Your’e not happy. I’m not happy. Most us are not happy. The only ones that seem happy are those on the far right that see our current struggles as a means of returning to power without having to admit to previous failures.
Imagine a world if the progressives and liberals, the rights activists and supporters, the liberal commentators and bloggers were to concede to the right. Imagine, if you will, if we were to give up the fight – the daily fight – and allow the other side to win.
Has Barack Obama been a perfect president? Of course not. For starters, he begin Day One with most daunting set of circumstances of any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Add to that mix a politically inept Senate Majority Leader, the worst environmental disaster imaginable and an attack dog mentality opposition.
It’s difficult to be a liberal these days, but it is not impossible. It is difficult because it is just so easy to say “no” and critcize those that say “yes.”
Spending? Of course it looks bad, and it is difficult to explain to the “Tea Party” mentality why the spending is necessary, even though it has not produced many jobs.
The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? We are pulling out of Iraq on schedule, but you would have a hard time getting the GOP to admit that. Afghanistan? Obama listened to his Generals – COIN was their plan – yet the “armchair generals” have a better idea since they got “anti-war religion.”
The list goes on. McCain wanted the administration to listen to the military leaders regarding “DADT” right up to the point when they expressed an opinion that it should be repealed. Cut taxes? Obama did cut taxes for a great number of us, yet the right wing machine insists that he has raised taxes and is doing in again in January, despite the “sunset” provision in the original Republican bill.
We have to imagine a better world than this one, but that means will have to be willing to stand up and be counted as a progressive that is willing to fight for our principles.
Politics is a full contact sport – it’s not for the faint of heart or the easily discouraged. “It could be worse” is scant consolation for those hit hard by the Great Recession or the lack of progress on social issues, but the fact is, it could be much worse.
Just allow yourself to imagine it.
William Stephenson Clark
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
I am happy! Honestly!
I read this morning that one in five Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim. Americans are suffering from brain rot and there is not one thing that can be done to help those people. Even if you attempted to show them evidence contradicting their beliefs they wouldn’t believe it.
I am actually looking forward to the next episode where the Republicans share the responsibility of Congress and can no longer pretend they’re doing something by being cantankerous. It isn’t that I think they’ll actually accomplish anything, but it’s more difficult to place the blame elsewhere when you share the responsibility.
I don’t think 1 in 5 is any big deal. At least 1 in 5 believe that Bush had an active part in 9/11.
1 in 5, 20%, just reflects the lunatics all around us. Or, those who just want to say the most outrageous crap for their own amusement.
I don’t believe Bush had an active part in 9/11 but I do think the Saudi King used GWB to take out Saddam Hussein for them after 9/11. Perhaps that is why all but one of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia?
And as a bonus, America bankrupted themselves and lost many lives taking out an Iraqi dictator that the other Arab Nations were too afraid to take on.
With a bankrupted America and a tarnished image from invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, the Saudis are sitting back and laughing at us.
And yet we still sold about $12 billion in military arms to Saudi Arabia.
Now wasn’t that smart.
Is 20% higher or lower than the number of eligible adults who actually vote?
Is that 20% the number of the actual die-hard bases for each party?
That sounds about right – because I still believe that most Americans are in the middle of the political spectrum – and that would leave 60% in the middle.
Remember all those bloggers at the old place who judged who was and wasn’t _______ — fill in the blank with whatever. They would argue about just about anything.
Right here at our blog this week I was told what I was thinking even after I said, “no, I wasn’t.” So what can you do? Absolutely nothing. If people don’t trust you and you’ve never done a thing to deserve their lack of trust then it isn’t your problem, it’s theirs.
President Obama has stated his faith. It is between him and God. Yet, one fifth of Americans have decided to do god’s work. Who does that reflect poorly on?
And even if he was Muslim, what the hell difference would it make? About as much difference as Kennedy being Catholic did.
If we start judging people by the religion they choose (or don’t choose) as much as we do the political party they do (or don’t) belong to, it’s time to give it up and blow ourselves to smithereens with the latest technology. Oh, wait, we already do that, don’t we? Not only do Christians hate Muslims and Muslims hate Christians and everyone gets to hate Jews for one reason or another, but Baptists hate Catholics and Catholics hate Lutherans and…(“The Mormons are from Mars, Dad. We’ve had it checked.” – Eddie Izzard as Christ.) the list is endless. Apparently the words “all men are created equal” mean absolutely nothing. Just words. Mumbo jumbo.
I could rant all day, but I won’t. There are other, more important things to do today. Sleep tops the list, not that it’ll be marked off until tonight. 😉
You bring out some excellent points.
As far as the Baptists hating Catholics. Hell, there are Baptists that hate fellow Baptists. I should know – I was a Fundamental Baptist that married a Southern Baptist preacher and we were treated like dirt by both groups.
I think we have discussed this previously that the issue of slavery was what divided alot of denominations into splinter groups.
As long as there are human beings, there will be this need for some to feel superior to others – whether they really are superior is up for debate.
If your God tells you that you must hate others in order to feel superior, then maybe you’ve got the wrong God?
I would love to be able to talk to Steven about this gang mentality our country reverts to more and more. He always had such insight and interesting bits to share.
“Right here at our blog this week I was told what I was thinking even after I said, “no, I wasn’t.” So what can you do? Absolutely nothing. If people don’t trust you and you’ve never done a thing to deserve their lack of trust then it isn’t your problem, it’s theirs.”
I saw that. You just can;t fix stupid.
The politics of fear and hatred have taken us down a road I don’t want to be on.
I recognize that knowledge puts an end to both, but how we agree on the facts sure seems elusive.
“how we agree on the facts sure seems elusive”
That is as true among people of supposedly the same “group” as it is of people conversing among different groups. I get myself into a lot of trouble because I reject much of what is considered to be common knowledge. I don’t believe much unless I see facts that I believe are credible AND they make logical sense with what is actually going on around me. I know it can be frustrating, but maybe part of the problem in this country is that we are all working under false assumptions.
The motto of the sixties generation was “Question Authority.” The motto of the generation after that one might be “Question Everything.”
“Question Everything” describes my motto.
And, oh, how some people hate it when you question things.
And, “question everything” doesn’t work well when in the military (although I was bright enough to not do my questioning in public, so to speak).
I agree with fnord about actually looking forward to when Republicans are back in power. In fact, let’s hope they do it this November in 2010.
The Republicans being such morally superior beings and all, can pass all their spending bills for their wealthy and their planned wars. Obama can veto each bill they send to him and then Republicans can ram everything they want down our throats.
And then when their planned wars start WWIII (the Holy War) and our country is bankrupted – again – there will be no one to blame but the elephants sitting in the room.
I just wonder – will our credit card with China have a high enough credit limit to cover both wars with Iran and North Korea?
Seems he’d need to grow a pair before actually using that veto power. Maybe when it is politically expedient — you know against the other guys — it will be used. Isn’t it a sick state of affairs when who wins is most important?
Did we ever have a time when what was best for Americans was most important? I think we did, but then the more I read it’s quite possible this game has always been played and I wasn’t aware it was a game.
Since we have been in this alternate world of reality television shows and everything is now a contest, I think that is reflective in our politics also.
That and the fact alot of money is up for grabs now in politics.
Alot of these candidates are spending millions of their own money for a job that pays $200,00/year tops?
Something is wrong with this picture.
There have been a few times, fnord, but precious few. Generally, the “game” has always been there and willingly played, although I think it’s a given that at best what “rules” there are have been subject to different interpretations over time and from time to time. At worst, the rules have been changed from time to time, thereby preventing “outsiders” from possessing any realistic chance of winning.
It’s the picture for this topic that brings me to a halt. I missed seeing it in Central Park when I was there. My friend and I didn’t wander too far into the park, because it was early in our sightseeing and we had more to see. And sight!
If by some miracle I’m blessed and able to go to the national conference I want to attend next year in NYC, I will move heaven and earth to find the Imagine Memorial. Well, if all hell hasn’t broken loose after the Rs take over Congress. 😉
NYC is a place I’ve never seen! We stayed the night at a hotel near the airport because we arrived NYC after the last flight left for Kansas. We could have continued traveling but not gotten home and would have needed to stay the night someplace other than home. Since we’d been on a plane for seven hours we opted for no more travel. The hotel shuttle drove for about 15 minutes to get to the hotel and most of that time was spent getting off airport property.
Usually, I’m not a fan of big cities, although I’ve enjoyed every trip I’ve made to our nation’s capitol and Boston is a favorite too. New York City is another I think I would like and it’s on my bucket list.
Do go, fnord. The first time I was in NYC, I was almost thirteen. My mother was there for a convention of some kind, and my dad and I went along. We drove and saw other places along the way, as we always did.
We stayed in a suite at the Plaza, heaven for a girl who remembered Eloise from childhood. It was a suite because there’d be a screwup with rooms. We did the usual sightseeing: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, United Nations, etc.. It was also the year of the 1964 World’s Fair. My dad and I took the subway to it several times. We saw Michelangelo’s Pieta there, and rode Disney’s It’s a Small World ride several times, before it made it to Disneyland or World. Everything was…amazing.
The fairgrounds were directly across from Shea Stadium. There was a game going on when we got to the fairgrounds one afternoon, and when left that night to go back to the hotel, it was still being played. Turns out it was the National League’s longest played extra innings game. 23 innings, lasting 7 hrs and 23 minutes. San Francisco Giants 8, New York Mets 6 on May 31, 1964.
I can’t say that I was all that impressed then with NYC. The Twin Towers hadn’t even been built then. When I went back in 2003, I saw Ground Zero. And I put on my big girl panties and rode the subway by myself. I LOVED NYC and would go back in a NY minute. 😉
Believe it or not, I grew up in Philly and have never been to NYC. My nephew lives there now. I really want to get there sometime. If I do, I will make the John Lennon Memorial a must-see. He was one of my heros.
I hope you get to go soon, Paula. A friend and I walked all over the south part of Lower Manhattan with no trouble. In fact, several people stopped when they saw us looking at our map, and they offered to give us directions. There’s just so much to see, it can’t be done in a day. My friend and I did one day, the three other friends and I did the Empire State Building and the rest on another day.
My dream trip–other than to Greece–is for my youngest daughter and I to see Boston, Philly, NYC, and DC by train. As soon as I win the lottery… 🙂
And here I forgot to mention John was one of my heroes, too.
Okay, back to work. I’m 15 or so pages from the end of the current book, and it would be SO nice if I could finish it by tomorrow. (Saturday a.m. is neighborhood cleanup, and I absolutely have to get rid of at least some stuff.)