I would say that around midnight Wednesday morning, we will know whether or not an ineffective and seemingly out of touch candidate for a special election in a solidly blue state will have sealed the fate of the Obama agenda. We will also see cheers coming from a mixture of racists, birthers, deathers, and most importantly pols on the right (whether they are racists, birthers, deathers, or simply haters about the election results of 2008) who have no desire to do anything, and I mean anything, that will be beneficial to more than the top 2% of the income earners.
Now, I don't think that every single aspect of what Obama wants to do is picture perfect. However, I do believe that the man is sincere in his desire to do right by the American people, including those who hate him. I cannot say the same about virtually anyone in the GOP right now. I do believe that they are sincere in their desire to do nothing but make sure that every single thing that Obama does is held back, derided, or defeated. EVERY SINGLE THING. And for all of the false equivalents that the right tries to construct about what Democrats did during the Bush administration, I would just direct them to the votes on the Hill between 2001 and 2009. The truth is in the Congressional Record. Bush enjoyed more bi-partisan support than this POTUS has ever experienced, and it damn sure isn't because Bush had better ideas.
So, as I sit here waiting to see what the folks of Massachusetts will do, I will think about those days a year ago, when I saw a wide cross section of Americans descend on Washington to celebrate possibility.
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You will also see cheers from pretty decent and normal hard-working Americans (but not the union members, who get excluded from paying for this agenda) who oppose the current agenda and who are no more birthers, deathers, haters, or racists than the current Administration is a bunch of heterophobic socialist Manchurian candidates. I'm sorry that your view of the world is so colored by a fringe element when a sizeable percentage of Americans agree with much of that agenda.
@TC: You mean the "decent and normal hard-working Americans" that the politicians of the GOP really don't care about, the same people that I come from? My view of the world is colored by what I have seen in my years of being politically aware my friend. And it's sad to see. If that makes me an elitist for not embracing torture as government policy, for embracing gay marriage (for personal as well as political reasons), for being skeptical of this bizarre push for a Christianist nation, for being a supporter of many of the ideas of the New Deal, and some of the spirit (though not necessarily the policies) of the Great Society, for not wanting to exist in a perpetual state of war, for actually wanting to see interesting, innovative and thought provoking ideas comes from the right (as was the case in the past, even if some of them, "Reaganomics" for example, didn't work so well), then call me an elitist who is all about the fringe. Meanwhile, I will continue to hope for the best for my country, because I still believe, and American history backs me up on this, that we are better than what I am seeing right now.
TC speaks of, "...heterophobic socialist Manchurian candidates."
And then, Free, he says that your "view of the world is colored by a fringe element..."
I'm sorry, but that's just damn funny.
It's sadly ironic that the sitting president sought bi-partisan support while not getting it, and the previous president got bi-partisan support while running his rough shod demands over the congress and the public in the name of liberty.
Chritianist wants are for a white, heterosexual entitlement state.
They'll tow the line on equal rights, but never exceed it.
They'll fight for equality in marriage for all consenting adults, because their religion dictates marriage can only apply to one man and one woman.
They'll look to push women's rights back, by revisiting abortion as a hot button issue.
And they'll stall progress in actually resolving to do something. A path with will cost us all in mounting expenses during the delay, and of course, in terms of lost time.
Inaction, or more to the point, a pissing contest, could lead to a double dip in the recession.
I'm just sayin'...
Here's the funny thing. The GOP may be wrong. The GOP may be out for the fraction of the percentage atop the income bracket. The GOP may not have any concrete ideas.
But at least they are moving as a bloc. At least they are consistent -- if not consistently wrong.
The DEMS, under the pathetic leadership of Pelosi and Reid, have devolved into a band of interests, of one-man, all-the-votes (Sen. Joe, Snow and Nelson, anyone?).
Seriously pathetic.
The last time I checked, the majority still ruled in America -- and that goes for the Senate, when 51 votes wins out. Since when were we obsessed about the 60 vote supermajority? Since when did we want no debate -- if, for no other reason, than to expose the GOP's non-plan for the future?
Sad. Truly sad.
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