Dems...Do SOMETHING! (October 18, 2010)
Two years ago, I felt such pride and hope for the U.S. As I watched the election results and realized the man I thought we needed was not only winning but really handing his opponent his ass. (sorry) I actually had tears in my eyes as the days of abusing the laws and powers of this country were coming to an end. But I look back and wonder what has happened.
The president vowed to bring the powers of the different branches of government back into alignment. A president is not the ruling body as George W. Bush seemed to think. The real power lies in congress with the courts to keep them both honest. Freedom of speech and the press are supposed to guarantee that all three branches stay honest. This is something every fifth grader in this country should understand. So what happened? September 11, I loathe bringing it up these days because Bush and his cohorts used it to bludgeon the people of this country into letting them have far more power than they should have. They allowed and caused horrible things to happen that should never be and go against everything we stand for as a people. Some of this thinking has survived their passing from office and I will get to that in a moment.
As a member of the Democratic National Committee, I did my part and answered the surveys. I made comments to fellow Democrats about what I expected and their lack of progress. Seriously, I was critical and did not hold back and filled the little form up every time. (Would you have expected less from the old Gremlin?) I was thanked but still, very little changed.
Now we stand on the edge of the abyss and it appears that the upcoming election will go badly for the party and I have to ask…do we as a group deserve it? We have controlled congress since 2006. Granted, Bush was reined in by this change, which needed to happen. He felt that he could do whatever he wanted, consequences and world be damned. According to him the Constitution is just “a piece of paper”. With the way he abused power and circumvented the rules maybe it did just become a piece of paper. To one who grew up believing in this country, a Boy Scout no less raised in the tradition of a family descended from a governor of one of our fine states, this breaks my heart. It was clear the man had never read the treasured document from comments he made over the years and his actions…but he is gone now and no longer the question. Do not fear, Gremlin is not through with him or his cohorts. The damage they have caused will not soon be forgotten.
But we stand on the edge of the government swinging back to the control of the very people that caused the messes we have now. They have given their pledge…to change none of their methods or plans from the ones that lead us here already. And I say…WHAT!!?!! Worse still is that the traditional Republicans do not seem to be the ones taking the positions in the nominations. It is largely the “tea party movement” people getting the nominations.
I do not know if you have noticed but the tea baggers do not seem to always be the most rational people. One of their nominees is denouncing perversion, claiming all gays are perverts and gay marriage will destroy the world as we know it while at the same time sending videos to people on his phone with a woman having sex with a horse. (At least it was a male horse so it was not a gay encounter right?)
Another tea bagger has viral videos of insane things she said over the years on Bill Maher’s old show. I watched the old show, am a big fan of Bill and always have been and saw many of those segments air originally. People in this group have been known to hold signs that call the president a Nazi, a socialist and a communist. The terms do not work together guys. They also have claimed “taxation without representation” is a problem. Tea baggers do not vote? So how did these people get nominated? If they voted then clearly they have had representation. Apparently they do not know how to contact their representatives to complain. And last but not least…Sarah Palin has become an unofficial leader of this gang. That right there should tell you there is a problem.
So what is wrong? Well, I can see it myself. I have been disappointed in the party’s progress. There was a lot to do and a majority to do it with. Yet on the surface it appears very little has been done. Look at Healthcare Reform. It did not appear to accomplish much right? Well it did not from a certain perspective. But take a look from my point of view. In my profession I must deal with our state legislature. Something needs done and we suggest it. Do we ever get what we need or ask for? Let’s hear a big resounding NO. What did we learn? We got something, which is closer to the prize than we were last year. This is how it works when dealing with parliamentary politics. Now you get one step towards the goal, in a few months, another one. Eventually the job gets done. It is not perfect, in fact it sucks, but this is reality. “The Journey of a thousand miles starts with but a single step.” There has never been a truer statement.
They have made that first step, under Obama’s watch. No one else has ever gotten this far before. So one major problem I see is that the party is not pointing out the things they have accomplished. Yes, there have been accomplishments, many of them quite impressive. They should be proclaiming it on the highest mountain, yet they do not. Maybe they fear seeming like braggarts, or maybe they fear success. But now there is a debate about the tax cuts for the rich. There should be no debate. Giving the rich cuts caused failure with Reagan, it caused failure under Bush and it is causing it now. It must end. Clinton knew this and put a stop to it and things were improving. That shows that “trickle down” is bull and everybody knows it. Take a stand. Act a little like the republicans, take a position and defend it tirelessly without question or pause. Fight for what is right. I sound like Don Quixote but I feel like him again.
The problem the Democrats have now is…the Democrats. We are a party of intellectual discussion. We do not blindly follow the general stand of the group and look at things, debate ideas, estimate the outcomes and worry about how it affects others and their feelings. Usually I would say this is a good thing, but only until you have debated so long that not enough is being done. The best strength can be the greatest weakness.
The current head of the party, is an intellectual, Obama is a brilliant man who likes to study up before a decision. I respect that and am glad it is the case. We all remember what happened when “the Decider” was shooting from the hip after his gut told him to. The President tries to stay within his power as assigned by the Constitution. Yeah he has stumbled over some of the old Bush policies and made some decisions I disagree with but for the most part I think he is giving a good effort to follow the rules and do the right thing. But the time to tell the party to get the job done has come…and is passing.
