Some of my thoughts (concerns) are becoming more clear as I continue to observe the “functioning” of America’s (what I believe to be) dysfunctional government.  I’ve been lobbying for the demise of the present day republican party (as it’s presently constituted) while at the same time lamenting the “tepid” nature of the democratic party.  The democrats want things to “return to ‘normal'” so bad I’m guessing some of them are experiencing attacks of hives.  The problem is they seem to believe in the “I want my cake and eat it too” theory.  Here’s the rub, the republicans aren’t going to “give” them what they want.  The inside of the republican party has been hijacked by what used to be called the “right wing fringe.”  For example, the Koch brothers are right out of the John Birch Society – a group of white supremest, anti communist fanatics who attacked Dwight Eisenhower as a “liberal” and a “communist sympathizer.”  The Kochs are funneling untold amounts of their fortune (a fortune nearing $100 BILLION) into America’s political system via “Citizens United” with the money going to republicans who are willing to “toe the line.”  (you’ll notice republicans all vote the same ALL THE TIME!)

Then there’s the “religious right.”  (I call it the religious wrong)  These are the “Christians” who are proponents of the “prosperity gospel” and who have adopted the propaganda techniques (as have the rest of the republican “leadership”) of Joseph Goebbels – the “minister of propaganda” for the Third Reich in Nazi Germany.  I’ve written several times about “The Family” – a group of “conservatives” in congress (mainly republicans) who believe in the Christian dominionists.  These are people who believe that the rich and powerful should rule the rest of us.  They use the word “Jesus” to convince Christians to support them and, as Jeff Sharlet points out in his book “The Family” and, I’ve read elsewhere, these dominionists have adopted the authoritarian principles of some of the world’s most ruthless dictators and aligned them with Jesus.  They’ve been working to “free” the rest of us from the “burdens” of the New Deal of FDR (“burdens” like: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, the 40 hour work week, child labor laws,  unions, environmental protection, civil rights laws, food stamps, I could go on, but I’m sure you’ve got the idea) since 1933 when Roosevelt began the fight against the “Robber Barons.”  (guess on what side today’s republicans fall)

So, here’s the latest “frustration” for me.  Just recently, a “bipartisan” group of congressional “leaders” “came together” on a budget “compromise” that was immediately “blasted” by the right wingers (mentioned above) and applauded by many democrats.  This is a great example of what I see as the problem.  There was LITTLE in the “compromise” for democrats to be applauding except that something FINALLY got done.  I’ve been worried for some time that President Obama was looking for any excuse to sign something that was “bipartisan.”  Senator Chuck Schumer from New York hailed it as a “step in the right direction.”  In a nutshell, that’s the problem I see with democrats and that’s why I’m so concerned for what lies ahead for our children and grandchildren.  To them, any bargain is the “grand bargain.”  Today I got an email from a pro-Obama group hailing “how far we’ve come” since the republicans “shut down the government.”

That’s really why I’m so leery of supporting democrats, even though I often feel it’s the only “choice.”  While the democrats are busy patting themselves on the back for getting a “budget deal,” I have no doubt the republicans are “cooking” up the next “crisis.”  That will probably come with the next time the debt ceiling needs to be raised.  In reality, that’s a much larger “stick” for republican whack jobs to “wave” around than threats to “shut down the government.”  (Now that there’s a budget bill passed they’ll be proclaiming how they passed a budget to prevent democrats from “shutting down the government” – I’ve written often how they use authoritarian propaganda techniques, but look up the meaning of political projection – republicans are expert at this)  I can virtually guarantee you that when it’s time to “raise the debt ceiling” there will be political hostage theater at its republican finest.  What will they be after?  Well, my guess is that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will be back “on the table” – even though that ‘s the only “benefit” (getting those programs “off the table”) that many progressives see with the recent budget compromise.

While the message should be about a political party that refused to extend unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed and is focused almost entirely on preventing MILLIONS of Americans from having “affordable health insurance” along with an endless argument for lower taxes for the rich, it will be back to Social Security and Medicare.  I’m telling you, these people (the right wing republicans) won’t quit.  The only way to stop all this is to VOTE them out of office (at least under present circumstances – and, I hope things don’t continue to deteriorate to the point where the “down and out” resort to other means).  Democrats need to understand that placating republicans is a LOSING battle EVERY TIME!  And, progressive thinking Americans need to make sure they send a message to democrats that those who are “feeding from the same trough” as the republicans are “next.”  America’s government is CORRUPT beyond belief, and it’s up to “we the people” to “fix” this.  We still have the right to vote, and we need to use it to clean up the MESS in Washington DC.

Take the “Affordable Care Act” for example.  When this bill was before Congress there was a national consensus of about 75% favoring what was called a “Public Option.”  Essentially, that would have given Americans the choice to buy into a Medicare like government run health care system.  If you were paying attention, you know that there was over $1 BILLION spent lobbying Senators as the law became more and more cumbersome and less and less acceptable to the American public.  The lobbyists for the Insurance companies succeeded in preventing the “Public Option,” the lobbyists for the Pharmaceutical industry succeeded in maintaining high drug prices, and “we the people” got something that the best you can say about it is that it’s “better than nothing.”  I have friends who desperately need health insurance and, as of January 1st, they will have it.  But, you’ve still got republicans (who, by the way, came up with the idea of how this bill was written in the first place) doing everything they can to undermine the bill (instead of helping to fix it) and they are going to great extremes to “poison” it with the public.

I read a statistic today that two of our bastions of the “liberal media” have not written ONE article that is positive about the so-called “Obamacare” while they’ve sent a constant barrage about the problems with the roll-out.  However, in my small little place in this world, I’ve already witnessed several people who have gone without seeing a doctor since the so-called “meltdown” of 2008 when their businesses collapsed – due to the reckless behavior of Wall Street and our financial “leaders.” (Alan Greenspan was cheering on the sub-prime mortgage mess until it imploded and he, along with most of the “leaders” who’ve been in charge of America’s treasury, on “both sides of the isle,” have been in cahoots to remove regulations put in place during the Great Depression designed to prevent exactly what happened in 2008)  What makes me (and many others) so angry is that it’s the people like my friends who will soon have health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act (and, despite the FACT they’re NOT Obama supporters, they are very thankful that they can go to a doctor again and not have to worry about bankruptcy) who are taking the “brunt” of this Wall Street MISBEHAVIOR while the Wall Street bankers and the politicians who do their “bidding” are back to business as usual.  In fact, while my friends have been suffering the effects of this crisis for over 5 years now, it didn’t take the bankers and politicians more than a few uneasy months to get back to doing what they do.

And, while – when I say “politicians” I’m talking about BOTH parties – (like it or not, practically speaking America is a TWO party government) the reality to me is that the WORST of the two is the republican.  At least some of the democrats show a spine and a fighting spirit aimed at helping “the least of these.”  (a few examples: Bernie Sanders (from Vermont), Alan Grayson (from Florida), Jeff Merkley (from Oregon), Sherrod Brown (from Ohio), Dennis Kucinich (from Ohio – a victim of Citizens United money spent by the Koch brothers and gerrymandering designed to defeat him), and Elizabeth Warren (from Massachusetts) and there’s a woman from Texas running for governor that appears to be a strong democrat – I can’t think of her name – again, evidence that there’s a few “fighters” out there)  The sad TRUTH all “progressives” (liberals) must face is that the “moneychangers” who are backing this republican vendetta on our system of government (remember, their stated objective is to “reduce government to the size where it can be flushed down the bathtub drain”) have unlimited monetary resources – and they’re using them in very effective ways.

For example, just think for a moment on what motivation a company like BP would have to be spending MILLIONS on advertising about how great life at the “Gulf” is – several years after they were responsible for pumping MILLIONS of BARRELS of oil into some of the most pristine habitats in the world.  If you haven’t figure it out, let me help you – it has NOTHING to do with you or me using their products.  Simply put, BP understands that the media outlets that are receiving their CASH are most UNLIKELY to do ANY reporting of the real damage they’ve done to the Gulf of Mexico understanding that BP’s funnel of MONEY would then stop “flowing” their way.  Corporate interests in America are SOLELY focused on their bottom line and the media outlets (which have the same focus) are NOT going to “bite the hand that feeds them.”  I could give other examples of this sophisticated way of large corporations buying “insurance” against negative publicity through “public service” advertising.  (One more example: I could never understand why large accounting companies like Arthur Andersen would advertise on national TV to an audience that would NEVER need their services – until, I read how they were surreptitiously helping large corporate interests (like Enron) dodge their tax bills – their “advertising” was simply insurance against “investigative reporting”)

Then there’s what I believe is the biggest problem (unless you’re one of the right wing republicans) – and, that’s “Citizens United.”  If you’re still in the “dark” on what Citizens United is – I’ll explain:  it is the WORST Supreme Court decision in my lifetime.  Citizens United essentially OVERTURNED at least 100 years of attempts by politicians to control the effect of MONEY on politics.  The court not only overturned the McCain-Feingold legislation (called “The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002) which was an attempt to control “soft money” in political fundraising (I believe this was meant to put limits on the amount of money that could be raised) and “issue advocacy ads” – which are now bombarding the TV in a seemingly endless attempt by special interests to influence unsuspecting voters – but, they unleashed a barrage of money from corporate interests into the political “arena” with no requirement for accountability.  Not only is the political advertising we’re watching MISLEADING (I’m being nice with my “phraseology” here) – but, it would take a TOTAL fool to believe that there’s NO foreign interests in our elections after Citizens United.  The very corporations which have been designated as “people” by our right wing Court are MULTINATIONAL corporations.  Does it take a genius to “get” this?

I still CLEARLY remember President Obama, in his State of the Union address, shortly after Citizens United became “law,” pointing out how this decision would unleash FOREIGN MONEY into our political process.  As he said this the cameras were on Samuel Alito – one of the guilty parties in rendering this decision – who was shaking his head as if to say “no way.”  Well, this is my response to Judge Alito: WAY!!!!  And, the worst part is Mr Alito – thanks to you and Judge Roberts  (both of you claimed you were opposed to “activist judges” – yet, this is the MOST activist decision in my lifetime) “We the people” have NO IDEA where all of this money is coming from!  (Well, we know people like the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adleson are spending money in the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS – but, there was over $3 BILLION spent in the last election and that amount will continue to rise – and “we the people” will have to continue to WONDER where it’s coming from.  (my conservative friends claim it’s coming from George Soros – my contention is that we don’t know and we SHOULD)  Honestly, I don’t know how Judge Alito and Judge Roberts sleep at night.

I’m going to end this latest “rant” with a thought generated from my weekly discussion with a friend who is a conservative Christian and with whom I love to discuss the “issues of the day.”  We disagree on many things, but we can talk to each other – and, our conversations allow each of us to grow.  This morning he made a point that I believe is extremely valid (in response to my continued amazement as to why “working class” Americans would continue to vote in republicans) – and, me not being a democrat (I definitely lean that way) I believe democrats should heed.

When a republican (like my friend) thinks of someone who votes for a democrat, they immediately feel that person is “pro-abortion.”  I think he’s correct and, I believe the democratic party needs to address that issue STRAIGHT UP!  (there are so many issues we could ALL agree on)  In my heart, I have to believe there are very few people who actually “BELIEVE” in abortion.  I think the issue goes much deeper than that, and I’m not going to delve into it more at this time, but it’s an issue that underlies our politics whether we want to believe that or not.  There’s a huge difference between being “pro-abortion” and being “pro-choice.”  I’m not even sure where I fall on the issue other than to fully understand the FACT that when something requires food and oxygen to survive it is a living thing – and, there’s no way I’m “pro-abortion.”  I know of circumstances that really give me pause – based on “life’s reality” experienced by people very close to me who’ve had to “face” this “choice” – but, I also know no issue should be based on skirting the FACTS.  My last point is that, if my friend is correct, (and, I believe he is) that this issue is a roadblock for people even discussing progressive solutions to problems, then it should be addressed.  Poor children shouldn’t be denied food (Food Stamps) because voters vote republican over the issue of abortion.  (and, my friend is correct that: this is a republican AND democratic problem and to suggest otherwise if foolish and will get us nowhere)

And, if my friend happens to read this, I apologize for using the phrase: “whack jobs” above – it just came out!