One of the things which keeps me writing is my feeling a sense of obligation to my children and grandchildren to play whatever small part I can play in stopping this republican onslaught of our government.  You know, the people who claim that “government’s the problem” and who want to take total control of government – so that they can “wring” as much of the taxpayers money out of the system before “we the people” catch on.  Their methods are quite sophisticated and you have to give them credit for being “single minded,” but when people want to ruin the very enterprise they’re trying to control – that should really give even the republicans who aren’t “ditto heads” pause.  I phrase it in that manner because I’m coming to the conclusion that those who are still drinking Rush Limbaugh’s (and the other right wing propagandists) “coolaid,” well, there’s no hope for them.  And, as a Christian myself, I say this next line with dismay;  The “dominionists” who call themselves “Christians,” but support this authoritarian republican movement aimed at removing every aspect of the New Deal and Great Society it can, without so much as a second thought to what they’re supporting and how it coincides with the message of Jesus Christ, I’ve gotten to the point where I have no time for them.  I know people from my church who you can’t even talk to – with some of them, it’s like talking to Limbaugh himself as they retort any reasonable effort at dialogue with the Limbaugh “line.”

Rush Limbaugh would like you (and everyone else) to believe he’s not a racist, or a sexist, or a “fill in the blank.”  Well, the evidence suggests otherwise.  I hardly ever listen to him, but on the rare occasions when I can make myself do it, I almost always hear something come from his mouth that is either racist or denegrating toward women.  There’s a reason Limbaugh was removed after one week on “Monday Night Football,” and why he was blocked from purchasing a share of the St. Louis Rams football team.  The Black members of the NFL would have no part with him.  The reality is that you can’t be throwing around the racially insensitive slurs to the lemmings who are listening to your show, and then pretend that you aren’t prejudiced.  Limbaugh has played a key part in the republican strategy to DIVIDE America, and he’s still the defacto head of the republican party – even though they’ve figured out that they need to be much more indiscreet in letting the public in on that “fact.”  If you’ve noticed lately, you NEVER hear a republican (lately) questioning Limbaugh, because as soon as he starts criticizing ANY republican (which you can count on him doing to anyone not “toeing” the line) you can almost hear the backtracking.  All this being said, you have to tip your hat to the republicans that they’ve been able to put together this LONG TERM scheme which is producing results at the polls (legit or not) despite their minority position among America’s voters.  They will say ANYTHING or do ANYTHING in order to “win.”  And, when republicans win, most of the rest of us LOSE!

I was thinking the other day about, for example, the looming fight over the budget deficit and the lifting of America’s “debt ceiling.” (which technically has already been reached and the “default” caused by exceeding it is being “put off” through the use of strategic “accounting tricks” by Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary)  I wondered, “How many of the average Americans take the time to check the FACTS regarding who was/is responsible for the level of that debt.  Here’s the interesting thing, if you check that out (and it only takes a few moments to find the info on the internet) you quickly realize that the SAME people who are clamoring the most about the HORRORS of the national debt – are the ones who are the MOST responsible for creating it.  That is, it has clearly been the republicans and their STUPID “trickle down” theory that they somehow got Americans to buy into who have created this deficit.  Additionally, they’ve been – up until President Obama took over the White House – unashamed about their role in doing this.  It was just during the last HUGE tax cut cycle by the Bush/Cheney administration when Dick Cheney, who was masterminding the cut, was quoted as saying “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”  Anyone who’s been paying attention knows that Bush/Cheney took a quarter TRILLION dollar surplus and turned it into a MASSIVE deficit in one felled swoop.  But if you listen to republicans, the deficit (and everything else wrong with government) is President Obama’s fault.

Keep in mind that the new president oversees the previous president’s budget for his/her (maybe someday) first year in office.  So, in reality, most of the budget deficit that reublicans are attempting to “pin” on Obama, in reality, is the result of the Bush/Cheney administration.  Now, in an effort to show MY bipartisanship, I believe President Obama has made some very strategic blunders in dealing with the situation.  Before he took the oath of office (you can check my archives on this) I not only suggested to Obama that he repeal the “Bush Tax Cuts,” but I also suggested a 50 cent per gallon gas tax.  At the time, gas was around $1.80 per gallon and my position was that we all knew gas was going up with or without the tax.  I claimed (and still believe) the oil companies push it as high as people will pay – when the demand begins to cease, they back off on their greedy push for more excessive profits.  Ending the “Bush Tax Cuts” (and, I’m talking about all of them – including the ones that “benefitted” me), creating the gas tax with a subsequent “push” to fix America’s infrastructure, and ending the two absurd occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan would have solved the budget problem ALREADY!

So, I guess you could say that I don’t disagree with some of the blame going Obama’s way, but the really ODD thing about the blamers is that they are the ones who should be happy with him – yet, they try to block EVERYTHING he does (except for funding the occupations, renewing the “patriot” act, and extending the “Bush Tax Cuts”).  President Obama, instead of turning out to be a progressive “agent for change,” has shown himself to be a staunch defender of the status quo.  I honestly can only think of one reason all the “right wingers” are up in arms and that is they can’t stand the idea that America’s white majority is close to being a “thing of the past.”  That appears to me to be what they’re holding onto.  Otherwise, this all makes no sense.  I mean, Obama didn’t lift a finger to allow prosecutions of Bush/Cheney et al.  If you are a republican and can’t appreciate that, check out what’s happening around the globe in other countries where authoritarian regimes have been removed – like in Egypt.  Hosne Mubarrak is going to be standing trial in Egypt, or at least that’s the implications of the reports I’ve seen.  George W Bush and Dick Cheney are directly responsible for the lost lives of HUNDRED’S OF THOUSANDS of human beings in Iraq alone – not to mention the torturing issue, the bludgeoning of our regulatory system, the politicizing of the Justice Department, the outing of a CIA agent, the FISA violations, the lying before Congress (and even refusals to answer subpoenas from congress), and I could go on.  If we were TRULY a nation of laws, these people wouldn’t have walked away “scott free” after what EVERYONE knows they did.

The Wall Street bankers who are now funnelling MILLIONS of their ill gotten gains into the republcan “coffers” should be thankful for Obama as well.  Virtually NONE of the “big wigs” has had to answer for TANKING the American and WORLD economy in the second half of the first decade of this century – that is, Bush/Cheney’s second term.  Honestly, if you think Bernie Madoff is the extent of what was wrong on Wall Street (what’s STILL wrong) “I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you.”  There are many books (I’ve read some of them) which make it clear that Goldman Sachs was playing both sides of the “game” as the collaterallized mortgage obligations tanked this nation.  They were bundling mortgages that were crap with one hand and selling them to unsuspecting investors as AAA bonds while “betting” against them with the other hand.  Walla, Goldman Sach was capitalizing on America’s economic collapse from both ends at the same time.  It’s nice when your former CEO is the Treasury Secretary and makes sure that you are “too big to fail.”  Ughhh!  And, where’s the investigations of Goldman Sachs and the other bankers?  Where’s the investigation of Hank Paulsen?  All these people should be happy with Obama and especially happy with Eric Holder who – to no one’s surprise in Washington DC – is “one of them.”  (and, if you don’t know, Holder is a corporate attorney right from the heart of Wall Street)

On top of all this, have you taken a good look at Wall Street’s “numbers” since Obama’s presidency hit full swing?  Once the “stimulus” (which was too small, but that’s a story for another time – actually, it’s a story in my archives) started to take effect, it was Wall Street that benefitted WAY MORE than “Main Street.”  The “stimulus” was designed to prevent a more serious loss of jobs, kind of a stablization of the bad situation Obama inherited, but not designed to aggressively create the new jobs that were warranted with 15 MILLION out of work and a crumbling infrastructure.  Obama succumbed to those who have been “takers” for years – that is using the roads, bridges, buildings, schools, etc. constructed during the New Deal and Great Society years of Democratic control of our government – and these people just don’t want to “give back,” that is fix the things that have been worn out for our children to use.  They are the people who have been trying to “starve government” – using the words of Grover Norquist – so that “business” will once again have the “free reign” it had on consumers and the American public prior to the FDR administration.  Honestly, I have no idea how Obama could continue to side with these people – I suppose he feels that at some point they will become supporters of his policies – but, they SHOULD be happy with him!  Even Obama’s signature “Health Care Reform” was a “spinoff” of the republican Mitt Romney’s “plan” that was instituted a few years back in Massachusetts.  (Can’t you just picture the next round of presidential debates if it’s between Romney and Obama?)

And, when it comes to the “wars,” the republicans REALLY ought to be happy with Obama’s performance.  Essentially, President Obama has followed the agreed upon terms of policy in Iraq “according to Bush.”  I haven’t seen one indication that our president was willing to make a single courageous decision in Iraq – unless, you call it courageous to violate your promise to your own supporters who you promised you would bring home ALL the troops in 16 months.  It’s now approaching 30 months and there continue to be 50,000 troops PLUS all the contractors in Iraq – and, I’ll be as surprised as anyone if they come home this summer.  That was the republican playbook.  And, what about Afghanistan.  Boy, didn’t Afghanistan just show how two-faced the republcans really are.  I mean you have to give Obama credit for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden – I know they would never do that, but can you imagine the uproar if something had gone wrong?  Oh my – “invading a sovereign nation!” can’t you just imagine all the Jimmy Carter references had one of the choppers failed to perform the mission?  Yet, I’ve not heard a single republican give Obama credit for authorizing this action that was so needed by the victims of 9/11.  I can’t picture how frustrating it must have been for them (the 9/11 victims) when Bush/Cheney allowed bin Laden to escape and then quit trying to find him.  And, where was the national outrage over our “leaders” allowing the real criminal to go free while lying our nation into a horrendous military quagmire?  I, myself, was villified for speaking out against the invasion of Iraq by people who to this day continue to look the other way when they see me and who wouldn’t think of admitting they were TOTALLY wrong.  Shouldn’t the republicans be lining up in unity for the president who finished the job of bringing the man to justice who attacked America on THEIR WATCH?  Listening to them stumbling all over themselves trying to find a way to take credit for what Obama accomplished would be humorous if the subject wasn’t so serious.  These republicans have taken their racism to new heights!  But, they did support renewal of the Patriot Act.

Here’s the big problem I have with all of this.  The fundamental values of this great nation are under assault and “we the people” MUST rely on the democrats to put an end to it.  Given the present circumstances that’s not all that reassuring.  When you look at what the republicans managed to achieve when the democrats had nearly super majorities in both houses of congress, it’s a little nerve wracking thinking what might happen next.  I mean, when I saw the republicans succeed in extending the “Bush Tax Cuts” I thought, “all bets are off with our ‘progressive’ president.”  Even Obama is afraid to challenge the American people to pull together to solve our problems – which pale in regards to the problems our parents and grandparents solved in World War II and during the depression years.  Paying the same tax rate we paid during the Clinton presidency should have been a “no brainer,” but I heard Obama say (yes, I heard this with my own ears) that the extension of the tax cuts was going to create “millions of new jobs.”  Again, what’s not to like if you’re a republican?  Now they’re after Medicare, Medicaid, and ultimately Social Security (if you haven’t figured this out, there’s TRILLIONS in profits for their business “partners” if they can pull this off) and I honestly don’t feel that secure having President Obama as my backstop. 

Remember, 76% of the American public supported a “public option” in the health care debate – and the concept never got off the ground (guess who was making backroom deals with health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies?).  Now, in most polls, 80+% are opposed to changing Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security – but, do you really think that will stop the republicans?  Plllllleassssse!  The only thing that will stop the republicans is if “we the people” vote them out of office!  The so-called “tea party” has taken over the republican party and their right wing extremist agenda will be a big problem to all of America if people continue watching Fox “news” and believing what they hear.  If Americans were smart, the only association they’d have with Fox “news” would be boycotting their sponsors.  Fox is the mouthpiece of the republican party and, as I’ve stated here (by the way, on many occasions I’ve pointed out how much I want President Obama to succeed) I’m not confident in today’s democrats and our democratic president to stop the Fox agenda which is the corporate takeover of America, so it’s up to “we the people” to vote this “tea partyish” repubican party out of office at the next election and vote in candidates (and, honestly, I don’t care what, if any, party they’re affiliated with) who will stand up for and embrace the fundamental values that created America’s middle class in the first place.  I’ve heard politicians talking about the “dominoe theory” my entire life, usually referring to “communism” or something of that ilk, but I believe the republicans think getting the tax cuts extended was the first dominoe in a series that includes the “social safety net” created by the Roosevelt and Johnson administrations.  Republicans want to privatise EVERYTHING, and it’s up to “we the people” to stop them!