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Seeds
March 11, 2010
It saddens me to see how liberals are criticizing President Obama. If they thought about it for a moment, they are criticizing him for not being more like Republicans, who hold no respect for our system of law and separation of powers.
Obama is actually trying to be president for all Americans. He is trying to include Republicans. Because all they want is contention, they are rejecting him for that. As the Constitution dictates, he wants Congress to make the bills, not the White House. He is trying to heal political wounds and see to the welfare of the people. He is not doing everything at once, because progress in this contentious society needs to happen one step at a time, and not by presidential decree.
The way he is being treated by conservatives is unconscionable, and serves as proof to their un-American ways and intentions. Daily they prove themselves to be the latest version of the monarchists that our revolution originally threw off. They want a population subservient to their ideology and to the wealthy elite who pull their strings. Their idea of freedom is losing that freedom to anger, fear and hate. This makes them a powerful adversary. It also makes them the worst threat this nation ever encountered.
They tell us that we cannot have serious healthcare reform, even though the people want it and would benefit from it profoundly. That means that they do not honor the people's wishes, and bow instead to those who exploit us for their profits.
I am convinced that President Obama has tried his best to do the right thing. What he fails to see is that we are, as conservatives continually remind us, undergoing an ideological war in the nation. The Republicans wish to deny us self-rule in favor of their unnatural oligarchy of corporations and extremists. He hopes that the American people will respond to his fairness and good intentions and rescue this nation before it is too late.
I fear that the good guys are not prepared or willing to do so. Perhaps they are afraid of the militias, or prefer not dealing with conservatives maniacs, or just cannot believe that our system of checks and balances is failing, as the antics in Congress prove to us daily beyond a doubt.
Friends. We have a responsibility toward truth and reason and civility — all of which conservatism is blatantly against. If we lose to them, we lose everything. Please note that every modern tyranny has its own Rush Limbaugh, its own Glenn Beck, its own militia groups fanning the flames of prejudice, fear and anger.
If you think that things cannot get worse, I fear you are wrong.
March 10, 2010
Thomas Paine said it well. I paraphrase his words for today's situation:
One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of conservatism is that nature disapproves of it, otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an Ass for a Lion.
He was, of course, speaking of the conservatism of his day, that of the "hereditary right in kings." Such conservatives resisted the idea of independence, and leaned heavily for some kind of monarchy even after the nation came into its own.
Thomas Paine was a radical. In many ways, so was Thomas Jefferson, whom conservatives unconvincingly try to remold into their liking. They were liberals. They loved liberty. They loved free thought and knew that education was the only bulwark we have to protect democracy and make it work. They respected science. In the form of a republic, they also respected law and civility. While they supported the War of Independence, they did so only for the freedom it brought with it, the freedom that a republic has to offer.
Conservatives were less enthusiastic about these radical "philosophies," that reflected scientific curiosity and Age of Reason idealism. It is no surprise that today's conservatism would have us put Paine and Jefferson aside and return to a Dark Age of tradition, where prejudice ruled, along with jealousy and envy, and used anger and hate to keep the nation from moving forward.
This is why so many of the conservatives leaders reflect a disdain for science, progress, education and free thought. Where we need the noble courage of lions for leaders, they give us incurious dispensers of shallow thinking, like George Bush, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and so many others who cannot wait to put their ignorance on public display as a badge of honor. People who show little respect for truth, and propagate the same in their followers. They work on our fears instead of our inspirational ideals. They consider stagnation a triumph, and helping our people flourish an abomination. They take pride in saying no to the people's needs, and foul the workings of government as if they did so out of patriotism, of all things. The double-talk of their propagandists fill the airwaves, and sway the innocent. And what have they given us? Everything bad for which they blame liberals. Division. The Great Recession. The huge national deficit, which was born from their increase in spending and lowering of taxes. A first grader understands arithmetic better than they do.
Here is the party that condemns the remedial efforts to save our economy, and would add more deregulation to make things worse.
People, do not be fooled by these purveyors of hatred and lies. They would deny you healthcare reform just as they would deny you Social Security and Medicare. They condemn earmarks while greedily grabbing onto every earmark that they can, holding up vital areas of government to do so.
The enemy invites our response. If there is an ounce of real patriotism in us, we must stand up for our nation's ideals, and take away their power to destroy the real kernal of freedom that our founders planted.
March 9, 2010
Last night, the Rachel Maddow Show did a special report covering the history of the Healthcare Reform Bill. She did us all a favor by doing so, if only we take her message seriously. She reminded us of all the lies that came forth from the conservative extreme during this process, and questioned how democracy can work when lies become mainstream policy of one of the two dominant parties.
That major Republican politicians came forward to lie to the American people is no minor offense. They should be held accountable. No one should ever trust them again, much less vote for them. And yet they seemed to have no fear of the happening. They are counting on their supporters to either not understand that they are lying, not care, or think it is a good thing. This is contempt for the American people and our system of government and even our history that must not be swept under the carpet.
Where is the outrage? People seem more upset with the Democrats for trying to fix all the terrible blunders that conservatism has subjected us to. They are actually siding with the culprits! Is this naiveté? Or the result of political weapons of mass deception? I think the latter.
This must stop, or everything that our nation is based on is in danger of failing.
Speak our, people. Stand up for truth or we will be overrun by those who champion the opposite.
Special kudos for Rachel Maddow for saying what we all need to say.
March 8, 2010
The Republicans claim that parliamentary reconciliation of amendments of the healthcare bill will be the end of the United States Senate. Minority rights will have been completely destroyed if Democrats take this action on a bill of this unprecedented size.
They are very good at steering thoughts away from their own obfuscation and unprecedented political strategies against majority rule. They seem to think that Democrats will have learned nothing from Republican strategy for when their positions of power are reversed. One can imagine a future Republican Senate being hamstringed by a Democratic minority that constantly says no, uses parliamentary procedures to stop things from happening so long that the American people get tired of it, and spreads lies and fears about whatever bill is presented. Instead of using the word socialist, they might use the word Nazi instead. They will be the ones turning to reconciliation whenever possible, as they have in the past far more than Democrats.
I would like to believe that these Republican leaders know better than to believe their own lies about Death Panels and concentration camps and all the rest. No doubt some do believe it. Their paranoia is easily identifiable. But what of the others? What does that make them? Liars? Manipulators who would deny the people healthcare reform? Which amounts for many to denying them basic freedom?
The trouble with conservatives is that they have a myopic understanding of freedom. They see it only in terms of money and guns. Explains a lot, doesn't it. All the rest, such as religious freedom, racial equality, security in old age, women's rights, infirmity and so much more, they easily discard. Their idea of freedom is base, and truly pre-American. Indeed, that provides a viable definition of conservatism.
March 7, 2010
It seems plain that conservatives are responsible for the tax cuts and deregulation that led us into the Great Recession that we continue to suffer from today.
It is plain that they are demonizing Democratic efforts to rescue our economy from these huge problems by making it seem as if the remedial efforts were somehow the cause and not the costly solution. So easy to say let all the banks fail, until one knocks at the bank door and cannot get in. So easy to say let all those teachers and police lose their jobs, and somehow things will right themselves just by wishing them so.
It is plain that they are responsible for the much of the public negativity on healthcare reform. Their lies and scare tactics and procedural resistance have had their effect on public opinion. And now they tell us straight-faced that the people no longer support it. Well, if that is true, who is to blame for that? I might sympathize with their claims if it was not completely obvious that they were the ones sabotaging the works from the very beginning. Democracy based on lies does not function well.
It is plain that conservatives are responsible for the Middle Eastern wars we are engaged in, and the thousands of lives lost or maimed because of them. And they still have the audacity to blame Democrats for the deficits caused by paying for these unnecessary wars and the tax cuts for the wealthy that conservative are so pleased with.
That they pretend to champion Social Security and Medicare while at the same time raising bills to destroy them is truly the height of hypocrisy. Their lack of shame is incredible.
They talk about taking our nation back and saving it from liberalism. Back from what? The worst corruption we have ever known, as exemplified in the Republican congress under the Bush administration? The 60% poverty rate that existed before the New Deal, which they despise? Foreign adventurism that contradicts our nations ideals? Dissolving Jefferson's wall of separation between church and state? A hatred of liberalism, from which our nation was born?
Their contempt for Americanism is palpable. Placing more conservatives in Congress or in other roles of leadership will eventually be the death-knoll of our great nation.
March 3, 2010
Is conservatism a cult?
Let's see. It encourages fanaticism that sometimes borders on violence. It's followers are indoctrinated by charismatic leaders and media personalities. It demonizes all those who think differently than them. It idealizes a past that never was, and fears change as an existential threat. It does not give a fair hearing to divergent opinions. It distrusts educated people. It feeds on emotionalism. It has no problem with telling lies.
My vote is yes. It is a cult-like ideology based on a form of anarchism. Not exactly what our founders had in mind.
February 28, 2010
We all know how frustrating it is when we watch talk shows and we never hear the question we want being asked.
Lately, they ask Democrats about President Obama failing to sell healthcare reform to the majority of people, like it was entirely his fault.
They seem to forget the conservative sabotage that created this problem, spreading fear of death panels and government takeovers in order to sway people away from their own self-interests. Somehow their lies are acceptable today. They can sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labors at the expense of everyone else.
When will we ever hold these people accoutable for thier lies?
Now they try to sound so reasonable with their talk about slow, incremental change. We heard the same last August, and we saw what delay brought us. Tea Party anarchists trying to disrupt our democracy and spread even more fear and confusion.
Now is the time for the rest of us to unite and speak out minds plainly. There is an organized response to the Tea Party fanatics. They call themselves the Coffee Party, and they consist of Americans who actually believe in American ideals, who love their government enough to reform it, rather than throw it in the trash. I recommend people look into this counter-movement for the hope that all of us need.
February 24, 2010
Conservatism as it is today: a stubborn ignorance angrily fighting to sustain ignorance itself in a world that dares to change desite it, a world that conservatives exploit and condemn at the same time.
February 16, 2010
The Tea Party fanatics should be called what they really are.
Tea Party Anarchists.
Their idea of freedom is no disjointed, their approach to change so negative, and their vision of the future so nebulous and frightening, that they can only be described as anarchists. If they were patriots, as they pretend, they would be reforming the government that our founders created, and stop supporting the conservatives who seem to ruin everything they touch and insist on rejecting huge swathes of the population.
All they have to offer is anger, fear and political leaders of the lowest quality. We must stand up against them and save our founders' vision.
February 13, 2010
Sarah Palin said that she wants to rescue Americans from elitists.
Who are these elitists? Leaders who know the name of the newspapers they read I guess. More precisely, anyone smarter than Sarah Palin.
Imagine that. A nation led by people with closed minds who disdain intelligence. I suppose she would reject the elitists of 1776 as well, people like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
These conservatives will do anything to make our nation inoperable. If you think it was bad under George W., wait until you see the next crop of conservative candidates who have been weaned on Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann and consider Sarah Palin as their leader.
Yes. The Democrats are failing us in Congress. That does not mean we should regress to putting radical conservatives into power. We actually need more Democrats of the liberal or moderate persuasion to override conservative sabotage of everything that needs to be done. Isn't that obvious? The ones in Congress now are fighting an uphill battle, and deserve our support, not our complaints. The other side has rallied and now presents a terrible threat to us all.
We need to speak out before we lose everything that makes our nation great. We've seen what damage closed-minded ideologues can do. Handing them power once again will be the worst mistake this nation has ever made.
February 10, 2010
It disturbs me whenever I hear conservative leaders like Sarah Palin or John Boehner dare to talk about "the wishes of the American people" as if they were our spokespeople and their obstructionist polices represented what all of us want or need. While they do represent a minority of Americans who have been deceived by conservative propaganda, they are clearly not in the majority. Of those who support radical conservative ideas, many, if not most, are victims of a constant stream of lies. The Republicans know this. They just don't care.
Conservatives do not represent me, and hopefully never will. They are no friends to America and our hallowed ideals. They are the stuff that the Civil War was based on, and their rhetoric reminds us all of that today.
President Obama has called the bullies out, and used truth to shame them. According to our better wishes, that should be enough to get them to change and act like statesmen. Unfortunately, it is not. They no longer know how to act like statesmen. They have no shame. Either they believe their own rhetoric, which to my mind makes them incapable to leading this nation, or they are using it to deceive us all, which makes them unworthy to lead.
We need for them to be confronted by truth every time they speak until they realize that falsehoods will no longer work for the benefit of their wealthy benefactors.
The American people are not monolithic in their thinking or in their values. Much of this is because of conservatism's shameless, never-ending propaganda machine, but it remains a fact. Democracy is supposed to balance these differences. Unfortunately, conservatives have subverted this possibility. They think they are on the ascendency, but even if they are, what good will it ultimately do? Let's say they use their extremely dysfunctional tactics to regain power. Do they really believe that the Democrats will not do the same to them?
Of course, they ultimately don't care. The Bush years showed us that in no uncertain terms. As long as they personally profit, the nation can go to hell for all they care.
Wake up America. Conservatives hate big government, taxes and deficits. It was under the revered Ronald Reagan that the deficit rose the highest (189%), and big government didn't shrink at all. Yes, taxes went down for the wealthy, and the deregulation that followed led us to the Great Recession that we are suffering from today. After Reagan, George W. Bush created the largest deficit, at 89%. His father achieved 55%. The Democrats created far less.This goes to prove that conservatives don't even know what they are voting for!
They supposedly hate earmarks, yet watch how their leaders grab for them like spoiled children, daring to hold up Senate confirmations in order to blackmail congress into giving them more.
We have to hold our ground and call them out every time they speak or obstruct. We need more intelligent people like President Obama setting the record straight, and doing it with class, not lowering ourselves to the level that conservatives feel most comfortable at, trading talking points that have no contact with reality.
Now is the time to fight back, or all will be lost.
February 9, 2010
After fighting a horrendous civil war for four years against fellow countrymen who did not respect equal rights of the constitutional powers of the federal government, President Abraham Lincoln ended his Gettysburg Address with the following:
"…that we here highly resolve that these here head shall not have dies in vain; that this nation shall have a new irth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
It does us well to note that radical conservatism represents a powerful dislike and even hatred for this government of, by and for the people. Like those who decided that retaining and spreading slavery to other territories was well worth succession and 500,000 dead, today's radical right is emotionally invested making in making our government and tearing it down. What would they replace it with? That depends on what power hungry rabble rouser takes control, but in the process we would lose everything that makes our nation great.
They call themselves patriots despite all the corruption and hypocrisy they brought to congress, and town hall meetings they disrupted. They claim to represent "the people," while in fact they represent only a tiny vocal minority. The rest of us are pushed aside as elitist liberal socialists, no matter what we believe.
These people represent the same mentality that Abraham Lincoln faced, throwing ideals of equality out the window, talking succession, intimating violence, refusing to cooperate with government processes, placing ideological fanatics in the role of statesmen. History will remember them as such. They try to represent themselves as revolutionaries in the likes of our founders. Yet they fight against not a foreign potentate denying them representation, but the very government that the founders created.
The anger they so mightily defend should not be aimed at liberalism. It comes from the repeated failure of conservatism that they can neither accept nor learn from. Stubborn pride has replaced reason, and that in itself places democracy in crisis. Without reason, what is the individual's vote based on?
As Rush and Glenn and Anne and Sean make millions sowing lies and discontent, as Sarah and John and Tom make their big money playing to crowds with senseless, malevolent banter, we are losing the ideals that this nation was founded on. A potentially fatal barbarism is infecting the populace that must be resisted before everything is lost.
This is not politics as usual. This is an attack on our system like we have not seen since just prior to the Civil War.
February 7, 2010
I always find it amazing how conservatives never seem to learn from their mistakes. Talk about being stuck in a groove. They just keep making them and when they make a huge mess, they blame the liberals. They also fight the liberals who are trying to rescue us, because otherwise it would be like admitting they were wrong.
After hearing bits and pieces of Sarah Palin's Tea Party Convention speech (I could only listen to a few painful moments at a time), I started to understand why they keep harping on the same old, failed rhetoric. They are simply incapable of thinking beyond them! They value repetition over reason, and would rather the nation fall to pieces rather than admit they were wrong. That is the enemy we face. Fanatics.
The Queen of Empty Talk wants more than "talk" from President Obama. That was her way of invalidating his attempt to reason with them. The woman who quit being governor of Alaska wants politicians to be more responsible. She talks about the Constitution as being a document mean to limit government, when in face it expanded the role of the federal government beyond the inept boundaries of the Articles of Confederation.
Today's conservative leaders remind me of the comic book villains of yesteryear. Phony. Two dimensional. Comfortable with lies. Incoherently dedicated to destroying the world even though they would destroy themselves as well. Obsessively hating the good guys. Always conspiring.
Of course, that is why so many of us don't take them seriously. Comic book villains are basically ridiculous. How can anyone take them seriously?
History shows us, unfortunately, that these tactics of lies and prejudice, appealing to fear and anger, can be effective. Never think that the radical right and their Tea Party minions will not do this country irreparable harm. They are entirely dedicated to ruining our democracy, and claim to be patriots at the same time.
If we do not confront them with truth right now, if we do not educate the masses to think for themselves and stop following the self-made tunnel vision of Rush Limbaugh and the rabid paranoia of Glenn Beck, we will lose what America is all about. We were headed in that direction during the Bush administration, and they are poised to continue where they left off.
We need to speak out loudly and clearly. President Obama did this to the Republican congressional caucus quite effectively last week, but he was alone! The rest of us sat back believing that the problem was over. The fanatics saw how quietly we reacted, and shook away their shame and illogic and re-committed themselves to the course.
In effect, we've become enablers of our own destruction.
Good friends, I am terrified that the nation may fall for want of our enthusiasm and courage. Please speak out and defend this president. RIght now, he seems to be our only hope.
February 6, 2010
The question was asked on TV last night, what do you think of the Tea Party movement?
Well, as a strong proponent of American ideals which I constantly write about, and as a lifetime resident of one of the original 13 States, the Constitution State no less, I completely reject what the Tea Party is doing and what it represents. Why? Because I do not want stupid people telling me what to do, defining Americanism for what it is not, and trying to shape this nation into a mob mentality still clinging to racist ideas.
What I hear from them is a lot of anger generated from extreme right propaganda which is mostly false. After all the lies we've heard in the past few years, I find it difficult to believe that anyone even listens to radical conservatism anymore, but I guess they do. Their inflammatory rhetoric and many of their placards are, in my opinion, disgusting. That they think that conservatism will somehow rescue us from all the problems that conservatism has subjected us to is patently ridiculous. Their defamation of President Obama and liberalism in general is scandalous. Their leaders are little more than ignorant mob agitators. That they claim to represent American ideals is insulting.
When I think of the civilization and achievements this nation would be capable of if not for the constant retrograding of conservative fanatics, if breaks my heart. That the voices of sanity and reason does not shout them down at every opportunity, or at the very least speak out with equal tenor, frightens me more. Much has been given to us as a people, and like spoiled children thinking only of our pleasure, we are neither appreciating nor safeguarding our greatest treasure.
Think about it. The Tea Party was named after an historical act of violence and vandalism that demeaned the integrity of our nation's birth, the Boston Tea Party. A gang destroyed private property while cowardly disguising themselves as Indians, detracting from the high moral demands of freedom and responsibility established by our founders. Today's gang is trying to destroy reputations and progress, while disguising themselves as patriots. I see nothing they should be proud of in this.
If they have any inking of true patriotism and are just misguided, I suggest that they go back to school and learn the real lessons that our history teaches us. I also suggest that they stop listening to right wing propaganda, and think for themselves (it is difficult if not impossible to do both).
Our nation is facing a number of serious crises right now, and conservatism has planted itself at the center of them with the sole intent of making them worse. We need real patriots, now more than ever, to resist this insanity before it is completely taken over by ideologues who care not for the future of this nation, but only for the clichés echoing in their heads.
February 2, 2010
I am so discouraged by politics lately that I have withdrawn from listening to the daily news. Despite all odds, conservatives are gaining control and I fear for the safety of our country and the entire world. No doubt this will seriously impact my blog, but I have to retain what sanity I have left.
To keep ideas rolling, I offer you the following quote from Richard Brookhiser’s wonderful book What Would the Founders Do? I highly recommend it.
What Would the Founders Think about Partisanship?
Sick of attack ads, spinning, mindless partisanship? The founders hated it as much as you do. They also invented it.
It was with them almost from the start, in George Washington’s first term as president, in the heart of his inner circle, and it alarmed him. In 1792, his treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, and his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, began abusing each other in the newspapers. The quarrel started with fiscal policy, but soon branched out to character assassination. (Hamilton wrote his own op-eds; Jefferson got friends to write for him) The Jeffersonians thought that Hamilton might undermine the infant republic; Hamilton thought the same about of Jefferson. All the writers used pseudonyms, but everyone quickly figured out who was saying what. Things got so hot the, in midsummer, Washington asked both men what was going on, heard what they had to say, then begged them to col off. He wanted, he wrote in identical phrases to Hamilton and Jefferson, “mutual forbearances and temporizing yieldings on all side.”
He didn’t get them. The contestants fell briefly silent, then, Washington’s second term, went back at it even more boisterously than before. The public got involved; thee were riots over foreign policy, and an armed uprising over taxes. Washington returned to the topic of partisanship in 1795, in his Farewell Address, in which he decried “the bandeful effects of the spirit pf party.” It “distract[s] the public councils and enfeeble[s] the public administration.” It breeds “ill founded jealousies and false alarms.” It “kindles the animosity” of different sections of the country against one another. It “foments occasional riot and insurrection” (all he has to do was think of he last four years). “[I]t is a spirit.” He concluded, solemnly and lamely, “not to be encouraged.” He was solemn, because he thought partisanship was truly dangerous; he was lame, because he rather suspected that it wasn’t going away anytime soon.
All the founders disliked arties as much as Washington did. “If I could not go to heaven but with a party,” wrote Jefferson, “I would not go there at all.” John Adams said he would “quarrel with both parties and with every individual of each” before enlisting in either. At most, they admitted that partisan activity might be an emergency measure, necessary to throw a set of rascals out. But once the rascals were gone, parties should go with them. After Jefferson won the White House in an election (1800) even more vicious and scary than the election of 2000, he assured the nation in his inaugural address, referring to the two parties that had almost torn it apart, “we are all republicans—we are all federalists.”
January 31, 2010
Part of the reason for our slow economic recovery is distrust in government. I wonder who is responsible for that? Ever since Ronald Reagan we've heard nothing but calumny against our government from Republicans, even though it was big government that saved us from the Great Depression, and at the time 70% of the people trusted it. Today it is only 17%, and conservative propaganda is largely to blame.
That's right, Republicans are ideologically responsible for the slow recovery, for people not having jobs. Conservative deregulation not only caused this Great Recession, their scare tactics are preventing us from getting out of it.
And think of what their plan to save it is. Let the banks and financial systems and large factories close. Let people lose their houses. The invisible hand of the market place will save the day. What rubbish! It's that invisible hand that caused all our troubles. And with all these businesses failing, the unemployment rate is somehow going to come down? How does that make an ounce of sense?Well, after the Massachusetts and Virginia elections, Republicans feel that they are on the rise and the momentum is there for a significant victory in November.
This, of course, frightens me to no end. The sheer illogic is mind-boggling.
Why would anyone put people who do not believe in big government in charge of big government?That's like hiring an atheist to act as your minister. They are invested in making our government fail, while blaming others and personally reaping the benefits!
The last time conservatives were in charge (not long ago I might add), it resulted in:
- unprecidented corruption
- two ill begotten wars with hundreds of thousands of casualties
- strained international relationships
- huge deficits that fall on all of us to pay
- almost a complete meltdown of our financial system that the Democrats were succcessful at halting
And these are the people complaining about President Obama and the Democrats for not fixing the problems quickly enough, when Republicans are the ones who caused them?
Now, after a solid year of confusing the public over the issues and blocking serious progress, they want to control big government again. And people are responding. I just don't get it. Do the American people have no memory at all? Have the forgotten Jack Abramov? The false claims that got us into Iraq? The tax cuts for the wealthy that started our deficit rolling? Their attempt to dismantle Social Security? Their horrible record on the environment?
Think of their leadership elite. George W. Sarah Palin. Michele Bachmann. John Boehner. If they can't do better than them, why do we listen to anything they have to say?
Think of the lies and conspiracy theories they propagate. Death panels, Birthers. Accusations of socialism, and even Nazism. Do we want people in office who have no respect for truth or common decency at all?
Think of the pre-meditated obstructionism of time wasting filibusters and voting no on bills that they themselves co-sponsored. There is no longer a statesman among them.
Wake up, America! We have to stop this now before it is too late! While it is easy to blame Democrats for not getting things done, remember, their so-called super-majority consisted not only of liberals but of conservative Democrats as well. Wherever there are conservatives, there will be obstructionism. The Democrats need more of our help if they are to save our nation, not less.
January 30, 2010
It is easy to get frustrated by President Obama's continual overtures to Republicans. I get frustrated too. Conservatives have been so obstinate and dishonest that a fair minded person would agree that they don't deserve to be regarded now that they are in the minority.
They really don't.
But I think President Obama sees things differently, and deserves our thanks for that. He is, after all, president of all Americans, and obviously intends to honor that commitment.
When President Bush was in office, he decided to represent conservatives alone. There was no outreach or even openness to the other side. There was no respect, and the results were both divisive and disastrous. Actions were taken to transform the country into the United States of Conservia.
With the Democrats in power, many liberals feel that it now their time to enact change without similar regard to the opposition. They expect the president to act just like Bush and the Republicans and ignore a hefty portion of our citizenry.
President Obama is doing something very different. He is trying to set the nation back on track so that cooperative politics can work again. He is inviting people into the process by dismantling barriers that animosity previous erected. He is calling out extremism for what it is. Like a true liberal, he is using reason, truth and compassion and open arms.
Conservatives who refuse this invitation, by their own actions, will forever be stigmatized as being un-American.
Liberals who forget their own ideals out of bitterness will lose the chance to prove themselves right, and will go down in history as reactionaries to conservatism. That's right, conservatism will have defined them.
Liberals! If you want to represent American ideals and give them life when they are most needed — then what are you waiting for? Do it!
The principles of liberalism are freedom, reason, and compassion, and from these three principles come the obvious conclusion, that of truth.
Without truth, freedom loses its purpose and benefit. Without truth, reason cannot function. Without truth, compassion is easily misdirected.
I know. Conservatives have lied so much that they have completely lost their credibility. They have turned their backs on liberal ideals to the point of being the very opposite of what America is all about. Liberals now hold the high ground. But what good is the high ground if we re-establish American ideals in law and not in people's hearts? Change would lack substance and this useless war of ideologies would continue.
President Obama did well in confronting the Republican caucus yesterday. He showed the power of truth and reason and civility by confronting the entire Republican congressional membership and answering them point-by-point. He bravely exposed and shamed their lies. He did far more than all the liberal pundits and strategists to strike a blow for truth that has resonance. We need to learn from that.
Yes. Radical conservatism is like a contagious disease eerily transmitted from the mouth of one fanatic to the ear of its next victim. It has already debilitated the Republican Party. If the contagion continues to advance, it will destroy the entire body politic.
The symptoms are plain to see: irrational fears, inappropriate anger, the inability to listen, psychotic obsession (seeing communists everywhere, etc.), and a curious addiction to tea bags.
But the victims of this disease are our brothers and sisters and we cannot forget that (even though, in their dilerium, they would destroy us). We need to heal them by liberating their minds. President Obama has shown us the way to do that, by not backing down, not by acting as they act, but by confronting lies with the integrity of truth and the concern of freindship
Now it is up to us to do likewise.
We must become a conduit for truth to express itself. We must not be deterred by conservative bullying, but arm ourselves with the facts and with the kind of self-discipline that can respond without anger.
Good friends, we have long been heading toward the precipice of disaster, and have to change our course before it is too late. Do not slight President Obama for confronting conservatives and trying to civilized them and bring them back into the fold. Don't give in to the anger. Be proud of him instead. He is just the man we need right now. All he needs is our vocal support.
January 27, 2010 (part 1)
Gouverneur Morris, one of the main authors of the United States Constitution, gave us this prescient warning:
"We should remember that the people never act from reason alone. The rich will take advantage of their passions and make these the instruments of oppressing them."
In these two sentences, he described the modus operandi of today's conservative leadership, a cabal of wealthy elites who sit back and stir populist outrage for their own benefit. They have divided a nation and taken away popular support for President Obama, who has done everything he can to restore dignity and constitutional authority for us all.
Such warnings from our founders are what liberals need to point out. Conservatives are well adept at reducing and redefining American values to suit their needs. They wave flags that were meant to represent something far more positive and humane than anything that conservatism will ever stand for. And liberals recede in their wake as if they no longer held righteousness in their hands.
Our enemies know that when you stimulate irrational forces in people's hearts, they take control over them. That is how they always worked, from preserving slavery in the first decades of our inception as a free nation, to resisting the New Deal, which avoided the risk of communism by creating a large middle class, to fighting tooth and nail against civil rights, as they continue to do today. They even try to manipulate religion for their personal gain.
The truth is that democracy becomes a farce when it is not based not on reason, and surrenders to lies and paranoia instead. When you think of it, farce is just the right word to describe conservative strategies today. Nevertheless, they have proven their tactics effective in ruining the nation and will not stop using them until it is ruined completely. Yet even then, red-faced yet still lacking any shame that would redeem them, they will still blame liberalism—if we let them.
January 27, 2010 (part 2)
Keith Olbermann recently described Scott Brown in very derogatory terms, going on to accuse of him of being a sexist for reasons that did not seem valid. I think this hurt his credibility. Unfortunately, it also hurts the credibility of his cause.
If liberalism is going to take its rightful place in this country, it has to prove itself far better than conservatism. This would appear to be a simple task, but to conservatives the possibility is not open. All it takes is for liberals to make one mistake, one exaggeration, and they equate it with their own constant flow of false propaganda. In fact, they hold it in far more contempt. As we all know, what they deem as fair and balanced has nothing to do with reality.
We must not sink to their level, no matter how tempting. We simply cannot win the war of ideologies on their terms, because their terms will not allow it. Once we lie or exaggerate, or go on a witch hunt, we lose the moral high ground and our words become empty.
What liberalism has is real. Conservatism exists as a negation of reason and compassion, and nothing else. We cannot let them define what liberalism is. The only way we can do that is by raising our voices, loud, clear and often. Real patriotism is in our camp, and always has been. Just because they claim otherwise is no reason to believe it. They can say what they want about our founders. We have facts on our side. Our adherence to the entire Constitution far exceeds their attachment to two or three of its amendments, completely out of context.
We can fight this war with our heads held high, and make great inroads in regaining the nation's confidence. But we cannot do it by imitating conservatism. Those kind of tactics do not appeal to what is best in human nature, as liberalism always has. It appeals to only what is worst, which has always been the course of radical conservatism. We must play by our own rules, and thereby show what liberalism is all about.
Keith! Please take a deep breath and return to us intact. I understand your outrage. Most of us feel it as well. How can you not when you hear all the lies that conservatives speak, and the buffoons that represent them. But we cannot lower out standards, or all is lost.
January 26, 2010
Wow. Conservatives want more transparency from the Obama White House. As we all recall, they were previously willing to give none.
I, myself, feel that transparency is not always a good thing. When Tip O’Neal first brought cameras into Congress, hoping to keep the American people informed, what happened? Republicans started to grandstand to their base, and that’s where the outrageousness we hear from them today started. They saw how popular Rush Limbaugh and all his surely clones were with conservatives everywhere, and decided to imitate them in their speeches. Statesmanship went out the window. The media picked up on this, and encouraged partisan contention on talk shows. Fox News decided that the conservative base was large enough to make a fortune off of, and dedicated just about every word they say to the conservative cause. MSNBC mimics them for liberals.
President Obama promised transparency as a candidate. He seems to be backing away from that for now and for good reason. If conservatives want transparency, after avoiding it for decades, it has to be bad for the American people. Another way to slow things down in order to destroy them. We know their tactics. Just another opportunity for grandstanding. I’m glad President Obama realizes that now. It is an unfortunate state of affairs that negotiations have to be made behind closed doors, but as long as conservatives cannot be trusted to work in good faith, it is necessary. Hopefully they will grow up at some point and this will change.
I’m not holding my breath.
January 25, 2010
It is very telling how, after 9/11, when thousands of people were killed by terrorist attackers on these shores, all sides came together in unity. Conservative leaders like Glenn Beck seemed to appreciate that. That occurred under the Bush administration, of course.
When a failed terrorist attack happened last Christmas, conservatives made it an excuse to condemn President Obama.
Which is more patriotic then? The liberals who came to support President Bush after he neglected to react to a warning that killed thousands? Or conservatives who used a failed attack where no one was killed for political gain?
I find these observations remarkable. Conservatives condemn President Obama for rescue our economic system from the brink of disaster, while remaining silent about the conservative deregulation that cause it in the previous administration. They don't like the cost of saving our banks and auto industry that he was forced to save. I guess they feel that we would be better off without banks and car manufacturing, and all our investments were lost. The debt that President Bush created was fine, even though we got nothing out of it. But successfully rescuing the nation by President Obama is something bad in their eyes. It seems they wanted us to fail. What is patriotic about that?
Let's see. Conservatives don't like the government of the people that our Constitution created, but they say they love the Constitution! At least two or three amendments at least. The part about seeing to the general welfare is certainly not something they support.
They say they love the Declaration of Independence, but show some hostility in practice when it comes to the part about equality, which is its most famous phrase.
And now they are licking their chops because liberal Republican Scott Brown from the liberal state of Massachusetts has won a senate seat. They see it as the beginning of the end of the Obama administration, that they have been sabotaging with lies since before he was inaugurated. Good Americans, obviously. They look forward to a conservative majority again, so they can deregulate the economy so that a few of their fellows get richer than they areand thereby destroy it completely.
I do not see these people of patriots at all. I see them as people frightened by change and willing to tear down everything out of sheer stubbornness. That they have now enlisted disgruntled liberals makes the demise of America that more certain.
God save us from conservatism!
January 22, 2010
Well, the Supreme Court, with its conservative bias, has proven once again that it is not the protector of the American people. Conservatism is eating away our ideals right in front of our eyes, and the only ones we hear complaining (not about this decision, of course,) are conservatives!
Activist judges have rejected laws that hindered corporations from taking over American politics yesterday, and conservatives naturally applauded. Their defense of the not-so-hidden oligarchy continues while they worry about the tranny of the rest of us. Here I thought that democracy was what this country was all about.Ever get stupid conservative emails spouting the usual conservative cliches? Want to answer them back quickly? Check out Responding to Concervative Rhetoric. Your response is just a cut-and paste away.
January 20, 2010
As soon as MSN.com opened on my screen, the question jumped out at me.
"Honeymoon Over for Obama?"
I had to stop whatever I was doing and think about this for a while. When the hell did Obama ever get a honeymoon?
As he bravely championed the nation to rescue us from serious conservative blunders, including the Great Recession that they created, and the war they completely mismanaged, he has been constantly attacked by the conservative scandal machine. They claimed he was not born in this country, and no proof seems able to change their minds. They accused him of being a Muslim with terrorist ties, for having plans to take people's gins away, and corralling conservatives into concentration camps (hmm). They have called him a Nazi and a racist who is imposing a socialist agenda.
Well, the concentration camps have yet to appear, people still have the guns, and the agenda of American Nazis still resemble that of conservatism. Sane people now admit he was born in Hawaii, and his church membership denies him being a card-arrying Muslim.
Apologies anyone? No. All the allegations were purposeful and not mistakes. They were, to appropriately describe them, conservative.
To make matters worse, before a year of his presidency had passed, and with all the work he had on his plate, liberals were castigating him for not making the changes they wanted fast enough, even though, as Bill Clinton proved, it would have destroyed all chances for healthcare reform.
I am truly ashamed at how little support he has received, and how so many people are ready to bring conservatism back in order to complete the dirty work left unfinished from the Bush years. Liberals will deserve what happens after that, for no other reason than letting it happen.
January 18, 2010
(Sorry. I've been busy lately. What follows are some thoughts I jotted down since my last blog entry.)
A Collection of Thoughts
Liberals and moderates who think that people will outgrow the craziness of conservatism need to understand the appeal of the irrational. Conservatism has make a cottage industry of appealing to humanity's darkest fears, inner frustrations and need to condemn anyone who they deem as different.
They say that politics makes for strange bedfellows. The trouble is, momentary gain is sometimes not worth waking up the next morning to find who has taken over your bed and house, and has come to stay, inviting the whole family.
Sane Republicans are now learning a harsh lesson. By legitimizing the radical elements of conservatism, they have sold what considerable integrity they had. That is a shame. Instead of a positive tension of competing ideas, there is now nothing on their side but destructiveness. Instead of dialog, we have media propagandists who go so far as to blacken national assistance to Haiti in their time of need.While Republicans are saying that the low approval rating of the medical reform plan has become a referendum against the Democratic Party, and President Obama himself, I would like to point out the real source for the people's discontent. Conservative strategies of spreading fear with obvious lies and misleading information comprise the heart of our difficulties. They are responsible for what we see. And they feel proud of their deceit.
Proud of their deceit against the American people? That's something to think about. They obviously have thrown away whatever moral compass they had. Or perhaps that compass is just broken from misuse. By aligning themselves with willful ignorance, they are defining themselves by their own tactics.
I do not hear Republicans speaking out against what is happening to their own Party. They do not condemn the lies. They votes lockstep with party policies no matter how unconscionable. They have spine enough to get on television and call for secession, or claim that gay marriage would somehow ruin everyone else's marriage, or carry guns to political rallies, or attack the president on ridiculous charges, or claim that the US Census is a threat to conservatism.
How is it that none of them have the spine to stand up for truth and civility? How is it that they cannot call a lie for what it is and rescue the integrity of their own party?
Republicans have given up on statesmanship and are now showing themselves to be the enemy of what America stands for.The only hope we have today is for liberals and moderates to find their passion in the very ideals that they stand for. They need a voice that will overwhelm the contstant drone of conservative cliches and complaints. Reason and intelligence can win this war, but only if is is applied, and applied constantly.
January 7, 2010
(If you are as tired as I am of conservative hypocrisy, check out this article.)
The attacks on President Obama from the Right are unbelievable. You might think he had raised taxes instead of lowered them, caused the Great Recession, and brought us into the costly wars we continue to suffer from in the Middle East. They portray him as a Nazi, even though he, more than any recent president, judiciously respects the balance of power that the Constitution dictates. The vitriol and insanity simply cannot be explained without pointing to racism.
Conservative leaders are doing their best to generate fear among our citizens. Why? Because unwarranted fear is the nemesis of reason. They offer nothing of substance to the American people. To win back their power, they need to scare people into blind submission to their cause. They take every opportunity to propagate paranoia, as if the best we can except from Americans is cowardice. They call that patriotism. I call it un-American.
One might suppose that the recent failed attempt to blow up an airliner had been successful if you listen to the angry rhetoric. They have been waiting like vultures for an attack on American soil just to initiate such a campaign. They infer that they could do a better job, even though 8 years of the Bush/Cheney administration proved itself to be as inept as it was corrupt. Indeed, conservative policy is cause of much of what we suffer from.
Fear, however, is immediate. It pushes reason aside, which is why we hear so many irrational statements from the Right and their Tea Party splinter group.
Friends, if we throw reason away, what do we have? The United States cannot represent freedom if it discards reason and bravery and truth, for these were the virtues it was built upon, virtues that conservatives casually discard for a mob mentality.
We need to speak out. We need to fight this madness before it is too late. Conservatives don't care how their ideology is contrary to everything that America stands for. All they want is to assert their shallow, pre-American values. We must not allow them to destroy us.
We need to condemn their actions in no uncertain terms, in the security that they are wrong and we are right.
January 6, 2010
My advice to conservatives reflects a traditional belief that true, moral conservatives should value. That advice is both simple and familiar: "if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all." In other words, if all you have are complaints, conspiracy theories, and outright lies, then please SHUT UP!!! You offer the American people nothing but discord.
Aren't you concerned that you are losing credibility with the mainstay of our citizenry? You know, the people who are sane? Sooner or later, even people who do not pay much attention to politics are going to realize that you are holding back the nation out of paranoia and irrational bitterness.For those not paying attention, the Democrats are handling themselves far better. They are the ones trying to help people, save the economy, and reduce international tensions. They even tried bipartisan consensus, until Republicans proved ad nauseum that they are unable to negotiate in good faith. Republicans are not just the Party of No. They are the Party of Regression, of tearing down the New Deal, which includes, despite recent rhetoric to the contrary, Medicare, Social Security and unemployment benefits. They are the Party of Aggressive War and Conspiratorial Think Tanks. They complain about the liberal media to distract people from their own gargantuan media propaganda machines that rival those of Nazi Germany.
Think for a moment. What would the United States look like if conservatives had their way? A small government theocracy that regulated people's sex lives, fought wars all around the world with an underpaid military (due to lowering taxes) and with no allies. They would regulate education to disregard science while encouraging superstition. Corporate CEOs would form the oligarchy government. The only value ordinary people would have would be purchasing goods and services that kept corporate CEOs filthy rich. Pollution would cover the earth and climate change grow more eratic every day. The poor, old and infirmed would be left on the streets homeless and without medical attention. And then, all of a sudden, those who blindly supported radical conservatism will wake up and realize it is too late. They have lost all their rights except gun ownership, and with people carrying weapons everywhere, like in Iraq and Aphghanistan, they will not feel safe at all. Even the Union would dissolve—a conservative goal since before the Civil War. Western civilization will have collapsed. Welcome to the Disunited States of Conservia.
Some Tea Party geniuses want to hold a national strike on January 20, the 1 year anniversary of President Obama’s inauguration. Those participating will stay home, not go to work, and will not purchase anything, as a show of economic power. One of them probably got the idea from the movie Gandhi, and somehow equated their cause with his.
Even thought I abhor their politics, I wholeheartedly ecourage them to hold a national strike. I would welcome having just one day without hearing their nonsensical complaints, or seeing tea bags obscenely hanging from their hats. I would encourage them to extend their strike indefinitely, and maybe move to another country, since they hate this one so much.
I find it amazing how silent they were when President Bush’s conservative policies brought on all the troubles we are suffering from now, and yet they condemn President Obama for his efforts to fix things. It seems they are completely dedicated to being on the wrong side of history, and they hope to force their views on the rest of us..
Now, I understand that conservatism manages to continue in this country as a pre-American tradition that just refuses to see what is good about America. Tea Party fanatics amply represent this group, and freedom of speech means that we have to put up with them. Their goal is to make the rest of the population as backward thinking as they are. That won’t happen of course. We still have a lot of people who think for themselves and have sense enough to reject them out of hand.
Unfortunately, as history shows us repeatedly, the barbarian occasionally defeats a complacent majority, and this is what conservatives are hoping for. Liberals are, by and large, civilized. As true Americans they are respectful of divergent opinion. This places them at a competitive disadvantage. They should not view radical conservative propaganda as just a divergent opinion. Insidious lies do not deserve such respect. They call for truth to overwhelmingly put them to shame.
Liberals, moderates, Eisenhower conservatives—sane people of all persuasions need to unite in a systematic condemnation of radical conservative lies. If we do not, it is possible to lose everything we have.
These people hate our government of the people, because the majority of people rely on reason and not conspiratorial fantasies. They hate the balance of power it is based on, and the separation of church and state. They hate having a government large enough to serve a nation as populous and powerful as the United States. Just about everything they stand for is based on hate and anger and a vision of America that is distorted by ideology.
Freedom calls for better than that.
January 5, 2010
It seems that the news media has become fascinated by Dick Cheney's constant and usually misleading criticisms of the Obama administration. They, and other experts, point out the falsehoods as soon as they are published. While it is unusual for an ex-vice-president to break with the noble tradition of silence that others have upheld for the good of the country, what did you expect from Mr. Cheney? He was horrible for the nation while serving as vice president as well.
What I find interesting is how moderate Republicans, the real Republicans, are so silent while watching their party being taken over by such conservative radicalism. I used to wonder why so many good and well-meaning Muslims failed to criticize radicals of their own religion who use terrorism to slaughter innocent people. The dynamic seems to be reflective of Republican moderates as well. They are afraid to speak out for truth and justice and safety of American ideals.
Where are they? The crazies are destroying their party unabated. Are there no Republicans to stand up to them and steer a new course toward sanity? How can they sit back while Republican radicals are eating their own?
January 1, 2010
A New Year has arrived, and we can only hope it is far better than the one that just passed.
Is there reason to be hopeful?
Well, I don't see anything that has changed significantly since yesterday. No mea culpa and promise to reform and act like true statesmen from the Republican Party. As for Democrats and liberals, they seem just as disconnected from their original enthusiasm as before. They still have not found their voice. To make matters worse, they have taken tactical lessons from conservatives, which has certainly lowered our expectations for them. I suspect the childish tug-of-war we've suffered from for so long now will continue, and probably get worse.
Will healthcare reform finally get passed? Will it be something that will help the cause of liberalism? Or will its toned down, surrender to the insurance companies policies lead to their sorry defeat, and place the future of our nation into the hands of conservative fanatics once more? The prospect frightens me.
Will we make any headway on terrorism and the Middle Eastern wars that were spawned from it? Or will we make things worse just by being there?
Will conservatives help to change things for the better? Or continue on their quest to make things worse?
Will people finally catch on to the insanity of conservative talk radio and put agitators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh into forced retirement? The good that would come from that would be phenomenal. Unfortuantely, as long as there is money to be made by duping people nd playing to their pathelogical anger, they will continue to be around.
Will President Obama get the support he needs from liberals, who fail to see how positive change takes time and strategy, and whose criticisms right now are working into the hands of rabid conservatives? Only if they suddenly grow up. I'm not sure what would bring that about.
Will we finally take our heads out of the sand and seriously work with the world community against global warming?
It does not look good.
And yet, as I sit here typing, looking at the snowy trees outside my window, I feel a glimmer of hope. This is not the time for despair. The world we live in, the worl of nature at least, still conveys an innocence that we need to defend. We have a dream. We have a vision. We have reason and compassion and a sense of moral justice. All we have to do is activate them and ourselves in the name of humanity to set thing right.
The question is, is this the year that we will do so? Or will we wait, as the conservatives would want us, until it is too late?
Time for some soul-searching. The future is up to us.
Instead of wishing you a Happy New Year, I ask that you work with us to make it happy.See Blog 2009 for previous entieres.
