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| From For Ellipsis |
"We'd all like to vote for the best man, but he's never a candidate."
-Frank McKinney Hubbard
Have you noticed it too? The surreal feel in the air as events take place which by all accounts shouldn't? We in America went through a big of a political shake-up last Tuesday when the unthinkable happened... Ted Kennedy's political seat was turned over to... a republican. Senator Kennedy served the people of Massachusetts for 46 years. I grew up learning about what he accomplished not just for his state, but for this country as well. I learned a lot about the man while he was alive, but I learned even more about him after his passing this last summer. He was a good man. He worked hard for what he believed in and he didn't deserved what happened last Tuesday. It's infuriating to me that he was let down so profoundly. Who let him down? Well, that's been debated a good bit since Tuesday, and as always in these situations, it depends on who you ask.
Was it the White House? Yes, you could say that. Let's face it, the Obama administration did very little to see to it that we held onto that all important seat. Sure, Obama showed up a couple week's ago and stumped for the democratic candidate Martha Coakley, but not until it was already too late to do much good. Thanks a lot prez.
Was it the candidate herself? Yes, you could say that. Martha Coakley was, at best, phoning in her candidacy. I mean, who takes a vacation during a crucial time in one's campaign? Who doesn't know key players on their state's major league ball teams? Ok, that point does seem a bit trivial... and yet... it would have made her seem much more relatable to the voters if she would have demonstrated that she cared about the lighthearted things as well.
Could it have been the best person won? Gulp... well... yes. Let's face it, Scott Brown got out and spoke to the voters. He showed up, and as Woody Allen once said, "80% of success is showing up." Jeepers Woody, you couldn't be more right!
So have we democrats learned anything?
I hope so.
But only time will tell.
Here is what I have learned. I am sick of the talking points that overrule folks thinking for themselves, and that includes politicians. Ask a republican what happened, and you will hear these darling old gems... "Folks are just tired of business as usual." "Well, it's the economy stupid!" LOL. I have been hearing that since I was 3! What do they actually mean? Expand on those thoughts please! But you never get an explanation, because the talking point sounds so good and besides, then those who repeat them don't have to come up with an original thought all on their own. I have learned to think for myself. And as we move toward the midterms I will be paying very close attention to what goes on. When I think about what drives others it comes down to the basic...
"It's the economy stupid!" Yeah... I don't buy that. Yes, the nation's economy is in the toilet. Our personal finances are D.O.A... and? Look, the economy fell as a direct result of the failed policies of the Bush administration. Period. Bush and company held things together just long enough to finish his term in office, so everything could be blamed on Obama. We are in deep financial pain, we are crying out for help and it just doesn't seem to be coming. WHO CAN I BLAME? It's the human way, and who is in the forefront? OBAMA. Let's BLAME HIM! Then we will feel better... WAAAAA WAAAAA WAAA... but at least we got to blame someone!
By all accounts, Obama did the right thing by us when it came to the economy, however, I said it at the time that if we were going to be handing the big banks money, some oversight had to come with it. Neither Bush, nor Obama did enough in regards to oversight, and now the banks are thumbing their nose at us. The economic pain inflicted on us by the Bush administration's bad policies cannot be reversed overnight, or even next week, and if you think putting the same, or even new republicans back into office wills somehow fix it all in a heartbeat you are naive and unrealistic and just plain delusional. Don't want hear that we are going to be in this mess for a long time, do you? Neither do I, but in it we are, and we just need to stop bitching and figure out how we manage our lives better while we wait it out. There... that's my fix. Deal with it!
I don't know. Sometimes I find the most surreal part about everything that's happening in America's political climate, is the blatant back-assward approach to everything the democrats do. Phoning in one's campaign... as if deep down the candidate doesn't want to win. Our president attempting time and again to reach out the republicans in an effort of bi-partisanship, which never works and only ends up delaying things if we are lucky or flat out losing our side like we just did in Massachusetts. What's the definition of insanity again? Oh yeah, it's doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome!
So, is Obama and the rest of the democrats crazy, or has something more sinister happened? Is he actually a ringer for the republican party? Does he secretly want to be a republican? Is that why he caves to them every single time? Is that why he does very little to see other democrats make it to office? No, probably not. I mean that would be too much to believe... even I am not that paranoid, but it does make one think, doesn't it?
I suppose it could be a case, such as in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Perhaps all the democrats, at least the ones with a backbone, have been stolen away by evil republicans, only to be replaced a few at a time until we are all replaced with a likeness of ourselves, but who are, in fact, made up of narrow mindedness, lack of compassion, and the inability to grasp reality. Oh, and rudeness, let's not forget that! Imagine that! One day we will all be replaced until nothing but pod people remain to carry out the agenda of the right. When you think about it, it sure does explain Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck... doesn't it? I mean, who else would give these two the time of day, if they hadn't been turned into a mindless pod person, incapable of thinking for themselves?
And by the way, Scott Brown pretty much pimped out his daughters during his acceptance speech Tuesday night. Where's the outrage from the right about that? What was the difference between that and the joke David Letterman told last summer about Sarah Palin's daughter? But then again what else can you expect from a man who claims to be about "Family Values" and then explains his posing nearly nude in his youth, by saying he, "needed money."
Hmmm... Levi Johnston has a bright political future ahead! :)
Maybe INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS really does explain it all!
"Slowly, while you are asleep, they absorb your mind and your memories."
-Invasion of the Body Snatchers
You won't take me! I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!
-Carly
One last thought... With today's Supreme Court decision to roll back campaign finance restrictions, we better all pay very, very close attention to who backs who. America is for sale to the highest bidder... or contributor.
2 comments:
I love the quote. Too often elections seem to be about choosing the lesser of two evils. That was the case in Massachusetts where the choice was between the inept Coakley and the loathsome Brown. One good point about the whole thing -- Brown will have to go before the voters again in less than three years. If he doesn't lean toward the left a little and if the Democrats can field a good candidate, he'll be toast.
Overconfidence was Coakley's downfall. Usually, the winner of the Dem. primary in Massachusetts goes on to take the general election. And Coakley, at one point, had an overwhelming lead. But Brown kept plugging away, and Coakley didn't wake up until it was too late, if at all.
And I'm really tired of this collective amnesia we seem to have. Have we already forgotten how bad things were under President Bush and how eager we were to see him gone? Did we really expect Obama to single-handedly get us out of that huge hole in just a year's time.
One last gripe: Obama has taken a lot of flak for bailing out the banks, but we seem to forget that it was President Bush who instigated the whole bailout thing in his last days in office. It's Obama who is insisting that the American people get all of that money back.
I say, MOVE TO CANADA!!
:-)
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