Somehow the “traffic” on this site has increased to the point where over 300 “visitors” have shown up on individual days.  I don’t advertise, I just keep writing because my concern for this great nation remains HIGH.  I started writing during the Bush “years” after my frustration with the invasion of Iraq and the mismanagement of Iraq and Afganistan would allow my silence to continue no longer.  Millions of Americans have expressed their displeasure with the direction of this nation and in 2008 Barack Obama won the most historic (in my view) election in the history of America.  The next few years will be critical as to the country people like me leave to our children and grandchildren.  At this point in time, the nation we have (from my perspective) is far from what we had as I grew up.  THE DETERIORATION HAS TO STOP!  And, it won’t do so if people like me continue to just go on about our business with our mouths shut.

So, I appreciate all those who have “happened” onto this site and I just want to wish all of you (no idea who you are) a blessed new year and a happy Christmas.  For me, it is Christmas itself, which drives my concerns about this country.  I listen to many “progressive” personalities on the radio and TV who have been (rightfully, in my opinion) totally turned off by the so-called “Christian right” who have been the “base” of the Republican party which I have a very difficult time aligning with what I read in the Bible.  Christmas SHOULD be all about Jesus Christ’s birth and what he taught in his 33 years on this planet.  People can argue all day, as far as I’m concerned, about the nuances of the Bible, but – to me – the word LOVE is the driving force behind the message of Christ.  “What you do for the least of these, you do for me” is one of the scriptures which has had the most profound effect on my thinking.  That is the thinking I wish would drive the decisions of our leaders in Washington DC.

 Obviously, we have a ways to go to get to that point.  But, it is the responsibility of “we the people” to make that happen.  My hope for the new year is that we send a clear message to the politicians in our nation’s capital that we will hold them accountable for their insatiable habit of taking open bribes from the large corporations who care not one bit for “the least among us.”  In fact, it would be these corporations and their “talking heads” – mainly Republicans, but Democrats no longer have ANY EXCUSES for their behavior – who are turning this nation into something that I don’t believe the people on either side “of the isle” want.  My wish for the new year is a United States of America that cares about the less fortunate and directs her great wealth in a way that demonstrates the message of Christ – which is that we care about the “least among us” and we’re prepared to focus on helping them.  There’s another saying that I find profound, “There but for the grace of God goes I” – which I think about everytime I see someone standing on the corner with a sign asking for help.  I’m not sure what got them, or us, to this place – but, in my view, it’s past time to deal with the issues – HONESTLY.

We’ve seen the worst of this nation as Congress has debated the healthcare bill – not even considering what most people believe is the REAL SOLUTION – a single payer “Medicare for all” plan that truly makes health care a right instead of a privilege.  We’ve seen people like Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, other Democrats and THE ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY put their own political interests in front of what is best for, not only the “least among us,” but also the middle class which “drives” this country.  There are many like me who are anxiously awaiting the strong leader who will stand tall against all these MONEYED INTERESTS who are shamelessly buying one congressperson after another.  THE SYSTEM IS CORRUPT to the core and it’s time for everyone to start calling it what it is.  While people like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin continue to speak for the corporate interests which have turned what used to be employee friendly corporations such as Hewlett Packard into the conglomerate version of Ebeneezer Scrooge – things such as loyalty to employees, and family friendly work places are a THING OF THE PAST – unless “we the people” can change the mentality and expectation of this nation back to what it was after World War II.  The most valuable asset of corporations in those days was their employees.  In today’s world, if the employee isn’t fearing for the loss of his/her job, the corporate “heads” seem to think they aren’t “squeezing” hard enough.

So, as I’m wishing a properous new year to the few of you who visit this site, if you agree with me that the “mindset” of America needs to change back to one where the workers are valued and corporate profits – while important – aren’t the driving force behind every decision, please call or write someone in Washington to express your feelings.  If Republicans REALLY believed in “family values” they’d join with those of us who call ourselves progressives (I’ve always felt I was conservative) and demand the changes in Washington which would (REALLY) bring health care to all, which would prop up the right of middle class workers to form unions, which would support a higher minimum wage, which wouldn’t put our troops in harms way for personal or political gain, which would focus what money was available for “welfare” on the “least of us” instead of on the corporations who are already receiving “welfare” by avoiding taxes through their off shore schemes, and which wouldn’t be afraid to ask the American citizens to pay for our government services.  (in fact, pay off the debt that evidently some in Washington are comfortable with passing on to our children)  When the American people voted for Barack Obama they were overwhelmingly VOTING FOR CHANGE.  And, that change wasn’t just “not Bush,” it was change that would restore the middle class of this great nation as the “engine that drives” the government.  I’m guessing that until we get the “moneychangers” out of Washington DC, politics will remain “business as usual.”  Despite that depressing reality, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year anyway!

It’s getting close to Christmas and I’ll be spending a lot of time driving around in the next few days looking for “stuff” to put in the various stockings.  I keep telling myself that Christmas should be all about the birth of Jesus, but I always spend more time filling the stockings than thinking about what his birth meant to the world (both good and bad).  In this process (driving around) I’ll get a full ear of “talk” radio – mostly progressive (because I can’t stomach the other stuff for very long) – and I’m sure the debate will rage on regarding the impending health care legislation.  Today I heard impassioned pleas to just pass “anything” as a “start,” and hope that it will get “fixed” in the future.

Well, where have we heard that one before.  The memory of Barack Obama voting FOR FISA last year during the campaign is still FRESH in my mind.  I was very discouraged at that one and even wrote then Senator Obama an “impassioned” letter sharing my discontent with his decision.  As opposed to the letter I wrote this year regarding his (horrible) decision to “look forward” regarding the Bush/Cheney CRIMES, I got a response on his FISA position.  It was the same type of political pragmatism we’re seeing every step of the way so far in his administration.  He said (OK, I understand it was one of his surrogates responding – I don’t rate a direct response from Presidents) he would “fix” the legislation in his first year in office.  Well, I’m sure his explanation today as to why that hasn’t happened would be that the health care bill has taken up more time than anticipated.  The end result, in my mind, is that we are going to have to live with the watered down FISA legislation that is probably allowing Obama himself to continue the Bush wiretapping policies (I’ve yet to hear Obama address that issue directly – I fully believe they’re still “data mining” our phone conversations and emails).

So, we will be reassured this “flawed” health care legislation will get fixed.  I wish I could bring myself to believe that.  Maybe the Obama administration has some “secret” strategy in place to accomplish this – but, I’ll have to see it to believe it.  I realize that defeat of this legislation would be DISASTROUS to the President – and, I do want him to succeed, therefore, I guess it’s hold your nose and hope for the best.  If this backfires on Obama, the results will be far worse than the bill not passing.  My hope is that the progressives in the house make the same “stand” that Joe Lieberman made and make it clear that they won’t vote for the bill without the so-called “public option,” elimination of antitrust exemption for health insurance companies, and opportunities for a medicare buyin for those over 55.  This could be added to the bill (and some other parts stripped out) in the House/Senate conference and the bill could pass the senate on the final vote because it would only need 50 votes plus Vice President Biden.

Should the house do this and force a much better bill on both the Senate and the President, there could be a tremendous momemtum swing back toward President Obama and the Democrats.  The frustration is building across this nation as our congress muddles their way through this process unable to do the “will” of over 60% of the people, and I’m STILL PRAYING THAT I’VE GOT IT ALL WRONG.  I realize it’s not over yet -those of us who are turned off by what has transpired in the Senate – could be re-energized if the House progressive caucus comes through.  I believe they have to make it clear they’re NOT VOTING for the senate version of the bill to get this done.  The bottom line on this legislation is that the conservatives have succeeded (as usual) in turning the debate TOTALLY away from what would be best for this country – which would be a single payer health care system where EVERYONE was insured under a medicare for all like plan.  That would cover everyone and it would be A LOT LESS EXPENSIVE than what we presently have and there would be hope for all the Americans who are dying each year (estimates at 45,000/year) due to a lack of health insurance.  I know that between my mortgage and health insurance for my family I pay 60% of my gross income.  After taxes there “aint” much left over.

The House Democrats still have the opportunity to make President Obama look good on the health care legislation “strategy” – which was to take a passive role as Congress worked through the bill – but, I believe, this was a HUGE GAMBLE that didn’t need to happen.  I’m saying this from the point of view that if I have to live through another Bushlike experience with a Republican in the White House due to Democratic “stupidity” (that’s how Obama and his supporters are referring to the likes of me – stupid) – well, I just don’t know if I can handle that.  Even if the House “bails out” the President on this legislation the road ahead looks mighty “bumpy” to me – and AGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP will be required.  As I mentioned in my last post, THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD AMERICANS OUT OF WORK!  And, many of them can’t even get interviews for new jobs.  THIS IS REALLY BAD!

Even if the health care bill somehow gets “saved,” and I want to make it clear that in my view the senate version is a DISASTER, the excitement will be short lived.  First of all, even under the best of scenario’s, the bill doesn’t take effect for several years – so the uninsured will remain uninsured, the underinsured will remain underinsured, the people being excluded for “pre-existing” conditions will continue being excluded, the rates will continue to skyrocket for the next few years, and the 45,000 people dying due to lack of coverage each year will continue dying.  Secondly and most importantly to millions of Americans – the HORRIBLE JOBS situation will hit the “center stage.”  Democrats will be right back on the “spot.”

They (Democrats) will have a short window to “stimulate” the so-called stimulus package which did a lot of good (more so in saving jobs than creating them from my understanding) but is falling further and further behind the enormous job losses of the past two years.  MAKE NO MISTAKE – the wounded economy and the TREMENDOUS JOB LOSSES are the result of the Bush administration’s FOLLY.  They were incapable of governing in virtually EVERY CATEGORY.  They bungled foreign policy by getting the US entrenched in two UNWINNABLE occupations (funded with credit cards) that seem endless and ruining our image around the world as the leader of the “free world.”  That should have been bad enough, but they bungled domestic policy from FEMA (Katrina), to the EPA, the Justice department, and – ultimately – the meltdown of the entire banking system and, therefore, the economy itself.  If the average American knew how many TRILLIONS of dollars were “pledged” to the large Wall Street banks to keep them “afloat” they would be even more outraged than they are.  Almost all of the responsibility for this lies at the feet of GW Bush and Dick Cheney.  However, to be fair, they’ve been gone for almost a year now, and the responsibility will be shifting Obama’s way – either in a good way – or bad – soon after the start of next year’s legislative session.

I’m very concerned whether or not President Obama’s pragmatic “centrist” approach to our problems will actually provide the “change we can believe in.”  When I voted for him I understood “change” to mean something “different.”  I wasn’t thinking different from Bush – I was thinking different from what’s transpired the past 30+ years.  And, yes – the health care legislation is a monumental task which is long overdue – it’s just that legislation for the sake of legislation, to me, isn’t necessarily the change I can believe in.  Yes, it’s change – but I’m really hoping the major change, regarding health care, isn’t taxpayers funding 30+ million more customers into the insurance companies that most Americans agree are the problem in the first place (come on House progressives, we need you NOW!).  If change is a return to the days of Bill Clinton, that is not what I expected – I would have voted for Hillary if I was in favor of that (remember it was during the Clinton years we got NAFTA, the telecommunications act, and the repeal of Glass Steagall – all major contributors to today’s problems).  Reminder: “real” unemployment (according to Robert Reich) exceeds 17% – near depression levels.

I was honestly expecting someone more in the line of FDR – someone who would directly challenge the “moneychangers,” someone who would implement drastic measures to combat the unemployment disaster left behind by George “Herbert Hoover” Bush, and someone who would re-regulate the banking system before Goldman Sachs et al got out of control again (check out the statistics on the derivatives trading by the FIVE REMAINING large Wall Street banks in the past year).  And, there’s no time to even talk about Iraq and Afganistan tonight – yes, Obama’s plate was full, but that’s even more reason to want dramatic action.  It’s true that the President can’t do anything without the Congress, but it’s also true that it’s not the Congress who should be taking the leadership role in solving the problems.  We are relying on the House to save the health care bill, it’s time for President Obama to take the lead on the unemployment problem!  Randi Rhodes might call me stupid, but I honestly believe if President Obama doesn’t get more “connected” to the people who voted him into office, we will not only fail to have the change we can believe in, the future of this nation will continue to be slipping in a downward direction.  And, please don’t misunderstand my criticism, I REALLY HOPE OBAMA SUCCEEDS!

Somehow more and more people are finding this site in the middle of cyberspace.  I have no idea how it happens, but it inspires me to keep writing, just in case someone would read something here and send it somewhere where it might do some good.  OK, you’re right, that’s a bit presumptuous – and, I’ll probably keep writing just because it makes me feel better as I observe the government of the country I love get consumed by corporate money.  Today at church, I spoke for a few moments with a couple REALLY GOOD MEN who have been out of work for several months (one of them for over a year).  These are skilled people, both in their fifties (both grandparents), and both in the same terrible situation which includes MILLIONS of good American citizens.  Neither of these guys can get an interview for a job –  both believe that their age prevents them from competing with the 300 or so applicants applying for every opportunity which comes along.

Both of these men have been a part of what I call the “Christian wrong” – most people call it the Christian “right.”  I say this because I’ve been fighting to keep my spiritual  beliefs in the face of an assault on our government by a group of people who use Christianity as a “tool” in enlisting millions of Americans who believe abortion is murder to unknowingly vote against their own self interests – thus turning many “liberals” totally against Christ (who was definitely, in my view, not a Republican).  They got swept up into a Republican party which is now showing it’s true colors (and, I’m not sure if my friends “get it” yet – despite the horrible shape of the economy) with loyalty oaths and a “lockstep” opposition to President Obama which will leave these two men and MILLIONS MORE LIKE THEM as victims if they succeed in causing our President to “fail” – as Rush Limbaugh so willingly puts it – as far as fixing the economy decimated by the previous administration.

The Republican party got derailed in its attempt to dismantle the New Deal of FDR – they’ve been working on this since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 – through the incompetence of George W Bush and Dick Cheney to cap off 30+ years of the ridiculously stupid “trickle down” economic theory which trickles “up” money from our economy into the hands of the corporate heads.  I say that with the caveat that it was just a matter of time until the “come-uppence” resulting from the corporate GREED permeating EVERYTHING the Republican party stands for became reality.  I mean, can you imagine where we’d be if John McCain and Sarah Palin were at “the controls.”  I watched McCain “blubbering” on the Senate floor the other day and it gave me shivers to think he could have been the President.  It’s hard for me to imagine anyone worse than Bush/Cheney – but, the Republicans managed to outdo themselves with the combo of McCain/Palin.

When I think about how Sarah Palin is backstabbing everyone she’s ever  been in contact with – and blaming her problems on the nearest person to her, worst than the sixth graders I deal with in school – I picture in my mind having a Vice President who’s got more ambition than brains backstabbing the person who picked her for the job and I just have to shake my head and be thankful they didn’t make it.  If you’ve been around here at all, you know that I’m not too happy with President Obama,  but again, CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE THE ALTERNATIVE?  And, with McCain in his mid seventies – Sarah Palin as President would be the Republican icing on the cake – that would GUARANTEE the demise of this great nation.  I mean she’s still going around proving she is TOTALLY UNQUALIFIED for national leadership EVERY TIME SHE OPENS HER MOUTH.  And, she comes up with some real childish ways to express her dissatisfaction with just about everyone.  The last picture I saw of Sarah, she was sitting on a beach in Hawaii with a McCain sun visor on with the “McCain” crossed out!  Talk about your cheap, low, ungrateful human being.  I mean, without John McCain, Sarah Palin would still be stuck in that “job” she apparently wasn’t too committed to up in Alaska.  This woman saw the opportunity for MONEY and showed herself to be a TRUE REPUBLICAN (and she’s got the very person she keeps backstabbing – McCain – to thank for all the money she’s making)!

That all being said, my two friends at church nodded approvingly when I mentioned that I thought it was time for the “New New Deal” that many of us “progressives” thought we would be getting with President Obama.  This is why I’ve been trying to point out my frustration with his “centrist” tendencies – RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING of his Presidency.  This is why I’ve recently written a couple posts regarding my frustration with Obama’s supporters – most notably Randi Rhodes – for their attacks on the disenchanted “liberals,” “progressives,” or whatever you want to call them (and me) – I suppose the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc. would call us socialists, communists, or some other ill-conceived and incorrect term – in an attempt to deflect the national discussion away from the real solutions to MAJOR PROBLEMS.  Attention Democrats:  there’s a lot of us!

Unfortunately, the Obama administration and the Democratic party are so humg up on the health care bill presently being watered down into something that can get out of the senate that they’re taking what I call the “same old same old” approach to “fixing” the jobs problem in America.  We keep hearing the same rhetoric I’ve heard over my adult lifetime which has included several recessions – as if this is just another recession.  They’ve claimed that, in fact, in some circles that the recession is “over.”  Of course, this is because both the Obama administration and the Democratic party AREN’T THE CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.  Yes, they’re a darn sight better than the Republicans – as stated above – but that’s not helping my friends or the other MILLIONS OF WORKERS WITHOUT JOBS!  And, what kind of jobs will they find once things REALLY turn around.  I can tell you that both of my friends are adjusting their expectations DOWNWARD in order to have any hope of finding work.

Here’s the thing that I’ve been trying to get across to anyone who would listen for the past year (people at my school go the other way when they see me coming :o) – the American public is desperately wanting statemenlike LEADERSHIP.  My big disappointment with President Obama is that he is the politician’s politician.  I guess I was kidding myself when I supported him.  There were warning signs – for example, the vote to support the FISA legislation which essentially enabled the illegal Bush wiretapping – but, I like many others fell for the great oratory skills and the promise for “change we can believe in.”  I honestly took that to mean a TOTALLY different direction for our government.  A “new” New Deal.  And, with the exception of the present Republican leadership, I believe Obama could have (probably still could – although it would be a lot more difficult today) sold the idea of a real government “push” to rebuild this nation’s infrastructure and “jump start” the job market. 

Yes, Obama’s stimulus package has helped – but there’s still something in excess of 17% of the workforce without jobs!  Government statistics continue to be used to mask the problems so that people think things are better than they really are – but, that is a losing proposition in itself.  Eventually, the reality of the situation will become apparent to all of us.  As the Geithner’s, and the Summer’s, and President Obama himself assure us that a jobs turn around will happen in the “next two years” I cringe at the thought of what that will do to my friends and people in their situation.  I just can’t believe that American’s have become so selfish that if the President used his “bully pulpit” to appeal to those of us with jobs – that there wouldn’t be widespread support of a program to put people to work.

Yes, people like the Republicans, the likes of the Limbaugh’s and Beck’s and O’Reilly’s will oppose ANYTHING!  But, the time is right to expose them for what they are.  This is a war for the future of this nation!  Are we going to just go on allowing the corporations who aren’t even, many of them, based in America to control our politicians – and their agenda?  Somehow, I believe with courageous leadership – leadership willing to take on the corporate “heads,” you would see a national unity form which hasn’t existed in this nation since before Viet Nam.  WE ALL BENEFIT WHEN THERE IS FULL EMPLOYMENT!

Here’s the problem with continuing with the present course.  THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE GETTING REALLY UPSET.  While Randi Rhodes, Rahm Emanuel, and other supporters of President Obama are calling people like me “stupid” because we don’t blindly support the President, public opinion is swaying away from Obama.  And, worse than that, I heard a recent poll where 44% of the people would prefer President Bush.  THIS SHOULD BE ALARMING TO ALL DEMOCRATS.  This supports much of what I’ve been predicting for the past year.  This is why I’m concerned that Obama didn’t allow investigations of the Bush torture policies, the wiretapping, etc.  For all the Democrats who believe the Republicans don’t have anyone to even challenge the President, I believe they are the ones who are STUPID!  We could conceivably be reliving the horror of the Bush Presidency sooner rather than later – and “looking the other way” could be an even BIGGER PROBLEM! (as I’ve said many times on this site – I hope I’m wrong)

I know they’re thinking, “who could possibly challenge the President?”  Sarah Palin? Don’t be absurd – there’s no way that nightmare could happen.  Well, I’m totally with them on that one – but, remember that Ronald Reagan was considered a “fringe” candidate when he first appeared on the “stage” so don’t get too “cocky” Democrats regarding Palin (although, I just can’t force myself to imagine that one).  How about Mitt Romney?  Well, he’s a better bet than Palin, but also – I’m sure the Democrats believe there’s no circumstance where he would defeat Obama.  And, Tim Pawlenty – another NO!  There’s not a lot out there on the Republican side of things – which may be why Obama is taking so much for granted.  I believe that just confirms my claim that he’s all about being a politician instead of a statesman – and, I think the Obama “camp” might not be thinking things through clearly enough.

The poll that showed people wishing Bush (arguably the worst President in our nation’s history) was back – confirms, at least in my mind, a nightmare that – as far as I know (and, I don’t read all the blogs out there), I’m the only one pointing this out.  There are a lot of Republicans who believe they chose the “wrong Bush” when GW was nominated in 2000.  And, I’m sure when he left office in virtual disgrace after bungling Afganistan and then lying us into Iraq – which was also BUNGLED – on top of RUINING OUR ECONOMY, OUR GOVERNMENT BEAURACRACY, AND OUR STANDING IN THE WORLD, most people – especially Democrats figured it was safe to say that we’ve seen the last of the Bush clan!  Well, all I have to say to President Obama is that if he continues to ignore the plight of my friends (probably too harsh –  but, from their perspective, that’s what it looks like), if he continues to “play” to the “center,” if he continues with the same old approaches to the same old problems, he will continue to turn off progressive voters and he’ll possibly be responsible for headlines that read something like: It’s President Obama himself who (could be) responsible for another Bush Presidency (Jeb)!  The thought makes me gag!

I wrote about Randi Rhodes the other day pointing out that in my opinion we would all be better served if she would discontinue being the Democratic version of the “spin machine” we’ve been listening to from Republicans for the past so many years. Well, I didn’t quite put it that way, but after listening to her on the way home from work today RANTING at progressives who are frustrated with President Obama – and SPINNING his accomplishments as if he was the “ANSWER” to all of our problems – and then calling them (and by logically “connecting the dots” ME) Stupid – I feel compelled to write again.  Now, I’m not so naive as to think that Randi is going to read this post, but I had a LOT OF TRAFFIC after the last one, leaving me to believe that either there are a lot of people who agree with me, or a lot of people who disagree but are unwilling to make a comment (so far – since I’ve started this site – I’ve only had one person comment – I’m not sure what I’d do if people started commenting because I think I would be compelled to respond and that could take more time than I have).  Suffice it to say that I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH RHODES and I’ll do the best to explain why.  In my market she’s not live, and should I call her it would lead to some serious yelling on her part to rationalize Obama’s Presidency as being something that it obviously is NOT!

Let me start off by saying that there is no disputing President Obama is far better than our previous President (well, DUH), and that a McCain/Palin administration would have been intolerable.  Every time Sarah Palin opens her mouth either ignorance or outright lies come out – and she is showing her true colors, even to Republicans, on her present I’m going to get rich while “the irons hot” tour as she sells her “book of lies.”  I mean, tonight it was reported that she had her hair “done” at a book signing in Utah and the hairdresser had to agree not to speak – unless Palin spoke first – before she could fix her hair.  I mean, that’s real populism for you.  Then there’s John McCain, you know the guy who was claiming the economy is strong after the first year of the present MAJOR RECESSION was almost over.  He not only couldn’t tell the difference between a healthy economy and one in “meltdown,” but he didn’t know the difference between a Sunni and Shia – I suppose, with McCain, that didn’t matter much because he was the reincarnation of Goldwater during Viet Nam.  His mantra:  “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran!  OK, I get it – those people are arguably NOT ALL THERE (I’m trying to be as polite as I can).

However, that does not mean that progressives are OBLIGATED to be happy with Obama – as Rhodes would have it.  There were a series of callers who tried to point out that the Democrats could be in trouble at the rate we’re going in the next two elections and that Obama’s leadership is WEAK!  Rhode’s response was that Obama had done 90 wonderful things – starting with the stimulus bill which “saved the economy,” and including comments about how he’s (now) beginning to bring the troops home from Iraq (kind of like he’s “already” bringing them home – I’ll comment more on that shortly), and how he’s implemented a sensible (that’s my word, I can’t remember her exact word – but it was a word of TOTAL support) plan for Afganistan – and she added, which he promised in the campaign – and I’ll add more to that also.  Regardless, as Rhodes was going down Obama’s list of achievements – I can’t comment on all of them because I’m not aware of all of them, but I can tell you there were several where her vision of his achievement was either pure spin or fantasy.  This is what the Beck’s, the Limbaugh’s, the Hannity’s, the O’Reilly’s and that bunch did endlessly for Bush – and, personally I’m sick of it no matter what side it’s coming from.

As stated above, there are accomplishments, to be sure – but there are also some disturbing decisions that I (and, evidently, others) believe outweigh many of the accomplishments.  And, I’m saying all this in the “frame” that we could have supported another Democrat who would also have been better than anything the Republicans could put forth in all 90 of these areas.  I was voting for CHANGE and I’ll try to point out how I believe we’re getting something TOO CLOSE to more of the same.  (were I to have a “second chance” to support someone, I would have thrown my support toward Dennis Kucinich)  As we’re watching the present health care debate turn into an embarrassing example of the Democrats inability to govern – one of my first “red flags” concerning President Obama was his eagerness to “forgive” Joe Lieberman after the election – demonstrating that ONE VOTE in the caucus was more important than sending an immediate message that things will be different.  In other words – giving Lieberman a committe chairmanship was one of the first signs of “business as usual” – not “change we can believe in.”

And, how has that turned out.  Well, Randi Rhodes would tell us to just keep calling our congress people and lie to the pollsters when they call and tell them we support Obama when we are unhappy with him – again, supposedly, because the Republicans get happy when Obama’s poll numbers go down.  For me, that’s an unacceptable reason to lie ( in fact, one of the reasons I voted for Obama was the promise of transparency – which has also gone down the drain).  Don’t think so?  Well, the White House since Obama moved in has tried to keep records of who’s visiting a secret and, prior to the decision on Afganistan, according to Greg Mortenson – who probably knows more about Afganistan than anyone else in this country – there were nine SECRET meetings as they were formulating policy.  I’m sure Rhodes would call that practical politics (and, based on our recent history, I’m sure that’s accurate) I call it BUSINESS AS USUAL.  It was very Bushlike – there was no public input, they supplied the public with strategic leaks along the way, and a “this is the way it is” announcement of the next American “surge” was the result.  Seemed like Obama trying to be a strong “Commander in Chief.”  Ughhh!

Keeping on the secrecy subject, President Obama and Eric Holder – his Attorney General – have been defending the Bush illegal wiretapping policy in court.  Now, I can’t think of ONE GOOD REASON why they would be doing that.  They’ve even defended the use of “state’s secrets” in court – a “loophole” Bush CLEARLY ABUSED – which allows the government to virtually hide anything from the public with a simple claim that can’t be challenged AT ALL.  It’s arbitrary, it’s un democratic, it’s absurd that in America it’s even happening, and the only reason I can figure out Obama would defend it is because he wants to be able to use it himself at some point.  And, as far as the defending Bush on the illegal wiretapping, well, I’m not altogether sure that President Obama’s not continuing the same policy.  Do you remember when he PROMISED to “fix” the FISA legislation that he so INCREDIBLY voted in favor of during the campaign?  Have you seen any sign of him wanting to “fix” it?  I don’t think so, and I believe the reason is that he’s continuing the policy.  I’m not sure how Randi would rationalize that, but it JUST DOESN’T WORK FOR ME!  I have three children and two grandchildren with possibly more on the way – and the thought of my generation obliterating the fourth amendment of the constitution – at the expense of their privacy – makes me sick to my stomach every time I think about it.  If I was talking to Randi, I would tell her none of that other stuff (those 90 things she mentioned) means much if we continue to allow our government to abuse our constitution. 

 Along those lines, what about President Obama turning his back on his oath of office by letting Bush/Cheney et al OFF THE HOOK – for horrific crimes – INCLUDING WAR CRIMES?  How do you spin that one?  I’ll tell you how I think they spin that one – THEY DON’T TALK ABOUT IT – they don’t want anyone to talk about it.  THERE ARE NO INVESTIGATIONS of these numerous crimes.  Everyone knows (they admitted it right in front of our eyes on national TV) that both Bush and Cheney authorized WAR CRIMES.  You don’t believe me?  Well, let me give you (again) the scenario:  Both President Obama and Eric Holder stated that “no one is above the law in America,” – that’s number one, then they also said, “if there’s evidence of a crime it will be investigated agressively” – that’s number two, then they said, “Waterboarding is torture” – that’s number three, then there’s the FACT that waterboarding is a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions AND waterboarding is a war crime based on our own criminal justice system – plus both George W Bush and Dick Cheney admitted on TV that they had authorized this crime – AND FINALLY, President Obama INEXPICABLY said we will “look forward instead of backward” thus letting these criminal thugs off the hook and violating his very own words.  And, waterboarding wasn’t the worst thing that resulted in their authorization of “enhanced interrogations.” (don’t you just love the way the Republicans use the English language?)  Without the investigations Obama and Holder are refusing to allow we will never know how many innocent civilians were MURDERED during these enhanced interrogations or, for that matter, just in the detention policies which were carried out at our behest.

I mean, with the secret “rendition” prisons, we’ll never know what happened to the people who “disappeared.”  Of course, our CIA is famous for being involved in programs where people just disappear.  There have been reports of complete truckloads of prisoners suffocating en route from the war “theatre” in Afganistan to the so-called “rendition” sites (which, by the way, still exist – under Obama).  But, of course, they don’t matter because Bush/Cheney had labled them “enemy combatants” – something less than a human being.  The people resonsible for all of this can rest comfortably knowing that President Obama doesn’t believe in “looking backward.”  As I’ve stated on this site before, if that policy somehow becomes legal precedent THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER CRIME.  You see, to prosecute illegal activity, YOU HAVE TO LOOK BACKWARD – you can’t prosecute someone breaking the law UNTIL THEY’VE BROKEN IT!  (I imagined myself yelling just as Randi does on the air – as I said that)  On top of all that there’s also the lying us into war, the outing of a CIA agent (with all the right wing use of the word “treason” lately – outing a CIA agent is really treason), the war profiteering, the contractor abuses in Iraq (including mass murder), the pilfering of our economy by the Wall Street banks, the hijacking of our justice department, and there’s more – I hope that is enough to make my point.  OF COURSE the investigations would create a stir – and maybe a huge distraction – BUT HOW IS THAT A REASON TO IGNORE OUR LEGAL SYSTEM – and Obama’s and Holder’s OBLIGATION to uphold their oath of office – where they promised to defend the constitution?  How does a President get to decide which laws to enforce and which ones to ignore?  How is that any different from what we had?  I’m sure Randi could find a way to justify this, because Obama’s a Democrat – that just doesn’t work for me and, I believe, WAY MORE OTHERS than she or the Democrats understand.

I’m sure the President’s plan – which is supported by the Democrats in Congress (and Rhodes) – is to not talk about this stuff and just let it fade away into the “sunset.”  Well, it will NEVER totally fade away, and I believe there will be times somewhere “down the road” where the consequences of this decision become readily apparent.  I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “those who choose to ignore history are destined to repeat it.”  Well, I believe we’ll be repeating this history at some point in the lifetimes of our children and/or grandchildren.  And, Randi Rhodes (and, I’m sure people in the White House) calling people like those who called her show today, and myself, “stupid” will get the Democrats smaller majorities in both houses of Congress and potentially lose the White House as early as 2012.  Rhodes “poo pooed” a caller for suggesting this today – as if to say that concern about the next couple of elections by Democrats is also “stupid.”  I honestly thought Randi Rhodes was smarter than that.

As Rhodes is trying to suggest that she’s got it all figured out and her audience is stupid and doesn’t understand the “process” of politics – all the while TOTALLY IGNORING the points I’ve mentioned above as being legit problems for Obama – the lack of principle involved in decisions ranging from endorsing Lieberman to enabling Bush/Cheney – let me just address a few of the “Obama accomplishments” she mentioned that I can remember (there were 90 – my memory’s not that good and I don’t want to write that much).  First, she mentioned one of Obama’s accomplishments as “already” starting to bring the troops home from Iraq.  TALK ABOUT SPIN!  That is absurd.  First of all, I don’t want to be too cynical, but it almost feels as if he’s FINALLY bringing troops home from Iraq because HE NEEDS THEM IN AFGANISTAN!  Just a reminder, THEY WERE ALL SUPPOSED TO BE HOME WITHIN 16 MONTHS!  THAT WAS A PROMISE!  Well, it’s supposed to take one month to get each division out of the country and there are 15 divisions over there, it’s been 11 months and we’re JUST STARTING!  I think Rhode’s is assuming we’re STUPID!  Not only is Obama not going to meet his deadline of getting the troops out in 16 months – he’s simply allowing the Bush negotiated WITHDRAWAL plan to play itself out.  NOT AN OUNCE OF COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP THERE.  We’ve been trying to get the troops out of Iraq since the 2006 election (well, for most of us way before that – but that’s the first election where Democrats were put in charge SPECIFICALLY TO END THAT OCCUPATION!)  And, I’m not sure how Rhodes is going to justify the 50,000 to 75,000 troops who will be remaining in Iraq indefinitely (I suppose if we get entangled in Afganistan deeply enough they’ll have to bring all the troops home) – this is not the “change I can believe in.”

Another “accomplishment” I heard Rhodes mention was reducing the influence of lobbyists in Washington – or something like that.  I almost gagged.  I thought to myself, “Are you kidding me?”  “Have you been paying attention to this health care debate?”  1.5 MILLION a day being spent by lobbyists to defeat this legislation.  Now, I understand that’s not Obama’s fault.  BUT DON’T TAKE CREDIT FOR REDUCING SOMETHING THAT HASN’T BEEN REDUCED.  And, speaking of the health care debate and lobbyists, except for a tax foopah – we’d have Tom Daschle as the lead person on the health care issue from the White House – a lobbyist for the health care industry who’s probably lobbying against it right now.

And, yes, the economy is in a weak (and tenuous) recovery from the “Great Recession” caused by the incredibly STUPID supply side economics crammed down our throats since the days of Ronald Reagan and put on “steroids” under GW Bush – and we SHOULD be thankful for that.  However, there are many besides myself who felt right from the start that the “stimulus” bill was WAY TOO SMALL and the middle class tax cuts were WAY TOO HIGH A PRICE to pay for three Republican votes.  With Tim Geithner and Larry Summers at the “helm,” as far as I’m concerned the economic policy of this White House looks way too close to “business as usual.”  There is talk that is encouraging, but talk is cheap and it’s usually followed by the excuses as to why “progressive” measures can’t get through the senate.  However, I believe fiscal issues can be passed using reconciliation – as Clinton did with his original budget.  The unemployment CRISIS in this nation far exceeds the response it’s getting from our leaders.  How can you even claim the recession is “over” when there’s 17+ percent UNEMPLOYMENT?  I’ll tell you how, Wall Street was so far down that it is giving false evidence that we’re “on the upswing.”  It’s Wall Street which is on the “upswing” and all the rhetoric that “jobs are the last thing to turn around” and “it’s going to take a couple years for employment to rebound” is UNACCEPTABLE!  The stimulus should have been bigger and our leaders should have the courage to talk directly to the American people and challenge them to come together – with those of us working making sacrifices to pay for the needed programs to get those of us without jobs WORKING AGAIN.  Letting the “Bush taxcuts” just expire instead of eliminating them, spouting the old “you don’t raise taxes in a recession” while corporation after corporation are hiding taxes overseas, refusing to even consider things like a hike in the gas tax or other ways to raise more revenue which could be funneled right back into the economy – Obama has surrounded himself with the “same old same old” type of advisors – so, it’s no surprise we’re getting the same old same old type of policy decisions.  Yes, Randi – this is better than the Republicans, but it’s not the change I was looking for!

Finally, tonight Rhodes defended Obama’s decision to put another 30,000 troops into Afganistan as a (I can’t remember her exact word) wise or prudent decision.  This was one of the accomplishments she was “quoting” as she was yelling at a disenchanted progressive while calling him “STUPID.”  Well, after reading several books on the Afganistan occupation and getting a good accounting of the folly of the Bush administration – again, I’m sure this will be a huge improvement over what they were doing – I don’t think anyone could screw it up worse than Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld.  And, yes it’s true that the US has abandoned Afganistan at least twice – once after the Soviets withdrew in 1989, allowing the Taliban to take over – and after the 9/11 motivated invasion – which was nothing more than an excuse for the neo-cons to enable their dream invasion of Iraq.  The damage to the American image HAS BEEN DONE – and may be irrepairable.  Certainly, accomplishing what Afganistan needs in 18 months isn’t even optimistic – to believe that could be done WOULD BE STUPID – we are going to be stuck there for AT LEAST 5 and probably 10 years – or until we become TOTALLY BANKRUPT!  So, I believe major disagreement with Obama’s decision is TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE and NOT STUPID! 

Yes, President Obama did say in the campaign that he wanted to focus on Afganistan – that this was the necessary war.  He said this in the context (I remember listening to his words carefully) of NEEDING TO FINISH THE JOB OF CAPTURING OR KILLING OSAMA BIN LADEN!  He was clear on that – and, in my view, for Rhodes to put it any other way in defending the President, is TOTAL SPIN!  What Obama has proposed is pure NATION-BUILDING!  I’m not even sure I totally disagree with that – BUT CALL IT WHAT IT IS!  And, challenge the American people to PAY FOR IT!  If they support this, they should be willing to pay for it – at the very least.  Actually, there should be a draft if we’re going to make this commitment.  HOW MANY TOURS ARE we going to ask these troops to make.  This won’t be ending in 18 months as Obama implied – THERE’S NO WAY, NO MATTER WHAT RANDI SAYS!  And, she’s talking just like the people in the White House – as if the American people are stupid.

The callers that Randi Rhodes laid into this evening were pointing out that President Obama is not showing agressive statesmanlike leadership in the White House.  This heath care debate has been poorly planned and is headed for a “I’ll take whatever I can get – whatever Joe Lieberman will allow” finish – which is not going to play well with the Democratic “base,” NO MATTER WHAT RANDI SAYS.  And, it’s true that President Obama isn’t following through on his campaign promises – IN MORE THAN ONE INSTANCE.  When Randi is calling these people stupid, what she’ suggesting is that “more of the same old same old” is acceptable to the people who voted Obama into the White House.  Evidently in her case that is accurate – but not in the case of several of her callers tonight, not in the case of myself, and – I believe – not in the case of potentially millions of “progressives.”  We weren’t looking for a moderate, left leaning, master politician.  We were looking for a strong, statesmanlike leader – who has the guts to use the “bully pulpit” of the White House to fight the Republicans and the notion that “business as usual” is OK – AGRESSIVELY.  We might be a bit idealistic, it’s obvious that we’re still a bit naive, but I’d like to tell Randi Rhodes: calling progressives who are disenchanted with President Obama STUPID is STUPID!  You don’t seem to understand the magnitude of the problem which is being created by his milk toast approach to defeating Republicans.

Last evening I had the privilege of listening to Greg Mortenson, the author of “Three Cups of Tea” which is one of the more profound books I’ve read in the past few years.  The book depicts the ordeal Mortenson went through in the process of co-founding the Central Asia Institute which has to this date built about 130 schools in Pakistan and Afganistan and is now REQUIRED READING for ALL US military personell being dispatched to Afganistan.  There have been 300 MILLION copies sold worldwide and the book’s been on the NY Times “best seller” list for 149 straight weeks.  My intention was to write this evening about Afganistan, President Obama’s “gamble” in the “new surge,” and Mortenson’s perspective on the prospects for success in that desolate country.

However, there never seems to be a shortage of topics to write about regarding the internal politics in present day Washington DC.  I phrase it in that manner because I fully believe there are many beside myself who yearn for the day when the political climate changes in our nation’s capital away from politics via “stranglehold” from multi-national corporations.  And, the worst part of it all for me is the fact that many of these corporations who are BUYING our politicians – and EVERYONE knows that’s what’s happening – aren’t even US based corporations.  For example, Haliburton has moved their operations overseas in order to avoid paying US taxes and face US regulators.  If I was a professional journalist I would research how many of the corporations buying favors from our US Senators and Congressmen/women have tax “havens” in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere.  This, of course, was encouraged by the likes of Tom Delay and other Republican “leaders” when they had a stranglehold on power in our Congress – but, you don’t hear much complaint from Democrats – now that they are in “power” or the White House – about the HUGE amount of money that is being absconded by these corporations who don’t want to pay taxes BUT DON’T HESITATE TO PAY OFF OUR CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS from their ever expanding profits.  And, they’re doing it right in front of our “noses,” as if to say FU to the American public!

This climate in Washington is creating a soap opera like scenario as the so-called “health care reform” legislation moves toward final “passage.”  This entire process HAS BEEN A BAD JOKE!  Arguably, the major focus of the public’s “ire” should be directed at the Republicans who have evolved into the most obstructionist political party I could have ever imagined.  They appear to me to be on the verge of blocking the health care legislation – OR WORSE YET watching something get passed which will be cause for celebration in the board rooms of every health insurance company in this nation.  Which brings me to my point – THE DEMOCRATS!

If you’ve spent any time at all on this site you know that I’m becoming MORE AND MORE disenchanted with the President and the Democrats in Congress – EVERY DAY!  My disappointment has more than one “angle.”  I won’t go into my feelings about the President I strongly supported in the last election in too much detail tonight.  Suffice it to say that I’m concerned that he is MORE THAN WILLING to accept ANYTHING he can get through the Senate and call it a “political victory” regarding health care (and other issues as well).  He’s being advised by the consumate politician in Rahm Emanuel who has “same old, same old” written all over him.  Not the “Change I can believe in.”

And, then there’s the Democrats in Congress.  With an 80 vote majority in the House and a 60 member caucus in the Senate you would think they could ACTUALLY DO THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.  Even after over 500 MILLION DOLLARS was spent to buy off Congress and BRAINWASH the public the polls still show a huge majority of Americans favoring health care reform which – AT A MINIMUM – includes a “ROBUST” public option which I fully believe the average American understood to mean they would have the option of buying into – like a Medicare for all type option.  Of course, the REALITY is that this was NEVER an “option” and the “public option” was always going to be a minor part of this legislation – available only to a small number of uninsured people whom the insurance industry wanted no part of.

Even with that, the Democrats can’t come through for anyone but the very corporations who they’re supposed to be “reforming.”  What’s incredible to me is that as this whole scenario unfolds it has become clear that TRUE HEALTH CARE REFORM would be a single payer plan which would fulfill Senator Kennedy’s lifelong dream and the wishes of a large majority of Americans to insure health care as a right in America and not a privilege.  Paying someone 30+% to “stand between the patient and the doctor” MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!  (don’t you just love it when Republicans claim that a government run health system would put the government between the patient and doctor?) This whole concept is the result of the Reagan “revolution” which has enabled UNBELIEVABLE corporate abuses since 1980, which has decimated the middle class in our nation, and which now threatens the economic viability of America going forward.  These Republicans are going to keep “pilfering” until there’s nothing left to “pilfer,” and apparently the Democrats – as presently constituted in Washington – are going to allow this to happen.

Which  brings me to my “MAIN RUB” of the evening.  JOE LIEBERMAN.  I pointed out before President Obama was inaugurated that it was a huge mistake to allow Lieberman a committee chairmanship in the Democratic caucus.  When Al Franken was sworn in and the Dems then had the “magical” 60th vote – I COULD SMELL SOMETHING “ROTTEN IN DENMARK!”  Lieberman must have lit up like a roman candle on the fourth of July – knowing how much his a#* was going to be “kissed”.  And, he’s been “playing” the Democrats ever since.  You have to keep in mind that I’m not the only “outsider” who’s feeling as if COURAGE is in SHORT SUPPLY in Washington DC.  Harry Reid’s been “kissing up” to Lieberman since the election – AS IF LIEBERMAN IS GOING TO “COME THROUGH” and actually be that 60th vote.

Well, Lieberman is coming through – for the Republicans who managed to get him elected in Connecticuit!  I REALLY WONDER if the voters of Connecticuit are having second thoughts about voting this THUG in – instead of Ned Lamont.  Had Lamont been elected whatever the Senate ultimately comes up with would BE MUCH BETTER than what they’re going to get snivelling after Lieberman’s vote.  Personally, I hope someone like Bernie Sanders or Russ Feingold votes against what they’re now proposing to KILL IT.  The Democrats are now on the spot as to whether or not they will continue to “kiss Lieberman’s a#*.”  If they do, THEY ALL DESERVE TO BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE!  Joe Lieberman is the MOST DESPICABLE politician in my lifetime!  There’s a lot of Republicans who turn my stomach – but Joe Lieberman wins the BENEDICT ARNOLD award as far as I’m concerned.  And, trust me, he’ll play his “60th vote” position TO THE HILT!

I still can’t get it out of my mind watching him CONSTANTLY standing behind John McCain and Sarah Palin during the last election with that “chesire cat” grin on his face.  One of the first “red flags” for me regarding President Obama was when he encouraged the Deomcrats to keep Lieberman in their caucus – I was like, “uh oh” that move had NO PRINCIPLE TO IT.  You know, anything to get that magic number of 60.  However, what they’ve proved is that the “filibuster proof” caucus MEANS NOTHING.  The Democrats are proving to be just as “bought” as the Republicans – they just put on a better “face” about it – but it’s getting close to the point where their – what I call in my 6th grade classroom – LAME EXCUSES won’t cut it anymore.  What are these people afraid of?  Obama won with a significant majority.  His popularity soared once in office.  upwards of 75% of the American public supported health care reform with a ROBUST public option (actually, the polls I saw showed that nearly 60% favored single payer).  So, in summary, we empowered Democrats to pass health care reform and emerged with Joe Lieberman holding them hostage. Michael Moore put it perfectly: SICKO!  Both major political parties are PROVING, during this health care debate,  that WE NEED A THIRD -AND MAYBE FOURTH – POLITICAL PARTY in the United States.

The last post I published on this site affirmed my commitment to avoid the tendency to just agree with anything President Obama does, even though I have to admit that I was a STRONG supporter of his candidacy during the campaign.  I’m a middle school teacher and to and from work I listen to “progressive” radio – I feel an obligation to listen in an attempt to help them combat the near monopoly that so-called “conservative” talk radio enjoys, giving us the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage (maybe the worst I’ve heard), and others who remind me of the boss I worked for in my first job out of college (long before I started teaching).  I’ll never forget something he said.  This was a small electronic manufacturing business which relied on an agressive sales force to market our product (which was a good product) nationally.  Anyway, this guy made it clear there was nothing he wouldn’t do for money.  I won’t share some of the things he mentioned, but suffice it to say he listed some pretty deviant (in my mind, I’m a bit old fashioned) possibilities.  Now, I’m not suggesting the above mentioned radio personalities are deviant in any way (although I must admit it wouldn’t surprise me) – I’m just suggesting they would SAY ANYTHING – even at the expense of our nation, if it would increase their “bottom line.”

Ever since the first day Obama took office I have hoped that the so-called “progressive” members of the media wouldn’t just jump on the bandwaqon and give us a re-run of Bushitis, only from the Democratic perspective – Obamaitis, that is – rubber stamping any and all decisions Obama would make.  And, to a certain degree, that’s not happening.  I like to watch Keith Olberman on MSNBC – and, while he’s obviously biased toward the Dems and Obama, he’s perfectly willing to call them out on their Bushlike shortcomings – which there seem to be many.  Where I’ve  been a  bit dismayed is from one of my favorites on the radio, Randi Rhodes.  I’ve listened to her (when she’s managed to be on the air) for several years now and, yes, she’s probably the most “left” of the top progressive radio personalities.  She’s upfront about her bias, and actually challenges her listeners to “fact check” anything she says before deciding whether or not to believe she’s telling the truth.  Actually, that in itself, is a bit refreshing in a “genre” where OPENLY LYING seems so “in.”  Think I’m exaggerating?  Listen to Limbaugh or Beck sometime for just a few minutes.  Take notes on a few things they represent as fact, and then “fact check” them.  Their willingness to tell  BOLD FACED LIES is outrageous, to say the least.  And Limbaugh (well, Beck too, I just don’t listen to him as much) is such a dispicable racist.  The other day I heard him referring to the black community as “them” while explaining why President Obama was so bad for blacks – while, at the same time, demonstrating an incredible state of denial as to his own knowledge of what has created the problem blacks in this country are enduring in the first place.

Getting back to Randi Rhodes:  lately I’m getting VERY CONCERNED that she’s becoming a mouthpiece for President Obama.  Finding a way to justify virtually every decision he makes.  This would be VERY BAD to me if it continued.  The other day Rhodes was interviewing an expert on climate change who was following the “summit” that is going on in Copenhagen as I type this entry.  The man was pointing out how President Obama and the United States aren’t doing nearly enough to take the lead in the fight against “global warming.”  Rhodes pretty much took offense to someone with “liberal” credentials even criticizing our President (the guy – I can’t remember his name – is a reporter for “the Nation” magazine – definitely a liberal publication).  Just as she’s doing with the economy, the “surge” to Afganistan, the lack of investigation of the previous administration, Iraq, and health care – she’s starting to sound like a mouth piece for the Democratic party.

Let me suggest where her efforts would be better spent, because Rhodes is definitely someone who I believe “gets it” as far as the damage that’s been done to this country by the Republicans and GW Bush, Dick Cheney, and – for that matter – the whole trickling down bunch since Ronald Reagan.  Let’s start with the meeting in Copenhagen.  The reporter from “The Nation” isn’t the only progressive unhappy with Obama’s “stance” regarding climate change.  There’s a car mechanic who advertises on the Portland Oregon progressive station I listen to who is very unhappy with Obama’s apparent endorsement of (I think) 450 parts per million as the accepted limits on CO2 in the atmosphere – when scientists say that we should be limiting these emissions to no more than 350 ppm.  I really admire this small businessman who’s willing to spend his advertising money encouraging people to be active participants in our democracy – as progressives.  In this as in other areas where it appears that Obama is willing to accept “anything” that looks like we are “progressing,” there are many people who are concerned that what he’s exhibiting (myself included) is a lack of courageous leadership.

While I certainly hope that President Obama turns out to be a “guru” on turning this economy around, I believe the “jury’s still out” for sure on this.  Yes, the evidence is overwhelming that the so-called “stimulus” package that was passed – watered down with unneeded tax cuts for those of us who still have jobs in order to get three Republican votes (which turned into two Republican votes when Arlen Specter was forced to join the Democratic party for political survival due to the Republican’s backlash toward his vote with the Dems) – this “package” definitely played a large part in putting off this nation dropping into a deep depression.  However, I’ve claimed from the start that this “package” was far too small to actually have the effect that the people on “main street” need in order to ramp up employment in this nation in a way that benefits the blue collar middle class.  They are finally talking about ways, now, to use the TARP money – which was used to enable the INCREDIBLE GREED of the largest Wall Street banks – to actually do what was originally intended – which is to get money into the hands of small businesses in this country (too late for many already) and homeowners facing foreclosure – a crisis which hasn’t ebbed yet and is eating away at the value of the main asset for millions of American middle class families – their homes.  Yes, what Obama did was far superior to anything McCain/Palin would have done – we’d surely be in a depression had they somehow managed to win – BUT, WE’RE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET, and President Obama still will be required to take on the Republicans to do something drastic to turn things around.

According to Robert Reich, a man I truly respect, the real unemployment rate in America is something north of 17% – there is a staggering number of Americans who no longer are “statistics” they’ve been out of work for so long.  I have good friends, in their 50’s – who have been good productive workers, with advanced skills, for 25 – 30 years, and they can’t even get an INTERVIEW!  So, we shouldn’t be patting Obama on the back because he’s better than the alternative, we should be pushing him to stand TALLER against this Republican obstructionism which is UN-AMERICAN at a time like this – AND PUBLICLY CALL IT WHAT IT IS – and use the bully pulpit of the Presidency to CALL THESE PEOPLE OUT!  We have over TWO TRILLION dollars worth of infrastructure repair needed just to bring our hiways and bridges UP TO CODE!  Why are we waiting to spend the money?  Because a bunch of Republicans who robbed our treasury of trillions will complain about budget deficits?  After what they’ve done?  That shouldn’t be too hard an argument to overcome if taken directly to the American people.  We need people like Randi Rhodes pushing this President to live up to the progressive ideals that got him elected.

 Lately I’ve heard Rhodes applauding Max Baucus of all people – I guess he looks good for his age.  Well, the guy has taken over 3.5 million in “donations” from the health care industry which he’s a leader in “reforming.”  What we’re going to end up with, unless the backlash to this Congressional fiasco is large enough to convince these bums they will all be voted out if they can’t do the will of the people they serve, is a “reform” package that forces 30+ million customers into the insurance company’s plans, taxes the benefits of those of us who have employee based health care plans, creates even larger profits for the insurance companies – thereby making it even more difficult to “fix” the “fix” because they’ll have even more than the 1.5 million dollars per day they’re spending now to defeat “reform, and pushes the most expensive customers of the insurance companies into medicare in an attempt to make their folly look like “historic” legislation.  Randi Rhodes’ optimism for this plan honestly befuddles me.  I’m getting to the point where I believe the “status quo” might end up being better than this Congress’ “solution” which will be forever “stained” by this huge amount of money spent in order to kill the legislation.  Why are we constantly seeking “compromise” with people who have proven that their main interest is the undoing of our federal government?  I JUST DON’T GET THIS – and we need the people who have a “voice” to be speaking on behalf of the 45 million uninsured, the millions unemployed, the children who are going to get a sub-standard education if the huge projected cuts continue, state by state.  WE, AS A NATION, ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP!

I won’t even get into the Iraq and Afganistan fiasco’s in detail, but suffice it to say that I’ve heard comments from Rhodes where she is actually defending Obama’s decisions (or lack thereof, depending on your perspective I guess) in these occupations.  Obama is making a HUGE gamble by escalating the Afganistan occupation and, I believe, the claim we would be bringing our troops home in 18 months was disengenuous at best.  Maybe it was calculated, but there’s no way we will be able to “get the job done” (whatever that is) in that timeframe, and pulling out then with the work “undone” will be far worse than doing the right thing now and bringing our troops home from both Afganistan and Iraq and concentrating on getting our own “house in order.”  That would take tremendous courage because the President would be accused of being “weak” by the likes of Dick Cheney and all the other unworthy critics from the “right” who bungled us into this mess in the first place.  They remind me of people who would leave the mess in the toilet for someone else to flush!  Of course, the solution to that problem would have been to allow the investigations which SHOULD HAVE GONE AHEAD as soon as Obama took office regarding ALL THE ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, including torture – which the Bush/Cheney administration is KNOWN to have committed.  I feel so bad for our troops who will be making their 6th maybe 7th tour into this “graveyard of empires” with little hope for anything but creating more hatred against the United States of America, and more devastation to themselves and their already disintegrating families.  I’m really disappointed that Obama made this decision and possibly moreso that Randi Rhodes is finding ways to rationalize it.

Let me end tonight by saying that, as I was driving home from school tonight, Randi was talking about the TARP fiasco (boy, there’s a lot of fiasco’s out there, post Bush, aren’t there).  Evidently, there’s a Congressional investigation going on into Bank of America’s “sweet” deal in gaining control of Merrill Lynch using TARP funds to do it.  Rhodes was pointing out, quite accurately, the incredible circumstances around that deal which was orchestrated by Hank Paulsen, Bush’s Treasury Secretary – who was only two years removed from being the CEO of Goldman Sachs at the time of the meltdown.  In FACT, Paulsen played a large part at Goldman in the abuses which led to the meltdown.  And, I believe the circumstances played out a bit differently than the way Rhodes presented them, but the result would be the same.  I believe the failure of Goldman’s main rival, Lehman Brothers, led to the immenent failure of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and Paulsen had to act fast to save his (I’m sure) huge interest in Goldman.  These present ivestigations are interesting, but they’re not aimed at the real scandal which was the actions of Paulsen and Bush.  This is just one part of the Bush administation where I’ve been lobbying heavily (albeit to about 50 – 100 people nightly via this website) for full investigations of the Bush administration.  The TRUTH is that something on the line of 5 TRILLION dollars was absconded from the American public during this orchestrated “meltdown” and the money went somewhere.  I’ve been amazed that the new adminstration seemed not to have the least bit of curiosity as to where that money went, and a minimal desire for any accountability – just as in the torture, the illegal wiretapping, the outing of a CIA agent, the lying us into war, and the bludgeoning of our economy in general.  I believe we would all be better served, due to her position, well earned over the years, as a voice for progressives, if Randi Rhodes would be demanding accountability from President Obama, instead of being his “mouthpiece.”

When the candidate I supported won the Presidential election for the first time in my adult lifetime I was excited.  I cried the night I heard Barack Obama’s acceptance speech once the election’s results were “official.”  I’ll never forget calling one of my VERY BEST FRIENDS, a man who still carries a bullet too near his heart to have it safely removed – FROM THE VIET NAM ERA – as a member of the United States Air Force, a man who taught himself how to read in the Air Force by reading the Bible and who now is a pastor in his own little “inner city” church – some 20 years after his retirement from the military, a man with whom I taught for some 10 years in public school as we focused our lives on helping 6th grade students from “tough” circumstances learn that they were important, and a man who has endured a lifetime of discrimination because of the color of his skin.  This man is one of my hero’s and I couldn’t wait to ask him what he thought of our new President.

His first words to me were something on the line of:  “I never thought I’d live long enough to see this day in America.”  And I, although without the perspective of my good friend, felt essentially the same.  My country has demonstrated that the ideals ALL OF US were taught to believe lie at the foundation of the constitution were REAL.  For months I had anxiously awaited the moment with a sense of anticipation and also a sense of fear.  The Democrats had stepped out at a very important time in history and I, despite being a lifelong “independent,” was proud to watch what was happening, was sending what little money I could to Obama and other candidates (in the hope of helping to create the so-called magical 60 vote Democratic caucus in the senate), and was talking to anyone who would listen about how bad I thought an Obama defeat (and therefore a McCain/Palin win) would be for our nation.

I, like millions of other progressive minded Americans, had endured the 8 years of Bush/Cheney with a mounting sense of anticipation as to when it would “finally be over.”  I started reading books regarding the Bush decisions to abandon Afganistan in favor of invading Iraq, warrantlessly wiretapping his own citizens, authorizing torture and endless incarceration for “enemy combatants” – many of which were obviously victims of a flawed policy in the manner they were captured – and some even ended up dead, reducing taxes during wartime thereby necessitating huge deficits and inadequate support for our troops, and virtually obliterating what was a vibrant economy when he took office to the point where many people (including myself) were making comparisons – and legitimately so – to Herbert Hoover and the American economy of the 1920’s leading to the “Great Depression” as Bush was leaving office.

I tempered my joy regarding Obama’s historic victory by pledging that I would NOT give him the same blind loyalty which the Republicans gave Bush – a loyalty which allowed for much of the abuse leading to the massive folly that Bush will be remembered for – a loyalty which essentially “trumped” the traditional American institutions of “checks and balances” brilliantly designed by our forefathers as a way to prevent exactly what Bush/Cheney were trying to impose on America – the unitary executive.  That is, the Republicans were attempting to create a circumstance where they would have what they called the “permanent Republican majority.”  Control of the White House, both houses of Congress, the court system (along with the justice department), and probably most significantly THE MEDIA.

In fact, one of my original disappointments with Obama was his refusal to expose the abuses of the Bush/Cheney administration through investigations.  But, my point here is that I was really excited that he was our President (still am – just a bit discouraged) and that Bush was not our President (or that McCain/Palin were not the new administration).  If you’ve been on this site before you know that I’ve kept my pledge to avoid the blind loyalty and I’ve become progressively more impatient with our new President.  I have been, and will continue to be, critical of many of his decisions for a simple reason.  I honestly disagree with them and I believe President Obama is taking a way too pragmatic approach to dealing with our problems.  In my mind the opportunity was there at the start of his Presidency to TRULY make some SIGNIFICANT changes in the direction of this nation.  It appears to me that President Obama is using the same set of “bandaids” to fix the same old problems – therefore insuring we’ll (or, worse than that, our children and/or grandchildren will) be fixing these same problems again at a time that is still to be determined.

That being said, I can’t even imagine how bad it would be in this country if John McCain had become President.  The guy thought our economy’s “fundamentals” were strong as depression was hovering on the horizon and he couldn’t tell the differnce between a Sunni and a Shia as he was acting as some kind of expert on the Iraq war.  Evidently his military service where he was – like Bush – the recipient of position based on his father’s success and, also like Bush, a virtual failure at everything he did – this was supposed to make him some kind of military expert.  The only thing he did well while in the military was crash a lot of planes.  He came within about five spots from being at the absolute BOTTOM of his class at Annapolis – a class of almost 900 Midshipmen.  In my mind, NOT PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL.  Of course, then he (a man with a history of cancer) chose the most INCREDIBLY UNQUALIFIED vice presidential candidate EVER in Sarah Palin.  I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have Sarah Palin as our commander in chief.  And, there’s still Republicans out there who refuse to admit the obvious – that Sarah Palin as a nationally prominent politician is a JOKE – A BAD JOKE!  John McCain’s INCREDIBLE decision to thrust her into the national spotlight will place him with a special place in political infamy.  It has given her the opportunity to become rich – which she’s taking full advantage of (and, I don’t blame her – I’d probably do the same) – and it’s giving the radical right wing fringe (and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck) someone who’s dumber than them that they can “champion.”

So, when people remind me of the alternative to Obama when I complain about his decisionmaking it is true that he is LIGHT YEARS better than anything I can imagine from the Republicans.  He is “nudging” us in a different direction, and I suppose when you take a practical look at the makeup of our Congress it’s easy to see how one might say “this is the best we can do.”  However, I’m not buying that and I refuse to think that way.  I’m still waiting for someone who will use the so-called “bully – pulpit” to push a real progressive agenda.  One that will reverse the “Reagan effect” on our government and totally change the mindset and the expectation of our people. 

At the rate we’re going we will continue to accept lobbyists buying off our Congress people “right before our eyes.”  This health care debate has been quite an education for anyone who’s been closely watching it.  When the industry which is supposedly being reformed is spending upwards of a million and a half dollars PER DAY to defeat the “reform,” and when the senators who block the “reform” every step of the way are receiving contributions in the MILLIONS from the very companies and businesses they’re attempting to regulate – SOMETHING’S TERRIBLY WRONG and passive pragmatism won’t cut it.  For example, I heard tonight that the so-called (watered down) “public option” was being “abandoned” in exchange for lowering the eligible age for Medicare to 55.  I thought, “these guys are going to find a way to allow the insurance industry which is giving them millions to ‘win’ while making it look like they’ve done something substantial.”

Now, I’m in the over 55 category and under 65 – which is the present Medicare eligible age – so maybe this will be a benefit to me.  However, what I think it will do is create MORE PROFIT for the health care industry by pushing the older, more vulnerable customers, into the Medicare system while FORCING MILLIONS OF YOUNGER AMERICANS to buy what one person I listened to tonight termed “their crappy products.”  I’m sure Obama, along with all the other “leaders” in Washington will claim this to be historic legislation – and, to be sure, I hope they’re right and I’m wrong – but, when you think about it, the REAL SOLUTION would be to open up Medicare to EVERYONE and cut these cutthroat, profit oriented MIDDLE MEN completely out of the health care picture.  THAT WOULD BE THE REAL PRACTICAL APPROACH to the health care dilemma in America – but it wasn’t even “on the table.”

This is just another example of trying to do something that “looks good” but doesn’t “rock the boat” too much.  Keep all the big companies and Wall Street happy.  It appears to me that from the Washington DC perspective the “heartland” of America is on Wall Street.  I could go on – for example, the Iraq policy of Obama – ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CREATIVE OR COURAGEOUS – simply letting the clock tick as we “allow” the Bush negotiated policy to “run out.” (and, in this case, I believe we are all in for a surprise when we see how many Americans are staying in Iraq and for how long)  Then there’s the deficit issue.  Bush/Cheney left a budget deficit of something like 1.2 to 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS for their last budget – which of course is the budget Obama’s been forced to deal with in his first year – for those who don’t know, IT’S STILL HAPPENING.  Obama could have taken a courageous stand regarding the “Bush tax cuts” and REPEALED THEM UPON ENTERING OFFICE,  but no, he’s going to just allow them to run out – AGAIN nothing courageous or different in my mind.  And, I could spend volumes writing about Afganistan – which I believe could be Obama’s “waterloo” as one racist senator from South Carolina tried to make the health care bill.  Many of Obama’s supporters will be deflated from the original decision, but come 2012 when we’re still “mired” in Afganistan it will no longer be Bush’s fiasco, it will be Obama’s “blunder.”  In fact, I’m sure that with most Americans, the “surge” in troops into Afganistan has made it Obama’s occupation at this point already.

I could spend my time writing about how disgusting the Republicans are – and, believe me, as every day passes I’m amazed at how they become even MORE DISGUSTING to me – which, based on how ridiculous they have been,  should be IMPOSSIBLE.  But, they seem to continue outdoing themselves.  For example, just the other day I heard Mitch McConnell – the minority leader in the Senate – along with John Boehner of the House complaining that the “Democrats were trying to ‘cut’ Medicare,” and saying how bad this was.  Then, I got home tonight, and there they were again complaining that the “Democrats were trying to ‘expand’ Medicare!”  It’s like a roller coaster with these guys.  The only thing you can count on is that they will oppose EVERYTHING – especially if they think it might lead Obama to be considered a success – that is proposed by Democrats.  They are enough to make me gag.  The sad thing is that we need a vibrant opposition party and these guys are heading for political oblivion.  If they get back in power, we’ll all be IN BIG TROUBLE.  However, despite the absurdity of the Republicans, I still refuse to be blindly loyal to President Obama!  I REALLY want the change “we can believe in” for my children and grandchildren – NOT MORE (ALMOST) THE SAME!

Let me start my thoughts for this evening by reiterating that I WANT PRESIDENT OBAMA TO SUCCEED!  And, my reservations about his Presidency are nothing personal toward Obama.  Yes, I voted for him, I sent him money, and I believe he’s a good and honorable man (as politicians go).  I think President Obama is a good father and a good husband, and I would be shocked if ever there was a report about him carousing around such as the recent “undoing” of Tiger Woods.  I was stunned when I heard about Tiger’s transgressions and would be moreso should it ever happen with Obama.

Of course, it seems in our present day America anything is possible.  John Edwards was the populist candidate who made the most sense to me and he had appeared on several public appearances with his wife who was battling cancer, so it about floored me when I heard that he was unfaithful to her.  I’ve often wondered, since finding that out, whether he would have accepted the Democratic nomination had he garnered enough primary delegates despite the FACT he knew he was a scandal waiting to happen.  I mean, had Edwards won the Democratic nomination we could be facing today’s monumental problems with an administration of McCain/Palin.  Everytime I think of that possibility I lose more respect (if there’s any left) for Edwards.  When people tell me these politician’s private lives shouldn’t matter, well – it’s the incredible dishonesty (and, in most cases, hypocricy) that really turns me off.  That all being said, I just don’t see President Obama as someone who would betray the trust of his family.

OK, where am I going with this you ask?  Well, I’ve been writing about my “red flags” regarding President Obama since before he was inaugurated – and, more intently as time has moved on with him nearing his first anniversary in office.  I’m finding myself making similar criticisms of our President to the Republicans whom I’ve come to despise, which is a bit unnerving to me, but my criticisms are from almost the opposite direction of the “right wingers.”  I’ve said some things OVER AND OVER in the hopes that someone with some connection to Obama would miraculously tell him to start listening more to certain 6th grade school teachers and less to some of his advisors (Rahm Emmanuel, for one).  And, now I’m seeing more and more of my predictions being made from people in positions which might actually get heard (I’m not so arrogant to think that these people came to their conclusions based on reading my blog – my thoughts are that Obama’s “advisors” should be able to figure this stuff out for themselves if people like me can – I hope it’s his advisors creating the problem and not him).

First, let me elaboborate on criticisms I have that I’m hearing from the “tea bagger crowd” – ie Glenn Beck, the Limbaugh “ditto heads,” the Cheney’s, and essentially Repbulicans in general.  They have been complaining from the start that President Obama is a great orator who lacks substance.  Well, I have found myself having the same feelings, knowing however, if the President met my expectations regarding “substance” these Republicans would be considerably more upset than they are.  However, I believe it would be fairer to say Obama’s speeches are far superior to the “substance” I’m seeing in policy, and it’s this substance which is bothering me.  I expected to see a President who was REALLY committed to what he termed the “Change we can believe in.”  I’ve been struggling to understand my own thoughts on why Obama’s “substance” – that is the decisions coming down from his administration – was bothering me so and, today, while listening to the radio program “Ring of Fire” with a commentator named Mike Papantonio it all came together for me.  Papantonio used the term “Bush-lite” in describing Obama and “the light went off” in my head.  That’s the perfect term for why I’ve been feeling so frustrated with our new President.  Too much of his “substance” reminds me of Bush.

I’ll elaborate more on that shortly, but first – the second area I find myself with similar feelings to the “right wingers.”  They say our President is “weak” regarding foreign policy – with the Cheney “crowd” claiming he’s making us “less safe.”  Well, in response to that I have to initially say that there’s NO WAY anyone could make us less safe than what the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld group – with TOTAL capitulation by the Republican controlled congress – did, but I’m almost BITTERLY disappointed in Obama’s apparent unwillingness to take on the mammoth military industrial complex which President Eisenhower warned in my youth could be the demise of this nation – for that matter the world.  His words, “The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist” are becoming more and more profound as we (Americans) seemingly cannot extricate ourselves from two disastrous occupations which have been mishandled for upwards of 8 LONG years!  In his failure to stand up to this group of corporations and militarists who are driving this nation toward bankruptcy (probably already there – for all intents and purposes) while they glean TRILLIONS from American taxpayers through huge profits derived from “no-bid” contracts in Iraq/Afganistan makes me feel he’s “weak” in an entirely different way from that of the “tea baggers” who, actually, should be applauding Obama for some of his military decisions.

If you’ve been around here before, much of my objections with Obama are redundant – but, I believe, getting more relevent all the time.  For starters – and the thing that has “burned” me the most, would be Obama’s lack of will in holding the previous administration accountable.  Almost as if there’s an “unwritten rule” that Presidents don’t investigate Presidents – like doctors don’t testify against doctors, lawyers against lawyers, etc.  Well, the problem with that “rule” is that the United States of America DESPERATELY needs to be OVER the misdeeds of the Bush administration!  And, if Obama succeeds in “looking forward and not backward” the torture, the illegal wiretapping (which Obama/Holder are defending in court), the outing of a CIA agent, the war profiteering, the election fraud, and the Wall Street meltdown (where you had a Treasury Secretary “bailing out” his former company – Goldman Sachs – in order to “prevent a financial meltdown” – and, presumably to protect his holdings in Goldman Sachs stock – I’ve always thought that if his stock was in Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns his actions would have come a bit sooner) – all of this will be imbedded in America’s history as OK – because we did nothing about it.  And, it will all likely happen again – in fact, I  believe most of the abuses are probably still ongoing – due to the lack of will of President Obama to stop them!

Then there’s the economy.  One of my MAJOR red flags went up when I heard that he had chosen Tim Geithner as his Treasury Secretary (it only took a little research to figure out that he had his hand in the meltdown he was being hired to stop) and Larry Summers – one of President Clinton’s advisors who was instrumental in the deregulating which went on in the last years of Clinton’s Presidency leading to many of the problems that undermined our entire economy.  Kind of like hiring the “fox to take care of the hen house” in both cases – Geithner and Summers.  And, the end result of this has been predictable.  We got a “stimulus” package that was too small to generate enough jobs fast enough to prevent the massive unemployment which is crippling this nation as I’m writing this post plus an attitude that we fix Wall Street first and hope that “main street” follows along ASAP.  Of course, most economists are saying that main street is going to lag behind for several more years.  This is not only bad for “main street” but it’s bad for all the progressives who voted Obama in, because the likelihood of him winning a second term is dwindling every day he continues to pursue these “Bush-lite” policies.

I have to say that I’m even expecting the health care legislation to get passed, but for it to end up changing very little.  I’m hopeful that the CBO is correct when it predicts that my outrageous insurance premiums will actually go down – although I’m very skeptical – but I’m anticipating that the legislation will end up making the insurance industry even stronger and even more difficult to deal with in the years to come should this legislation not solve the problem of health care eating a huge hole in the American budget – from the average family’s budget, to the US government’s budget.  And, if there ends up being a “public option” it will be so watered down that very few people will even be eligible to excercise the “option” of purchasing it – making it, for all intents and purposes, either a non-factor or a negative in the fight for health care as a right in America.

And, then there’s that nasty subject of foreign policy.  Obama’s actions remind me of the saying that when you try to make everyone happy you end up making no one happy.  Well, for starters, President Obama can not make any of the Republicans happy.  That’s just the way it is.  The Beck’s, the Limbaugh’s, the O’Reilly’s, the Boehner’s, the McConnell’s, the McCain’s, and I could go on – none of them are EVER going to be happy with a Democrat, and ESPECIALLY a Democrat whose father is from Kenya!  Again, THAT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS!  So, I really don’t understand why President Obama seems so intent on pleasing them – or at least that is the way it appears to me.  Let’s start with the disaster in Iraq.  The US is approaching the TRILLIONTH dollar wasted on that FIASCO – every penny of which is BORROWED MONEY!  I distinctly remember Obama telling me and the rest of America that ALL our troops would be home within 16 months of his taking office.  THAT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS I SUPPORTED HIM.  He had opposed the invasion RIGHT FROM THE START!  Well, we now have a plan to remove less than half of the troops in about a 20 month timeframe with about 50,000 to 75,000 “non-combat” troops left behind for an undetermined amount of time.  He says they will come home according to the “time-table” negotiated by Bush, but I’ll even believe that when I see it.  WHAT REALLY BUGS ME IS there was nothing courageous about any decision he made regarding Iraq!  At best, we will get the withdrawal according to Bush!  UNBELIEVABLE TO ME!

Then there’s Afganistan.  It’s true that the Bush administration left a horribly mis-managed MESS in Afganistan when they moved back to Texas.  It’s true that the Afgans have been “abandoned” by one country after another (including the US on at least two occasions), it’s true that the Taliban has reconstituted itself and is moving back into Afganistan, it’s true that al Qaeda is right across the border in Pakistan and that Pakistan is key to the problem “left behind” by Bush/Cheney, and it’s true that Pakistan has a nuclear arsenal which would be disastrous in the hands of al Qaeda or any other extremist group in or around Pakistan – plus, it’s true that Obama, in the campaign, pledged to refocus on Afganistan in order to bring Osama bin Laden to justice.  All that stuff is true, but first putting 21,000 additional troops into Afganistan shortly after the inauguration and now an additional 30,000 (which will probably be 40,000 with support troops), it seems to me, almost guarantees that the US is the next in a long line of nations to bankrupt themselves by being “bogged down” in Afganistan.  I really don’t understand how we can justify an additional 60 BILLION per year in Afganistan when we can’t afford to fix our hiways and bridges, we can’t afford health care for our people, we can’t afford to educate our children, and – according to Republicans (and some Democrats) we can’t even afford to keep supporting the unemployed workers in our nation.  Can you imagine what that $60,000,0000,000 (written out for emphasis) would do for the Afgan people if we just supplied it as aid to help the country with the poverty problem which is the root cause of the “insurgency?” (or what it could do for our nation?)

I know Obama said he wanted to finish the job of bringing bin Laden to justice.  But, getting bogged down for years – militarily – in Afganistan is more about our military leaders being unable to EVER accept the “appearance” of defeat (remember, Patreaus and the rest of them got their start in Viet Nam – and their determination to make sure it doesn’t happen again will probably make sure it happens again!) and our President being too “weak” to say NO to them.  The “surge” in Iraq did nothing more than put off the inevitable – unless we stay there for a generation – God forbid – and now they want to do the same thing in Afganistan.  These 30,000 troops will eventually be at least 2 to 3 times that amount – I can see almost a direct transfer of commitment from Iraq to Afganistan – with the result being a large segment of those who voted for Obama “sitting out” the next presidential election.

President Obama has pretty much taken the bait from the Republicans.  In his determination to get bipartisanship on his legislation and appear to be “strong” regarding Iraq and Afganistan he is making the unthinkable possible.  And, what would that be?  Well, at first thought you might think – if you’re trying to stay one step ahead of my reasoning – ANOTHER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT.  Well, you’d be partially correct.  That is my genuine fear.  Obama has already lost ONE VOTE for sure – which is mine,  based on his refusal to investigate Bush/Cheney thereby endorsing torture (even though he says the US doesn’t torture anymore – believe me, the next Republican President will just laugh at that “promise”).  There are credible reports that unless President Obama makes significant changes to his decision making up to 40% of “progressives” will sit out the next elections.  Many are like me – they won’t vote for a Republican – but they’re not going to endorse “Bush-lite” policies either.  As stated above, if you guessed my fear of another Republican president you were partially correct  because my real fear is another BUSH!  I realize all the publicity is on Sarah Palin, but I can virtually guarantee you that while Barack Obama is weakening his own position for re-election there is someone hiding in the “weeds” who should make all progressives queezy in their stomachs.  My biggest fear:  President Obama’s “Bush-lite” policies will lead to a real Bush – Jeb Bush in 2012!  As I’ve often said on this site regarding my concerns about our President – I hope I’m wrong.  And, in this case, I REALLY hope I’m wrong!

If you’ve spent much time around this site you know that I’m not too happy with President Obama, whom I supported in the last election, but I’m disgusted with Republicans as they are presently “constituted.”  That is to say, I fully believe in a vibrant two party system of government where you have legitimate debate on pressing issues and ultimately end up with bipartisan legislation which represents the best of both points of view.  However, since the late sixties when I started voting I’ve watched as bipartisanship has slowly ebbed into political oblivion while partisan “rancor” has emerged as the “way of life” in Washington DC – much to the chagrine of most Americans in the “heartland.”  I believe the real deteriorization escalated after the Watergate scandal which was a time when Republicans would vote alongside Democrats and vice versa depending on the legislation.  I don’t remember a time back then (it probably happened occasionally) when a really important issue would be decided without a single vote from someone “crossing over the isle.” 

The original FISA legislation, for example – which was passed in 1978 came from the Senate committee chaired by Frank Church, a Democrat from Idaho, working alongside John Tower and Barry Goldwater – both as conservative and Republican as they came – all of them recognizing the importance of Congress requiring warrants for government agencies before they could invade the privacy of American citizens.  And, the Republicans of that era didn’t just “roll over” without defending “their” President during the Watergate hearings of the mid-1970’s, but when it became apparent that Richard Nixon had “obstructed justice” they didn’t practice “blind loyalty” as present day Republicans would, but actually “encouraged” Nixon to resign.  Back then there were Republicans like Everett Dirksen, Mark Hatfield, Bob Packwood, Nelson Rockefeller, the aforementioned Tower and Goldwater and others who were independent thinkers and very honorable men.  They were truly great statesmen.  However, this era also spawned the likes of Lee Atwater and  Roger Ailes which eventually led to Karl Rove – men who were/are political strategists who would do anything in order to win elections.  I believe this was the era when the idea of the “permanent republican majority” was born. 

In the 1980’s the “conservative” wing of the Republican party began to push out the men listed above (Dirksen, Rockefeller, etc.) and Ronald Reagan emerged as the “icon” who’s image still drives the Republicans to this day.  They won the election in 1980 by supporting a “third party” candidate – John Anderson, a liberal Republican – who siphoned votes from disenchanted Democrats unhappy with Jimmy Carter and they’ve been using “dirty tricks” to win elections ever since (it’s also been widely reported that the Reagan “team” worked a “deal” with the Iran government which was holding 53 American hostages to insure they weren’t released prior to the election insuring Carter’s demise).  Republicans have continually represented the interests of the few but have managed to masterfully use wedge issues and various dishonest techniques to convince average middle class voters to vote against their own self interests since the emergence of Reagan.  In a sense you have to give it to them – they are very good at winning elections with the philosophy that the end justifies the means.  Both Bush’s won elections subsequent to the Reagan years using less than honorable tactics.  Remember the Willie Horton ads of the George HW Bush campaign which pretty much undid Michael Dukakis?  And I certainly will never forget the George W Bush “win” in Florida set up by Bush’s brother Jeb and Florida’s Secretary of State Kathleen Harris in concert with the Supreme Court – an election which will have a still undetermined negative effect on this nation for generations to come.  And, of course, there is ample evidence that GW Bush cheated his way to re-election in 2004 as well through widespread voter suppression and fraud in Ohio which was enabled by Ohio’s Secretary of State who was also Bush’s state campaign chairman – a conflict of interest that I still can’t believe could happen in America without challenge in the 21st century (not to mention the “swift boating” of John Kerry during that campaign).  Again, the Republicans are REALLY GOOD at winning elections through ANY MEANS POSSIBLE. (and, the flip side – Democrats seem, at least to me, way to willing to allow them to do this)

The end result of all this from the Republican side is we have a group which has been marginalized and is dwindling in size, a group which is now resorting to “loyalty oaths” for anyone interested in “leadership” positions (I honestly don’t understand how those two things – loyalty oaths and leadership – can go together – except maybe in a place like Germany circa early 1930’s), a group which has become overtly racist (not a surprise to many who’ve been paying attention – just totally out front with it at the “tea bagger” events and such), and a group which has “locked arms” in a unified effort to make sure that President Obama FAILS!  Well, as mentioned above, I’M PRETTY MUCH DISGUSTED WITH THESE REPUBLICANS!  So, where’s the problem I would have with our new President – he’s got to be better than all of that, right?

Well, for starters, while I honestly see the importance of “bipartisanship” – as mentioned above – NOT AT ALL COSTS as our President evidently believes!  I got tired of President Obama’s “overtures” to the Republicans shortly after he took office.  And, he still hasn’t given up the attempts.  In the process he’s allowed the “Bush Crime family” to go free (if you’ve been around here much – you know that I’m having a hard time forgiving Obama for this – in fact I’m not sure I EVER WILL – I think I keep mentioning it on the REMOTE chance that an Obama person might happen on this site, read some of my reasoning, and talk some sense into the President – and we could end up with justice DELAYED), we ended up with a woefully inadequate “stimulus” bill in exchange for three Republican votes, Obama is even defending Bush/Cheney’s illegal wiretapping policies in court, and health care “reform” will end up being a watered down “windfall” for the health insurance industry.  And, now we are sending another 30,000 troops into Afganistan.

What we are faced with as citizens of this nation is a two party system where the party on the “right” – the Republicans – consists of a marginalized group of dishonest, disengenuous, authoritarian minded conduits for a continued policy of practicing massive CORPORATE WELFARE while fighting any and all attempts to provide assistance for the “least among us.”  On the left – well, I don’t think there is a “left” anymore.  I believe the left is really the conservatives and the “right” has become the radical fringe – but, for convenience sake lets call the Democrats the “left.”  The Democrats are a bunch of bought and paid for “corporatists” who seemingly have a connection to the “everyday” man/woman – but don’t have the courage of their supposed convictions.  And, our Democratic President fits right in with the majority of the Democrats in the Congress.  While many more Americans than myself are LONGING for the Democrats (or Republicans for that matter – SOMEONE) to stand up for the restoration of the middle class – IT JUST AINT HAPPENING!  The excuses I keep hearing from all of these politicians reminds me of the excuses I get from my sixth grade students.  It’s almost like they don’t want to “rock the boat” – WHICH NEEDS TO BE ROCKED – because it would interfere with their “protocal.” (and the flow of money from the corporations who virtually own them)

Well, I (and I believe millions of others) say TO HELL WITH THE PROTOCAL!  Our government can find the wherewithall to “nation build” in Iraq and Afganistan to the tune of a couple hundred BILLION DOLLARS per year – yet we can’t seem to find the will to “nation build” in our own country.  We can’t find the money to create jobs for the MILLIONS of Americans who are losing everything they’ve spent their lives working for – INCLUDING THEIR HOMES.  We can spend what is going to amount to 3 – 4 TRILLION DOLLARS over the next 10 years  to occupy two countries which we should have little or NO interest in, yet we can’t find the will to spend ONE TRILLION over the same time period to guarantee all Americans affordable health care.  Our Congress didn’t hesitate to FEED WALL STREET what could conceivably end up amounting to tens of TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to prevent their risky investments from bankrupting the companies which have managed to become “too big to fail,” but when it comes to providing unemployment benefits and food stamps which represent a SMALL FRACTION of this Wall Street bailout expense we see Republicans BLOCKING legislation, and Democrats quietly going along with it.

When I think back to my original enthusiasm for President Obama this all seems like a bad dream.  However, I (and many others) clearly misjudged him.  He’s not following through on his promises to get the troops (all of them) out of Iraq in 16 months, to uphold the American tradition that NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW, that waterboarding is torture, and where there is evidence of criminal behavior the laws will be fairly enforced – HE’S UNDERMINED THE BASIC TENETS OF OUR LEGAL SYSTEM AS MUCH AS BUSH DID! – he’s apparently willing to sign a health care bill which does not include the so-called “public option” – which, even if included, will be watered down and nothing more than an option for those people the insurance industry wants no part of – therefore being destined for FAILURE from the start, and there are many other areas where President Obama is proving to his progressive supporters that they either misunderstood his positions or he was disengenuous in the campaign.  The 30,000 troops going to Afganistan was predictable based on what I heard during the campaign, but I understood him to say the purpose of our involvement in Afganistan would be to “FINISH THE JOB” regarding Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.  So progressives now have another area of discontent with our President:  Obama’s campaign promise to go after bin Laden seems to have evolved into nation building in Afganistan! America continues to wait for leadership which chooses principled conviction over political expediency.

(As I watch our nation look the other way while our unemployed and underemployed numbers skyrocket I’ve decided to reread Karl Marx “Communist Manifesto.” I will have more to say on that at a later date, but it is facinating reading the predictions of how greed and capitalism “mix.” It would not surprise me if Marx’ philosophy didn’t re-emerge in intellectual settings as the discussion about the growing “lower class” (proletariat) intensifies in America – as it undoubtedly will should our leaders continue to delude themselves into thinking the recession is “over” because Wall Street is on the upswing)

It’s getting more difficult all the time to fight off the feeling of frustration as I watch the American political scene unfold “right before my eyes.”  I’m struggling with how on earth an American political party can become as dishonest and disengenuous as the Republican party and still have a national presence.  And my heart wants one of the parties to address the “real” needs of the everyday American people, but it just isn’t happening.  I want to say the Democrats aren’t spineless (although they appear to be) yet my instincts are telling me they are, in general, every bit as much at the mercy of the multi-national corporations as the Republicans.  It seems as if the members of Congress willing to stand up for the principles that we were taught in school were the foundation of this nation are few and far between.

Then we have the President who I so willingly supported, voted for, and to a degree campaigned for – who seems to be all too willing to accept “compromise” which is nothing more than a sell out to the monied interests who have a stranglehold on Washington DC.  When I saw the “consummate” politicians he surrounded himself with once elected I became a bit nervous.  As the year has unfolded my worst fears seem to be on the horizon.  I believe President Obama is a good man with a good heart, I’m just not convinced at this point that he’s the fiery leader I felt we were in desperate need of when I originally threw my support his way.  I know he has the intellectual capacity to take that role, I’m just not seeing it happening.  I keep telling myself that being surrounded by Rahm Emanuel, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, and trying to bridge the gap with Republicans who despise him is a failed direction he should be able to detect and change.  I continue to hope for that change because these people are all about the status quo – business as usual – which is what appears to be happening in our nation.

This is not a “business as usual” time – and, I’m tired of all the excuses about how nothing can be accomplished due to the obsinence of the Republicans in the Senate.  What I’m seeing is the same old way of solving problems with the same unacceptable results – WHILE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS ARE GOING HUNGRY, LOSING THEIR HOMES, and losing everything they’ve spent their lives working for.  It would not be difficult to make a clear case directed toward the public as to why this is happening (Republican rule).  AND IT’S RIDICULOUS to be pandering to the ones who created this mess in the first place.  I’ve said from the very first few days of the Obama administration that his “need” for “bipartisanship” was a HORRIBLY BAD IDEA!

What the President should have been doing was confronting the confrontational nature of the Republicans and PUSHING true progressive solutions to the problems created by the Bush administration and 30+ YEARS OF SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS!  The whole theory  behind this “trickle down” approach to managing our economy NEVER MADE ANY SENSE in the first place – but these Republicans mastered the art of cramming propaganda down the American public’s “throat” until enough people fell for their nonsense allowing for disastrous political victories (disastrous for what was a robust middle class prior to Reagan which is now a shell of what it – the middle class – was in the 70’s – of course, on the other hand, a HUGE WINDFALL to all those in the upper income brackets and – more importantly – the corporate “heads” who now virtually RUN OUR GOVERNMENT) which have nearly bankrupted our nation.

Here’s what is really depressing when I think about “what’s happening.”  The unemployment rate in the United States, as of Thanksgiving 2009, is somewhere around 17+ percent.  Of course, the government reports numbers considerably less than that – although still DISASTROUS – I guess to keep people from using the “D” word – instead calling this a “severe” recession.  But, when you look at the number of foreclosures, when you listen to all the people who are homeless and have been looking for work for over a year, when you hear stories of THOUSANDS applying for minimum wage jobs, when you talk to numerous parents working multiple jobs thereby leaving their children to “fend for themselves” most of the time, and when you count the number of banks not “too big to fail” which have failed – you realize THERE’S A HUGE PROBLEM OUT THERE.  How bad does it have to get before we call this the depression that it is?

We know that the Republicans don’t care about anything except that President Obama fails.  Therefore, THEY SHOULD JUST BE WRITTEN OFF.  It’s time to end the political nightmare in Washington.  For this to happen we need LEADERSHIP!  The President is the one who is going to have to supply this.  He has the “BULLY PULPIT” and it’s high time that he start using it.  He needs to go on the attack so that the government can step in and really STIMULATE our economy.  OUR PEOPLE NEED JOBS, and they need them now, not in the two or three year time period the economic advisors to the President are predicting.  I’m already tired of hearing Geithner explain how job creation is always the last phase of a recovery.  It’s almost as if President Obama’s advisors have “drunk” the trickle down “coolaid.”

Here’s the deal; if President Obama is going to continue with a policy which rewards Wall Street for their bad behavior by condoning what amounts to a “top down” approach to solving our problems, he’s going to be a one term President.  And, it won’t be due to Fox “news,” or Rush Limbaugh, or Sarah Palin – it will be because the President has chosen to abandon the progressive views of the people who got him elected.  Already we’re hearing rumblings of discontent from the White House about the number of “liberals” who are “jumping off the bandwagon.”  As if, they just have assumed all along that the “base” will stick with the President through “thick and thin.”  As far as I’m concerned, I made it clear that Obama would not get the “sheep mentality” from me that GW Bush got from Republicans and all of the “ditto heads” who simply do/did what Limbaugh and the rest of the Republican leadership tell/told them to do.  I started predicting trouble for Obama as soon as he chose to “look forward instead of backward,” therefore letting Bush/Cheney and the Republicans “off the hook” for potentially destroying this nation as we know it.

Let me explain why this was such a STUPID move.  The constant vitriol coming from the “right” (wrong) was totally PREDICTABLE.  We’ve had to listen to the likes of Glenn Beck calling the President everything from a non-citizen to a racist to a communist to a nazi (of course, if anyone thinks like a nazi it would be Beck and or some of his cohorts – like Limbaugh, Cheney, etc) – we’ve had to listen to Rush Limbaugh say “I hope Obama fails,” and do everything in his power to influence his “ditto heads” to hope for the same thing (notwithstanding the FACT that would mean America would fail), and worst of all for me we’ve had to listen to Dick (head) Cheney going around the country doing everything from bragging how “waterboarding” isn’t torture and provides “actionable intelligence” (both easily proven lies) to undermining President Obama’s attempts to fix the HORRIBLY FAILED political and military DISASTERS Cheney was largely responsible for (along with his good buddy Donald Rumsfeld) in Iraq and Afganistan.  Cheney committed treason when he “outed” Valerie Plame of the CIA to get even with her husband for telling the truth about how Bush/Cheney were lying us into the Iraq fiasco.  That wasn’t good enough for him, so he’s still going around trying to make his own folly look good while unpatriotically undermining our present Commander in Chief.  To listen to Cheney you would think he wants another terrorist attack on this nation in order to make himself feel better about allowing 9/11 to happen on his watch.  THIS MAN MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH JUST KNOWING HE’S STILL WALKING FREE!  Cheney and the rest of the Republicans continue to believe our laws don’t apply to them – they (and America) desperately need to learn that DECISIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES – and, America is a nation of laws NOT MEN!

I believe almost all of the partisan rancor in Washington would be in the process of subsiding had Obama not only allowed, but pushed for, the investigation of and – where appropriate – the prosecution of the Bush/Cheney administration for all their criminal behavior.  I spent the Thanksgiving weekend at a Christian Retreat Center with a group of people who I love – mostly members of the “Christian Right” who just go along with the Republicans because they believe Republicans want to end abortion.  They have NO IDEA WHAT REPUBLICANS ACTUALLY HAVE DONE AND STAND FOR!  These people live to do things to help the least fortunate among us and they just don’t understand the degree Republicans block their own efforts.  When I think of them voting for Republicans I think of the saying about when you “cut off your nose to spite your face.”  A full public investigation of the Bush administration would have put many “truths” out there where even the Fox “news” crew couldn’ hide them.

America DESPERATELY NEEDED to know what had happened in “our name,” when Obama was elected.  He failed the test MISERABLY.  I don’t know if he ordered his Attorney General to “look the other way,” or if Eric Holder did this of his own volition and Obama didn’t intercede – but, regardless, this will go down as a TERRIBLE DECISION that will cause this nation to carry the burden of the Bush/Cheney debacle for maybe years to come.  And, if Obama does end up being a one term President – unless he’s defeated from within his own party we will have another Republican in the White House – and I GUARANTEE YOU – any Republican who moves into the White House without having Bush/Cheney REBUKED will take over where they left off!  Those of us who spent so much energy getting Obama elected will have to endure an encore performance of the unitary executive “theory” imposed on America by Dick Cheney and carried out by GW Bush.  I don’t believe I was the only American who was counting on Obama to reverse their wrongs!

The end result of all this has been a stimulus bill which was woefully inadequate to address the unemployment disaster happening in America over the previous two years and evidently – based on the political will in Washington – the next two years AT LEAST;  an energy policy which probably won’t happen due to the lack of will to confront Republicans, and a health care “reform” bill which will likely be a “boon” to the insurance industry, cause even higher rates for “we the people,” and will possibly “hamstring” the Obama administration for the next few years.  Believe me, if the health care bill is passed without giving the majority of Americans the “choice” to buy a medicare like “public option” as an alternative to the price gauging insurnace companies, the backlash will come from Obama’s own supporters.

This is a time in American history when we are in desperate need of courageous leadership.  And courageous leadership doesn’t mean politics as usual.  We need our LEADER to stand tall for PRINCIPLED legislation which will reverse the 30 year assault on the New Deal agenda which created our great middle class in the first place.  So far we’ve only seen agressive legislation in the Wall Street bailouts and VIRTUALLY NO RE-REGULATION to go along with it.  Health care reform appears headed for disaster and unemployment seems destined to rise for at least another year.  The more I learn about Tim Geithner, the more I believe he’s as connected to Goldman Sachs as Henry Paulsen was.  And Larry Summers helped create the deregulation which caused this mess in the first place.  Rahm Emanuel is the epitome of a Washington “insider” directing the “change we want to believe in” by playing politics as usual.  As I continue to be grieved by all the stories I’m hearing about the millions of Americans who are losing all they’ve worked so hard for I can’t help but wonder; How can we achieve the “Change we can believe in” through politics as usual?