I’ve written a couple of times how I believe MSNBC’s firing of Keith Olberman was just another “straw” in the scheme by America’s corporate elite to squash dissent.  Well, last night I saw the first “Countdown with Keith Olberman” on Current TV.  Let me be right up front about what I’m thinking:  I hope “progressives” er LIBERALS will find this show and turn Current into the next MSNBC – at MSNBC’s expense!  If you forget, or didn’t know, Olberman was FIRED right after Comcast purchased MSNBC – more of the corporate assault on America’s unsuspecting “low information voters.”  The way I see it, Olberman was getting way too powerful – and, he’s willing to be critical of BOTH republicans and the timid democrats who seem all too willing to get out of the way of the right wing assault on America.  Just today I read a column where Charles Blow of the New York Times called the republicans pitiless and the democrats pitiful – I couldn’t have put it better.  And, Olberman is one “pundit” who is willing to call BOTH sides on the issues – although, he make no secret that he’s a FLAMING LIBERAL! :0)

The more I watch what is “happening” in America, the more alarmed I get at the future facing my children and grandchildren – sick to my stomach could be a better term for it.  It appears to me that we are “stuck” with President Obama for the next few years – with the alternative being some republican “whacko” who would be beholden to the Koch brothers, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of the right wing “machine” that is dead set on FINALLY reversing the safety net created by the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Society of the Lyndon Johnson years.  The problem with all of that is I have no confidence AT ALL that Obama will be the “backstop” against this assault on our social safety net based on the evidence to date since his inauguration.  Obama has been getting “played” by the republicans since the day he took office, and I’m sure they have more “tricks” in store for him.  The next big “excitement” will be what does he give up to “put off” the “debt crisis” (that the republicans created)?  If you’ve forgotten, Obama capitulated on the original “stimulus package” – I’m sure he now sees that the economists such as Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz were “right on” when they proposed a larger stimulus without the tax cuts – Obama gave in to republicans and their special interest “sponsors” when he caved on the “public option,” the Wall Street “re-regulation” failed to include restoring Glass Steagall – which most progressive economists claim is desperately needed, and he caved MISERABLY on the “Bush Tax Cuts,” which are likely to be made permanent as a result – further exaserbating the “debt crisis” (to the delight of republicans, I’m sure).

To make matters worse, after caving on the tax cut issue, Obama came out with a plan to cut the Social Security withholding for America’s workers by an additional two percent as another way to “stimulate” the economy.  In essence, what he’s doing is adding fuel to the republican fire to “privatize” Social Security and Medicare.  The republicans want to privatize EVERYTHING, despite ALL the evidence that this is not in the best interests of the American people.  What the democrats presently in Congress and our “democratic” president seem to have forgotten is that EVERYTHING the republicans do is aimed at the wealthiest Americans.  These people want to use America’s roads, bridges, buildings, schools, police, firemen, MILITARY, and EVERYTHING they can get their greedy hands on to make as much money as possible with no regard to the original intent of the “New Deal” which was to create a booming middle class with workers who were paid a living wage – sufficient to support their families and educate their children.  Honestly, I wonder if Obama and the democrats even wonder how history is going to perceive them – they had a near stranglehold on Congress when Obama was elected and they’re being manipulated into destroying EVERYTHING the republicans couldn’t manage to destroy while George W Bush was in office – with a republican congress!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME????  Again, Charles Blow gave the democrats the appropriate monniker: “Pitiful.”

I’ve come to the point where I believe even the democrats are watching Fox “news.”  They seem to be scared to death to have the BATTLE that is so necessary to do what I’ve been claiming needs to be done for the past several years – and, that is to annihilate the repulbican party.  This, of course, would have to be done at the polls, and it would require politicians who had BACKBONE and, who were not being PAID by the same people who are buying off the republicans.  The evidence that I’m finding is that the latter of those two “requirements” may be the biggest “hurdle,” although the lack of the former (backbone) may be the reason the democrats have allowed themselves to be “bought off.”  Another point that Blow made in the article I read was that OVER half of the members of Congress are MILLIONAIRES – this brings up several good questions itself.

Is having a Congress full of the wealthiest Americans and asking them to TAX the wealthiest Americans akin to having the “Fox guarding the henhouse?”  Are these people so “out of touch” with the present day realities in America that they don’t “get” the level of financial decay that is eating away at one “middle class” family after another?  Have all these Congress people, many who profess to be Christians, failed to read the words of Jesus when He said, “What you do for the least of these (meaning poor people), you do for me” – as they cut off health care benefits for poor children, pregnant women, and fail to extend unemployment benefits to the long term unemployed who are desperately trying to find work?  Is the wealth of our Congress members the reason why when they talk about cutting spending it’s NEVER mentioned that we could cut DEFENSE spending – it’s ALWAYS “off the table” – in the words of not only John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, but all the “tea partier” nutbags that managed to get elected in 2010 – and, unfortunately, many democrats – including President Obama.  Seriously, do these people REALLY believe that we need a military budget that exceeds the REST OF THE WORLD combined?  Or is their something “in it for them” to go along with this crazy nonsense?  How many wars will America become involved in before the American public wakes up?  It’s obvious to me that the Congress is not going to do anything about this problem until their jobs are in jeopardy.

This gets me back to my original point.  Without people like Keith Olberman out there – who are willing to criticize BOTH sides when called for – we are in trouble.  Olberman was the “anchor tenant,” so to speak, for the “LIBERAL” perspective on MSNBC, but there was no doubt he was ruffling too many feathers of the “establishment.”  Their solution is always simple – just get rid of him!  They even did it in the politically expedient way that minimized the “fallout” from that type of decision.  They announced it VERY UNEXPECTEDLY on a Friday – had I not been taping his shows, I would have simply been wondering “Where did Keith Olberman go?”  Now, I know enough to look up things on the web, but how many people out there never gave it a second thought?  And, how many Americans are like I was a few years ago before I started all this reading – where I would have never suspected that Americans could be following Nazi philosophy? (Of course, it’s this same group – Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Fox “news,” Beck, and all the others who have accused Obama of being a ‘fascist’) Just the other day I had a conversation with a teacher at my school about the economy and I had to stop soon after the conversation began because this woman sounded like Rush Limbaugh – she’s an educated teacher, yet she watches Fox “news” and listend to Limbaugh and his ilk.  When she said, “It’s the rich people who supply the jobs, so they shouldn’t be taxed,” I thought “I’ve got to leave before I say something rude.”  The reality is that the republican propaganda scheme is POWERFUL. (and, they’ve been at it for a long time)

I believe that “progressives” (er, LIBERALS) don’t realize how important Olberman is to this nation.  Not only is it important that his show succeeds, but I believe that Current TV has made a commitment to COMPETE with the other cable companies with a true “progressive” (OK, if you haven’t figure this out yet – I REALLY mean LIBERAL :o) format.  This is an opportunity to provide a platform for the opposition to the “permanent republican majority” which is the dream child of people like Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, the Kochs, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, those referred to as ‘The Family’ in Jeff Sharlet’s book of the same name, and the so-called ‘neo-cons’) As Joseph Goebbels himself implied, the antidote for the “Big Lie Theory” of propaganda that propelled the Nazi’s to power was organized dissent.  That is why, in my opinion, Olberman was FIRED from MSNBC (there’s no other logical explanation) – he was becoming too popular – too many people were watching his show.  This time around I believe that Olberman is now in a position where “the sky’s the limit.”  So, if you’re reading this and you agree with me at all, tune into Current TV and watch his show.  And, tell others to do the same thing.  If Keith Olberman succeeds at Current TV, the chances for widespread exposure of the republican “Big Lie” propaganda scheme go way up!  Additionally, a side benefit might be that his criticism of Obama might be enough to get the president to rethink some of the disastrous “compromises” he’s made, and encourage him to be the leader of the FIGHT which will have to happen – hopefully sooner rather than later!

Honestly, as I continue to moniter the political scene in America – as a school teacher – I have to wonder if “we the people” really are so stupid as to continue to “buy” the “kool aid” the republicans have been “selling” since the mid 1970’s.  As I’ve written on this site many times I believe the turning point that has turned America downward was the day Ronald Reagan was elected president back in 1980.  During the 80’s I was focused on my young children and not so much on politics (although I still remember the “me” orientation of all the “young republicans” back then and worrying about what would happen once they weren’t “young” anymore) – once the Viet Nam War  “ended” I was pretty much “done” with America’s “mainstream.”  However, like many others of my era, I slowly worked my way into a middle class lifestyle and year after year took the many benefits I was receiving due to the sacrifices of those who fought valiantly for working people during the preceeding 40 years for granted.  I was publicly educated, the roads I was driving on were relatively new, and jobs were plentiful (in fact, most corporations actually treated their employees with a sense of loyalty – until Reagan “broke” the Air Traffic Controller’s Union).  After the trauma of the Viet Nam fiasco wore off, and I recovered from “discovering” that my government had LIED to me (I was raised believing lying was REALLY bad), I slowly started appreciating the things I had learned in school about “MY” country.

The United States of America was the greatest nation in the world – not because we had all the weapons and military to threaten anyone who disagreed with us with total annihilation, but – because we believed in equal rights, liberty, human rights, and – in a summative sense – community.  I believed we were a nation whose actions were consistent with our words.  Of course, the more I read nowadays, the more I realize how naive I was – and, worst of all, the more I realize that those who’ve been leading us have been on a terrible downward trend for most of my adult lifetime.  Yet, my formative years were the 60’s and I still remember Dr. Martin Luther King and the movement he stood for and died for.  I remember Lyndon Johnson who became very unpopular because of his blunders in foreign policy – yet, he oversaw the “Great Society” which gave us Medicare and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which was a great step in the right direction for those of us who believe in doing everything possible to minimize the effects of discrimination in America.  I remember Robert Kennedy who was determined to fight organized crime and paid the ultimate price for his conviction.  And I clearly remember the 1970’s was a time when you could disagree with someone – like I did with Richard Nixon on many issues – yet, still expect progress to be made for the “general welfare of the American people.”  I believe it was the very forces of the republican party that are undermining the fundamentals of our government today who were responsible for Nixon’s downfall. (do you really believe the Watergate “burglars” [CIA operatives] were “caught” unexpectedly?)

Nixon had instituted a strong environmental policy and initiated the Environmental Protection Agency (that today’s republicans so much want to eliminate), Nixon broke foreign policy barriers with both Russia and (especially) China, and he instituted wage and price controls that ultimately led to a “Windfall Profits tax” on oil companies after he was gone from office (all things this republican CABAL I keep writing about hated).  In those days, as I remember it, mainstream republicans and democrats could “work together” and actually accomplish things that were in the interest of “Main Street.”  As I look back on those days, it becomes clearer to me that the “forces” which are behind today’s republican party were “there” – they were simply stealth – and they decided their party needed a strong push to the “right.”  Reagan was the first step.  These are the people I’ve previously referred to as the “Family” – as written about by Jeff Sharlet in the book of the same name – who have multiplied into a force of unknown numbers of “cells” around the country dedicated to the “overthrow” of the “New Deal” and the “Great Society,” plus those features of our government they find repulsive, put in place by both Nixon and Eisenhower before him.

When you think about it, there’s no logical reason for the LARGE MAJORITY of Americans to “turn away” from the ideals of the “New Deal” and “Great Society” because the benefits created in those era’s were (and still are) aimed at the vast majority of Americans.  It has taken a LONG conspiracy from those who were defeated by FDR in the 30’s to put themselves in a place where they are on the verge of not only reversing the social safety net created by Roosevelt and those who followed for the next generation, but in overcoming the “checks and balances” put into our constitution by the framers which would prevent the very “permanent republican majority” envisioned by Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, and the rest of the right wing CABAL (many who are unknown to the general public) that potentially is on the horizon.  As I watch what is happening, I have to give them credit for having a well thought out, disciplined scheme – despite the FACT that I find them deplorable people for “hatching” it. (sometimes I feel like they’re simply trying to prove the old adage that “everyone has their price”)  The question becomes, “How are they doing this?”

 I’ve shared on this “blog” at least a couple times a reminder of the “Big Lie” theory of Joseph Goebbels, the head of Nazi propaganda.  If you read “The Family” you’ll find that this CABAL of right wing republicans, in it’s infancy back in the 30’s, took much of their philisophical direction from the Nazi’s.  They believe in authoritarianism and they believe that the world should be governed by the rich and powerful – to put it in a “nutshell.”  Goebbel’s theory was that if you repeat a LIE enough times, it eventually becomes believable – this is the mechanism they are using to trick America’s working class into voting against itself.  Those perpetrating the lying must control the dissent, so that the general public only hears the lying.  Enter Fox “news,” Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Scott Walker and all the others who will say what people like the Koch brothers pay them to say.  And, for those of us who still feel a “kinship” to all those who fought against the Civil Rights abuses that were commonplace in my youth, it should be no surprise some of the things that come out of the mouths of these people (Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, etc.) because the Koch’s and their father were and are right in the middle of the John Birch Society which not only has a history of blatant racism, but still maintains to this day that Dwight D. Eisenhower was a communist spy!  These people are nuts and they are behind the “Tea Party,” people like Glenn Beck, and those right wing “water carriers” mentioned above.  They don’t think twice about the LYING that Goebbels preached for his propaganda “machine,” because – to them – “the end justifies the means.”  The “end” they are looking for is total control of America’s government in direct conflict with the intentions of our founders. 

If you’ve been listening to their “crap” for as long as I have, you’ve heard this “plain and simple.”  I started to notice this about the time Limbaugh hit the “scene” toward the end of the 80’s.  We started hearing the republican “talking points.”  I guess the terminology made it sound innocent enough, but what it means is a concerted and organized effort to get numerous “pundits” on the same page – repeating the same lie OVER and OVER again!  And, the really scarry thing is that it has worked.  I still remember talking to a psychologist about kids lying when I first started teaching.  He said, “You have to get ‘through’ to them by the time they’re 14 or lying becomes part of their character.”  Then he said something that really stuck with me and I’ve seen evidence of this many times in the ensuing 20 years, “After they’ve lied enough, they start believing their own lies.”  Wala, now we have a group of LIARS who actually believe what is coming out of their mouths is true!  That is how people like Beck and Limbaugh can do this with such “conviction.”  I’ve heard people use the term “spin” for many years, but in reality they have created a euphemism for the word LIAR.

Democrats have played an unwitting part in all of this, mostly because they are too disjointed to counteract the discipline of the republicans all marching in lockstep.  (does this give you a visual???)  One of the worst examples of this would be the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  As with much of the rest of America’s “big business” since the days of Reagan, we are experiencing “too big to fail” corporations – most notably the Wall Street banks who nearly bankrupted us (well, probably bankrupted us – the Treasury department is in the middle of a lot of creative “financing” that will probably come “due” some point in the not too distant future) – but, what many don’t think about is the contraction that’s taken place in the Telecommunications business since that disastrous decision.  America’s airwaves – you know, what the republicans have convinced America is our “liberal press” – has been purchased by less than ten right wing leaning corporations.  That decision is what has allowed Rupert Murdoch to seize control of a large portion of America’s media – despite the FACT he’s an Australian (right winger) and his top shareholder is a Saudi Prince who helped fund Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11.  This “Act” is what allowed the recent takeover of MSNBC by Comcast who immediately FIRED Keith Olberman, the leading voice of dissent to what the republicans are up to – just as Goebbels would have had it.

Now, as a teacher of 6th graders, I feel a sense of urgency to teach my students to research BOTH sides of any argument, to FACT check information, and to never lose sight of RIGHT and WRONG in their decision making.  I’m trying to teach them the importance of them being educated voters when they grow up, and I’m trying to give them a sense of the history of America which has made this nation so great.  I also teach them that when we take things for granted, we could lose them.  The way I put it often is “Freedom isn’t free.”  In the next couple of years we, in America, are going to find out how many adult voters understand these principles.  As I stated above, I believe I’ve been guilty of taking way too much for granted and thinking that certain issues were “off limits” from the politicians in Washington.  I still remember Reagan railing against Medicare in the 60’s, talking about how it was going to “destroy our freedom.”  Still, 80% support strengthening Medicare, yet should the republicans win in 2012, it may be a thing of the past.

Like I’ve said many times, these republicans are “cagy” and they have a “long term” plan.  They have been “whittling” away at the things they hate for many years and now it’s all coming to a head.  For example, under the reign of GW Bush, republicans, under the direction of the pharmeceutical industry, instituted the “Medicare part D” program.  This program, and I’m certain this is according to plan, has been funneling money out of taxpayer’s pockets into the coffers of those who designed the bill, creating the instability that is “at issue” today, and laying the groundwork for the republicans “wet dream” of putting the health of our senior citizens at the mercy of the FOR PROFIT “health care” companies.  Despite the FACT all of this is CLEARLY undermining the program, AND that large majorities of Americans oppose it, I feel the republicans feel they will be successful in repealing the program as it presently exists.  I believe they are secretly getting “minions” situated in all sorts of strategic places in the decision making hierarchy and, just as with the so-called “public option,” in the “health reform” debate, the will of “we the people” is irrelevent.

Republicans have a near stranglehold on the so-called “liberal media” and combining that with their willingness to implement Goebbels’ propaganda scheme along with their “the end justifies the means” belief, those of us who believe in the “New Deal” and the social safety net are facing a major challenge.  As I’ve also stated on this website, President Obama has not convinced me he will stand firm against this republican onslaught – so, the congressional elections of 2012 appear to be EXTREMELY consequential – one way or the other.  Several things are certain;  first, the lying will continue – from what I could tell from the first republican “debate” it’s going to be accelerated.  Second, the republican are already busy trying to limit the number of democrats who will be eligible to vote – they’ve got schemes going on as I’m writing this all over the country to make it difficult for disadvantaged voters to exercise their right.  Thirdly, I’m not convinced that ANYONE has thoroughly checked out the voting machine irregularities that put GW Bush in office and, in the last election, in South Carolina, nominated a person with NO CHANCE to run for the senate – someone who didn’t even campaign.  The reality is that the electronic voting machines are built by companies controlled by republicans and they’re EASY to HACK!  All of this stuff is information that’s available to the general public – but, the republicans continue to count on people not checking things out and getting their info from the republican controlled “news” media.  So, in my view, it all comes down to this: In the next election “We the People” will find out if we’re as STUPID as the republicans think we are.  If people don’t start talking this stuff up with each other and if liberals don’t start emphasizing to other liberals (just the FACT the republicans have made the word “liberal” something akin to a “dirty word” is a testament to how powerful the Goebbels propaganda scheme really is) the importance of participating in the process, we might find out how difficult it will be to overcome these thugs once they have TOTAL control of America’s government!  (remember, the definition of fascism is government and corporate interests working in concert)

The word ‘convoluted’ comes to my mind as I sit on the sidelines watching republicans attempt to ruin the government of the United States of America – all the while brainwashing good working class folk into voting for their diabolical scheme to SQUEEZE every possible cent from America’s taxpayers into the pockets of their corporate brethren.  Why, you might ask, would that word come to mind.  Well, the simple reality is that the only realistic way to stop these authoriatarian “robber barrons” – to use a term from one of America’s “previous lives” which these republicans are attempting to recreate – is to rely on the democrats.  I listen to people like Randi Rhodes cheering on President Obama and I really want to be “on board,” but, I’m continually hesitant because I’m just fed up with voting for the best of two bad alternatives.  And, I really hate to put Obama in the bad alternative category – because he’s clearly the BEST alternative we will have in the next election – and, he’s shown himself to be enough the “consummate politician that with a super majority in congress maybe – the next time – he could actually implement “the change we can believe in.”  Unfortunately, Rhodes is carrying the “water” for Obama as the right wing “talkers” carry the water for their compatriats, and for me it’s all a bit dizzying.

Here’s where the word ‘convoluted’ really took center stage for me.  The morning I was on my way to work and heard on the news that John Edwards had been indicted on charges of illegal use of campaign funds my first thought was, “Really?”  Now, I’m not for a second going to defend Edwards – his actions in the 2008 campaign were deplorable.  In my mind, he represents all that is bad about politics – people get caught up in the celebrity of it and they TOTALLY lose track of what is “RIGHT AND WRONG.”  I’m not judging Edwards at all regarding the charges levied against him, what bothered me about what he did is that I totally believe he’d have carried his “secret” right into the presidential campaign had he won the nomination from the democrats.  That’s the one way we could have ended up with someone like a Sarah Palin in national office!  Ughhh!  However, here’s what’s so wrong with what’s going on in our government today. 

It was reported that the charges against Edwards were the result of a two year investigation regarding his use of campaign funds spent to cover up the affair he was having while stumping for the presidential nomination.  Yes, that’s bad!  But, keep in mind, this investigation is coming from the same Obama administration that didn’t lift a finger to investigate George W Bush and Dick Cheney, along with all the other lawless members of their administration – this after BOTH Bush and Cheney have admitted MORE THAN ONCE, admissions that I have seen with my own eyes on national TV during interviews, that they AUTHORIZED waterboarding.  I saw these words, “I’d do it again,” come right out of the mouth of George W Bush (and, believe me, thanks to the tepid “looking forward and not back” excuse for the inexcusable by Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the next republican president is likely to “do it again”).  Yet, we’re still investigating extra-marital affairs of democratic politicians – it doesn’t seem to matter who’s controlling the White House.  Does anyone besides me find this a bit unnerving?  I’ve gone over the KNOWN violations of the Bush administration many times on this site – there is NO QUESTION they were committing MULTIPLE crimes while in office – yet, no investigations!  Eric Holder, Obama’s (corporate) Attorney General is aggressively investigating Julian Assange for “leaking” the TRUTH about America’s foreign policy via WikiLeaks and now John Edwards for trying to hide his affair from his wife who was suffering from cancer.

Honestly, when I found out what Edwards was doing, I thought he should have been a member of the republican party.  Their “front runner” for the 2012 nomination (well, self annointed front runner) Newt Gingrich set the bar high on this form of moral depravity (don’t you just love how people like Edwards AND Gingrich can make such a moving case regarding “family values”) by informing his (Gingrich’s) cancer stricken wife that he was divorcing her for his “lover” while his wife was dying in the hospital – then, of course, he gave her no financial support after she was released.  Edwards wasn’t quite as bad, but we’re now “splitting hairs.”  Speaking of ‘holier than now republicans’ I just finished a book called “Master of War” about Eric Prince and his private militia.  Prince is also a good “God fearing republican, family values man.”  Of course, that puts him into almost the same category as Gingrich.  In fact, he may have “one upped Gingrich” when he brought his PREGNANT girfriend to his wife’s funeral, who had died of cancer!

So, evidently we’ll be “looking back” at the affair of John Edwards with the case brought by Obama’s Attorney General who claimed that they were going to “look forward and not back” once they took office (evidently, that must be regarding republican misdeeds).  Of course, I’ve explained on many occasions that using the Obama/Holder logic there would never be another prosecution of a crime in America.  The TRUTH is that you MUST “look back” to prosecute criminals because the crime has to be committed BEFORE it can be investigated and prosecuted.  In reality what Obama and Holder have told America – and more importantly the republican obstructionists in the Congress – is that in America we don’t prosecute members of the Executive branch of government or republicans like Eric Cantor (who violated the Logan Act – a felony).  I’m guessing it’s kind of like how doctors and lawyers work – they won’t testify against each other because of the saying “there but for the grace of God goes I.”  Clearly, the republicans have been led to believe there are no boundaries on what they can do.  I’ve said on several occasions on this website that Obama/Holder’s decision to pardon the Bush/Cheney administration – over the “long haul” – will ultimately be viewed as a blunder of historically MAJOR proportions.

We’re seeing the results of this EVERY day now as the republicans try to virtually run our government into bankruptcy.  They would prefer that the government FAIL than for a Black president to succeed.  I’ve heard one pundit after another “tiptoe” around the reality that’s going on with the “right wing” of the republican party – but, at some point they are going to have to “tell it like it is.”  When our government defaults, it will be devestating for MOST Americans, and I surely hope that would be enough for the general public to say they’ve had enough of republicans.  However, considering the DISASTER Bush/Cheney left Obama, it should be clear to almost anyone that the American public are either quick to forgive or STUPID!  I mean, how could they be so dumb as to put republicans in control of congress only two years after FINALLY getting Bush/Cheney out of there?  Well, as I said the first day I heard Obama claim he was going to “look forward instead of back,” President Obama’s decision to avoid the confrontation that was warranted with the republican party once he took office was like a HUGE “green light” to the people like Rush Limbaugh, Roger Ailes, etc.  The ONLY real opposition to the arrogant lies that republicans have proved themselves to be comfortable with deluging the American public with would have been public investigations and, where appropriate, prosecutions of the Bush/Cheney regime.

Here’s a snapshot of what President Obama and Attorney General Holder indirectly said was acceptable government practice:  TORTURE, lying to congress (Mega lying), outing a CIA agent as retribution for someone telling the TRUTH, politicizing the Justice Department, violating the 4th amendment of the constitution regarding the right to privacy, violating the FISA law (a felony) with warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, lying the United States into war, encouraging the ignoring of regulations in government departments – leading to mining and oil-spill disasters, No-bid (cronie) contracts in Iraq and Afganistan with BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars unaccounted for, collusion with the big banks prior to the TARP “bailout,” and war profiteering (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Feith, and others cashing in BIG on the Iraq and Afghanistan fiascos), just to name a few areas that should have been investigated.  Since Obama took office we’ve had Eric Cantor, at the time the House minority “whip” (as stated above) violating the Logan Act by making promises to the Israeli Prime Minister that the republcans would support him (the Israili PM) in any conflict with the Obama administration.  None of this brought a response from the Obama Justice Department, but rest assured we’re going to spend MILLIONS finding out if John Edwards misused campaign finance funds to hide his mistress from his cancer stricken wife!

Forgive me, but this all is just too much for me.  I really DO want President Obama to succeed – but, I don’t want the same culture of corruption to dominate Washington DC that I thought we were electing him to “change.”  The other day Rhodes was listing all the promises that Obama has “kept,” some of which was wishful thinking from my standpoint.  But, no one wants to talk about the effect of his looking the other way at the crimes of the Bush/Cheney administration, no one wants to talk about how our troops (and a whole lot of “contractors”) are still in Iraq or that they are now saying America is leaving Afghanistan in 2014 – THAT’S THREE MORE YEARS!  And, no one wants to talk about how President Obama is NOT reversing the power grab made by the Bush administration regarding excessive executive power.  Just like our constitutional rights, it is easier to lose the “checks” on the executive branch than to regain them once someone has stepped over the line – as did Bush/Cheney.

Those of us who would love to see America honor those who fought and died to create the greatest middle class the world has ever seen, I believe, expected President Obama to be agressively leading the “counter attack” to the “trickle down” assault we’ve endured since the days of Ronald Reagan.  Republicans continue to bandy about his name as if he was some kind of great standard bearer – and, I suppose, for those who hate unions, who hate the social safety net created by the “New Deal” and “Great Society” Reagan was a standard bearer.  However, I continue to believe that the republicans have become masters at manipulating the media, they’ve learned how to control the message and divert the attention of America’s working class voters from the REAL issues, and they are once again close to gaining a stranglehold on the government they profess to HATE.  Why would they want to control something they HATE?  Well, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that, as Grover Norquist stated, they want to “starve it.”  And, the money from the taxpayers is being funneled into the pockets of the republican benefactors.  I’ve been pointing out that America’s REAL war is the internal “war” being “fought” between the forces on the “right” and the “left” right here at home.  An example of why I’m so apprehensive with the present democrats representing ME in this fight:  just the other day I heard that President Obama’s head of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) was agreeing with a  republican request to allow the federal “fairness doctrine” to OFFICIALLY become a thing of the past.

I believe a large part of the repubican conspiracy to gain their “permanent republican ‘majority'” was taking control of America’s airwaves (you know it as the “liberal media”).  Reagan himself essentially ordered the “fairness doctrine” to be “shelved” and since then we’ve seen the rise of the Limbaugh’s, the Hannity’s, the Beck’s, etc. all due to the control gained by right wing forces of the broadcasting licenses AND since Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  My point here is that the democrats just keep going along with these republicans and we see the results EVERY DAY on “Main Street,” yet the feeling of powerlessnes is growing.  I guess the real question that continues to BURN inside of me  after watching President Obama cave on the”Public Option,” NOT getting us out of Iraq in 16 months, extending the “Bush Tax Cuts,” failing to EVEN investigate the “Bush Crime family,” and now simply eliminating any hope for the return of the “fairness doctrine,” all of this while KNOWING the republicans are DEAD SET on destroying Medicare and Medicaid and turning the Social Security trust fund toward Wall Street would be;  Is the democratic party too corrupt to stand up and STOP this republican assault on America’s middle class?