My last post related to how President Obama’s lower poll numbers are a reflection of “the sense of betrayal” felt by his base.  In observing the few days since Obama’s State of the Union speech, his direction since then, and the comments coming from both the “left” and the “right,” I’m not at all encouraged that our president has miraculously figured out how to “right the ship.”  I watched the other night as the commentators on MSNBC marvelled at Obama’s performance in front of 140 “hostile” republican members of the House at a retreat somewhere around Washington DC.  Essentially, he faced them off and debunked EVERY ARGUMENT they made.  These commentators, Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, and Chris Matthews, were obviously enthralled by Obama’s performance.  Saying things like, who else in America would have the intellect to stand in front of a group – 1 to 140 – and “survive.” (my paraphrasing)  Along these lines, as I’ve been saying from the start, President Obama is VERY INTELLIGENT (Matthews surmised he’s one of the 100 most intelligent people in the country), he’s a good – well meaning man, and he’s an honorable person.

All that being said, I’m STILL questioning whether Obama (and these pundits, for that matter) “get it.”  OK, I “get” that you’re thinking, “who are you to think you ‘get it,’ suggesting that all these brilliant people at the ‘top’ don’t?”  Well, in answer to that, it’s true that I’m just a 6th grade school teacher and I have no intention of giving up my “day job” – well, for a few years anyway – I’m getting really OLD, but it’s also true that there are millions of us feeling the same frustration and, based on my previous predictions, I’m not sure they ‘get it’ more than me – and, it’s also true, that if I’m right that’s a sad state of affairs in itself.  It’s also true that I’m not even aspiring to be a journalist, although it should be fairly clear if you’ve checked out my site before that I love to write.  Writing has helped me to better keep my sanity as I watch the country I love pour BILLIONS of dollars (I’m sure it’s over a TRILLION now) into a middle eastern country (Iraq) in a way that has destabilized an entire region, fueled the flames of the very terrorists our leaders used to justify the invasion, and emboldened the so-called “evil” country of Iran (which, by the way, has a significant block of citizens who are willing to risk their lives to challenge their autocratic government) in a way that makes me wonder if our leaders are that stupid, or is there something else “up?”

As evidence, my (yes, yours too) country has reacted to the terrorist threat by repealing liberties which have stood the test of time since our forefathers founded this nation.  We are now being wiretapped by our government – without “probable cause,” we are a nation which tortures (and we will be until our government prosecutes the offenders – ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THE “FOOD CHAIN”), we are a nation who’s Justice Department has become alarmingly politicized (just like the countries we despise), and we are a nation whose leaders have become terrified of our “free” press – to the point where they seem to be effectively stifling it.  As I look at all our troops stationed seemingly EVERYWHERE around the globe, I ponder the FACT our Supreme Court is REPUBLICAN, (they’ve picked a president and now they’ve enabled corporations a free reign on our political election process) and I see a government that is RUN by special interests ALREADY without the help of the court, I get VERY CONCERNED for the future of my children and grandchildren.

I’d like to “fall in line” as Randi Rhodes once suggested when the candidates were selected for office.  In fact, I not only voted for President Obama, I sent him money – that’s a BIGGIE for me.  Of course, there was NO WAY I could have fallen in line behind John McCain had he and Sarah Palin won the presidential election.  But, I did expect myself to do so for Obama.  I supported him for God’s sake.  However, I told myself from well before the election if someone I supported won I wouldn’t do what the republicans were doing and that is support anything.  I heard what President Obama promised, and I expected him to follow through on those promises.

I’m not so naive to think that EVERYTHING he wanted to achieve would be accomplished – especially in such a short time as his first year in office.  The problem I’ve been having, however – and still HAVE – has been our new president’s propensity to try to “bridge” the partisan divide between republicans and democrats.  THEORETICALLY, that’s a great idea.  In reality, it’s a sure loser.  And, what I saw last week was a president who is still trying to do this.  Considering the recent Supreme Court ruling, I feel the chances of bridging that “divide” are less, and the consequences of continuing to try could continue to get worse.  President Obama gives such good speaches that after a “big one,” like the State of the Union,” he gets a bump in his “numbers.”  Everyone – well, most rational people – love what they hear.  The problem Obama faces, and – I believe – the problem that is so hard to get our minds around (I’m talking about those of us paying attention in the “heartland”), is REALITY.  Time is of the essence.

There’s nothing President Obama can do about all the misjudgements of the past year.  It has been HONORABLE to attempt to reform the health care industry.  Looking at that battle alone should put EMPHASIS on the problem and the challenge that lies ahead.  However, if our president continues to take advice from the same people, I don’t have a lot of “hope” (isn’t that Obama’s byword?) that there will be much change.  And, his GREAT performance in front of the “enemy” – the republicans were termed that by Matthews – and, I TOTALLY agree – just bodes that he, in my view, is getting the absolute wrong message from the democratic “defeat” in Massachusetts AND his closest advisors.  What’s that famous definition of insanity?  If you continue to do the same things and expect a different result …….. well, you know where I’m going with that one.  (when I talk about “doing the same things,” I mean listening to the likes of Rahm Emanuel, etc.)

For some strange reason President Obama has chosen to focus his term in office as an opportunity to overcome the partisan “divide” in our government.  Here’s where I think he’s miscalculating.  If there was REALLY partisan divide, you’d have one party voting in “lock step,” and the other party (sadly, at this point, there’s only republicans and democrats) doing exactly the same.  If that was true then how did GW Bush manage to get our country mired up to our necks in Iraq?  How, did he get the patriot bill passed?  How did Bush get (until it was overturned by the Supreme Court) Habeous Corpus rights removed from “enemy combatants?”  How did Bush pass a FISA bill that effectively enabled telecommunications companies who were committing felonies?How did Bush/Paulsen get $700 BILLION for Wall Street?  How did Bush get John Roberts and Samuel Alito onto the Surpreme Court to rule that corporations have the right to take over our political system and act as persons?  I think you get my point, democrats HAD TO VOTE for this legislation to get it passed.  There was not one time where the republicans had even close to a 60 vote caucus in the Senate during Bush’s two terms.  Bush even passed the so-called “surge” when the democrats had majorities in BOTH HOUSES of Congress.  My point?  It’s the republicans who are obstructionist, partisan, zealots!  For crying out loud, the democrats went along with unbelievable CRAP during the Bush regime – making matters worst than they were – which was BAD ENOUGH!

So, here’s my point.  While at times I feel as if I’ve become a whiner – the truth is that I’m MAJORLY CONCERNED with the future of this great nation.  Too many of us seem to take it for granted that our system will just go on forever and that it’s a fairy tale that someone, something, some entity could be secretly trying to upend the greatest example of self-rule in the history of this world.  However, one right, one privilege, one piece of our constitution after another seem to me to be SLIPPING AWAY and those who are doing this are VERY SMART, and they’ve been at it for a LONG TIME.  And, I believe, many of the most important parts of their plan are solidly IN PLACE at this time – and the rest of us better wake up soon, or WE WON’T LIKE WHAT WE SEE.

Just a quick reminder to anyone who has been throwing the word “fascist” around without checking out what it really means.  Well, I won’t go into the authoritarian part of the definition – I think most people “get that,” although I’ve been constantly amazed at the so-called “tea baggers,” calling President Obama a fascist  while giving their support to Dick Cheney.  Now, if you have a clue about the true meaning of the term – THAT IS ALMOST BEYOND ABSURD.  If any politician in this country could be considered a fascist it would be Dick Cheney.  The scarier part is the corporatacracy part of the term.  A fascist country would be one which is controlled by the corporate interests – that is, the large corporations would be instrumental in choosing the “leaders” who were running the government.  It’s been a long time since I studied Mussolini, but if you get the time, check out the fascist government in Italy circa WW II. 

Applying that knowledge, if you check it out, to the probable ramifications of the recent Supreme Court ruling should get your “dander up.”  The republicans have been working for this AT LEAST since the days of Ronald Reagan.  They hate the New Deal, they HATE unions, they HATE the idea of a vibrant middle class, they HATE true public education, they fought against civil rights, they don’t like Social Security and Medicare, they recently showed their true colors as they spent over a BILLION dollars to stop health care reform (they’ve succeeded in at least making sure that any “reform” which passes will be a “boon” for their corporate interests), and they’re voting in a BLOCK to STOP anything President Obama proposes – almost EVERY congressional vote these days has EVERY republican voting against whatever it is.  Personally, I don’t think that’s going to change no matter how many times Obama faces them one on one hundred and fourty!

In fact, I believe there ISN’T MUCH TIME LEFT to actually create the atmosphere for the “change we can believe in.”  I mean, do you honestly think the republicans will “cave” now that their corporate nannies are offering them EVEN LARGER sums as long as they continue to “hold the line?”  The next BIG election is just 10 months away.  This is getting to the REALLY SCARY point, and those of us out here who are simply trying to persuade our president and the democrats to actually LEAD are feeling a genuine sense of frustration.  Our president, and his closest advisors, are hearing the “tea baggers,” but they’re not hearing us.  I’ve mentioned several times on this site that I’ve heard Randi Rhodes – one of Obama’s most die hard supporters and someone with a national presence with a “progressive” radio talk show – refer to progressives trying to express their concern and frustration with this constant sucking up to republicans as being STUPID.  I honestly believe President Obama feels the same way.  I also think that the president and his supporters think that those of us who are disenchanted will still vote for him when the election rolls around, because – “what is the alternative?”  I mean, they ONLY have a majority of 58 or so in the Senate – that will be their excuse.  (I’ve written off Joe Lieberman, I doubt that they will – they’ll continue to suck up to him as well – I believe his name should be changed to Benedict Lieberman!)

So, I’m going to continue speaking my thoughts – I’m sure that Obama, his advisors, and people like Rhodes will call it whining.  But, I have to tell you – while still being unable to listen to the entire State of the Union message because, unfortunately, I’ve come to the point where Obama’s words are empty rhetoric, the parts I’ve heard are disheartening.  The parts about offshore drilling, more nuclear power plants, more clean coal (what the H is that?), and – maybe worst of all – a freeze on non-military government spending was all just – PURE AND SIMPLE – more KISSING UP to the right wing.  These republcans must have a good chuckle every time they caucus – as they pull the democratic party closer and closer to them with ONLY 41 votes in the Senate and without voting for ANYTHING.  In the next election, they are going to have a field day BLASTING the democrats for being unable to govern despite given HUGE majorities in each chamber of the legislature.  And, of course, they’ll then have the unlimited backing of EXON, Wall Street, the Pharmaceutical industry, the insurance industry, and on and on (thanks to the Supreme Court part of their “master plan”).

I’ve called this a WAR many times on this site, and if the democrats don’t figure it out soon – we are all in trouble.  And, that includes the “tea baggers” who are going to wake up one of these days and realize how they’ve been used by the very people who they thought they were against.  This is getting to be like a bad dream.  I wanted to write tonight about the Telecommunications act of 1996 as an example of how these republicans work (it’s another key ingredient of their “master plan”) – how their true objective is almost ALWAYS 180 degrees from their publicly stated objective, that is the reason – YOU CAN’T TRUST THEM!  Doing that obviously would make an already long post absurd in its length.  So, I’ll just point out that the act (passed during Clinton’s years – with “help” from republicans) was designed to create more competition in broadcasting – you know, the famous remove regulation and the “free market” will take over.  This was another of the BLUNDERS during Clinton’s administration where New Deal regulations were repealed (Glass Steagall was another act repealled with disastrous results) and brought the republicans closer to their ulitmate long term goal – which is the “permanent republican majority.”  Of course, instead of more competition in the communications industry, we now have about 5 large corporations controlling virtually the entire spectrum.  Now, our politicians are at the mercy of how these corporations “interpret” their remarks, and combining this with the recent Supreme Court decision – well, in my mind, that should get any “progressive’s” attention, and help him/her to understand why people like me feel that the next few months are CRITICAL to the “change we can believe in.”

It won’t happen with a president “kissing up” to republicans – in fact, it won’t happen with bipartisanship.  The only way President Obama will get republicans to vote for his legislation is to do what Clinton did and “cave” in to their long stated goal of repealing the New Deal.  Clinton went a long way in helping them achieve that end, and for some reason I get the feeling that Barack Obama is trying to “mold” his administration after Bill Clinton’s.  When you look at the consequences of the Telecommunications act, the repeal of Glass Steagall, NAFTA, etc. I don’t know why any democrat would want to emulate Clinton.  What Obama should be doing is emulating FDR – and, if he’s not careful with his waffling, we could be in a Great depression again (the republicans would love this) and Obama could be LITERALLY emulating FDR while the “right” now has everything set in place to BLAME Obama and the democrats for this – plus they have the corporate money turned loose by the Supreme Court to help them do it.   Do you think the republicans will EVER take ownership in the economic MESS THEY’VE created?  Or, do you think like I do – they actually want MORE tax cuts for the wealthy and less regulation helping the middle class!  

So my question for the night is, based on the damage done by Bill Clinton’s decisions, why would Barack Obama be trying to emulate his administration?  Instead, in my view, he should be declaring WAR on this republican philosophy which is destroying our nation from the inside out.  How could this be accomplished?  Well, I can’t seem to write a post without including this:  A great place to start – it will be too late soon, if not already – would be the investigation of EVERY suspicious activity done during the Bush administration – including torture, illegal wiretapping, lying us into war, war profiteering, outing CIA agents (treason), politicizing the Justice Department, refusing subpoenas, corporate welfare through no-bid contracts, and – I’m sure – MUCH MORE.  Until that happens, and while Obama continues to “court” republicans, I will be feeling that our republic – as we know it – is in GREAT jeopardy.  I believe with all my heart that President Obama’s pardoning of the Bush administration, and his constant kissing up to republicans, has energized them to believe they will be “back on track” as soon as 2012.  Every thing they do is designed to “help” Obama FAIL, and, for some reason, this is not sinking in to the President’s and the democratic congressmember’s “thick skulls.”