mean the REAL unemployment rate – I’m sure, in the Black communities around America is in the 20’s AND RISING!  Tonight Rhodes listed 91 “promises” Obama had kept from his original state of the Union speech.  I didn’t hear them all, but I’m ABSOLUTELY SURE there was some SERIOUS SPINNING to come up with the list.  So, let me give you the list which represents why the people of Massachusetts voted to end the health care debate – and most of the rest of the democratic agenda, unless democrats can draw up the nerve to use the reconciliation process in the senate.

First – as I’ve stated OVER AND OVER on this site – it was a HUGE MISTAKE to essentially PARDON George W Bush and Dick Cheney before they were even investigated for what EVERYONE who’s been paying any attention at all knows are crimes.  (Well, the new Senator from Massachusetts thinks that waterboarding is NOT TORTURE despite the fact he was a JAG in the Military)  I”m telling you, if the Republicans get back in the White House, the torturing will RECOMMENCE – and I will blame Obama – for not putting a FINAL STOP to it by allowing the prosecution of Bush/Cheney – AND EVERYONE ELSE INVOLVED!  That was really bad in itself – AND TURNED OFF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS!  It was a no-brainer, it had to be done to protect our constitution from the Bush/Cheney assault, and it would have prevented what happened tonight in Massechusetts because the reality of what those two did would still be FRONT AND CENTER.

Secondly, we need a President who CLEARLY understands the gravity of the UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM.  The figure of 10% is the government’s way of using statistics to make a horrible situation look a little better – I’m sure the real rate is far closer to 20%.  Also, how about the FACT, almost all our troops are still in Iraq and they won’t be home before the end of 2011 – if they’re home then – remember the 16 month timeline?  Nobody associated with the President even talks about that now – as if us “stupid” progressives don’t “get” what has happened.  (we’ve been trying to get our troops home from there since before 2006’s election) Of course, President Obama evidently felt that there would be no backlash for the “bushlike” escalation in Afganistan which will probably net the same result the “surge” did in Iraq.  Let me explain something about the “surge” in Iraq.  It has just put off the inevitable clash between the Sunni and Shia which will happen at some point in time.  Moqtada al Sadr is just waiting, I’m sure, for the American troops to leave after which  he’ll return from Iran.  I believe I understand this one – the cultural rift between the Shia and Sunni in Iraq goes back thousands of years and won’t be “fixed” by our “surge.”  Another issue: President Obama is INEXPLICABLY defending the Bush wiretapping policy in court – do you think he’s doing the same thing?  Why would he defend felonious violations of the FISA law?  And, of course, there’s the health care legislation which those who supported Obama don’t now support EN MASSE – due to the NORMAL watering down, bartering with special favors, THAT REPRESENTS BUSINESS AS USUAL in DC.  I certainly would have stood firm with the President had he been willing to take these republicans on.  At the present rate, he’s an EASY TARGET for them.  THEY HAVE NO CONSCIENCE – and they’ll do anything they can to win – the TRUTH means NOTHING to them!

Tonight I listened to Howard Dean, who I also respect, claim that “it’s not time to point fingers – placing blame is for losers.”  Well, I’ve got a different take.  I’ve been pointing fingers for months, and NOBODY’S LISTENING!  If the democrats keep doing what they’re doing they’ll find themselves back in the minority – AND SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!  SOMEONE’S GOT TO POINT FINGERS!  I can tell you, the democrats aren’t doing anything to raise my enthusiasm, but I know where the republicans are coming from and I don’t understand why the democrats would even give them a chance to re-emerge!  Someone needs to talk to our President and clue him in that HE’S THE LEADER!  We need someone out front fighting these “tea-baggers,” and other racist groups who can’t stand the fact that our president is Black.  And, the ONLY way to defeat them, is to take them on STRAIGHT UP!  So far in Obama’s Presidency we’ve seen nothing but “cow-towing” to republicans and conservative democrats.  At some point in our history, SOMEONE’S got to say, ENOUGH ALREADY – and take these people on – calling them what they are and not worrying about what Fox “news,” or any other “news” is going to say.  Our nation is being attacked from within, and those of us outside the “beltway” feel helpless and we’re expecting the leaders we put in Washington to “carry the torch” for us!

I don’t believe for a minute that the people calling Rhodes talk show (and other “progressive” talk shows, for that matter) are stupid, or that they don’t understand Washington.  What I feel people like Obama and Rhodes don’t understand is the sense of frustration people feel from watching these Washington politicians succumb to special interests, ONE BY ONE – with NO ONE willing to take up the aforementioned “torch” for the VOTERS!  If President Obama and Randi Rhodes really want to pass a progressive agenda, then they’re going to have to understand that people don’t want to compromise with these republicans.  WE WANT TO DEFEAT THEM.  I fully understand that I have a very small audience (I’m surprised there’s an audience at all), but I would love to have an opportunity to speak face to face with President Obama.  I would tell him the truth (I’ve written him a couple times, and evidently he doesn’t want to talk to me because I’ve gotten no response).  However, I have a better chance of sometime speaking to Randi Rhodes (although I hear her on tape) – and if that ever happens I would say, “Randi Rhodes, you call Scott Brown a shill for republicans, but aren’t you a shill for President Obama?”