I would have to confess that my political leanings are more towards the liberal agenda than they are with the conservative. I prefer to base my conclusions more on the merits of the issues than on any allegiance to a particular political party. Absolute party loyalty smarts of extremism and I find that intellectually repugnant. Many of the same threads of corruption and ignorance run through both parties. One seems to take refuge in believing he always takes the high road of compassion while he looks with disdain on those he deems to have been reduced to thinking in monosyllabic frames of reference. The latter, in turn, impugn his adversaries in simplistic terms, labels and admonitions of divine wrath. My tolerance for both myopic extremes is limited.
Yesterday’s revelation that Mr. Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize threw this entire issue into sharp relief. The liberal/progressive extreme regarded it as almost tantamount to having been a divine revelation, and rose up in righteous indignation against all those who did not share their enthusiasm. Do I think he deserved it? Not in the least. Why? Because, I would ask, what has he done except for his penchant for always being counted on for a good speech? Hillary nailed him on that one during the primaries! He seems to have an aversion to any decisive action that doesn’t serve his own personal ambitions and political agenda.
I was an avid fan of this man while he was engaged in capturing the presidency. I thought he was going to do great things for this country that had, for far too long, been neglected at the expense of the American people. Much to my dismay he has proven to be just as corrupt and self-serving as any of his predecessors, regardless of party affiliation. He doesn’t have any concept of what it means to be a “leader.” Statesmen lead, don’t avoid calculated risks and have the guts to make real decisions. Community Organizers are accomplished at peddling bull puckey, manage by consensus and enjoy broad acceptance through mediocrity. Consensus decisions are lukewarm and weak at best, through the dilution of being made acceptable to the greatest number. The President has carried that background, further tainted by corruption, into the White House where it is totally inappropriate. His cajones are atrophied, big time!
Obama has reneged on practically every major campaign promise he made. He sold us out to the barons of Wall Street, the kingpins of the former Clinton Administration, and Corporate America. I would ask you, “What in the hell does this guy stand for?” I doubt I would receive a cogent response save for a few interested and enlightened minds.
Obama is the puppet whose strings are pulled by the shadow president in the person of Rahm Emanuel, the real power at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The backdoor deals and secret meetings, concessions and agreements that have been made within the hallowed halls of that great seat of executive power would boggle the minds of most of us, I have no doubt. For example, Emanuel assured the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee that he had nothing to fear. A public option would not be a part of any health care reform package. The lobbyist’s money would indeed be safe and they would deliver on what had previously been sold to the highest bidder.
This country is an empire in decline. We are hopelessly corrupt. We are complacent and ignorant. We are impervious to the suffering of our own citizens. Our moral compass is broken. We are numbed by what has happened to us in the last year and haven’t a clue as to how to fix it. Meanwhile, our illustrious leader is hamstrung by big money and their minions who do their bidding in the halls of government. Unemployment figures are skyrocketing and his stimulus package is a joke. There are hollow promises about putting people back to work. Doing what? With an almost total dismantling and exporting of our industrial base overseas, where are these thousands of people going to work?
Where are people going to live when their homes have been repossessed? How are they going to pay the skyrocketing fees now charged by banks and credit card companies? How are they going to afford health care that appears to be destined to be even more lucrative and monopolized by profit-making health care insurers, drug companies and their ilk?
With the fox guarding the chicken coop, how are we going to put in place and enforce any meaningful regulation of the financial industries and corporate excesses? When the regulated dictate the terms of regulation, how can there be any progress on behalf of the consumers who are now their hostages?
How much longer can we rely on an army comprised of people who have to be in uniform because of their lot in life, subjected to repeated re-deployments into harm’s way, totally exhausted and demoralized by wars that cannot be won? Who said this is not a poor man’s war? I dare say, a significant majority of those laying their lives on the line for the rest of us are there because they have no other choice. The good paying jobs on the home front as an alternative to their sacrifices are scarce as hens’ teeth. They simply aren’t there to be had.
How much longer can we brag about being the richest country in the world when more and more of us are living in abject poverty? How much longer can we brag about being the richest country in the world when our currency is no longer regarded as premium on the world’s currency markets? How much longer can we brag about being the most powerful country in the world when all we have left is a fractured economy that can no longer support our empty dreams of empire?
And, who is being held out as the last bastion of hope for our future? A cadre of motley political whores and parasites peddling nothing but more corruption and bull crap while the host gasps for one more life-sustaining breath?
So, Mr. President, “What have you done that makes you a credible choice for the Nobel Peace Prize?” No major speech required. A simple, declarative statement will suffice. By the same token, I would ask the loyal opposition, “What have you done to improve the lot of the people of this country?” Damned little. I don’t regard extremist political and religious philosophies as currency for a better country. I don’t regard machinations of a few ideologues, lying, tea parties, feigned righteousness, unbridled greed and obstructionism as much of a down payment on a better future. Try as you may, there are no simplistic answers to the very complex issues we face, both domestically and internationally. What shall we call this one pathetic political party we now have? The party representative of their own ambitions, not those of the electorate. Demopublicans or Republicrats? A rose by any other name?
Damned few of you in or seeking public office have the courage, principles, integrity or will to do what is necessary in order to turn this ship of state around in order to avert its impending collision with the iceberg looming on the horizon. Left to those currently in power, there will be no survivors from this fate we are all destined to share.
We need a new political party, cleansed of the corrupting influences of what we now have, and based on the principles set forth by the Founding Fathers. In the absence of any meaningful moral base to support it, what chance do we have?
Cowboy Bob
October 10, 2009
Yesterday’s revelation that Mr. Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize threw this entire issue into sharp relief. The liberal/progressive extreme regarded it as almost tantamount to having been a divine revelation, and rose up in righteous indignation against all those who did not share their enthusiasm. Do I think he deserved it? Not in the least. Why? Because, I would ask, what has he done except for his penchant for always being counted on for a good speech? Hillary nailed him on that one during the primaries! He seems to have an aversion to any decisive action that doesn’t serve his own personal ambitions and political agenda.
I was an avid fan of this man while he was engaged in capturing the presidency. I thought he was going to do great things for this country that had, for far too long, been neglected at the expense of the American people. Much to my dismay he has proven to be just as corrupt and self-serving as any of his predecessors, regardless of party affiliation. He doesn’t have any concept of what it means to be a “leader.” Statesmen lead, don’t avoid calculated risks and have the guts to make real decisions. Community Organizers are accomplished at peddling bull puckey, manage by consensus and enjoy broad acceptance through mediocrity. Consensus decisions are lukewarm and weak at best, through the dilution of being made acceptable to the greatest number. The President has carried that background, further tainted by corruption, into the White House where it is totally inappropriate. His cajones are atrophied, big time!
Obama has reneged on practically every major campaign promise he made. He sold us out to the barons of Wall Street, the kingpins of the former Clinton Administration, and Corporate America. I would ask you, “What in the hell does this guy stand for?” I doubt I would receive a cogent response save for a few interested and enlightened minds.
Obama is the puppet whose strings are pulled by the shadow president in the person of Rahm Emanuel, the real power at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The backdoor deals and secret meetings, concessions and agreements that have been made within the hallowed halls of that great seat of executive power would boggle the minds of most of us, I have no doubt. For example, Emanuel assured the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee that he had nothing to fear. A public option would not be a part of any health care reform package. The lobbyist’s money would indeed be safe and they would deliver on what had previously been sold to the highest bidder.
This country is an empire in decline. We are hopelessly corrupt. We are complacent and ignorant. We are impervious to the suffering of our own citizens. Our moral compass is broken. We are numbed by what has happened to us in the last year and haven’t a clue as to how to fix it. Meanwhile, our illustrious leader is hamstrung by big money and their minions who do their bidding in the halls of government. Unemployment figures are skyrocketing and his stimulus package is a joke. There are hollow promises about putting people back to work. Doing what? With an almost total dismantling and exporting of our industrial base overseas, where are these thousands of people going to work?
Where are people going to live when their homes have been repossessed? How are they going to pay the skyrocketing fees now charged by banks and credit card companies? How are they going to afford health care that appears to be destined to be even more lucrative and monopolized by profit-making health care insurers, drug companies and their ilk?
With the fox guarding the chicken coop, how are we going to put in place and enforce any meaningful regulation of the financial industries and corporate excesses? When the regulated dictate the terms of regulation, how can there be any progress on behalf of the consumers who are now their hostages?
How much longer can we rely on an army comprised of people who have to be in uniform because of their lot in life, subjected to repeated re-deployments into harm’s way, totally exhausted and demoralized by wars that cannot be won? Who said this is not a poor man’s war? I dare say, a significant majority of those laying their lives on the line for the rest of us are there because they have no other choice. The good paying jobs on the home front as an alternative to their sacrifices are scarce as hens’ teeth. They simply aren’t there to be had.
How much longer can we brag about being the richest country in the world when more and more of us are living in abject poverty? How much longer can we brag about being the richest country in the world when our currency is no longer regarded as premium on the world’s currency markets? How much longer can we brag about being the most powerful country in the world when all we have left is a fractured economy that can no longer support our empty dreams of empire?
And, who is being held out as the last bastion of hope for our future? A cadre of motley political whores and parasites peddling nothing but more corruption and bull crap while the host gasps for one more life-sustaining breath?
So, Mr. President, “What have you done that makes you a credible choice for the Nobel Peace Prize?” No major speech required. A simple, declarative statement will suffice. By the same token, I would ask the loyal opposition, “What have you done to improve the lot of the people of this country?” Damned little. I don’t regard extremist political and religious philosophies as currency for a better country. I don’t regard machinations of a few ideologues, lying, tea parties, feigned righteousness, unbridled greed and obstructionism as much of a down payment on a better future. Try as you may, there are no simplistic answers to the very complex issues we face, both domestically and internationally. What shall we call this one pathetic political party we now have? The party representative of their own ambitions, not those of the electorate. Demopublicans or Republicrats? A rose by any other name?
Damned few of you in or seeking public office have the courage, principles, integrity or will to do what is necessary in order to turn this ship of state around in order to avert its impending collision with the iceberg looming on the horizon. Left to those currently in power, there will be no survivors from this fate we are all destined to share.
We need a new political party, cleansed of the corrupting influences of what we now have, and based on the principles set forth by the Founding Fathers. In the absence of any meaningful moral base to support it, what chance do we have?
Cowboy Bob
October 10, 2009
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