I’m going to try to catch a thought tonight and finish it in the next few days.  I was reading on the front page of the newspaper I buy my wife every Sunday (for the ads :o) about how the Russians have “invaded” Ukraine and our fearless American leaders are “up in arms” over this violation of Ukraine’s “sovereignty.”  Honestly, it almost makes me gag listening to the likes of John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, and the other republicans pandering to our war machine.  I can only imagine what every civilized person around the world – outside of the United States – would be thinking of our “holier than thou” righteous indignation at the Russians.  Seriously, the American voters proved to me what a short attention span they have when they returned republicans to control of the House of Representatives only two years after Bush/Cheney “high tailed” it out of Washington DC.  That’s the same Bush/Cheney who INVADED Iraq and TOTALLY destabilized the Middle East while AT THE SAME time keeping America’s military stuck in Afghanistan with NO apparent “plan” for the last SEVEN years of their regime.

It’s true that Iraq and Afghanistan were foisted on President Barack Obama like a bad dream, but the reality is that Obama seemed in no hurry to get America out of Iraq (he basically followed the prearranged schedule negotiated by the Bush crew) AND  we’re STILL in Afghanistan as I’m writing this – with some reports suggesting we could remain there for another TEN years! (ugh)  So, where do you think America’s leaders stand in the world community influentially as they criticize the Russians?  I can tell you the first thought that came to my mind was – who outside of America’s borders even care what 0ur leaders think on this subject?  By now, EVERYONE who can read a book knows how ridiculous American foreign policy has been since the day Bush/Cheney took office.

Now, I will say that I consider the actions of President Obama a step in the right direction from Bush/Cheney, but it appears to me that he’s beholden to the same “liberal media” that seems to be in the “pocket” of America’s “military industrial complex.”  Let’s face it, America’s media conglomerates (like GE and News Corp) don’t have a history of promoting peace.  And, the people who are actively BUYING America’s politicians don’t seem to have a tendency to encourage reducing America’s “war machine.”  While we’re busy cutting things like food stamps, unemployment insurance, Social Security (so far, they’ve failed at this one), Medicaid, Medicare, taxes for the rich, etc. we seem to have an UNLIMITED budget for WAR.  Yet, we also seem to be the first in line to dictate to the rest of the world to “do as I say, not as I do.”  Do you really think “foreigners” are that stupid?

The truth is that by all measures that ordinary people should use to evaluate a society America is on a downward spiral.  Our education system is losing ground (and, as a teacher, I believe the “fixes” being proposed will ensure we continue in the wrong direction), our health care system is embarrassingly bad compared to the wealth of our nation, our middle class is losing ground to the so-called 1% every year (and, yet there seems to be enough voters to keep “trickle up” economics “in play”), we clearly have MAJOR racial issues in America along with an increasing percentage of people living in poverty (again, despite being the “wealthiest” nation on earth), and EVERYONE knows that our national legislature and political system is CORRUPTED to the core.  We have a CIA that has a history of TORTURE and assassination – in order to provide governments (dictatorships) friendly to American corporate interests, and, presumably, Americans wonder why the international community could care less and less what we think.

As I looked at the headlines regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, naturally there was John McCain and Lindsey Graham at the forefront of BLAMING Barack Obama for America’s role in “allowing” this to happen.  As if Obama could do anything to stop it – just as the Russians had to sit by and watch America invade Iraq in 2003.  Today, I even had to listen to some of the republican “talking heads” call Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President, a “leader.”  Seriously, listening to Rudy Giuliani calling Putin a “leader” while attacking our own president during a time of crisis is to me, well almost treasonous! Are these republican “leaders” so STUPID to actually think that attacking our president (of course, they attack Obama reflexively – the issue is irrelevant)  and lauding Putin is helping ANYTHING???  Tonight on TV I saw John McCain doing a fairly good impression of Rush Limbaugh (when Limbaugh stood before the CPAC convention bouncing up and down urging his propaganda on the “conservative” minions) as he almost came our of his suit claiming that this Russian action is the result of our “feckless” foreign policy.

All I can say is that if our foreign policy is “feckless” it’s the result of the difficulty of recovering from the damage caused by the invasion of Iraq, the quagmire in Afghanistan, and the near endless attacks on President Obama since he accepted the unenviable job of reversing the ILLS of the Bush/Cheney regime.  It seems to me that whatever the United States SHOULD be doing in this situation will get lost in the CONTINUED partisan rancor that the republicans have thrust toward Obama since the day he was elected.  They announced before President Obama took the oath of office that their one goal was that he would FAIL.  To me, if they continue this rancor, they should be THROWN out of office.  Honestly, anymore, when I’m forced to listen to republican “leaders” I get sick to my stomach!

It’s true, in my mind, that if Obama had done things differently, America would be in a better position to criticize the Russians.  However, my reasoning – which I’ll get to – is FAR different than McCain’s, Graham’s, Giuliani’s, or the other republicans spouting off with their illicit rhetoric.  If you’ve read many of my previous posts, you know what I’m going to say.  Obama SCREWED up when he allowed the Bush/Cheney administration to walk away from Washington with no consequences.  The natural conclusion to that action would be that Obama was planning to continue enough of the policies of his predecessors that he gave them a “free pass” on some serious illegalities.

I will only bore you with a few of the examples:  Let’s start with TORTURE.  Everyone in the world, as of now, understands that America, the beacon of “Human Rights” in the “Free World” allowed the overt commission of TORTURE in violation of her own laws and international laws – including the Geneva Conventions.  Then there was the outing of a CIA agent, almost certainly by Dick Cheney.  We’ve prosecuted others for leaking “classified” information related to the CIA, but it seems Dick Cheney was considered “above the law” by the incoming Obama administration.  Do you think this is where they began to see Obama with the “weak” label? (he apparently didn’t want the “distraction” of all the investigations) Of course, in relation to all the above, what about LYING America into the Iraq “war?”  Shouldn’t that have been thoroughly INVESTIGATED? (along with all the other misdeeds of Bush/Cheney)  There was the politicizing of the Justice Department (they’re still cracking down on the “little guys” and letting the “big fish” go), the plundering of our economy (TARP), and I could go on.  Obama BLOCKED investigations into all of the above – and more!

And, by doing so, Obama brought all this republican intransigence on himself.  They really do remind me of the sixth graders I teach.  They need clear – “black and white” – boundaries.  President Obama essentially INVITED the republicans to attack him relentlessly – to fill the VOID of what SHOULD have been a PROLONGED series of INVESTIGATIONS of Bush/Cheney which would have exposed the republicans for what they really are (I’m talking here of the inner circle of republicans which was behind the Iraq invasion and the right wing assault on the very fabric of our nation – the people who HATE what’s left of the New Deal)

In conclusion, however, LET ME BE CLEAR, the words of people like John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Rudy Giuliani, Rand Paul, among others I heard today, in a concerted effort to ATTACK a sitting president during a national foreign policy crisis is UN AMERICAN!  The American VOTERS need to put these people out of office.  They are so obsessed with making sure we never have another Black president that they could care less about the well being of this nation.  They’ve assaulted our workers (by refusing any kind of “jobs” legislation), our economically disadvantaged (by reducing our social safety net), our public employees (as they attempt to eliminate every union in the country), and NOW THIS!  When are the American people – republican, democratic, and independent – going to WAKE UP, and see these people for what they are?  I’ll say it again, listening to them today calling Putin a “leader” and attacking our president – made me SICK TO MY STOMACH!