Monday, August 16, 2010

What’s the Difference?

I don’t like Obama. I’ve said so on many occasions. However, I don’t feel the need to insult the guy on a daily basis.

Why?

Plenty of bloggers are doing it, both on the right and the left. I’m not surprised by the criticism on the left, because it sometimes seems like Obama is doing everything he can to abandon every single campaign promise he made. What surprises me is the criticism from the right, libertarians and anarchists excluded (since those guys will complain about a government official even showing up to work).

Imagine you are a Republican. I have never met one (probably because I’ve been court-ordered to remain 500 yards away from anyone who earns more than 200k, or white people who earn less than 30k, or anyone who is enlisted or related to someone in the armed forces), but I get a decent impression of what they believe based on the people they elect.

As far as I can tell, Obama is a Republican.

Obama runs deficit budgets, including obscene military expenditures to kill brown people who aren’t keen on Jesus (or at least not enough to call him a God, rather than just a prophet).

Obama opposes gay marriage, though luckily a Reagan appointed California judge disagreed (I feel dirty just thinking about Reagan doing something right…).

Obama signed do-nothing healthcare and investment/banking reforms which allow abusive practices to continue.

Obama has verbally said he would stop raids on legal California cannabis cultivation, but apparently the Feds didn’t get the memo and have busted dozens (barely making a dent, but slyly justifying their budget).

Obama has done nothing but token gestures regarding the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which I wouldn’t care about if it weren’t for the fact that the military is about the only “job” most young men can get these days.

Obama has cut spending for NASA and several other important programs aimed at promoting science, education, and technology.

Obama has done nothing to increase “transparency,” unless you count the fact that more and more people are able to see through his bullshit at this point.

Obama sat idly by as the largest oil spill in US history put thousands of fishermen out of work (I hear he was trying to finish a compelling book he just couldn’t put down, “The Pet Goat”).

Perhaps most damning: taxes have gone up for people in the middle class, while the wealthy continue to bleed the nation dry from off-shore tax havens.

So I have to ask: are Republicans just acting infantile because they lost, or are they actually paying attention to what’s going on? For people who claim to hate homosexuals, they sure have their heads jammed way, way up their asses.

But I digress. This isn’t about bashing Obama, or even Republicans. Why? Because focusing on the shortcomings of others is not productive. Obama is not listening to criticism (another Republican trait), so we can’t expect him to change. And what’s worse, people get carried away when it comes to criticism.

Obama is not Bush with a tan. It’s not like we could have elected John Boehner, announced that we have the world’s “First Orange President,” and things would be exactly the same. Our situation would be worse, because while Obama is walking us towards failure, Republicans sprint there.

I think the most important question isn’t whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House (or controlling the Legislature), but rather: where has our choice gone? What we’re witnessing is the political poverty of a duopoly which doesn’t spend most of its energy competing against each other, but instead cooperates in stifling all outside opinions.

I am not Libertarian. I find Libertarians to be little more than druggies, johns and gun nuts who want their vices to become, or remain, legal. I can respect that. So why are Libertarians shouldered out of debates and elections across the country? Why is there an endless series of hoops to jump through just to get on the ballot? We all know why, but I guess what I’m asking is… why do we put up with it?

Democracy is about choice, and when the choice is being blatantly controlled by the very people we are forced to “choose” between, I think the only course of action is to refuse to vote for the people responsible. It is pointless to blame Republicans or Democrats more than the other, and pretend a vote for one is a vote against the “worse” one.

Insulting Obama day after day is not bringing new blood to the arena, it is merely politics as usual. Every printed derision is a wasted opportunity which only serves Republican interests. Why? Republicans make it their job to deride Democrats. That is the how Republicans get elected: people think they’re voting “not Democrat.” In reality, they’re essentially the same.

I have never met a Republican, only people who vote Republican because they don’t know any better, nor do they have a better option. At this point, being a “Libertarian” means you’re too embarrassed to publicly admit you vote for Republicans. Why vote for people you don’t even really support? Simply for the sake of saying you voted?

Americans need to wake up and stop voting for politicians who have been bought by the same corporate interests, and who merely advertise themselves differently. It’s pretty much all the same shitty product. It’s like being given the choice between Coke and Diet Coke. Which do you want: diabetes in a year or kidney failure in a decade?

And if you think you’re ordering tea, don’t be shocked when you get Coke.

9 comments:

  1. I have said numerous times that Obama was the Republican's Manchurian Candidate. And that if Obama was 100% "white" the repubs would have ran him. He was groomed long ago for this one termer position. He knew what he was getting himself into. He just did not know how deep the rabbit hole was. The same puppet strings are in place by the same puppet masters.
    He is not W lite. He and Shillary will take us to the brink.
    Do not be surprised if she is on the ticket as VP for the 2012 cycle, that and the impossible chance of pulling out the economy are his only hope. He has proven himself over and ever to be a republocrat.
    He is a "war of choice " president. Sadly he is like the rest. He seems to like it.

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  2. I had actually secretly hoped McCain would win in 2008, because the economic status of the country is so horrible that anyone taking the reins was doomed. The first Bush filled this role perfectly, taking over a crippled post-Reagan nation, and it resulted in two terms of Clinton.

    How pathetic is it that Clinton was the best president in my lifetime?

    I think the next election is up for grabs, and it's really going to come down to a few factors. I think Obama was been quietly trying to catch Bin Laden, which is why he's focused on Aghanistan and moved into Pakistan. If he actually catches Laden or confirms his death, he'll win re-election with relative ease. That's really his best bet for controlling his own future, because outside of that he is at the mercy of the Republicans. If they put up a semi-sane person (no small task for Republicans), it will be close or unwinnable for Obama.

    Honestly, what happens in the House and Senate is more important than who sits in the White House right now.

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  3. IMO, OBL is dead, and has been dead for a long time. He probably bought it at Tora Bora, or shortly there after.
    The American masses have a short memory span. They could care less about OBL. Their main focus now is on the classified ads, and the jobs market. If he can not improve the economy he is toast. He will extend and surge this endless war without borders. It is not under his control. Patreus has taken the military and now the political helm away from him. [Which he never really had].
    The House and the Senate is a sewer filled will bought and paid for cretins. They are the true down fall of this country. Along side the Corps and the Banksters that are their true pay masters.

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  4. Can we clone Bernie Sanders?

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  5. Samuel:
    Now you are talkin.
    I would like to splice Sanders with a little Kucinich.
    Then we are close. :-)

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  6. Too bad I never lived in Vermont, though I can honestly say I'm not missing out by having avoided Ohio.

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  7. Finally, someone said what I'm thinking! The question is: should we give up? Should we not vote and give up? That doesn't seem helpful-- but then, would voting for either of the available options be helpful? It doesn't seem so right now. What to do... what to do...
    --Bonnie

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  8. Most voters don't care about jobs. For one thing, the most reliable voting block is composed of retirees. Poor people are also less likely to vote, regardless of age. And those who are out of work, I imagine, will re-elect the person they think is most likely to provide them benefits. Do you think a lot of unemployed people are going to vote for a Republican, who undoubtedly will vehemently oppose social safety nets?

    Also, Osama is worth much more dead than alive. His survival to this point has helped the terrorist cause and anti-war effort more than it ever helped the pro-war side. Look at the spectacle they made of Saddam.

    One of the biggest reasons people see the wars as a failure is the inability to catch or kill Osama. No one was impressed with the two dozen "number two" men we captured or killed, nor was anyone impressed with the conviction of his driver, cook, tailor, masseuse and beard stylist. At the end of the day, he's why we went into Afghanistan, and we didn't get him, so Bush and the Republicans failed (in the minds of people who give a shit).

    I would stay away from online conspiracy theorists. The human mind has a nasty habit of clinging to narratives that we read and want to believe, regardless of their veracity.

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  9. Finally, someone said what I'm thinking! The question is: should we give up? Should we not vote and give up? That doesn't seem helpful-- but then, would voting for either of the available options be helpful? It doesn't seem so right now. What to do... what to do...
    --Bonnie


    I sort of hinted at my idea here, but to put it bluntly: register as independent or unaffiliated, and then don't vote.

    There is nearly as many people registered as Independent/Unafiliated/other as there are registered Republicans. This means the arena is ripe for a new party or two, or three. If the parties capture some House seats, then a Senator or two get elected, they can wield a lot of power in a legislative branch that is usually only a handful of votes away from passing a bill or not.

    I don't think registering to vote and then not voting is giving up. Besides, there are other things to vote on besides the President or federal legislators, so maybe doing your homework on local officials and voting in those races is a good idea. You just might be giving the future politicians we need their first public service job, right in your back yard. Federal politicians have to come from somewhere, they might as well be from your community.

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