I have a bit more to add to the story, or non-story, as it may be, regards the pouting of little Robbie Gibbs the other day.
As you recall, little Mr. Gibbs called out the "professional" left over them not being fully supportive of our "dear leader" Go-bomber.
I was told the other day, by a friend of mine via an email on this topic that I am a part of that very same "professional" left! Imagine that! Yep, old, disabled, former US Marine/Vietnam vet as a "professional" lefty! It struck me as odd and I had to email her back for why I might be considered such. Her reply was, basically that as I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the elephant gang. Also, not being a member of the donkey gang plus the fact that I have been critical of Go-bomber, that I am a part of what Mr. Gibbs terms the "professional" left.
Well, OK, if that is what a "professional" lefty is, then I am such a critter. I still cannot quite accept myself as being a professional anything now days. I was a professional machinist, well I was a real journeyman machinist, having gone through a valid apprenticeship. This blog is in no way "professional" in my own opinion. I have not taken any classes on how to write except for what we may have had back in high school. Yes, they did have high school when I was a kid, and yes, I was young once.
This blog is just an outlet for my opinions and rants, it was not, nor is it intended to be "professional".
I fail to see how Go-bomber and Gibbs can be so upset with any of us who look at this administration with a critical eye and then not be in full support of it. Just what has Go-bomber done for us, the working class people?
The "stimulus" bill that passed? Just what did that stimulate? If the stimulus had been effective, I would think the economy would be better off than it is. I would think that an effective stimulus would have cut unemployment rather than seeing unemployment rise, as it has done.
Can the administration think the health care "reform" is something the working class should applaud? Why? Who benefits the most from that "reform"? Answer, the health care insurance companies is who benefits the most. What is really needed is a true national health care system. Either a Medicare for all or something like they have in Canada. What we get is more profit for the insurance industry, with little to no real benefit for the people.
Can the administration expect the working class to cheer the Wall Street "reform"? What reform? As far as I can tell is still business as usual. We still do not have anything like the old Glass-Steagal Act. The "too big to fail" banksters are still in charge of things. Just where is that "reform"?
If any of you good people who read this blog have any ideas, please feel free to comment and set me straight on these matters.
As to Mr. Gibbs saying he thinks that the "professional"left should be drug tested, well, how about the same for the entire administration? What is good for us ought to be good for them also.
Does Mr. Gibbs realize that the polls show that support for Go-bomber has dropped around 20 points since he took office? Can he really think that is because of the "professional" left and people like me? Does this administration honestly think that my little corner of the internet is why the popularity of "dear leader" has fallen?
Just why should we support this administration? Please do not come back with the very tired and very old bit as how the elephant gang would be worse. We know that already, after all, we suffered through eight years of Cheney/Shrub. We catch the crap being spewed by the right wing, by Faux Noise, and talk(?) radio. Just saying this gang is better than the last is not exactly something to be so proud about.
Mr. Gibbs objects to some of us saying that in some ways, Go-bomber is no better, and in some ways, even worse than Shrubbie was. Well, Mr. Gibbs, then why does your boss, Go-bomber, continue with the very same damn fool wars of choice? Why has he not closed Gitmo, as he promised to do within one year of his being in office? Why has Go-bomber not repealed the worst parts of the vicious "Patriot Act"? Why has he not only continued, but increased the "national security(?)" system?
How is it, that with clear majorities in BOTH houses of Congress, has Go-bomber not really pushed needed legislation? Why does he continue to cave in to the far right wing of the elephant gang? Why has he not made use of the bully pulpit of the presidency? Why does this administration allow the elephant gang to set the agenda?
What we have is not a pro-active administration, but a reactive one. Our president has done next to nothing of real benefit for the working class. And yet, his chief spokesperson demands(!!) that we all get drug tested!
No matter what Mr. Gibbs or his boss think I should do, I will continue to read and then think for myself. I will read and try to learn all I can on a wide variety of topics and then give my opinion on them. It is still a free country and the Bill of Rights still guarantees free speech. I will continue to exercise that right, among others.
If this president does something worth cheering about, then I will cheer them. Whether they do or not, I will continue to voice my opinions, at this corner and in person.
I do not accept comments I have run across from some die hard Democrats who say that Go-bomber has been high-jacked, or that he has no other options. Bull crap! In my opinion, he sold out long before he even ran for his current job. I do not think he ever really cared about being a pro-active president in any way. In my view, he just wanted to be president to be able to say that he held that job, period. Much like what I thought and still think about old Billy Bob Bubba Clinton. For the rest of their lives, they both can say, "I was the president of the United States of America".
This president has had a clear majority in BOTH houses of Congress, and yet, he continues to cave in to the right wing elephant gang. He allows the far right to set the agenda.
In my opinion, this president has no vision at all of what he thinks the country could be or should be. Other than that we, the working class, should bow down before the "too big to fail" banksters and the war industries/oil conglomerates. We should all cheer this guy for everything he does, even though it has little or no benefit to us. He serves the ruling class of the country, just like the other "professional" politicians who populate the Congress and most every state house in the country.
While I know there are many who feel cheated by this president, those who swallowed his campaign crap and thought they were voting for real change, I don't feel that way. Early in 2008, one of my cousins emailed me that he liked what Go-bomber was saying. I asked just what it was that he said that was so "great". The reply was that Go-bomber spoke in sentences that my cousin could understand. In short, he basically said nothing, but he said it very nicely. I voted for Ms. McKinney, THAT would have been real change.
While the left rattles on and on about how the far right has "drunk the kool-aid", they also seem to have done the same. When I hear/read them telling all that "we" MUST vote for the donkey gang, I am unsure if I should laugh or throw up. The donkey and elephant gangs are just two sides of the very same war party gang. Actually, they are the two wings of that war party. The donkey gang is just a little bit sneakier about their true motives than the elephants are.
I hope that the people wake up to this soon. This coming election, I will not vote for either a donkey, nor an elephant. As I have said before at this old corner, neither are house broken. They both tramp through the flower beds and shit in the yard. A pox on both of them. We have the option, in many states, to vote for third party candidates. If you trust a candidate from either wing of the war party, well, then do so. Just don't cry to me when that person throws you under the bus.
This country needs to end the idiot wars of choice. These wars do not make us any safer. In fact we just create more enemies for every person we kill. The country needs real, well paying jobs. We need a true national health care system that covers ALL Americans. We need to end the domestic spying and either cut back or better yet, eliminate that vile "Patriot Act". We need to seriously reform Wall Street and then put in place rules and monitors to enforce the rules to prevent more abuses by the "too big to fail" banksters.
Those are just the immediate needs of the country. To me they are the top priorities. Any other suggestions are always welcome here. But, rather than tell me, tell your representatives.
semper fi
11 comments:
Charlie,
I agree with you on the futility of voting for either wing of the war party. When I either party telephones asking for campaign contributions I tell them both the same thing, "Why should I give either one of your parties a dime? You are both bought and paid for by the same people - leave me the hell alone!" Then I slam the phone.
Peace,
Barry in the sticks
Barry, Good idea, just ask them why. One thing, don't slam the phone. Might break it. Around here, we own the actual phone just pay for the service. If I slam my phone and break it, then I have to buy a new one.
You could ask them what is in it for you also. Bet they can't tell you.
Charlie,
From one "professional" lefty to another, I'm going to do everything I can to convince as many people as possible to vote "independent" in November - or write in a name on their paper ballot if no viable independent named candidate for congress made the cut in their district. This will send the message that the days of donkeys and elephants is over - that we will no longer accept voting for the "lesser of two evils," and that this will not be a "waste of our vote" as much as it will be "the most effective use of our vote we have!"
Anyone unemployed looking for work or underemployed and wishing they had a better job (or anyone in a small business) should do this. The duopoly of rich democrats and rich republicans must end. Working class people and middle class people should no longer trust either party. (Party leaders on both sides of the aisle have completely sold out to money interests, or are ruled in their thinking by money, and it must stop.) (Human decency and common sense demands it.)
We have two months to get the word out, which should be plenty of time if this idea truly resonates.
Ken,
I agree, don't vote for either wing of the war party.
Unfortunately, Americans have a long history of voting against their own self interest. They fall prey to party line ads or the "news" from outlets like Faux Noise and "talk" radio.
Your vote is YOURS, you vote for the person YOU decided to vote for. I agree that voting for a third party is NOT throwing your vote away. If enough people would wake up to that fact, it could make a big difference.
Well, Charlie, this administration seems to feel that we should give them credit for the good intentions they have but are unable to act on due to the big, bad Republicans who continually thwart every well-intentioned thing the administration wants to do in spite of the fact that the party of the administration has a majority in both houses of Congress. And the Republicans have become so good at thwarting that progressive ideas no longer even enter the heads of most Democrats--it's apparently an advanced form of mind control. At least that's the only thing I can infer from the self-pitying rants such as the one we heard recently from Gibbs. In terms of party policy, the Democrats have become 1970's Republicans and most Republicans should be put in straitjackets for their own protection. My vote is going third-party or write-in.
gesneri,
Good intentions? I remember something about a certain road to a rather warm place being paved with them.
Well, here is another oldie, actions speak louder than words.
Talk is cheap, so Gibbs can cry all he wants. What still gets me, is how the "left" keeps ranting how "we MUST" vote for the donkey gang. If we don't the elephants will win. Not if enough people would vote for a third party candidate. I would like to see that at any level, for any office. It would really shake things up. At the very least, it would get their attention.
Maybe I am just old and delusional, but I would like to see the "two" party joke end. The country needs more political parties. The "two" are both bought and paid for by the same folks. Neither really represent the people.
Charlie,
I almost said, "What the heck!" But the truth is, I'm disappointed you don't seem to see much hope in supposing that 2010 could be any different... I think there were record numbers fooled by Obama in the last election, who, with a little nudge, could be persuaded to do more than just vote independent in the coming election - they could write in a name on their paper ballot if no viable independent candidate for congress is available and TRULY SEND A HUGE MESSAGE!
If enough people vote independent in 2010 (or write in a name on their paper ballot even if that name has no chance of winning) it would be something very different then has ever happened before in all of known American politics!
We need to believe it could make a difference - not only how we vote in November but "HOW" we vote! (If we write in names or vote strictly independent, and if enough of us believe in what we do and how we do it, then what we want should happen.)
The key is, how many of us are really ready to do something radically different in November? I think there are many, many, more - than any donkey or elephant wants to believe.
Ken,
I didn't mean to sound negative. I just don't know that enough people will wake up and finally start to see that the two wings of the war party do not help them at all. Both of the animal gangs work against the people. Both are owned by the rich and the big corporations.
Too many just swallow the campaign ads and end up voting against their own self interests.
Call me cynical, but it isn't easy trying to be very optimistic.
You are right that we need to send a message. I hope that somehow we can convince enough to vote for third party candidates. I'll keep trying, I just don't have high hopes is all.
Thanks for clearing that up, Charlie, I hear you about "High Hopes" - they are hard to come by in our "money oriented" world.
For the sake of my sons and grandsons I have to hope many people will start to figure it out, before November, with a little help, that our two party system is in fact quite corrupt and deserves no further support.
It will not be a waste of our vote to vote independent in November or to write in a name on our paper ballot - it will send a message loud and clear that what we really want, need, and deserve is some real change (finally).
Voting the incumbents out or the challengers in won't be enough - we've been doing that for years: we did it in 2006 and 2008 - nothing changed.
We need to break the cycle of the two party system (where both sides of the aisle are owned and operated by big money interests) and all they do is take turns being in office.
It's not easy for some to grasp how this could have happened - how our political system has been corrupted gradually over the years and was almost totally hijacked in 2008 - but once this is grasped by enough people and the word spreads it should be easy enough to start fixing it by sending the message: NO MORE TURNSTILE POLITICS!
It will be especially hard for the democrats to grasp this because so many of them are still desperate to believe they are still the party of the people. But if enough of them ask themselves how they're actually doing - how their party is actually behaving - they might wake up.
Anyone who is poor, unemployed, under employed, or disillusined with the system enough to realize it really needs to change should be voting indepedent in November or writing in a name on their paper ballot. It will not be a waste. It will be the only honest, easy, non-violent thing they can do.
My hopes are high this could happen!
Ken,
You are most welcome. Sorry for getting you confused in the first place.
Have you read the latest from Joe Bageant? You can read it at his web site or at Counterpunch the Aug 16 web edition. I have the links to both on the blog page here.
Joe nails things right on the head, as he always does.
Again, your vote is yours. You choose who you vote for. We need to dump the entire Congress as soon as possible. Too bad we only have the chance to get all the House but only part of the Senate in November. Wish ALL 535 were up for election. Oh well, there is always the 2012 election to finish the job.
If anybody tells you that if you don't vote for the donkey gang, the elephants will win, just what has the donkey gang done for them? Or, ask how the donkey gang is different from the elephant gang.
Ah yes, "Understanding America's Class System," "Honk if you love caviar," indeed. Joe Bagent really does have a way with words and almost always hits the nail on the head.
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