I’m Back! Did you Miss Me? November 4, 2009
Posted by Kate Ryan in Barack Obama, Democrats, Economy, Health Care, National Politics, Obama Administration.Tags: Barack Obama, Conservatism, Democrats, Health Care, National Politics, Politics, Public Option, Republicans
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In case any of you were wondering, my kitchen table has taken a very much-needed vacation from the blogosphere. Thanks to all of you regular readers who stuck with me and sent messages wondering if I were sick or expired. Obviously, neither was true, but as October wore on I believed my left-wing head was going to explode. A vacation was certainly in order.
The reason for my distress, of course, is the fact that the change I believed in seems to have turned into the same old crap dressed up like change. The Health Care reform debate finished me off. We want a public option, no we don’t, how about a trigger? Well, we got Olympia Snowe, NOT! Harry Reid says the public option is back in. Oh, wait, he doesn’t have the votes. Traitor Joe Lieberman is rearing his (very) ugly head. At least the Speaker of the House supports a robust public option – oops – no she doesn’t. She watered it down in the final bill. Mary Landrieu supports the trigger, and Joe Lieberman will not vote to filibuster. Oh, wait, yes he will.
WTF????
There is a growing sense of frustration - not just in me, but in many Progressives, Liberals, and Independents who supported President Obama’s election just one year ago. While we understand that it is more difficult to govern than to electioneer, but the pace of this administration has just been too damn slow. Instead of taking the bulls by the horns and forcing the necessary changes, the Obama administration has played their agenda carefully and pragmatically. In doing so, they have lost momentum and support.
Take health care, for instance. President Obama should have told Congress – “I want a bill on my desk June 1st. It has to do x, y, and z. It has to have a medicare for all option. It should be deficit-neutral, but that’s not the most important thing. Do it.” At that time, the momentum was there. There had been no tea parties, no disruptive town-halls, no Glenn Beck. The Republicans were in disarray and could not have mounted a strong opposition. Had they threatened a filibuster, the time was ripe to call their bluffs. The American people were in a mood to want this President to succeed and would have railed against the Republicans as obstructionist. Instead, the endless delays and efforts for bipartisanship have led to a reform bill that is so weak that it is being set up to fail. The President seems willing to accept this garbage just to check off a “win” box next to his name.
The same is true with the economy. Everyone KNEW that unemployment was going to be a big problem. The administration even mentioned it in the stimulus legislation. But instead of a huge jobs bill, we got big chunks of money going to near-broke state governments that has mostly been used to prop up the state governments. The financial bail-outs did little to get money to regular folks like you and me, in fact, many of us are feeling more squeezed than ever. But we are expected to celebrate a 150-point rise in the Dow. Huh? That doesn’t pay the heat bill.
I heard one of the talking heads on TV the other day saying that the President’s sliding approval ratings are an indication that the American people believe he is trying to do too much. Guess again. They are an indication that he is not doing enough. We didn’t just send Barack Obama to the White House. We gave him majorities in Congress to ensure that stuff gets done. We expect more leadership from this President to get his troops in line. I hate to say it, but you have to admire the Republican’s ability to bully everyone into position. This guy needs that kind of “cock-sucker-ness” in his circle (maybe James Carville is available).
Last night’s election results had lessons for this President and the Democratic party that I hope they will heed. First, New Jersey and Virginia showed that if the jobs don’t come back, this party is toast. Second, and more important, was NY 23. Democrats are crowing that the Republican’s “ideological purity” test didn’t seem to work. It came close, though, and had the Conservative candidate gone through a primary with the chosen Republican, he very well may have won a district that no Democrat had ever won before. Huge numbers of base voters turned out to vote and very nearly swung the race the other way. By the same token, liberal and progressive base voters stayed home in New Jersey and Virginia, and handed the win to the Republicans.
The message of these elections, I believe, is clear. Ignore your base at your peril. There SHOULD be an ideological purity test for candidates. They can run in the general elections as being moderate to attract Independent voters, but their core principles should be shared by all of them.
Great to be back!
Pants on Fire September 11, 2009
Posted by Kate Ryan in Barack Obama, Health Care, Joe Wilson, National Politics, Politics, Republicans, Right-Wing Extremism, US Senate.Tags: "You Lie", Barack Obama, Conservatism, Democrats, Health Care, Joe Wilson, National Politics, Politics, Public Option, Republicans, US Senate
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Every year while my daughter was in elementary, middle, and high school, I would get a note from at least one teacher about inappropriate behavior in class. You see, my daughter was one of those kids that enjoyed school as a social occasion, but it didn’t matter to her if she actually learned anything there. She was (and still is) bright, argumentative, articulate, fidgety, and not afraid to tell anyone – even someone in authority – exactly what she thinks. I wanted her to be that way, but it was always a struggle to get her to understand that everything has a time and place - the old “shouting ”fire” in a crowded theater axiom. And that there was never, and we meant never, any excuse for bad manners.
Grown-ups, we told her, had rules for civil society. They did things that they didn’t particularly want to do or like to do if those things were the right thing to do. Grown-ups always respected other people – even if they didn’t agree with them - in order to gain respect for themselves. Respect, we taught her, did not mean ass-kissing or sycophantic behavior – sometimes the greatest respect you can offer a person is to disagree with them. But before you disagree, you must always listen, evaluate, and try to understand the other person’s position.
These are (some of ) the reasons why I was so appalled at the behavior of Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina during President Obama’s address to Congress on Wednesday night. Wilson heckled the President during his remarks about extending health care benefits to undocumented residents – explicitly calling the President a lair.
To yell ”you lie’” from the floor during a speech was so unprecedented as to be mind-blowing. In keeping with the American cult of apology, Wilson offered a “mea culpa” to the White house about two hours after the outburst. Since then, however, Wilson has been on right-wing talk shows and radio saying he “won’t back down” from his (erroneous) position. The great white whale of the right, Rush Limbaugh, has said that Rep. Wilson should have never apologized. The extreme right talking heads are making this guy out to be some sort of hero. Even “Morning Joe” Scarborough of MSNBC got into the act with Time Magazine writer Joe Klein this morning.
Klein’s latest article in Time says that he expects that some sort of health care will be passed this year, but “ it will not end the public malignancy that has attended this debate and threatens the democratic fabric of our nation.” Scarborough asked Klein what he meant by “public malignancy.” He explained that the level of public discourse has been so hijacked by extremists – aided and abetted by the media – that civil debate no longer seems possible. Scarborough immediately jumped in with the fact that people on the left called George Bush a liar, and nobody got this excited.
Joe Scarborough is right. I am one of those people who called Bush a liar. I said it to anyone who would listen. I wrote it in this blog and cheered when Harry Reid did it on “Meet the Press” in 2004. I have also called George Bush a moron, an idiot, a war criminal, and lots of other unpleasant things. So did a lot of people in Congress. But here’s the difference. They never did it during an address to Congress. Time and place.
Klein went on to try explain this difference to Scarborough. He mentioned the MoveOn.org “General Betray-us” ad in the New York Times. Klein called the ad shameful and disgraceful, but said that several leading Democrats denounced the ad and sponsored a Congressional resolution officially condemning it. “No they didn’t, ” Scarborough nearly jumped out of his seat. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it was the wrong message for his party to send. “I don’t like any kind of characterizations in our politics that call into question any active duty, distinguished general who I think under any circumstances serves with the best interests of our country,” said John Kerry. Scarborough finally grudgingly conceded that there was condemnation – but it didn’t happen soon enough.
Klein finished off the interview by saying that the public malignancy was even more disturbing because there is a significant portion of the right that will not accept the legitimacy of the Obama presidency. THAT is really the crux of the matter. People who do not believe that their leader has the right and obligation to lead them will mutiny and we are seeing this mutiny in the wing-nut right. The problem is, the Republican party is so enjoying this – and making the political calculation that they can fan the fears of the idiocracy to win political points – that none of them will stand against it.
And that, my friends, is more than just lies and disrespect – it is dangerous.
