I can’t bring myself to imagine that the American public could ever elect someone like Mitt Romney as president and it’s even harder to imagine, after what republicans did to this nation in the years of the Bush/Cheney regime, them gaining control of both houses of Congress – REALLY, can the American voting public actually be that stupid? (this morning, while driving around, I heard a tape of people being interviewed at a “tea party” rally – essentially, racism and uninformed ignorance at it’s highest and at it’s ugliest – and, I thought, “the sad reality is that it is possible”)  Well, I won’t allow myself to believe this is even potential reality until it actually happens, but the truth is the republicans have a BILLION (the estimate I heard this morning is over $3 BILLION) or more dollars to spend on fabricated advertising (remember, their mantra is the end justifies the means, and the lies are pouring out at a record pace – even for American politics) and they’ve got a “ground game” designed not to get out the vote, but to prevent as many “left leaning” voters as possible (by some estimates as high as 5 MILLION) from casting their ballots.  It really is a clever scheme and there’s not much “we the people” will be able to do about it should they “pull this off.”

The last few days I’ve been wondering how, with such a dearth of candidates on the republican side, President Obama could find himself in a position where this is even a possibility – and, remember the 2000 and 2004 elections – in both instances Bush/Cheney “winning” through skullduggery as opposed to the ballot box (and, yes, if there’s any republicans reading this post – I “get” that Bush got a majority of the votes in 2004, but the evidence STRONGLY suggests that he DIDN’T win Ohio – which would have given the election to Kerry via the electoral “map”)?  Well, the truth is that I’ve been writing since almost the day Obama took office about how many of his decisions were “turning off” the people who so actively supported him;  believing in “the change we can believe in” or “Change has come to America.”  Pardon me, but Tim Geithner wasn’t “change,” Larry Summers wasn’t “change,” and Rahm Emmanuel?  Are you kidding me – he’s the epitome of the “backroom politician” the “Washington insider.”  The lobbying industry wasn’t restricted – it has flourished.  And, I’ll disagree with Mike Pappentonio that Eric Holder is the worst Attorney General EVER, but only because he follows Alberto Gonzales – he of the two days of purgering himself in front of Congress on national TV – but Holder’s record has left many a liberal wondering if he doesn’t believe in the Nixon theory of justice?  If the president (or any other prominent politician or business person) does it, it MUST be legal!

Now we’ve got the republican candidate for president advocating a return into Iraq, I’m sure bombing Iran, and advancing the Bush/Cheney formula for destabilizing the Middle East (and the rest of the world) exponentially.  The words come flying out of Romney’s mouth, seemingly intended to fire up the neocons on the “right” in America – with little or no interest as to how they’re interpreted internationally.  Seriously, the guy is a buffoon, but he’s seemingly got a chance because so many on the “left” are so turned off by the whole process (and, as I’ve been saying for almost 4 years now – there’s a significant portion of America who just can’t handle a person of color in the “White House.”). I’m beginning to think that many liberals are thinking the fastest way to get to a point where we are actually addressing the pressing issues of the day is to elect Romney so we can get the impending disaster with the economy over with – hopefully, hastening the day when we are actually FORCED to deal with issues like Climate Change, Peak Oil, Water shortages (of course, a Romney victory virtually assures us that the large aquifer in middle America will become contaminated by the Keystone pipeline –  which will do NOTHING for America’s dependence on foreign oil, but will almost certainly continue the degradation of our environment), and income inequality – to name a few.

One of the scariest realities of this upcoming election for me, no matter who wins, is that our broadcast media has evolved to the point where it’s synonymous with prostitution.  Seriously, when you think about it, what motivation do the media outlets have to legitimately report on this campaign?  It’s in their TOTAL financial interest for this to be a “horse race” whether it is or not.  Do you really think all those “moneyed interests” would be funneling in dollars by the truckload – to people like Karl Rove or organizations like the Chamber of Commerce or “Freedom Works” – so that they can FLOOD the airwaves in “battleground states” with expensive advertising if this election was a runaway? In my own state (Washington) we have a Koch brothers funded Scott Walker clone running for governor and it was reported today that the largest newspaper in the state is running full page adds for this right wing anti-union candidate free gratis.  Honestly, I can’t believe what I’m seeing.  The republicans are apparently correct in believing that the voting public is totally ignorant as to what is happening.  It’s like a SUCKER PUNCH that could affect this nation for generations (I don’t see how, for example, Citizens United will get overturned with a republican victory in this election – that Supreme Court decision could go down in history as the turning point in America that allowed the undermining of our republic.

I’ve come to the place where I don’t trust the polls, I don’t trust the voting process in my own country.  It’s a known FACT that many of the voting machines (in strategic places) are owned by republican controlled corporations and they’re easily HACKED.  The number of reported instances where voters voted for one candidate and the machine tallied a vote for the opponent are too numerous for me.  In Ohio we KNOW that the shenanigans are continuing – fewer voting machines in urban (democratic) districts, restrictions on early voting, illegal and confusing directions for voter registration rules, misleading advertising with scare tactics aimed at suppressing the vote, and I could go on.  Let’s suffice it to say – AGAIN – the republican mantra is “the end justifies the means.”  Power any way possible.  And, should they pull this off, all people like me will be whiners and not “patriotic.”  (I still remember the 8 long years of Bush/Cheney).

So, what is the solution?  All I can do here is report on what I’m doing.  First and foremost, I’m encouraging everyone who wishes to discuss politics to reject the republican party OUTRIGHT until the moderates such as Colin Powell are back in the forefront.  There are a few republicans speaking out now about “their” party – which they recognize is no longer “their” party – and, I totally respect that.  There really was a day when both sides could work out solutions to problems in a bipartisan fashion.  I spent an hour and a half calling to support the democratic candidate for governor in Washington (being opposed by the aforementioned Koch brothers puppet) and I’m supporting the candidates for congress who I believe to be true progressives.  I don’t have much money, so it goes out in 20 to 25 dollar amounts to people like Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Allan Grayson, and organizations like Act Blue and Moveon.org.  And, then as I guess what you’d have to call a member of the Christian “left,” I’m praying that America rejects the candidacy of two men (Romney/Ryan) who are the best representatives of WHAT IS WRONG with America I’ve ever seen (in my lifetime) make it to the top of a national ticket.

While I was listening to the comments of the “tea partiers” who were ranting against Obama (mostly with racist innuendo) I realized that many of the speakers were part of the 47% who Romney railed against as he was attempting to get multimillionaires to unload parts of their fortunes into his campaign coffers.  It hit me once again that the racial bias of these people is stronger than their awareness of their own self interest.  Honestly, their racist attitudes makes me want Obama to be reelected EVEN MORE.  I want my grandchildren to grow up into a nation that is purging itself of the racial hatred that has plagued it for the past 200+ years.  And, it’s the rest of us who have to make this a reality, because just as Jackie Robinson had to “take it” as he broke the “color barrier” in sports during my early childhood years, Obama can’t come out “swinging” on this issue – because these very racists will accuse him of “playing the race card” if he calls them on their despicable behavior – from the outright slurs of the “tea party” to the “code words” bountied about by Romney, Ryan, and their closest supporters as they attempt to “feed” their “base.”  Believe me, they fully UNDERSTAND the sentiments of their supporters – even though they will never say so in public.

Finally, my intention, should Obama prevail and be reelected, is to continue to “push” him and our other leaders to have the courage to FIGHT for the progressive values that made this nation great in the first place.  It has NEVER been the right wing “conservative” forces who have moved America forward – it has ALWAYS been liberals (often times radicals) who have shed the blood and toil necessary to overcome the obstacle of fighting BIG MONEY and their selfish interests as you look back on our history.  The more I read, the more I feel that people like Romney, Rove, Norquist, Limbaugh, Hannity, McConnell, Boehner, and other “conservatives” are attempting to take us back to the “Gilded Age” when corporations had a free hand in regard to how they dealt with their workers, the environment, and their obligations to “the commons.”  People like the Koch brothers don’t want government giving them any “obligations.”

It’s true that the Koch’s provide support for charities – it’s just that they don’t want the federal government interfering in how they distribute ANY of their “income.”  The problem I have with their attitude is that it puts them in the category of those who want to “take” without giving their fair share back. The “commons” (ie roads, schools, police, firefighters, social workers, etc. etc.) benefits everyone and it is reasonable to “get” that they (Charles and David Koch) receive more benefit from the “commons” than us average “folk.”  Instead of trying to destroy government they should, in my view, be trying to work with the rest of us to make it better.  (Remember, the republican mantra is to bankrupt our government by reducing it to a size that can be “flushed down a bathtub drain” or something along those lines)  As I try to teach my sixth grade students that they should explore multiple viewpoints when drawing conclusions about what they believe, I look forward to the day when our government can function on that principle.  I just don’t think it’s possible under today’s republican leadership.  And, I fully realize my “hopes” that people like the Kochs would work to make government better are impossible under Obama, because the reality is they come from the John Birch Society crowd and are leading the charge of the racists “among us.”

I believe President Obama is smart enough to have realized by now where he went wrong in his first term (of course, I don’t expect him to agree with “liberals” on every issue) and I believe during his second term those of us who believe in the principals of FDR’s “New Deal” have an opportunity to PUSH Obama and the democratic leadership to restore some of the basic principles of America that have eroded since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.  The areas I believe need to be addressed I think will be supported by a large majority of Americans – despite the republican opposition.  Single payer health care – seriously, why would we want a FOR PROFIT health system – that’s part of the Reagan legacy that’s undermining our country – republicans continue their push to privatize EVERYTHING.  Elimination – or strict controls – on lobbying in Washington DC (and elsewhere).  Break up the “too big to fail” banking conglomerates.  Close down the Cayman Island, Bermuda, Swiss Bank loopholes in our tax system and stop encouraging companies to move their factories overseas.  Cut the military budget and get out of Afghanistan – start spending money to help educate and feed people in need.  REPEAL CITIZENS UNITED.  Investigate those in our military or CIA who were/are committing torture – including those who authorized it (ie Bush/Cheney – better late than never).  Investigate Hank Paulsen/Goldman Sachs and the TARP bailout – with accountability to those who are recklessly GAMBLING with the money of our retirees.

I could go on and on – but, I don’t think you’d get much opposition to ANY of those proposals.  The American election of 2012 ultimately will decide the near term conflict between unbridled corporate power and the rights of “we the people!”  Seriously, it’s time to determine if people like the Koch brothers are going to set the agenda in this great nation.  How much do “we the people” value the privileges we’ve been enjoying since our parents and grandparents shed their blood to cement the social contract of the New Deal into the lifestyles of average Americans?