posted July 02, 2010 03:53 PM         

Once again I am struck by the sheer absurdity of our political situation. This week Mike Huckabee held forth at FOX News about the 'ick factor' in homosexuality, while Elena Kagan, vetted by Congress as a Supreme Court candidate, insisted that Don't Ask, Don't Tell policies present an unacceptable level of bias in the workplace. General McChrystal retired, and Petraeus changed tactics in Afghanistan to expand the killing rather than pursue the delicate mission of nation building. Unemployment extension failed again; the Republicans called those without work lazy and suggested that those still receiving checks should be tested for drugs.

In an interview Tuesday with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, House Minority Leader John Boehner (Republican of Ohio) suggested raising the retirement age for Social Security to pay for the occupation of Afghanistan -- America's longest war, with Vietnam coming in a close second place.

To fund more war, House Minority Leader John Boehner proposed that Social Security be pushed back to age 70, adding that the proposed financial reform is similar to "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon." Running against Majority Speaker Harry Reid, Nevada candidate Sharron Angle proclaimed that God's plan for those impregnated by rape or incest does not include abortion. Glenn Beck has embraced the real spirit of Martin Luther King,Glen Beck of which the majority of us remain unaware. Oh, and don't forget that Hurricane Alex, the earliest superstorm in fifteen years, is pushing oil in the Gulf onto land with 90 mph winds.

If you're thinking just shoot me now, that's exactly what I think, several times a day. How is it possible that we've come to such a pass? How did the national conversation become so thick with preposterous distractions while real solutions are obstructed? How is it that the progressive policies we so desperately need are thwarted at every turn? You won't be surprised to learn that this was all planned, well in advance of our current crises. "Government is the problem," is a political meme that found its champion in folksy Ronald Reagan.

Our 40th president was once a Democrat, then ran for office as a Republican, but was clearly Libertarian in his heart of hearts. Populist conservatisms can be found in St. Ronnie's vision of deregulation, limited taxes and non-interference from government. His message was pointedly Christian, born in the cradle of white elitism. "We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down," said sunny, old Ron. "Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, 'What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power.' But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector."

Reagan also proclaimed, "Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources." Warming deniers still quote this gospel according to St. Ronnie. After Jimmy Carter's unwelcome 'stern Daddy' warnings about energy, environment and economy, Ron wasn't just a popular president, he was a free-market enabler who broke down the walls of corporate mistrust erected by FDR, replacing them with suspicion of government and disdain for social safety nets. He's the 'dotty, old Daddy' of every disaster we face today.

Since Reagan broke the barriers and established deregulation as the answer to America's most pressing needs, government ineptitude has flourished under the Republican administrations that followed. Democratic administrations have failed to restore any semblance of a balance of power between business and government. Even Richard Nixon was too liberal for Reagan's vision of America. His 'small government' philosophy has grown more strident and garbled, less nuanced and defensible, during ensuing decades of financial volatility and evangelical explosion.

posted July 02, 2010 03:53 PM         

Government's abdication to the private sector abandons us to those who consider profit first and public good later, if at all. Is this what our forefathers fought a revolution to establish? Is this what we want our government to look like? Can we pick through the thousands of distractions and distortions in order to find a commonality that will unite us? Can we put the country first, before our own special interests?

It's possible. A former 'Exalted Cyclops' of the Ku Klux Klan died this week at 92, after serving in the United States Senate longer than any other American. He came to Congress a Dixiecrat, a white separatist who filibustered LBJ's civil rights legislation for 17 grueling hours back in the 1960s. His name was Robert Byrd, from West Virginia, and he served as Senate Majority/Minority Leader through the '70s and '80s. Over the years, Robert Byrd mellowed, seeing things differently as the country changed its mind about what it should become.

U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, the longest-serving member of Congress, a fiery orator versed in the classics and a hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to the state of his Depression-era upbringing, has died, aged 92

Byrd evolved from a few constituents' representative to a champion of the people. In the end, as in the beginning, he was a passionate man who fought hard for what he believed. He voted against the Iraq War and grieved when it was approved: "Today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned. Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination."

A staunch Democrat, Byrd went to the Senate floor to criticize Bush's appearance in codpiece and flight jacket on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, "I do question the motives of a deskbound president who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech." In fragile health, he demanded to be wheeled in to the Senate floor to vote for health care reform. As President pro tempore of the Senate, Byrd was third in the line of presidential succession, behind the Vice President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. According to Wikipedia, "Rating his voting record in 1964, the liberal lobbying group Americans for Democratic Action found that his views and the organization's were aligned only 16 percent of the time, less than even conservative Republicans of the era; by 2005, he had an ADA rating of 95 percent."

posted July 02, 2010 05:03 PM         

Could you expand on the banks and war on drugs connection... The banks were to turn over the records during an investigation. Of known, or suspected?

posted July 02, 2010 05:51 PM         

I do like the change is not only possible, but crucial, perspective of the piece.

posted July 13, 2010 06:52 PM         

Judith Gayle in part

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You know that I don’t consider myself a Democrat despite my membership in several Dem organizations and my Lefty ways. I’m one of those Independents everybody worries about, but they needn’t … unless someone runs on the Socialist ticket. This ‘everybody out for themselves’ non-sense has turned the population cruel and selfish, and twisted government into a haven for scalawags that is only too eager to carve up an honest wo/man. I’ve had enough of both and I’m cranky about it.

I stumbled on to Glenn Beck and a group of those he wants to hire for his new “university,’ the other night, and I swear — the FCC needs to shut FOX News down as a danger to the nation as radical as Hamas or Hezbollah. But that can’t happen because there is no law on the books demanding that news agencies tell people THE TRUTH. We’re stuck with revisionist history, political assassination, ideological propaganda and end-times hysteria that crosses over into demented fear-mongering: all protected under the First Amendment. So if you want mush for brains feel free to tune in — but hatred is addictive, so be warned.

And in case you didn’t know that the Pubs are the Party of Absolutely Not for anything Obama proposes, here’s a list of things they were for before they were against — John Kerry should send spitballs across the aisle every day!

Did I mention that this moral void didn’t happen overnight? The fire under the pot has been deliberately turned up by increments for so long that elders still think ‘patriotism’ is chest-thumping, World War II style, and mid-lifer’s don’t understand how their jobs could have disappeared. The frogs are well-done now … they would be US … and ready to be served up as pâté, spread on crackers, to the moneyed elite.

This is not the first time the nation has had such crisis, and surely a look back … as you will find in some of the informative reads I’ve included below … serves to give us perspective. Last year at this time, the Baggers showed us the seriously nasty underbelly of conservative thought that etched itself like acid in the political dialogue until it created a toe-hold for the Crazy’s in mainstream politics. And because politics is local, we’ve got the likes of Rand Paul parsing the morality of the nation.

We’ve seen this before, but seriously, kids … we crossed a line a few weeks back and now we’re in new territory. What is mean is gawd-awful, shameful meanness and obvious to all but those who embrace it — what is honest and heartfelt shines like a beacon in a very dark night. There’s a line in the sand been drawn between the delusional and those who are seeking a return to balance and sanity.

Arianna Huffington commented on it recently:

It’s about choosing sides in the real battle being fought all across the globe — the fight between extremism and rationality, between hatred and common decency.

There was some discussion during the Bush ascendency about the war between Dark and Light, quickly poo-poo’d by the cynics who are evidently comfortable with this level of schism and not imaginative enough to discern a real emergence of choice, going forward, for breaking the old paradigm embrace of punitive, authoritarian servitude that perpetuates class war. Essentially, we let the Dark make our choices for us for eight years — but the next election proved that the nation could change its mind. Now, because government is broken on so many levels, we hear how things aren’t getting better and we’re looking for another hero to bring us back into good times. Common, kids! That isn’t even good reality TV.

Understanding where we are, and why, is an example of rationality not all citizens embrace; and behaving decently has been confused right out of some of us. If the Greed Is Good mantra hadn’t taken hold back in the 80s, the boyz with the most toys might not be ignoring attempts to constrain them. If real wages had kept up with inflation we might not have sold our souls to Visa and Master Charge, becoming so preoccupied with our credit reports that now, as a full quarter of us have faulty credit scores, we have no options in sight. And if the holy-rollers hadn’t gotten their hands on evangelism and a TV camera thirty years ago, there might be more decent folk today, actually understanding the gentle stewardship of the Christ message instead of just wearing sound bites on a T-shirt silk-screened with Jesus holding an AK-47.

God/dess gave us both a brain AND a heart — we need to use them. And there’s no question about what needs doing: do unto others as you would have done unto you.

Yesterdays eclipse put the polish on a 19 year period that began back in the early 90s — now we begin again. Since it’s difficult to argue that that same period of time is how long we’ve been bubbling in the frog pot, beginning again will require us to shake off a lot of old experience as unworkable and make new choices.

Some say this period is all about money, certainly the election will be about jobs. But money isn’t life and character isn’t money — character is what is developed with too much of it and with too little. Those who pass that spiritual test will have a strength that those depending on their bankbook can’t buy and don’t know how to get. Me, I think it’s waaaaay past time the God of Mammon was exposed as a blood-sucking tyrant with feet of clay — there’s more in my weekly piece, if you’re interested.

And yes — it’s a war between Dark and Light. A time of great change and essential choice. This isn’t about going to war with the hateful — it’s about standing up for what’s decent. We’re poised on evolvement and we can’t waste our time and effort on those who insist on devolving. Now, we make a stand for what’s right and we don’t give an inch.

posted July 13, 2010 06:57 PM         

quote:

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There’s a line in the sand been drawn between the delusional and those who are seeking a return to balance and sanity.

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posted July 13, 2010 07:27 PM         

Kabuki Democracy

Kabuki Democracy: Why a Progressive Presidency Is Impossible, for Now
Eric Alterman | July 7, 2010

But the truth, dear reader, is that it does not much matter who is right about what Barack Obama dreams of in his political imagination. Nor is it all that important whether Obama's team either did or didn't make major strategic errors in its first year of governance: in choosing to do healthcare before financial reform; in not holding out for a larger, more people-focused stimulus bill, in eschewing a carbon tax; or in failing to nationalize banks and break up those that are "too big to fail." Face it, the system is rigged, and it's rigged against us. Sure, presidents can pretty easily pass tax cuts for the wealthy and powerful corporations. They can start whatever wars they wish and wiretap whomever they want without warrants. They can order the torture of terrorist suspects, lie about it and see that their intelligence services destroy the evidence. But what they cannot do, even with supermajorities in both houses of Congress behind them, is pass the kind of transformative progressive legislation that Barack Obama promised in his 2008 presidential campaign. Here's why.

posted July 14, 2010 01:04 AM         

and now he will probably say he never said such a thing, because trying to make your opponents doubt themselves is par for the extremist course.

that's why sarah palin is the darling of the wingnut party. because even though she hasn't got the guts to follow through on much of anything she's done, she knows an opportunity to bring the other guy down when she sees it. never mind that she is helping them undermine the cohesiveness of the country. never mind that she is all coulda-shoulda-woulda. she is glenn becks soulmate.

not only is hate addictive, especially on the airwaves, but in many out of the way towns - say, paradise california for instance - the fox radio show is what is considered NEWS. but there are pundits on the left stirring up the bile too.

but please let's not regulate anyone, not even those giant behemoth corporations or the very people who are supposed to regulate them. let's just let the free market bring them down.

except when they own the food, energy, water and air...where is the free market?

posted July 14, 2010 08:10 AM         

What nonsense katatonic.

If the US Constitution is not being honored by O'Bomber, by Congress and by the federal courts...then katatonic the Constitution and system of government has already been subverted and overthrown and some people should be hung for treason and violations of their oaths of office.

Hey Node, thanks for giving us the Socialist viewpoint from Judith Gayle.

She says she's not a democrat though she's a member of several demoscat lefty groups but you don't have to worry about her..(jumping ship I suppose)...unless a real Socialist decides to run for office.

I suppose O'Bomber the Marxist Socialist Progressive just isn't far enough left for Judith Gayle.