There's something almost adorable seeing Republicans flail in the wind, trying to come up with reasons why people should dislike Barack Obama. It's akin to watching a dog run around trying to catch a light beam.
How can your heart not break when you see people struggling so hard to undermine the President of the United States, and the best they can come up with is that he's not born in America, he's want to kill old people, he tells school children to study, he won the Nobel Prize for Peace, he's trying to help the U.S. host the Olympics, he's a socialist, he's a Nazi, he's a communist, he's like Hitler, he's a terrorist, he's a traitor. Their panicked faces during Saturday's House health care vote night was woeful. At a certain point, you just want to wrap your arms around them and say, "There, there, it's all right. Everything is going to be okay. Come to poppa."
But still, they go on. Trying so hard. Bringing out the signs with swastikas, holding up their tea bags, seeing behind every little shadow the horrors of all possible hells. "We're being attacked by the Mole People!!!" No, no, honey, it's just the wind.
When I hear their unrelenting, frantic ramblings of Worst Possible Consequences, I always flash back to when I was a counselor at Camp Nebagamon. One of my campers was an 11-year-old we'll call Jimmy Baxter. Jimmy was a nice little kid, who tended to roam in his own universe. "Bob," he'd come over and excitedly ask, "Bob, what would happen, Bob, what would happen if all of a sudden the sky opened up and all of a sudden dogs and cats started to fall and they all had guns and and and it started to snow, what would happen??"
Republicans have become the modern-day political equivalent of Jimmy Baxter.
And I feel bad for them. Not just for being afraid of dogs falling from the sky, but because I know they can complain better. I mean, c'mon, if you want to be considered one of the Two Major Political Parties, then you have to come up with oh-so-much better criticisms of the president. "He's working on too many things" and "He's honoring the war dead" just doesn't cut it. Honestly. You have to trust me on this.
And if you want to be considered respectable and not laughed at when you enter a room, you really do have to stop calling Barack Obama a socialist and a Nazi. For starters, they're polar opposites, so a person can't be both. You don't want to come across ignorant when you're trying to sound convincing. Second, if you want people to be frightened of Barack Obama because you say he's like Hitler, you have to understand that people don't hate Hitler because he provided governmental health care.
No, really.
People hate Hitler because a) he tried to rule the entire world by military domination, and b) he built actual concentration camps, rounded up Jews and killed six million of them.
(Side note: that was a death panel.)
See, here's the thing. If you're going to try to convince the world why the American President is bad for America, you really need to have some specific, actual facts. Not something out of an old Stan Freberg sketch. ("They wear funny shoes.")
So, as a public service, I'm going to show you how to properly criticize a president with actual facts. You're welcome. After all, I not only disliked George Bush, but can give you real reasons why, so I have practice. You should be able to try the exact same with Barack Obama. Take notes, and then maybe you can do it, too. It's not hard. Pencils ready? Great! Here's how it's done.
I didn't like George W. Bush when he was president because:
1. He lied about Iraq having WMD, which got America in a war.
2. He lied about Iraq buying yellowcake, which got America in a war.
3. He wiretapped Americans without warrants, which violated the Bill of Rights.
4. He ignored a briefing that Osama bin Laden would attack the U.S. with airplanes, that got 3,000 people killed.
5. He inherited a budget surplus of $128 billion and left with a record deficit of $1.3 trillion.
6. He ignored warnings of Hurricane Katrina which wiped New Orleans off the map.
7. He used the non-political Justice Department for political purposes, firing U.S. attorneys and attacking political opponents.
8. He vetoed stem cell research, which could cost lives.
9. He dismissed global warming, which could destroy the planet.
10. He allowed civilians to rewrite scientific reports written by scientists.
11. He promised No Child Left Behind, but underfunded the program.
12. He eliminated environmental protections.
13. He allowed his Administration to out a CIA agent.
14. He became the first leader in the history of the world to cut taxes during a war.
15. He weakened regulations of banking, housing and Wall Street, which allowed for the collapse of the U.S. economy.
Okay, there! See?!! It's easy! All right, I know the list isn't full, but this is just to get you started.
You can do it, Republicans. You can come up with actual, specific, meaningful reasons one day to try to convince others why they shouldn't like Barack Obama. And you won't ever again have to run around in a perpetual panic attack over nothing.
Here, let me give you a hug.
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The Conservati
so they "Project" their own guilt on their opposition
"Psycholog
http://en.
The leaders use "Big Lie" to keep the dupes confused and fearful.
http://en.
What GOP supporters hate most is themselves
Hate gay people? Maybe you have a homosexual tendency or two yourself.
Hate college-ed
Hate affirmativ
Hate Barack Obama? Because you're SUPPOSED to, you're a Republican
I do feel a sort of sympathy for these idiots. Some of them might feel the cognitive dissonance
Comparing Obama to Hitler is unforgivab
And since the President barely talks about it, I assume he doesn't either. That should be the real story!
And the main focus of the media!
we need to ALL be fired up and ready to go to support our president!
have we forgotten the pledge? YES WE CAN.
It seems to me he's just reached the "break point" in the "bend-and-
While I DO understand Doc's anger and frustratio
Doc Twain is right on that most of America's problems will never be solved by ANYONE until we have unadultera
1. Plutocrati
2. Plutocrati
3. Plutocrati
4. Plutocrati
Conclusion
Yeah, the stuff you say is all rah-rah exciting and all, but you're delusional in your expectatio
My other remarks require no "evidence"
I have no lack of understand
I'm not delusional in my expectatio
Americans can indeed create a much better society than we have at present.
We are not doomed to increasing plutocrati
If you disagree, explain why, and we can discuss further.
This morning on c-span call-in show a conservati
For example:
Centrist Democrats helped start the Iraq War to profit the war cartel, on the basis of lies.
When did Centrist Democrats decry the yellow cake, WMD and al-Qaeda links lies? They voted for the war, on the pretense that the lies were true!
Which of Bush's war crimes did Centrist Democrats single out and punish?
When did they hold him accountabl
Centrist Democrats helped deregulate the banks, enabling a ponzi scheme that ruined the economy.
Centrist Democrats rewarded the banking cartel's ponzi scheme with a trillion-d
How has Obama been any different from Bush vis-a-vis Goldman Sachs?
Centrist Democrats voted for 70 tax cuts for the rich under Bush.
Centrist Democrats continued the tax cuts in a time of two wars and record deficits.
Centrist Democrats put single payer off the table--Oba
Centrist Democrats are turning all "reforms," including health care, into schemes to profit the cartels.
Centrist Democrats have supported such schemes before--Me
There are very few items on Mr. Elisberg's list--none of them among the largest--w
When the Republican party controlled all 3 branches of government between 2001 and 2007, why didn't they fulfill any of the agenda they consistent
What will the Democrats do now that they control the government
It's been a year since the election. What are they going to do?
Makes me feel better about throwing away my vote on Ralph Nader.
And again, not immediatel
2. There was no surplus. Bush never squandered a surplus, because there was none. I won't explain why there was no surplus, I'll leave that up to you to do a little homework to figure it out for yourself. If you still don't know why after a week, email me and I'll answer it.
3. To pull a 13trillion dollar economy off the rails takes a lot of effort, by a lot of people, over time. Did he and the other republican
Sorry nodemsnore
Of course lots of other parts of the Gulf Coast did get severely damaged by Katrina.
When I was at Camp Nebagamon, you passed me to pro-marksm
Some time later (perhaps at Nebagamon?
Cheers.
Don't you think it's kind of early to compile a list of "sins of omission" ?