The Animated Appeasement of the Dems

MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON 

No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it. There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness. There can be no reasoning with an incendiary bomb.

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, Dec. 29, 1940  

BuzzFlash,

If I understand correctly, Obama said that his administration got the money back from the banks, but those enormous bonuses were not part of that, I guess. So, the bank robbers still made out and can live happily ever after.

It was clear from the beginning that it would be considered very impolite and politically incorrect to say anything negative about Obama's first SOTUS. The most profound statement to me was from a pundit on Olbermann's show after the speech  who basically called it the most conservative speech heard since the mid-term of the Clinton Administration.

And, it seems that the praise was that Obama did the right thing in doing this, in that, the Bush GOP who still reside in Congress could say nothing.   Which brings me to this. Why is that so damn important today? We Americans put up with eight long years, not counting the Reagan/Bush years of debt and death, but eight long years of debt, death and destruction, and Bush and his Republican followers couldn't care less what anyone else thought. They did everything they wanted to do for eight years -- and that included invasion/occupation, a legislative war against the American people -- and drove this country into what we are facing today. And we never heard too many discouraging words from the leadership of this party of Democrats, except of course, Sen. Kennedy and his followers, whose roots have never changed.

I don't give a damn what any Bush GOP member of Congress thinks today. I don't care how clever Obama's speeches are; they don't change anything. There's been no accountability for the criminal actions of those in the Bush Administration, and the question I have is, "Why was the Bush GOP so successful in taking this country down, in killing millions of innocent people, and yet, with a majority, the Democrats can't seem do a damn thing?"

Answer me that. Can anyone? All we get from this administration are excuses. Bush did whatever the hell he wanted to do; why can't they do the same? They drag stuff out until we are sick of hearing about it. Healthcare? Why didn't they just do what the people wanted? Give us what they, themselves, have in healthcare. Eh?

Pelosi sat behind Obama during this speech with the same glued-on smile that she always gave to Bush for eight long years and people think she is going to do something about healthcare. Don't hold your breath and don't bet on it. Reid? Forgetaboutit. Jokes about the disrespect shown by a member of Congress, I found not to be funny. I'm still trying to understand why the debt, death and destruction caused by the Bush Administration is not being talked about on a daily basis. Instead, we're trying to make buddies and friends with these people who would rather rob, steal, pilfer and kill, and will do it again if they ever gain control of this government. In fact, we are still having to put up with many of their conservative views, while they eat and sleep and "live high on the DC hog."  

After all, aren't they still killing people in Iraq, Afghanistan and now, using robots to kill people in Pakistan, as if that is OK, and telling us that they are killing, without trial, terrorists? This is murder, first degree. We Americans are not stupid, and most of us should be more afraid of the unruly GOP that was in power, which is why they hate us. I'm not impressed, I'm ashamed of this government for allowing the military to keep getting their taste of blood every day as if it was just another habitual drug.  

I have a confession to make: While watching different takes of Obama's speech, I turned the sound off, and saw the same body language, head turns, hands, smiles, that he does in every other speech. It's an art, politically. And that's okay, but that's not enough today. It's been a year, and Obama kept the Bush GOP, the DLC, (Clinton conservatives who bow to the GOP) in his administration, and nothing much has changed. Obama has failed to listen to the experts around the country, those who said the stimulus should have been much larger. He has also failed to listen to the liberals and progressives who put him in the White House. He talks about bringing our troops home, and we keep hearing about doing away with DADT, which is one of the stupidest things this country has every done, to deny the sexuality of people. It shows such willful ignorance in a time when this country should be growing up.  

One thing for sure: Spending on the American people is not what should be cut, whatever that is going to be. What should be cut is military spending, Congress raises and perks, and maybe even healthcare in DC, until they make real changes for the rest of this country. For years and years, half of this country's budget goes to U.S. military.

Which brings me to an injustice that is still going on in this country. Changing the name of something doesn't change anything. This is not getting off the subject, this is to demonstrate that change happens with action, not brilliance in speeches. And these people below go to jail, while government officials responsible for debt, death and destruction of countries and innocent lives, are still in DC acting out in the Party of No, and the Democrats treat them as if we need them. What the Democrats in Massachusetts should never have done is take their anger out on Sen. Kennedy's party, and put in another follower of the criminal Bush regime. And, by follower, that's anyone in this Bush GOP party today. Below, this is the real world today that people in this country are having to live with:  

On January 25, 2010 in Columbus, Georgia, human rights advocates Nancy Gwin, Ken Hayes, and Fr. Louis Vitale were all given maximum federal prison sentences of six months each for civil disobedience opposing the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC). Along with Michael Walli, these three individuals crossed onto Fort Benning property on November 22, 2009. Michael consciously chose to not return for his trial, and the Judge issued a warrant for his arrest. 

¡Presente! - "School of Americas" Generals Charged in Colombia - Two Colombian generals, both of whom received training at the U.S. Army's "School of The Americas" at Ft. Benning, GA, have been accused by Colombian authorities of crimes involving narcotics and collaborating with criminal paramilitary groups, according to a report in the June 15th issue of The Nation magazine.

¡Presente! - Military Coup in Honduras - Tegucigalpa, Honduras - On June 28, 2009, graduates of the School of the Americas overthrew the democratically-elected government of Honduras.

The problem with DC is that they don't have to live with what they dish out to the American people. We have access to big money, great healthcare, vacations, food; and they don't have to take credit for the debt, death, and destruction caused by the Bush Administration that is responsible for where this country is today.

Why do we need this Senate? I don't know. Why do we need the Supreme Court? Another profound question that goes unanswered.  

Report: No Unemployment Benefits Extension in Senate Jobs Bill « The Washington Independent - Senate Democrats are piecing together another stimulus bill designed to tackle the ongoing unemployment crisis, but if the reports coming out of Capitol Hill today are any indication, the package is likely to be much smaller than the jobs bill passed by the House last month. Indeed, The Washington Post indicates that upper-chamber Democrats are eyeing a proposal in the $80-billion range — roughly half of the spending in the House version.The Senate bill, the Post notes, “will be heavy on tax breaks designed to spur businesses to make new hires.”Also of note: Unlike the House bill, the Senate proposal excludes an extension of unemployment benefits. Instead, the UI extension “may move” separately...

Our illustrious Supreme Court faces lifetime employment and yet breaks the law, and those members are not impeached for doing so. Why should we Americans have to listen to or have to follow a branch in U.S. government that, what should be obvious to everyone, is politically corrupted and has been for years, by none other than the criminal Bush GOP. It's been said many times before, but to get money and greed out of all three branches of government, we can't expect these branches to do it. It should come from the ballots. It has to come from the American people.  

And today, we hear of another great voice of this country being silenced: Howard Zinn died of a heart attack. These are his words on political correctness in his book, A People's History of the United States:  

As the United States entered the nineties, the political system, whether Democrats or Republicans were in power, remained in the control of those who had great wealth. The main instruments of information were also dominated by corporate wealth. The country was divided, though no mainstream political leader would speak of it, into classes of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, separated by an insecure and jeopardized middle class. Yet, there was, unquestionably, though largely unreported, what a worried mainstream journalist had called "a permanent adversarial culture" which refused to surrender the possibility of a more equal, more humane society. If there was hope for the future of America, it lay in the promise of that refusal. 

What will we Americans do without these great voices of what a true democracy is and should be, only time will tell. Which leads me to this. In my mind, there's more than one type of pyramid scheme. The one most familiar to people is the one where everything is funneled to the top. But, for today, regarding U.S. government, think of a pyramid upside down with the point at the bottom. The large base at the top stands for the military, corporations, Congress, lobbyists, etc. Everything is being held up by the small point: the American people. That's what our world looks like today. And the odd thing is that many of those people who are wealthy want the American people to feel guilty and want us to make the sacrifices to fix what they have done to this country, and they have done it without the slightest worry about being made accountable.  

The American people are still taking the brunt of what these elitists are doing in DC, and it will not stop with fancy, fun-poking speeches. It will not stop from voting the Republicans (debt, death and destructionists) back into office to do more of what they have already done to this country. No, it can't be done overnight, but it can be done and must be done, through loud voices, demands for accountability, and progressive candidates. For this democracy to live, we need the middle class and whatever it will take for it to survive this disease of elitist greed that has taken hold of this country. What we don't need are fake piles of smiles and condescending, animated gestures and make believe stories that everything is going to be all right, if we just have hope and believe. Tell that to those who are without jobs and food on the table. We don't need more organizing. We need, in our face, in spite of the Bush GOP, strong leadership, strong actions, and U.S. law found and used in U.S. government. 

"We are all quite capable of bearing up under other people's misfortunes."

-- La Rochefoucauld, Reflections, 1665    

Thanks BuzzFlash, 
Shirley Smith

MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON