"Politics is the art of the possible ", so said some ancient maxim. I'm not sure I can figure out whose words those really are, but in today's America, those words ring hollow. American politics have become the art of the impossible, since a leading opposition politician declared at the beginning of a new administration and a new congress, that his highest goal for the nation was the "defeat" of the yet to be inaugurated president.
America politics, pre-2009 had several "cultures". One of those cultures was "presidential honey moon". Another was the idea that nation comes first. As a matter of fact, the loosing party's flag bearer's motto in 2008 was "Country first". Anyone listening would have assumed he didn't mean "country first, so long as I have my way!" Of course he lost, and in his and his country's opinion, the nation must bear the consequence.
The Republican party post 2008, under the microphone of Rush Limbaugh and his many minions and chaperoned by a one time "hero" John McCain, have a singular objective - defeat Barack Obama at all cost.
Unfortunately, the nation was burning under a Republican inflicted wound. In 2001, as George W. Bush presidency was about to start, the nation had a projected budget surplus of five trillion dollars and a debt of about 5 trillion dollars. The hearings in the budget committees of congress was on how to avoid paying off all the nation's debt as Alan Greenspan worried that no debt may be bad for the nation. George Bush's then boss, Dick Chaney even chimed that deficits don't matter. Between 2001 and 2003, Bush and his Republican passies in congress passed two massive tax cuts and gleefully reversed surpluses carefully amassed by a coalition of democrats and republicans over a period starting with the George H.W. Bush presidency that collaps because the leder bush was more concerned about the nation's fiscal future. By 2009, a potential clean slate has been reversed to eleven trillion in debt and an annual deficit of over 1.5 trillion. The nation faced a projected deficit of over twenty trillion, from a projected surplus of over 5 trillion. And because a democrat was now in power, deficits suddenly mattered!
It was obvious to any serious observer that the opposition to Obama had more to do with the skin of his color than with the nature of his politics. It is not out of the question that some his support also was due to the same. It was gratifying to a section of the nation to have its first minority commander in chief, but many of the same people are not ready to take orders from him. A congress man called the president a liar in the halls of congress, and was not expelled! Many members of the opposition openly called for the man's assassination, and were forgiven by saying a basic mea-culpa. Some people even took their hand-gun to public events, a few yards from the president and were not arrested. This, in a nation that has seen the assassination of at least two former heads of state. It was like the president can do no right, and his opponents can do no harm in a lead up to a mid-term shellacking.
A shellacking that was well forsen, like a bad dram whose outcome had long been foretold. There was a tea-party and the celebration of a death panel in a lead up to expansion of safety net that the people so sorely needed in the face of growing wealth gap and growing unemployment. In 2006, the Detroit 3's main complaint was the overwhelming cost of health care and the fact that their Asian and European competitors are advantaged by national health care. A national health care was to be one of the panacea for that which hailed a failing nation, but the Republicans would rather continue the policies that have dragged the nation from surplus to ruin - and the press pretended there was a moral equivalence.
The president was dubbed as lacking leadership, because he refused to demagogue his opponents or rule in "prose" as some would have it, when ruling in prose meant campaigning all through his presidency. His deference to congress was ruled a weakness, even by the same folks who had no qualms calling him out as King George! His tactical offer of friendship to the world, which has so far yielded tones of reward was scorned.
True, leadership does entail pains, but the people have rewarded failure since 2009. True, the Democratic candidates in New Jersey and Virginian were either terribly flawed or grossly incompetent, as was the Democratic senatorial candidate in Massachusetts was in over her head. But the shellacking of the Democrats in 2010 was not a reward for good stewardship for the Republicans. It was a case of self flagellation by a nation reeling under the pains of a Republican policy gone awry. The election that brought Scott Brown of Massachusetts and later made John Boener speaker of the house was an American repudiation of reason. It was a cry for dysfunction and gridlock. A nation bitting its nose to spite its face. The 2010 election rewarded failure and the first casualty was the economy.
Since the Republicans took over the house and expanded their number in the senate, weakening the president's hands, the economy had gotten worse with unemployment rising from 8.9% (part of a sustained decline) to over 9.1 for the better part of 2011. In Summer, the nation also lost its tripple A rating, thanks to the work of many Republican clowns, including a woman who turned the Federal government into a piggy bank - using 24 foster kids as a way to raising money to run her family and business, who advocated albeit hypocritically, for spending cuts. They are starving the beast of course, but in the process weakening the nation they professed to love - but we all know better.
A super committee that was doomed to failure, given the obeisance Jeff Henserling and John Kyle pay to Grover Norquest. Republicans refused to see the correlation between the Bush tax cuts, the Prescription drug expansion and two trillion dollar wars had on a projected 5 trillion dollars surplus. Actually, they do see it, they just preferred to ignore it - They are starving the best under the watch of a Democratic administration. Unfortunately, they are being rewarded for their failure to be patriotic.
There are many reasons for Americans to be anxious, but the fear of the nation being taken over by minorities is not one of them. But that fear, more than anything else seems to continue to fuel a fringe element on the right's ability to lead a larger group to the gallows! The nation is rewarding failures.
In the next year, the polity will heat up further as the nation heads towards another presidential election. All the Republican candidates are fringe elements, yet the bookmakers have them winning!!! Is America really becoming the "anti-intellectual" version of Iran (only substituting Islam for Christianity?).
A win for Republicans in 2012 will be a colosal indictment of Democracy. It will prove that the collective does not always get it right. That indeed, the people may not have the capacity to make wise decisions about their own self interest or the best interest of the nation.
America politics, pre-2009 had several "cultures". One of those cultures was "presidential honey moon". Another was the idea that nation comes first. As a matter of fact, the loosing party's flag bearer's motto in 2008 was "Country first". Anyone listening would have assumed he didn't mean "country first, so long as I have my way!" Of course he lost, and in his and his country's opinion, the nation must bear the consequence.
The Republican party post 2008, under the microphone of Rush Limbaugh and his many minions and chaperoned by a one time "hero" John McCain, have a singular objective - defeat Barack Obama at all cost.
Unfortunately, the nation was burning under a Republican inflicted wound. In 2001, as George W. Bush presidency was about to start, the nation had a projected budget surplus of five trillion dollars and a debt of about 5 trillion dollars. The hearings in the budget committees of congress was on how to avoid paying off all the nation's debt as Alan Greenspan worried that no debt may be bad for the nation. George Bush's then boss, Dick Chaney even chimed that deficits don't matter. Between 2001 and 2003, Bush and his Republican passies in congress passed two massive tax cuts and gleefully reversed surpluses carefully amassed by a coalition of democrats and republicans over a period starting with the George H.W. Bush presidency that collaps because the leder bush was more concerned about the nation's fiscal future. By 2009, a potential clean slate has been reversed to eleven trillion in debt and an annual deficit of over 1.5 trillion. The nation faced a projected deficit of over twenty trillion, from a projected surplus of over 5 trillion. And because a democrat was now in power, deficits suddenly mattered!
It was obvious to any serious observer that the opposition to Obama had more to do with the skin of his color than with the nature of his politics. It is not out of the question that some his support also was due to the same. It was gratifying to a section of the nation to have its first minority commander in chief, but many of the same people are not ready to take orders from him. A congress man called the president a liar in the halls of congress, and was not expelled! Many members of the opposition openly called for the man's assassination, and were forgiven by saying a basic mea-culpa. Some people even took their hand-gun to public events, a few yards from the president and were not arrested. This, in a nation that has seen the assassination of at least two former heads of state. It was like the president can do no right, and his opponents can do no harm in a lead up to a mid-term shellacking.
A shellacking that was well forsen, like a bad dram whose outcome had long been foretold. There was a tea-party and the celebration of a death panel in a lead up to expansion of safety net that the people so sorely needed in the face of growing wealth gap and growing unemployment. In 2006, the Detroit 3's main complaint was the overwhelming cost of health care and the fact that their Asian and European competitors are advantaged by national health care. A national health care was to be one of the panacea for that which hailed a failing nation, but the Republicans would rather continue the policies that have dragged the nation from surplus to ruin - and the press pretended there was a moral equivalence.
The president was dubbed as lacking leadership, because he refused to demagogue his opponents or rule in "prose" as some would have it, when ruling in prose meant campaigning all through his presidency. His deference to congress was ruled a weakness, even by the same folks who had no qualms calling him out as King George! His tactical offer of friendship to the world, which has so far yielded tones of reward was scorned.
True, leadership does entail pains, but the people have rewarded failure since 2009. True, the Democratic candidates in New Jersey and Virginian were either terribly flawed or grossly incompetent, as was the Democratic senatorial candidate in Massachusetts was in over her head. But the shellacking of the Democrats in 2010 was not a reward for good stewardship for the Republicans. It was a case of self flagellation by a nation reeling under the pains of a Republican policy gone awry. The election that brought Scott Brown of Massachusetts and later made John Boener speaker of the house was an American repudiation of reason. It was a cry for dysfunction and gridlock. A nation bitting its nose to spite its face. The 2010 election rewarded failure and the first casualty was the economy.
Since the Republicans took over the house and expanded their number in the senate, weakening the president's hands, the economy had gotten worse with unemployment rising from 8.9% (part of a sustained decline) to over 9.1 for the better part of 2011. In Summer, the nation also lost its tripple A rating, thanks to the work of many Republican clowns, including a woman who turned the Federal government into a piggy bank - using 24 foster kids as a way to raising money to run her family and business, who advocated albeit hypocritically, for spending cuts. They are starving the beast of course, but in the process weakening the nation they professed to love - but we all know better.
A super committee that was doomed to failure, given the obeisance Jeff Henserling and John Kyle pay to Grover Norquest. Republicans refused to see the correlation between the Bush tax cuts, the Prescription drug expansion and two trillion dollar wars had on a projected 5 trillion dollars surplus. Actually, they do see it, they just preferred to ignore it - They are starving the best under the watch of a Democratic administration. Unfortunately, they are being rewarded for their failure to be patriotic.
There are many reasons for Americans to be anxious, but the fear of the nation being taken over by minorities is not one of them. But that fear, more than anything else seems to continue to fuel a fringe element on the right's ability to lead a larger group to the gallows! The nation is rewarding failures.
In the next year, the polity will heat up further as the nation heads towards another presidential election. All the Republican candidates are fringe elements, yet the bookmakers have them winning!!! Is America really becoming the "anti-intellectual" version of Iran (only substituting Islam for Christianity?).
A win for Republicans in 2012 will be a colosal indictment of Democracy. It will prove that the collective does not always get it right. That indeed, the people may not have the capacity to make wise decisions about their own self interest or the best interest of the nation.
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