President Barack Hussein Obama on bi-partisanship and the stimulus bill:
“So, you know, we can differ on some of the particulars, but again, the question I think that the American people are asking is: Do you just want government to do nothing, or do you want it to do something? If you want it to do something, then we can have a conversation,” he said. “But doing nothing — that’s not an option, from my perspective.” Obama defended the role of government in the recovery process, saying that “with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life.”
I wish he’d said this forcefully 2 weeks ago. I sure as hell hope that in the future he has learned his lesson about how the Republicans in Congress will treat his administration, and he doesn’t expect them to put their country before their party. On. Any. Issue. Because they don’t. They know only one way to operate whether they are in the majority or the minority: demonize and denigrate Democrats. Polarize public opinion. Blame Dems for everything and anything that goes wrong from the bursting of the real estate bubble to the failures in the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
How often did we hear Bush blame Clinton for everything that went wrong during his administration? How often did Republican talking points slam the Democrats for their lack of bi-partisanship even when they were rolling over and cowering like whipped dogs? This is the party that ran ads comparing a Democratic war hero in the Senate to Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Ladin. The same group that wore purple band aids to mock Senator John Kerry’s war record at the height of the Swift Boat lies. The same people who labeled Democrats appeasers of the “Islamofascists” because they wouldn’t get on board with Cheney’s plan to bomb Iran with tactical nukes. The same people who tossed around epithets against Democrats claiming they were “the far left fringe,” a “fifth column,” “traitors,” “terrorist lovers” “Fascists,” and “Communists, Marxists and/or Socialists.” They have had their long knives out slicing and dicing Democrats and Liberals with lies and slanders since before Reagan became President, and nothing has changed in their tactics since that time.
Republicans have only become more and more audacious and outrageous as the media, talk radio and Fox’s News’ televised version of conservative propaganda have faithfully regurgitated their “talking points” day after day for decades with no filter, no fact checking and no analysis about whether their criticisms were valid and the falsehoods they spread true. If anyone in Obama’s camp seriously thought that they could drive a wedge between the “moderate” Republicans and the “batshit crazy loons” who dominate the Republican Caucus by playing nice and having them over for tea and cookies at the White House, the last few weeks should have disabused them of that notion. That’s not how they play the game.
This is the party of people who cheered at the openly racist and xenophobic speeches of Sarah Palin. The people who exploited the 9/11 attacks at every opportunity to justify retaining the reins of power. Who think torture is a great idea because it works for Jack Bauer, a character in a fictional television program. Who saw nothing wrong with calling African Americans abandoned by the Bush administration “looters” and “thugs” who deserved what they got as they died by the thousands in the wake of Katrina. Who voted for legal discrimination against Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgendered people. Who want to ship every Hispanic person back to Mexico even if they have lived in this country for decades, or in some cases, centuries. Who think calls for the poisoning of Supreme Court Justices and bumper stickers entitled “Liberal Hunting License” are the height of hilarity.
This is the party of Rush “Abu Ghraib was nothing more than guards blowing off a little steam” Limbaugh. Sean Hannity. Bill O’Reilly. Glenn Beck. Ann Coulter. Jack Abramoff. Duke Cunningham. Pat “Assassination of Foreign Leaders is Jesus approved” Robertson. David “I did have sex with that prostitute, but so what?” Vitter. James “Global Warming is a Hoax” Inhofe. Tom “Let’s sterilize the Nigras and charge Medicaid for it” Coburn. Bill “I can diagnose people over the TV” Frist. Dick “Terrorists will Nuke us because Obama is President” Cheney. John “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” McCain. Sarah “I only like the small town, patriotic, Pro-American parts of America” Palin. George W. “Mission Accomplished” Bush.
This is the party that supported torture. Warrantless electronic surveillance of every American. Show trials at Guantanamo Bay. Tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of of Americans. Tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. That opposed giving uninsured children health coverage under SCHIP. That deregulated the Banks, mortgage lenders and Wall Street Investment firms. That reduced funding for EPA environmental enforcement, mine safety inspections, OSHA, Food and Drug Inspectors, SEC investigations of fraud, etc. That fired US Attorneys if they didn’t file frivolous voter fraud cases against Democrats. That railroaded former Democratic Alabama Governor Don Siegelman into prison using unethical tactics and tainted evidence. That wasted billions of dollars privatizing the military, prisons and other parts of the government with contracts to Blackwater, Halliburton, KBR, and [fill in the name of Republican campaign contributor here]. That turned the largest Federal budget surplus in our history into the largest Federal budget deficits. That increased the National Debt by FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS (an increase of over 70%) in just 8 years, not counting the TARP money Secretary Treasury handed out like lollipops to his buddies. The party that supports eliminating Social Security Insurance for retirees and disabled people. That still believes in trickle down economics.
You can’t bargain with these people. They are stubborn, faith based ideologues who do not so compromise. President Obama you tried offering the hand of friendship to these people and they spit in your face. You tried including Republicans in the discussion regarding the economic stimulus and they lied to you about their support. You tried being the good guy and they stabbed you in the back. Don’t do it again. If it didn’t work this time during the greatest economic crisis our republic has faced since the Great Depression it will never work.
I suggest that from here on out you take your case directly to the American people every chance you get and avoid the American media filter which is dedicated to opposing you and promoting the failed policies of the Republicans. And don’t hold your punches. Hey, if it worked for FDR . . .
