Jill Stein will not be our president any time soon, but I'm still more than a little pleased this morning. Obamacare will survive. Flawed as it is, it's better than nothing, and if a few states decide to offer public options it may grow into something much better.
Elizabeth Warren defeated Scott Brown in Massachusetts, so in January ordinary people will have a real voice in the Senate, and I will have a crush on a sitting Senator. Bernie Sanders blew away the competition, despite major expenditure of PAC money against him.
Speaking of PAC money, I'm especially pleased that Sheldon Adelson, the Koch brothers, Linda McMahon, and all the mysterious rich people who are behind Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS threw away hundreds of millions of dollars to accomplish virtually nothing. Things remain pretty much as they were, most likely including political gridlock. Crossroads GPS couldn't even manage to oust my local Congressman in a tightly contested race, despite a spate of truly hideous attack ads.
Will we go over the fiscal cliff? I guess we have to wait and see. I'm pretty sure, though, that Obama will be somewhat less inclined to "compromise" than he may have been in his first term — and since the lame duck Congress will not be much different from the incoming Congress, we may get an early deal.
Showing posts with label 2012 election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012 election. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Why they Hate Him
Let's see. Could it be because he's a "socialist?" Well, some of them don't have a clue what a socialist is, and probably are dumb enough to believe the hype from Fox; but would a socialist get all that Wall Street backing?
Oh, wait! It must be because he's an abortion slinging, gay loving, social radical! Mmm... maybe not. He never talks about the "choice" vs. "right to life" controversy, still hasn't publicly endorsed gay marriage, and took a hell of a long time to end "Don't ask, don't tell.". Granted, he's not religious. He doesn't do all those church appearances we've come to expect from our presidents, and the connection to Reverend Wright was nothing but Chicago political expedience. Okay, it's clear he's not a social conservative. Maybe that explains some of the animosity.
Well, then there's the little matter of the blackness. That's reason enough for most of the white south and entirely too many working class white men, but it still seems inadequate to explain the extent and the intensity of the hatred. It certainly is not enough to ensure a Republican victory.
As you may have noticed, I haven't been too enthusiastic about him myself, for none of the above reasons. On the other hand, he's a mile above any of those assholes trying to win the Republican nomination (albeit John Huntsman wants to break up the big banks, and that goes a long way with me. I haven't heard it yet from Our Esteemed President, sure as shit.)
Actually, I suspect they hate him because they're taught to hate him — by Fox, ALEC, the Koch brothers, et al. I have to admit, that cabal does a pretty good job of it. Still, even with all the money in the world (which they seem to have,) it's hard to get someone to spring such a a really stiff hate-on unless there's some initial antipathy from which to work.
And, as you may have noticed, he kind of looks black.
Oh, wait! It must be because he's an abortion slinging, gay loving, social radical! Mmm... maybe not. He never talks about the "choice" vs. "right to life" controversy, still hasn't publicly endorsed gay marriage, and took a hell of a long time to end "Don't ask, don't tell.". Granted, he's not religious. He doesn't do all those church appearances we've come to expect from our presidents, and the connection to Reverend Wright was nothing but Chicago political expedience. Okay, it's clear he's not a social conservative. Maybe that explains some of the animosity.
Well, then there's the little matter of the blackness. That's reason enough for most of the white south and entirely too many working class white men, but it still seems inadequate to explain the extent and the intensity of the hatred. It certainly is not enough to ensure a Republican victory.
As you may have noticed, I haven't been too enthusiastic about him myself, for none of the above reasons. On the other hand, he's a mile above any of those assholes trying to win the Republican nomination (albeit John Huntsman wants to break up the big banks, and that goes a long way with me. I haven't heard it yet from Our Esteemed President, sure as shit.)
Actually, I suspect they hate him because they're taught to hate him — by Fox, ALEC, the Koch brothers, et al. I have to admit, that cabal does a pretty good job of it. Still, even with all the money in the world (which they seem to have,) it's hard to get someone to spring such a a really stiff hate-on unless there's some initial antipathy from which to work.
And, as you may have noticed, he kind of looks black.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Obama Mans Up
It is good to see Our President taking up the populist banner and telling us it's time to "soak the rich." I guess Plouff and Axelrod finally figured out that the old Clinton approach of "triangulation" wasn't working, and it was time to try the old Clinton approach of "doing whatever the polls say." A sizable majority of Americans want the rich to pay significantly higher taxes. Now, so does Obama.
"Class warfare," say the Republicans. I don't know about you, but I saw the class war begin thirty years ago, and guess what, fellow proletarians? We lost. If there really were any "class warfare" going on now, it would have to be a counterrevolution. The rich won the war outright, culminating in the Bush income tax cuts and, more important, the reduction of capital gains taxes to 15%.
I'm still not at all persuaded that Our President is on Our Side, but if it keeps Rick Perry out of the White House, whatever chicanery he attempts is okay with me. More important, delivering a strong, populist, anti-fat cat message could help the Democrats weaken or break the Tea Party grip on the Republican Party and the House, and also hang onto the Senate.
As for economic stimulus, the new tax proposals, even if they were enacted into law, would not do any more than the similarly doomed JOBS proposal; but, like the JOBS plan, they make for good politics. Anyway, the actual proposals don't matter, provided the president is seen as aggressively asserting his belief in them.
An unspoken but obvious truth of American politics is that independents don't know enough to make rational choices. Granted, most registered Democrats and Republicans also don't know shit from Shinola, but at least they have people telling them what to believe.
Independents ignore policy, and vote based on personalities. They particularly look for strength. One must hope that fourteen months is long enough for America to get over its perception of Obama as a wimp. If not, a raging asshole like Rick Perry might be our next president.
"Class warfare," say the Republicans. I don't know about you, but I saw the class war begin thirty years ago, and guess what, fellow proletarians? We lost. If there really were any "class warfare" going on now, it would have to be a counterrevolution. The rich won the war outright, culminating in the Bush income tax cuts and, more important, the reduction of capital gains taxes to 15%.
I'm still not at all persuaded that Our President is on Our Side, but if it keeps Rick Perry out of the White House, whatever chicanery he attempts is okay with me. More important, delivering a strong, populist, anti-fat cat message could help the Democrats weaken or break the Tea Party grip on the Republican Party and the House, and also hang onto the Senate.
As for economic stimulus, the new tax proposals, even if they were enacted into law, would not do any more than the similarly doomed JOBS proposal; but, like the JOBS plan, they make for good politics. Anyway, the actual proposals don't matter, provided the president is seen as aggressively asserting his belief in them.
An unspoken but obvious truth of American politics is that independents don't know enough to make rational choices. Granted, most registered Democrats and Republicans also don't know shit from Shinola, but at least they have people telling them what to believe.
Independents ignore policy, and vote based on personalities. They particularly look for strength. One must hope that fourteen months is long enough for America to get over its perception of Obama as a wimp. If not, a raging asshole like Rick Perry might be our next president.
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