Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Republican Fail



This is a guest post by my friend, Bob Poris.  His essay structures again the irony of turning the chicken coop over to the foxes, which just happened in our most recent elections.  Part of the problem, of course, is that most citizens in this country could not be bothered to vote.  So, the bottom-feeders came out into the light for a few moments to cast their ballots in favor of returning to the good old days of wars and rumors of wars, foreclosures, inflation, torture, the Christian god ... days when women knew their place, gays stayed closeted and when some folks actually disbelieved in global warming.


Bob begins his commentary by referring to a letter to in which the writer noted that most people in this country "hate everything NOT done by the Republican Congress" and Republican leaders.

They complained about Republican leaders ignoring the will of the majority in our country, but then voted to elect these same leaders as governors, senators and representatives.  The bulk of the people who won in these mid-term elections had voted to defeat all of President Obama's initiatives to deal with the problems the majority were concerned about - gay rights/marriage, abortion, drug laws, gun laws, raising the minimum wage, health care, etc.

A long litany of issues were hotly debated in the media by all sides but no laws were passed to address or resolve these issues!  Now, the newly-elected Republicans speak of wanting to work on the country's infrastructure so as to create more jobs.  But back when Obama was first elected and agreed with the Republicans as to repairing the infrastructure and creating jobs, they suddenly complained that it was a plot by Obama to destroy the nation.

There is no cure for stupidity.  How people can demand action and then vote to continue what they hate is beyond stupidity.


One would think, at least from the pre-election rhetoric, that as soon as the results were in last week, we would have been flooded with plans as to how to solve the evils of the world - how to increase employment, how to strengthen our economy, how best to use the military, how to save the world.  The Republicans have had six years to formulate such plans but it appears they have opted for vacations and finding ways to ensure Mr. Obama does not destroy the nation.

And now, what with the Republicans holding the majority in both houses of Congress, we shall see how quickly and efficiently they will work together to put the world back into the shape that the deity intended.

It should be easy!  They've inherited a growing economy, a growing job force, a declining deficit, a much smaller government than we had under previous Republican presidents, and the rich can spend their money freely to get a government they want.  Oh, let's not forget, that except for our recent excursion to help fight ISIS, Mr. Obama did live up to his promises to bring our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

With the Republicans taking control of all branches of government, the Democrats can no longer obstruct their plans!  They can select people to fill all of the openings they have refused to approve for so many years.  They control funding in both houses of Congress so they can finance whatever they wish.  And they will have a say in which nominee gets to sit on the Supreme Court, should an opening arise.


The Republicans have two years to prove they can do better than did the Republican Congress after inheriting Clinton's economy and surpluses.

I hope someone keeps score so that next time people will make note of real achievements in order to mitigate the billions of dollars spent by special interests to buy votes.

We have it good with Obama!

From a letter to the editor of a Canadian newspaper


You Americans Have No Idea Just How Good You Have It With Obama






Many of us Canadians are confused by the U.S. midterm elections. Consider, right now in America, corporate profits are at record highs, the country's adding 200,000 jobs per month, unemployment is below 6%, U.S. gross national product growth is the best of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The dollar is at its strongest levels in years, the stock market is near record highs, gasoline prices are falling, there's no inflation, interest rates are the lowest in 30 years, U.S. oil imports are declining, U.S. oil production is rapidly increasing, the deficit is rapidly declining, and the wealthy are still making astonishing amounts of money.
America is leading the world once again and respected internationally — in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden.
So, Americans vote for the party that got you into the mess that Obama just dug you out of? This defies reason.
When you are done with Obama, could you send him our way?
Richard Brunt
Victoria, British Columbia

h/t to Daily Kos