Saturday, January 7, 2012

The American Taliban

In 2008, under protest, I voted for Barack Obama for President.  When the campaigning began, I was adamantly against Hillary Clinton.  That changed as the primaries started.  There was one reason in particular that made me become a staunch supporter of Mrs. Clinton – her unwavering advocacy for women worldwide.  And, she was a seasoned campaigner, having been a participant in both her husband’s runs for elected office and during his presidency. 


Her competition, then junior Senator Barack Obama was bright, charming but lacked experience on the world stage.  Down the road, I could see him as a leading contender for the Democratic nominee.  He just wasn’t ready.   


My resolve for Hillary strengthened as it became immensely obvious that the Democratic political machine and the mainstream media had made their choice – Obama.  Misrepresentation of election results, misleading propaganda constantly pushing the voters toward Obama and the sidelining of Hillary Clinton by the Democratic Party moved the direction of the election.  It wasn’t much different than what has happened in this election cycle to Ron Paul.  The manipulation of the election by the Democratic Party insiders caused me to change my lifelong Democratic Party affiliation to The Green Party.  


Almost immediately after his inauguration, President Obama proved my worst concerns to be right on target.  Although he had stated he would end Bush’s policy of warrantless wiretapping, he continued this odious policy.  He promised to shut down Guantanamo and 3 years later it is still open and its closing is no longer being discussed.  He promised to end the wars – something that I felt was very important – and it took 3 years to withdraw the troops from Iraq.  Single payer health care wasn’t even on the table during the health care discussions.  Most recently he has, against the advice of his medical advisors, agreed to limit access to the morning after pill to girls under 17 years of age and signed a Defense bill that allows for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens suspected of terrorist connections, without being charged with any crime.  In short Obama has continued the repressive policies of the Bush/Cheney administration that take away American’s civil liberties. 

With all this, I had decided to sit out the presidential election.  That was until the Republican campaigning and debates began.  The Republican candidates have not only scared me beyond belief but  have exhibited  a new level of near insanity.  I could never imagine that the America where I was born and grew up could come to this.  To think that the American electorate could so easily be deceived, disrespected and trampled upon and not be able to recognize the difference between truth and lies is incomprehensible to me.  At a time when more people, worldwide, have unlimited access to so much information via the Internet, we seem to be returning to The Dark Ages.  At that time, the vast majority of people could not read, lived in utter poverty as compared to the few in power who controlled all of the wealth and relied upon The Church to dictate how to live and provided them with their understanding of the world.  As the income inequality grows, we are moving ever closer to that long ago world where the majority are merely serfs for their landowning overlords. 

All of the Republican candidates, except for Ron Paul, are ready to go to war with Iran.  


 All of the Republican candidates want to massively shrink the size of government, to get government out of “our” lives – except if you’re a woman.  Government, according to them, should control a woman’s behavior and mandate control over her body.  For this alone, I prefer to call the Republicans by another name – The American Taliban.  For Rick Santorum, in particular, Family trumps everything.  And by family he means one man and one woman married to each other.  He not only opposes ALL abortion, but opposes all forms of contraception.  What if a woman is abused – psychologically and/or physically – by her husband?  What if the husband abuses or neglects his children?  What if the husband fails to provide for his family?  What if the husband is an alcoholic, drug user or criminal?  Should these families remain intact?  The Catholic Church does not sanction divorce, and as a Catholic I would imagine that neither does Rick Santorum.  Portraying all husband/wife families as healthy and happy is a fairy tale, folks.  

  
All of the Republican candidates, except for Jon Huntsman, deny the overwhelming scientific evidence and support for climate change.  

 
Do I really need to continue?  For me, the choice is clear in the upcoming election.  No matter how much I disagree with many of President Obama’s decisions and actions, I will once again vote AGAINST whoever wins the The American Taliban nomination.  My America was founded on the precept of freedom of religion and not the establishment of a Theocracy.  In my America, you can choose to pray or not to pray.  In my America, you can be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Rastafarian, a Mormon, an atheist, an agnostic or anything else you choose.  What kind of America do you want?


6 comments:

  1. I know that many liberals are very disillusioned with the Obama administration, and while I understand this sentiment, I also think that we, as a country need to understand the limits of presidential power. I think people really fail to understand how unprecedented the Republican tactics of obstructionism have been. I agree that Obama is far from perfect, but I think he's really been forced into a very unfortunate "pick your battles" situation, and I'm left to wonder how different it might have been if he'd had congressional support and a public that was less swayed by the lunatic "corporate populists" on the right.

    I also think that Obama has turned out to be exactly what he said he was, a moderate, not a liberal. Hell, when you really look at it, Richard Nixon looks like a flaming liberal compared to ANY of the politicians of today.

    I'm actually really glad we didn't nominate Hilary simply because the Republican smear squad was licking its chops and ready to pounce. I really believe that had she been the nominee, the Swift boating BS would have looked like child's play compared to what they would have done to her, and we'd have lost the election. Of course, one could argue, as CatMan does, that it might have been better if we had lost so that the Republicans wouldn't be able to blame the catastrophic results of their idiotic economic policies on the current administration.

    Anyhow, I'm really glad you're not going to sit out the election, and I earnestly hope that other disillusioned liberals will follow your lead. I mean, if we get just one more conservative on the supreme court we're totally sunk... no amount of liberal legislation will matter at that point, and it will be at least another generation before we'd be able to even start digging out.

    To everyone who wants to sit it out as some sort of statement against Obama, I have only one question. Do you still think there was no difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I never thought Obama, or even Hillary, were liberals. Personally, I think Obama honestly felt he could REASON with the opposition (wrong) and that his avid supporters thought by voting they had done their job and could just relax. Add to that, the Daily Kos folks somehow believed that Obama was a Progressive and not a compromising moderate.

    Americans, in general, fail to realize there are 3 branches of government and power is not concentrated in any single branch. The mainstream media let FOX drive the conversation. The bailout of the Big 3 automakers saved thousands of jobs and kept the economy from completely tanking. Geithner & Summers were mistaken choices to helm the economic directives. And there should have been conditions put on the deal with Wall Street before they were bailed out - but the news media practiced selective amnesia in that Bush II started the Wall Street bail out fiasco.

    If it weren't so tragic it would be funny - the fact that the clowns on the Right running for President place all the blame for our troubles on Obama & the last 3 years - it's like Bush's 8 years simply didn't exist.

    Anyone who followed W was doomed. Under the circumstances I do think that Obama did a better job than I expected. 4 more years of that type of idiocy would have turned us into Bangladesh. I just wish that Obama & the whole Democratic party would have grown a pair and stood up to The American Taliban and their Tea Party foot soldiers sooner. My hope is that Americans will wake up and put some intelligent people in Congress who have a grasp on the REAL world and not some fairy tale, 1950s "Father Knows Best" mentality. Too many people are suffering. Fingers crossed that Elizabeth Warren kicks Scott Brown's ass.

    I think Occupy Wall Street was the turning point for many politicians, on both sides of the aisle. It certainly made Democrats realize that it isn't just right wing Tea Partiers who are angry. I'll get my feel good moment tonight watching Jackson Galaxy on My Cat From Hell & then I'll check in on the debate. I'm hoping for some blood being spilled all over that stage. Newter has threatened to go postal on Mittens.

    You have to check out this blog: http://skydancingblog.com/ It's my daily read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You crack me up... and that's really saying something, because usually when people are discussing politics these days I sort of want to slit my wrists.

    I think you're totally right about Obama being naive in thinking he could reason with Republicans. You can't reason with people whose real agenda is to dismantle the government. I mean those MoFo's couldn't give a flying you know what about their "constituents," because they view the citizens an annoying rabble that must be controlled, distracted, and never allowed to do anything that might threaten either their delicate sensibilities, or the complete power of their corporate overlords.

    If only we had an educated electorate that made its choices based on logic and their own best interest, instead of fantasy la la crazy land stuff. That's the part that simply baffles me. It really makes you understand how Nazi Germany happened because, my god, if people can't figure it out now, when will they EVER figure it out?

    CatMan keeps saying that nothing will change until people REALLY start to suffer. But the people in this country are so stupid they could be held captive by some evil comic book villain and still blame BatMan for their predicament, simply because they don't like his wings.

    I really don't understand why the Democratic party thought that moving to the right was a good idea... it's totally crazy. I have to think that the corporatising of the media has at least something to do with it all, and it really doesn't fill me with much hope for the future.

    It's just so frustrating... year after year I watch the Repugs take small victory after small victory and keep persistently marching us further and further to the right. Meanwhile the left just gets frustrated and seems to operate with a "let's all take our toys and go home" philosophy, which just allows the Repugs to take even more power. I think electing Obama was a very small step in the right direction, but instead of taking that victory and building on it, we're busy doing what Ted Kennedy did to Carter and cooking our own goose in the process.

    Thank god menopause should be arriving within the next few years is all I have to say, because I'd hate to be a woman of child bearing age in the hell-scape of misogynistic serfdom that seems to be on the horizon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just finished reading the comments on Skydancing's latest Santorum post. I felt like the commenters & I were channeling each other at many points. Love, love, love that blog. they are goign to live blog the debate tonight.

    After reading the comments, I now have to get the book by Charlie Pierce: Idiot America - How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free. You'll love the snippet of interview about a saddle on a dinosaur. Now to find the time to read, unless I can get an audio book.

    BTW - I'm a BIG Jimmy Carter fan. I think he was the only truly GOOD man who has served as President in my lifetime. He got screwed by everyone in D.C. Such a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll have to go check out Skydancing.

    I'm a HUGE Jimmy Carter fan too, despite the fact that pretty much all I remember of his Presidency was his daughter, Amy, who I apparently looked a lot like... I guess all little red head girls with glasses look alike to the general public. Anyhow, I couldn't go ANYWHERE for years without random people stopping me and marveling how I looked "just like" Amy Carter. Given the fact that the media described her as "homely" I didn't exactly take it as a compliment!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'll trade you: I can't even tell you how many strangers stopped in shock and thought I was ROSEANNE BARR. Sadly she & I had the same shirt from Lane Bryant - she wore it on one of her first sitcom shows. Fortunately I didn't end up taking the Crazy Train she hopped onto. If power doesn't corrupt you it may well drive you crazy.

    ReplyDelete