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!