Then I got an e-mail from the DSCC, with this bit: Today, Sen. Schumer talked about how meeting the challenges America faces begin with restoring our people's faith in government. Republicans - many hostile to the very idea of government - have bought us Iraq, Katrina and an unmitigated string of government failures.
Schumer touches on the point, the critical point, the unspoken point, that overlays everything that’s gone wrong in this country, a point that Obama doesn't seem to recognize in his optimistic talk.
Everybody thinks, wants to think, couldn’t believe otherwise, that Bush/Cheney are patriotic Americans, concerned with our founding principles and the normal operations of this country. You hear it from Hillary as she tries to explain her war vote, you read it in the words of Sen. Obama, Sen. Edwards, the Broders and Russerts and Picklers.
But as Chuck Schumer notes, they’re hostile to the very idea of government, and I’ll go even further and say that they’re more than hostile, they don’t believe in Democracy and the Constitution, don’t believe in the Declaration of Independence, don’t believe in the precepts of the Magna Carta, no, they believe in power unto itself, and nothing more.
And when you think of it that way you realize that what’s broken isn’t our politics, isn’t the institutions of this nation, but the Bush administration.
There are two systems in operation here, the one Obama speaks of, the one most everybody lives in, the normal world of reality, with all it’s bizarre behaviors and rank stupidity, it’s greed and selfishness, it’s sacrifices and duties and everyday heroics going to work or raising a child or stopping at a stop sign, and then there’s this other, fundamentally sociopathic world of Dick Cheney and George Bush.
The problem is in expecting BushCo to act in a way consistant with the reality world, when that world of policy and commity and goals and shared community, shared American heritage, doesn't exist for them. They don't care about us, about Americans, about veterans, about laws and decency and doing the right thing. Look at how they crap all over the veterans of their own war, let alone those from past wars. Does cutting funding for veterans, of leaving the National Guard troops out in the cold when it comes to benefits and care sound like a cry of concern?
Just this week the Administration admitted that they had underfunded veterans' health care by $3.7 billion over the next two years. And about 20 percent of all reservists do not have health insurance at all – approximately 12,219 in California, leaving them and their families without coverage when they leave active duty.
Disabled veterans in California face delays, barriers to getting benefits they earned. More than 41,212 in California are still subject to the disabled veterans’ tax, which forces veterans to sacrifice one dollar of their pension for every dollar they receive in disability benefits. In addition, there is a huge backlog of almost 500,000 compensation and pension claims, including those from veterans of the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Disabled veterans in California are still waiting approximately 181 days for their disability assessment.
Just keep reminding yourself, they are indeed hostile to government, and the incompetence they demonstrate is designed to make us think that our government, our politics, is the problem. They want us to throw the bums out, to lump the Democrats in with the republicans while they go merrily about their real business. Let's not let them get away with it.
6 comments:
I believe you're right, Duckman, and not a lot of bloggers talk about it enough. Most people think the social contract is rock solid, that rules of law and freedom and justice can never go away - even Bush/Cheney need to use those words to keep their base in line. But Bush/Cheney and Exxon and the corporations need government only as far as it protects them from liability and keeps the masses buying their products. Otherwise, it's a burden that has to be overcome, especially when government tries to get in the way of their making money. But with the wrong people in charge, whittling away at social programs bit by bit, it's startlingly easy to create another Robber Baron era, isn't it?
Frankly, the super-rich don't really need countries anymore, except as places to live and populations to squeeze. They are laws until themselves. With enough money, you can stay out of any trouble caused by your sick predilictions; you can park torture camps in countries that are publicly against them; you can get away with murder. I don't think they want to eliminate the rest of us right off, or kill all the laws that keep us from storming their castles, but their greed and inhumanity will take us pretty close to the brink. I wish there was a way to get some of our money back from Halliburton and KBR and such for their theft during these last few years, but I guess not.
Nice post, Duckman! BTW, we're closing down shop - no one's got time to keep Low and Left running, so we're calling it quits. We'll all still be hanging around, though, it'll give us more time to read the real blogs again! Thanks for your support!
Shit, that's not good, I'm sorry to hear that!
I'm going to have to think about this for a minute, so please, don't get lost, keep commenting here or at the Left Coaster.
And tell me what you think about the comment I posted on Paradox last post on a complicit Democratic party, it kinda pissed me off.
Your comments were brilliant, I thought, and much needed on TLC. That's one of the reasons why I had to hang it up - few on the left seem to understand that the Dems just plain can't impeach or stop funding the occupation, and stay within the rule of law. If we're going to keep our democracy, we have to work within it, make it work in the way it was meant, not become like the Cheney admin, working from inside to dismantle it. You were spot on, I cheered out loud.
I've also gotten pretty discouraged by the way progressives have splintered into single-interest groups that dismiss offhand any rep. who doesn't support their worldview. Oh well, I know that's how politics goes; it's just too complicated to navigate anymore and not get depressed.
And it was time for L&L to close down. It was nothing more than a chatroom, getting to be a soft porn chatroom, I might add. I'm responsible, I know, for allowing it to go on - I just didn't have the time or energy to turn it around, having a 9 to 5, and family things that needed attention. This gives me more time to read the blogs I like, plus research stuff I'm interested in, without constantly trying to think of something clever to write to give the kids something to talk about. I'll be around, I never could quit anything cold turkey!
I do have to say that I think paradox gets a bit shrill at times; passion can be good, but making outrageous general statements doesn't seem to fit well with the scholarly atmosphere of TLC. And I always wince when the threads on Sam Gardiner's posts turn into a troll fight. Have a little respect, folks! It's a real coup to have him posting there - I saw his name in my new Vanity Fair - TLC's hit the big time!
It's like Daily Kos only slightly less traffic, and it is discouraging. I don't get into the "meta" or personality aspects of Kos at all, just read the posts and some diaries and make my recommendations and some comments and hope somebody pays attention, otherwise it's too much. And I ytell at them for being defeatist and giving up on the Dems because of one stinking vote.
Although I must say I've been po'd at the dems for stuff too, but really, they act like Bush at times, black and white, when it's so much more complicated and never that easy.
And yeah, what's tempus going to do now?
I hope not stalk me. I was always worried about that. I think Boo will take him in, though. It was kinda shocking to see the site down already, but it's better if it was a clean break. None of us want him to set up a shrine. Sheesh. I always told him if he kept it up, I'd disappear forever. My mother had a stalker when I was a kid, it's not fun. I feel bad, but I can't feel obligated, I made it clear there was nothing going on. I guess not clear enough. Crap.
Anyhow, the defeatism and almost immediate backbiting is what gets me mad. I couldn't believe how quickly everyone turned on the dems. Sure, keep their toes to the fire, but don't throw them in the bbq at the first sign of trouble. People are so impatient!
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