I don't blame my president. He is what he was forced to be.
Obama was saddled with more toxic baggage than any of his predecessors and from the beginning his lily white haters laughed at the black kid with The Audacity. "Okay, then" they said, all smarm and patronizing charm.
But he is surrounded by leering Nero's, fiddling while the Gulf hemorrhages.
And now, as the sea floor gapes, finally howling its rage after the slow, steady rape at the hands of insatiable oil companies (and their strung-out customers), the haters look at the president and say "Well aint'cha gonna do something 'Mr. President'?" and chuckle conspiratorially.
The Republicans have a "purity test". Well then, Americans -- real Americans, not the shrill racists who twist reality to fit their inane, insane agendas -- should have a purity test, too: when the country bleeds, you staunch it.
When the culprits show clear disdain, you kick them the hell out.
When there is suffering, you heal it.
The tea baggers (who from the eye rolling they cause alone could generate massive amounts of energy) say "Take our country back"? Americans who have truly had enough of the bullshit, taking a page from their coloring book should shout the same, only direct it toward the real enemies, rather than the imagined ones: the voraciously greedy corporations which profit from peril, grow fat from dwindling resources and control the flow of information thanks to their home-grown enablers.
The Cheneys, the Bushes, and all the slick, vile men of that ilk---who will not be forgiven or forgotten---who have wrung the life from this country, however they and their propaganda ministries will twist and warp current events to appear as innocent victims as opposed to the ones who perpetrated this (and many other) disasters, in the end the proof will be the ruined shores, the broken food chain, the destroyed livelihoods, the aborted future.
Parade them through the streets like the traitors to Democracy they are.
March all the congressmen and congresswomen on their payrolls to the shores of the Gulf and make them wade in the muck, make them stand there in their pretty suits and shiny shoes and see what their complicity has bought.
Make the loudmouths on the right and the traitors on the left----the Fox News flunkies and the AM radio thugs---clean flapping, writhing birds and bag diseased fish and then sit there while the fishermen and their families tell them their stories, show them pictures of how it used to be before the drunken, sloppy surgeons nicked the main artery and exposed their practice for what it always was.
So, no, I do not blame Obama. I see him hampered by the bureaucracy, hobbled by the web of backroom deals and under-the-table favors that has defined governance.
But history will out.
Because blood will out.
Follow Steven Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@TheStevenWeber
Sorry to say, Steven. Truly I am.
Today he goes to the gulf.
His leadership qualities and instincts are weak. Why? Because he had no real world experience. You Obamaphiles refused to see that. You just projected all your hopes and dreams on a blank canvas wishing for the best.
He is now showing his true colors. He will be a lame duck in November. One and done. And no one to blame but himself.
You may loathe the man for whatever reason---as you and many of your political persuasion do---but you are blind to the realities of being president. World experience? You mean like W had? Like Reagan had? Piffle, son (as my father would say between martinis). Obama---as you surely would agree, since you have eyes enough to use a keyboard---has been hampered since day one, hobbled and obstructed. I challenge you or anyone to complete a job while being pelted with mud. But of course, you and your ilk will disagree---because you have to or be excommunicated.
Steven,
Another wonderful post that speaks to my "inner musings" in a very real, very affirming way. I often find, in reading your rambling eloquence, a sense of solace, a sense that "I am not alone" in my own thoughts. I don't always (and indeed, even in this post) fully agree with all your views (as I'm sure you don't expect), but I do find a "harmony" in your comments, that often resonates with my own sense of frustration and amazement at what my country has become, and how my Government and fellow citizens are responding to that reality.
Up front, for those who may not know, I AM a supporter of the President. , I campaigned for him in the General Election, I voted for him, and I currently support MUCH of his political agenda. Again, for full disclosure, he was not my candidate in the Primary. I felt, and still feel, that there were others that I would have preferred to see win the nomination, but given the alternatives in the General, I felt that he was the BEST choice available. I agree that “judging” his performance as President, is nearly impossible given the amount of ”toxic baggage” that was left behind from his predecessors, along with the “toxic environment” of our national politics as well.
I can only imagine that President Obama must see the same landscape that I do. I can only imagine that his reaction, which he can not reasonably voice (due to the environment), as he chose to “apply for the job”, must feel much the same as mine; a sense that there is “much that needs to be done, and little support that he can draw from”. No one, who has tried to craft ANYTHING (from a bird house to a functioning Government), has ever begun the work, without taking stock of the material and tools (in this instance, a very apt metaphor) available to work with. Given the “tools” available to the President, and the “instructions” being provided by US (the people), I can’t imagine anyone with a rational mind expecting things to get “fixed” in any sense, this early into the “progressive” revolution.
This President, even if he should be re-elected, can not be expected to move the Nation significantly to the left. People NEED to see him as a first step in the right direction (believe me, those who are opposed see him that way, though they see the direction as being wrong).
They had 40 years of “as close” to unanimous support as any ideology is likely to see in a Democracy (and YES we are a democracy [a democratic republic to be exact], 1 person = 1 vote [any of you who wish to debate this, are you ready to have your state legislature vote on who your Senator should be?]) where there will always (hopefully) be a group that forms the “loyal opposition”. Anyone want to change that system?
So, here is the reality that I see our President having to look at.
After 40 years of nearly unfettered policy making by the right (including Democratic conservatives), we have as a consequence:
Unbelievable Debt
Unconscionable Deregulation
Toothless Oversight
Entrenched Ideologues in all branches / all levels of the Federal Government
Privatization of significant portions of the Government (resulting in, or provided by policy decree, minimal or non-existent oversight)
Empowered State Governments (Governors or legislatures, or both) who believe that they are the “last defense (and they likely are) against a Progressive rebellion (and are unwilling to “go down” without a fight.)
Given just those two contrasts, makes it obvious I voted for the right man in 2008, and this guy also put Palin within literally a heartbeat of the Presidency. Scarey stuff. I just want Obama to be the President I saw on the campaign trail. Fighting for what's right, even if he loses sometimes.
If we voters know we have a champion in the White House, we'll give him more "guns" in each election. If voters perceive the same ol' same ol', they'll give up and stay home.
President Obama was handed one of the worst cleanup jobs in history, with possibly only Lincoln and FDR having it worse.
Those of us who don't rely on Fox News for our world view, know who caused these messes. For those conservatives who bring up the Democrats who also contributed to our problems, I would say yes, but they were following conservative principles when they screwed the pooch.
While I applaud your faithful defence of the President, I seem to always be taking one step forwards towards believing in him, then having him knock me two steps back.
I tried to justify him surrounding himself with DC insiders, only to see those DC insiders F-up Health Care Reform.
I tried to get behind what little HCR we got, only to see the insurance companies now rewriting it, removing it's baby teeth with cold steel industry pliers.
FDR "welcomed" financier's hatred of him. Obama thinks, in spite of the immense gulf between the haves and the have nots, that we're somehow, "all in this together."
Obama played politics with opening up offshore oil drilling, and the Karma Monster bit him hard. He has no one to blame but himself.
Obama must find some principles to believe in, and then he must fight for them. And our job, as FDR told his followers, is to Make Him Do It!
So come on, Barack! I know you were never as left as they said you were, but could you at least come back to the middle again?
Give me a politician who doesn't care if he's a one-termer or not, but who, instead, takes on the big issues and doesn't beat a hasty retreat when the opposition says "boo". If we continue to be as short-sighted as the last three or four Presidents have been, our future is all but written.
impracticle. isn't that sad.
who screwed up, who's to blame
blahblahblah
WHATEVER
MAKE IT STOP
MAKE IT STOP
NOW
Indeed. The image brought to mind is a long line of GOPachyderms, snouts clutching tails as they saunter (swish even) down Main Street, soiling the path with tanker loads of crap, obliviously following their leaders (Rush, Beck, Palin, et al). Is it too late to return the candy tossed?
Responsibility & accountability have become archaic notions in our country.
Make these polluting CEOs man the sand bags, scrub the dying wildlife, & compensate the lost livelihoods of those directly affected by their greedy bad decisions, & see how quickly things change for the better in our country as a result.
Make people accountable for their decisions & one of two things will happen: either those responsible will make better decisions, or those greedy decision-makers will be replaced by other better, wiser decision makers. Either way, things will be better for all of us when those in positions of responsibility are held accountable for their decisions & their actions.