Pure Politics

OK, so I’ve collected a few quotes that speak to me about Republicans. I think they ring more true than false. That’s not my problem; it belongs squarely with the Republicans. If they value what people think of them and their party and their trajectory into history, then they should take care to repair their image. Else theirs is a struggle for power, not ideology. And that power must by necessity revolve around money. How crass. 

Also please recall where I have come from: deeply committed middle of the road Republican for well over 25 years. I still feel the party was hijacked and has moved to a very narrow position. This is not sour grapes on my part; I’ve analyzed it to death and concluded that the party simply doesn’t represent American spirit, will and intelligence. I tried to reform the party from the inside but it was a no go. I’ve spent the following 20 years or more trying to find a better home for my sense of nation and core values. I’m not totally comfortable wearing the cloak of a Democrat. But it’s offered me a decent home to start over in. 

Having said that, here’s the first Internet quote of this blog:

Anon: Once the Republicans get over Obama not being

            A Muslim

            A Marxist

            A Kenyan

            A right wing Nazi

            A left wing socialist

            An anti-American,

The removal of GOP smears exposes their greatest fear;

A normal guy is having success by working hard.

This quote nails the point. Obama has a great record of accomplishment in spite of horrendous Republican opposition in the House and Senate. He gave Republican leaders the opportunity during the first two years of his term to prove they could compromise and collaborate on national issues. But that leadership squandered that chance to rebuild their credentials of fairness. They blocked every move made by Obama. The following two years have demonstrated the cost paid by the nation and Democrats; Republicans have used the rules of the House and Senate to stymie every forward move.

In spite of that, 26 consecutive months of job growth have been tallied. Still not enough to climb out of the recession completely, but its still building. Government payrolls shrank significantly in the past 2 years; once they are restored somewhat, the employment position will be hugely improved.

In spite of near unanimous opposition, the Obama health care initiatives were implemented and improving health care along the way in a carefully phased process.

Again, with near unanimous opposition, the bail out of key industries and the banking industry happened anyway and the results have made all the difference in the world.

Is the economy still sour? Yes. Why? Because it was run into the abyss by ill-considered political policy by power hungry Pols with no regard for the health and well being of the nation as a whole. The recession that followed became huge and changed a number of foundational elements: labor values were lowered as a result of replacing massive numbers of jobs with technology tools; career changes became rampant as old industries became obsolete and disappeared; educational institutions were found lacking a Plan B in helping career shifters find new skill sets to reconfigure their careers; instead of researching and replacing oil as energy with new forms of energy and technology, we worsened our dependence on world oil supplies, and created more global instability in both geopolitical and economic circles. The result? A wholesale reconfiguration of the American economy. New rules and definitions appeared.

I don’t have the time and space to go into the many arguments already made in this blog over the past 7 months. Reread selected past postings to refresh your memory.

No. We have made up for a lot of lost ground. A lot more needs doing, but we are moving in the right direction finally.

And that came about because Mr. Obama said: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

With a backbone of sheer principle, President Obama has led the nation using the high road. He has invested his trust in the American People. The Democrats and Independents responded. The Republicans ridiculed and sneered. Agency of change is evidently not in their DNA! They continue to fan the flames of the inferno they lit.

And that leads me to the final quote, this one from Bill Clinton: “I like that about the Republicans; the evidence does not faze them. They are not bothered at all by the facts.”

The Republican opposition to Obama seems to be a game of ‘debate by chaos.’ The only rule is to beat down the opposition with sound bites and made up ‘facts.’ The objective is to win at all costs. The well-being of the nation doesn’t count; only their winning.

How else can we be subjected to a circus primary season with Republican presidential candidates burning and destroying each other then, now that the primaries are nearly over, and Romney is apparently in the lead for the party’s nomination, that all the past gibberish of campaign trail rhetoric is to be forgotten and now Romney can pretend he didn’t speak or act as he did. Now he gets to start all over?

No. Not at all.

It is now that time when the American people stand on principle and say “shame on you.”

Obama has paid his dues dearly. He deserves to be retained. We need him to finish the job and prepare the way for the next president in 2016.

May 11, 2012