I suppose one could call people like me who have a penchant for writing, and a deep sense of frustration with the direction of our great nation, whiners.  I get that.  I know I end up doing my fair share of whining, but I also know – as I look back on many of the topics I’ve written about – that much of what is in my archives is predictatory (I think I just made up a word).  That is, I’ve predicted much of what is presently happening, in many cases well over a year ago (that is in reference to President Obama’s “changes we can believe in”).  As I drive my car around I listen to the “talkers” on the radio, and on the progressive side many of them have finally picked up on the urgency to PUSH democratically leaning voters to participate in the upcoming mid-term elections.  One of the “issues” I’ve repeatedly “warned” the president and his advisors about is their attempt at “centrist” governing was going to TURN OFF much of the base which elected Obama in the first place.

The other day, I heard Randi Rhodes – one of the more progressive of the radio talkers – pointing out, and quite accurately I might add, the problem with “progressives” staying home in November.  The alternative is almost unpalatable!  Yet, I believe without DRASTIC measures on President Obama’s part “the die is cast.”  He has – quite simply – made some UNACCEPTABLE decisions from the standpoint of his progressive base – and, the more that comes out the worse it looks.  Earlier the accusation was “Bushlite” and Obama cringed at that, but I honestly think that without significant action on the president’s part it will be hard to motivate MANY, MANY progressive voters (and, I’m one of them!) to vote this fall.   You see, for me (and I believe MILLIONS of other Americans) the “change I could believe in” wasn’t a watered down health care “reform” bill (which I still believe will end up being a “boon” for insurance companies), it wasn’t a stimulus package which was “emasculated” in order to get 3 republican votes (it could have been passed in full using reconciliation or by simply bypassing the “filibuster” due to the bill’s importance) – and, now with the actual results being similar to the predicted results of the Keynsian economic minds – those predictions made as the bill was being signed – telling us to expect a “jobless” recovery, it wasn’t  continuing the Bush policy in Iraq and a “surge” in Afganistan – not endless occupation (with “non-combat” troops – and I’m still looking for one person who can explain to me what a “non-combat” troop is in Iraq) in one Viet Nam like BLUNDER and ESCALATION of the other – AND continued BORROWING every penny to pay for both.  I, and I believe millions of others, wasn’t expecting President Obama to put “bipartisanship” ahead of the will of the people who elected him.

I’m hoping that by now our president has figured out that “negotiating” with the present day republicans is a losing proposition.  They still think the policies of George W Bush/Dick Cheney were working (well, that is – their corporate masters still think that).  Bush/Cheney were doing everything they could to destroy our government as we presently know it, and the republicans are convinced (I’m convinced they’re convinced) that President Obama is just a four year delay in their plan for a “permanent republican majority.”  When Bush/Cheney were defeated I actually thought we didn’t have to worry about that possibility anymore.  I mean, this was Karl Rove’s “wet dream.”  I was pretty sure that by the time the first mid-term elections came about Karl Rove would be either in jail or in the process of defending himself in a futile attempt to avoid jail.  Think about it, how many Americans can refuse subpoenas to Congress and get away with it, how many can participate in “outing” a CIA agent and get away with it, how many Americans can undermine our entire justice department and get away with it – and, the list goes on.  I didn’t forsee Rove as a “player” by 2010.  Well, it’s now reported that not only will Rove be a “player,” he’ll be right where he likes to be – in the shadows – managing what some have estimated as a 300 MILLION DOLLAR fund aimed at defeating progressive democrats – this will be our introduction to the effects of the “Citizens United” Supreme Court decsion of which I’m guessing 9 in 10 Americans will have no idea what “hit” them.  Do I blame Rove?  Well, yes (he’s the epitome of the political “hack” who puts money ahead of country) – but, when it gets right down to it I really blame President Obama because he’s the one who chose to “look forward and not back” – in essence letting all the alleged criminals (including Rove) off the hook from the Bush/Cheney administration.

The day President Obama made that STUPID decision the democrats lost the “war of words” with the republicans.  It was not only STUPID from a strategic political point of view – it sent a message to republicans that Obama was “weak” and, I believe, it was the decision which ENERGIZED them – almost daring them to impose their NO TO EVERYTHING strategy which many people believe is actually working.  Well, it may well be working, and the reason why is exactly what I’ve been talking about for well over the last year.  President Obama came off as taking the people who voted him into office for granted – THAT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE!  When his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel publicly referred to “liberals” such as myself as “f__king retards” he should have been fired.  However, by taking no action there, and in several other dicey situations President Obama has left the impression that he’s “asleep at the wheel.”

Now, I personally don’t believe that is true for a minute – and, I TOTALLY agree with Rhodes that the alternative to President Obama and the democrats is hardly palatable.  I mean, I can’t believe the American people will put these republicans back “in charge.”  What person who is a member of the work force would vote for people who voted against unemployment benefit extensions in the worst economic downturn since the GREAT DEPRESSION – in fact, a downturn of their MAKING?  However, I never imagined Obama would give us the lesser of two bad choices in the upcoming election.  The worst part of all this is we’re about to find out the true POWER of the “Citizens United” decision which I believe could be a game changer for the future of this nation.  Of course, we’re depending on the democrats to do something to mitigate its effect by November (today senate democrats failed to pass legislation forcing corporate interests to identify themselves in their political advertising), but they can’t seem to do anything but stay one step behind the republicans.  Combine the effect of “Citizens United” with the disenchantment of voters like myself – I honestly felt DEFLATED when I heard Obama say he was PARDONING Bush/Cheney (obviously, he didn’t put it in those exact words, but that was the effect of his decision – all this while BOTH Bush and Cheney were BRAGGING on NATIONAL TV that they had authorized TORTURE – and WOULD DO IT AGAIN if given the chance).  I believe that decision virtually GUARANTEES that the United States will be torturing again at some point in the future.  I’ve spent the last two years listening to one republican hack after another claiming that “torture works.”  Of course, ALL THE EVIDENCE shows they have their heads up their asses, but their arrogance is real – and, THEY WILL DO IT AGAIN GIVEN THE CHANCE.  The ONLY way to guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again would have been for Obama/Holder to hold Bush/Cheney et al accountable for their illegal actions – which they FREELY admitted to.  Set a precedent that this behavior WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!

There was plenty more that we needed (still need) to know about what was going on during Bush/Cheney.  It will eventually come out – as the shenanigans at the Minerals Management Service surfaced after the fact of the recent BP oil spill – where the oil companies (like BP) were writing their own drilling waivers – hence the deepwater horizon spill which is killing much of the Gulf of Mexico as I write this – due to faulty equipment and procedures.  There’s all the no-bid contracts in Iraq and Afganistan with the shoddy to unfinished work – who’s investigating that? (answer: NOBODY)  And, what about the missing BILLIONS in Iraq – money that just disappeared – who’s investigating that? (answer: NOBODY)  What about the lead up to the TARP bailout?  Who’s investigating that – and Hank Paulson’s role in creating the problem when he was at Goldman Sachs? (answer: NOBODY)  What about lying us into an endless occupation costing thousands of American lives and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of Iraqi lives – who’s investigating that? (answer: NOBODY)  The justice department was totally politicized – to the point that attorneys were asked to take a loyalty oath to the republican party – they’re supposed to be NON-PARTISAN – who’s investigating that? (answer: NOBODY) (by the way, US Attorney’s taking “loyalty oaths” reminds me of the Germans in the 1930’s) Everyone knows that a CIA agent was “outed” and that Americans phones were listened to without warrants – who’s investigating that? (answer: NOBODY – in fact, I’m suspecting the illegal wiretapping is continuing under Obama)  What about the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and the other “secret” prisons?  Who’s investigating that? (answer: NOBODY – despite OVERWHELMING evidence of prisoner abuse – including several documented cases of MURDER!)

You see, this is the kind of CRAP people like myself wanted to see DEALT WITH!  The idea of just looking the other way from all this ILLEGAL activity makes me a bit sick to my stomach again as I write about it AGAIN.  President Obama evidently doesn’t care about all the people who were expecting him to put a stop to all of this – simply by getting out of the way of Justice Department and Congressional investigations of ALL of these abuses.  He said he didn’t want the distractions.  I say, just because he’s president where does Obama get off thinking he can allow lawbreaking to go on out of convenience?  What kind of message was he sending?  Well, as I stated earlier, the message to republicans was like a green light for their WORST behavior.  If Obama wasn’t going to stop the obvious abuses Bush/Cheney were caught “red handed” doing, he wasn’t going to be up for stopping their OBSTRUCTIONIST PLANS designed to destroy his presidency.  And, the message to people like me was that he had “bigger fish to fry” which I called HOGWASH (using different terms) from DAY ONE!  His first priority should have been to eliminate the possibility of the abuses of the Bush/Cheney regime from ever happening again with agressive investigations.  (it seems to me that President Obama – like most presidents before him in our recent history – is focused on the “now” and not thinking “long term”)  Not only did the American people have the right to know what Bush/Cheney were doing, President Obama had the obligation to make sure the American people knew what they were doing.  This would have been the first step in the healing process that was necessary after we endured eight years of the Bush administration.  By circumventing that process President Obama contributed to making the WOUNDS greater – instead of less.

If you’ve been around my site much, you probably know that just thinking about this topic can get me started.  It’s, obviously, a REAL sore spot with me – and, I believe as stated earlier, with millions of other Americans.  It gets me back to my original point and that is the projected low voter turnout by “progressives” in November.  I, like Randi Rhodes, hope that progressives DON’T stay home from the polls – but, I’ve been predicting this problem since the day Obama chose to “look forward.”  Honestly, that decision was almost as hard for me to stomach as some of the worst decisions of the Bush/Cheney years – simply because I felt so BETRAYED.  And, that in a nutshell, might be the undoing of President Obama.  There are other areas where his decisions have been in TOTAL contrast to the expectations coming from his campaign.  That is one of the “changes” most of us wanted to believe in – if he said it, he would stick to it (like the “public option” for example – abandoning that cost our president MANY votes – I’m sure).  I’ll end by pointing out that I heard President Obama say that “Waterboarding is torture.”  I also heard him (with my own ears – watching his lips move as he said it) say “no one is above the law.”  Finally, I heard both Obama and his AG Eric Holder say, “if there’s evidence of a crime, we’ll follow the evidence and it will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”  They were speaking to people who wanted assurances that the Bush/Cheney crew would not get off “scott free.”  They left a clear impression that “War Crimes” were unacceptable and would be prosecuted – all while Bush/Cheney – as stated earlier, were admitting to authorizing “WAR CRIMES” – yet, NOTHING was done.   To be clear – that is not the way to excite people to go to the polls!

Note: I wrote the above last night before I heard about the “leaked” files coming from “WikiLeaks,” which I haven’t read but have heard much comment about.  Let me just add that everything I’ve heard “leaked” simply verifies much of what I’ve been saying – including in this post.  However, not much of what I’ve heard should be surprising to most people.  The information has been available if you want to get it.  Let me suggest a couple books for anyone who would like to get a better idean on Iraq or Afganistan.  Thomas E Ricks’ “The Gamble,” gives a great explanation of why many are predicting an indefinite presence in Iraq – for maybe a generation.  “Descent into Chaos” by Ahmad Rashid and “Ghost Wars” by Steven Coll are two really good books which will help you understand the futility of what Bush – and now Obama – are trying to accomplish in Afganistan.  What I’m implying is that not much of the information is new (maybe some of the finer details – names of individuals, etc.) so it’s kind of an example of how our news media has been “asleep at the switch” for the previous 10+ years.