We don’t often get into overt politicking on the GLONO flagship site but we’re getting a little annoyed with what we’re seeing out there. From neck stompings to detentions to crybaby-ism, we’ve had enough. So we have a few words for Glorious Noise readers of all political stripes: Grow Up.
We apparently have three kinds of voters in this country: Republican, Independent, and Democratic. We here at GLONO have messages for each of you:
To our Republican friends: Are you nuts? You’re being duped by these guys again? If you’re truly Conservative you can’t possibly be considering voting these clowns back into office. Do you not remember the massive expansion of government, the exponentially growing deficits, the TWO wars (and counting), and the restrictions on basic civil rights these guys brought us during the Bush years? And if you’re a “common sense” government-type then the likes of Christine O’Donnell, Joe Miller, Sharron Angle and any other sharpie running under the Tea Party banner must scare the shit out of you. Remember, Congressional politics and legislation is all about compromise. If you elect uncompromising ideologues then you get NOTHING. Let’s not screw the whole country up to make a statement.
To our Independent friends: Make up your mind already and pick a team. How can a voting block who elected Barack Obama even consider voting for a bunch of lunatics like those noted above? That is insane, or at least shows a severe lack of knowledge about who is who in politics. Don’t give me this bunk about “there’s no significant difference between the parties” nonsense either. If you really believe that then read on to what we have to say to the Democrats among us.
To our Democratic friends: Stop being babies. It may not seem like it (because the opposition is awesome at…well…opposing) but this has been an incredibly productive two years since Barack Obama was elected President. No, you haven’t gotten everything you wanted (especially you Liberal Dems), but complaining about that is like complaining that you got vanilla ice cream instead of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. And yes, it’s disappointing that Congressional leadership seems to be running from what should be a rallying cry.
But let’s get the heart of the matter here: if you’re unsatisfied now with the amount of progress, wait until the Republicans hold a house…or two. Bill Maher said it best a couple weeks ago:
When it comes to voting, when we only have two choices, You gotta grow up and realize there’s a big difference between a disappointing friend and a deadly enemy.
Make no mistake, if you lean progressive then the GOP is your political enemy. The strategic (aka, the grown-up) thing to do is to ensure they don’t completely stop the slow rolling progress that’s being made.
It’s time to vote.
What Have You Done for Me Lately?
• Drastic draw down of combat forces in Iraq. No, the war’s not over and Afghanistan is likely just beginning to get ugly, but it’s a real start.
• The Democratic response to the Bush recession prevented the loss of 8 million more jobs, stopped unemployment from soaring to more than 16 percent, and will decrease our budget deficit by $3 trillion over the next three years.
• The Economic Recovery Act alone cut taxes for 98 percent of Americans.
• Not ideal, but healthcare reform is law now and it’s just the first step. While some of the provisions are rolling out painfully slowly, the new Patients’ Bill of Rights kicked in last month.
Americans are already benefiting from several important provisions that have taken effect. More than 4 million small businesses are eligible for $40 billion in tax credits, helping them offer employee health insurance coverage. Children with pre-existing conditions who have long been denied coverage now have access to a health plan in every state, including Maryland. Seniors in the Medicare Part D program are now receiving an annual supplement of $250 as the first installment toward closing the notorious “doughnut hole.” No longer will seniors be forced to choose between food or heat and lifesaving medications. Early retirees are also benefiting, because the program helps employers continue their health coverage.
• Bailouts may have saved the American Automotive industry, ensuring millions more did not end up on the unemployment rolls.
• Financial Regulation overhaul. Again, imperfect, but at least some of the more egregious practices have been curtailed…theoretically. To be honest, this is one of the bigger thorns in our side too, but we digress…
• No Drama Obama: Other than the Salahi’s party crashing, this has been a remarkably scandal-free White House.
• World opinion of the US greatly improved. And before any of you isolationists get all worked up with your “who cares what they think of us” indignation, let’s not forget that we live in a global economy and under the threat of global terrorism. We kinda need to work with the other guys.
• We are very, very near a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. We are as annoyed as anyone at the time and process to repeal this clearly unconstitutional infringement on privacy and equal protection (not to mention the unnecessary security risk posed by drumming out capable and qualified gay patriots), but there is sure and steady progress being made and repeal is within sight…unless Republican majorities in Congress stop it.
A cross-post from POLJUNK: The National Affairs Desk of Glorious Noise.
Well done. If you keep writing shit like this I might start coming here more regularly.
reduce deficit by $3 trillion? Seems to me you and your editor can’t even read the talking points…unless he is Joe Biden. Its too late for spin. Vote is in. Stick to tunes…
The $3 trillion deficit number is a bit misleading, you’re right. It was pulled from a DCCC doc (and should have been cited–apologies) and appears to refer to the savings from health care savings, that do indeed save money, but from an overall deficit INCREASE. In other words, “Hey, I spent $7 more than I have when I could have spent $12! Look at me!”
But the point is that the alternative is a Republican Congress who have both increased the size of government and the size of the debt (by an incredible amount) but on what?
And again…it’s our soap box, we’ll write about whatever we want.
Come on Derek – post my brilliant analysis from Poljunk – I’m too tired to re-write it here.
What are you talking about with a “Republican Congress who have increased the size of government and the size of the debt”? That is blatant intellectual dishonesty as the fucking Democrats have controlled the purse strings since 2007 and have had super majorities. Five trillion dollars in additional debt since Nancy Too Much Plastic Surgery Pelosi has been Speaker. I’ll grant you that the Republicans spent way too much when they ran the House up through 2006. But no one like me who follows politics so closely is going to buy the crap being spun about Republicans incresing the debt since Obama was emmaculated. They have had zero power on Capitol Hill – and even with absolute power the Democrats had to resort to bribes and backroom deals to ram through a hugely unpopular unconstitutional health care takeover bill that no one had a chance to read before it was voted on.
“We must pass the bill so we find out what’s in it” – brilliant quote from Eyestretch Pelosi.
Both establishment parties suck ass. Tuesday’s election is not about Democrats vs. Republicans as it is really a referendum on President Obama’s agenda to remake America in his image of a utpoian socialist state where business is to targeted as the enemy and the State will reign supreme. Fuck that.
On second thought, honesty is important in thee discussions and since the math is convoluted (and misleading) and I can’t find specific, independent analysis of that number, I struck that line from the post.
Jonathan, I’ll cite just three things as evidence of what I am talking about re: Republican deficit spending: Afghanistan, Iraq, unfunded Medicare expansion. Two wars off the books and an unfunded Federal mandate SHOULD make fiscal conservatives mad enough to never vote Republican again.
And Tuesday’s election will be about whether enough people have been duped into thinking that Democratic policies are making their lives worse.
I don’t know how Nancy Pelosi’s cosmetic surgery plays into this but I look forward to your witty comments re: John Boehner’s unnatural skin tone. You’ll not find much defense of Pelosi’s leadership or policy direction from me anyway.
“President Obama’s agenda to remake America in his image of a utpoian socialist state where business is to targeted as the enemy and the State will reign supreme.”
Yeah, I’d much rather we have some kind of fascist theocracy under the likes of Palin and company. At least with a Socialist regime I might be able to afford health care…
Hey Derek, you forgot to mention the massive tax cuts that never stimulated the economic growth they were supposed to, and which instead accelerated annual deficits. I guess Jonathan forgot about those too.
Right and that’s another reason why I am fine with expiring those cuts for the wealthy.
“… a referendum on President Obama’s agenda to remake America in his image of a utpoian socialist state where business is to targeted as the enemy and the State will reign supreme.”
Sorry, Jonathan, this sort of nonsense pretty much torpedoes any chance there might have been of me taking your commentary seriously.
You can go back to watching the glennbeck now.
Great points, Derek. This is a well argued summation and helps shore up my own faltering faith. Thank you.
Interesting article on The Daily Beast this morning re: the Stimulus and whether it worked. Short answer: it did.
The Dems were going to lose a lot of seats in congress regardless of what Obama did these past two years. It’s a historical inevitability in a midterm election.
If those loses turn out to be huge, it’ll be mostly because of one fundamental strategic failure of the Obama administration. He ran in 2008 on a program of doing away with divisivenss.
Even in 2008 Progressives thought his message that he’d “work with” republicans was as joke. Republicans never had and never will have any reason or desire to agree with anything his administration does. They have a political culture that’s based on demonizing their opponent. If Ronald Reagan rose from the dead, announced that he was now a Democrat AND the Messiah, Republicans would call him a Communist and probably question his death certificate.
So that puts Obama in a position of continually showing Americans that he can’t end divisiveness. And on top of that political divisiveness around the country is worse. He seems incapable of siding with his base and denouncing his opponents. Which is weird, because when you ask American’s what they really want on issue after issue, they don’t say they want their president and congress to get along with each other.
Obama promised something that he can’t deliver. And the worse of it is that it’s not even substantive. Regardless of how many legislative accomplishments the guy can claim, the big promise to “change Washington” hasn’t happened.
Obama isn’t a Progressive. He’s a luke warm centrist democrat. He’s better than any Republican. But he’s not going to get his base to carry his water if he keeps up with how he’s running things right now.
Hitches this week echos some of what I was getting at in my post above.
http://www.slate.com/id/2273158/
Dems don’t deserve to win. If they can’t sell their accomplishments, they simply don’t deserve it. Illinois ran Alexis fucking Gianulias. Is that as fucking good as we can do? For fuck’s sake. Such an absolute load of shit.
Very happy 538 prepared me for all of this or else I might actually be really upset. Nate Silver rules.
Hi Jude – I really can’t stand Glenn Beck but I appreciate your condescending tone. Take care. Oh and the results from Tuesday speak for themselves, especially state houses and governorships.People are frightened and confused. Our country needs a leader – a genuine leader, not a pandering party hack who would incredulously appoint Rham Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff. Good grief.
@Jude
Frank Marshall Davis, Van Jones, Anita Dunn – just a few of the avowed communists who have either inspired or been appointed by Obama.
Jonathan,
Knee-jerk accusations of Socialism! lead me only to the conclusions that 1) you have no idea who Obama is, and 2) you have no idea what socialism really is. This is tantamount to declaring all of one’s political opposition NAZIs because they pass legislation that you don’t like. But I suppose it’s convenient…
As far as Tuesday’s results go, I’m not so quick as you in declaring that they say anything; I don’t think the people spoke much at all – more like they mumbled. It looks like progressives and young people stayed home because Obama didn’t hand-deliver rainbows and ponies to them. The elderly stepped away from the FOX News misinformation machine long enough to vote. I’ve heard a number of conservatives warn that this is no ringing endoresment of the Republicans (Rand Paul chief among them).
Food for thought:
http://reason.com/blog/2010/11/03/reasontv-3-reasons-this-electi
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/november_2010/most_voters_think_house_gop_likely_to_disappoint_by_2012
And that means what, exactly?
If I’m president and I appoint a Catholic, does that make me a Caltholic?
And Obama also appointed a couple of Republicans to his cabinet. So, what was your point again?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7868036.stm
Uhhhh…of course that scenario wouldn’t make you a Catholic. But it would mean that you are giving credence to that philosophy and that you agree with it by default. Oh wait, maybe Obama is just recognizing ‘diversity’ of thought by surrounding himself with academic leftists/communists. I read his books – I know who and what he is. And it sure as hell isn’t freedom and liberty.
Come on.
“I read his books – I know who and what he is. And it sure as hell isn’t freedom and liberty.”
I too read his books and did not walk away thinking he was a freedom hater. Weird.
Let’s tone down the personal attacks here, boys. I do NOT want this to turn into a Breitbart-style cage match.
Jonathan,
Can you point to exactly what it is in Obama’s books that makes you feel that he hates freedom and liberty? I too have read his books and I didn’t get that feeling AT ALL.
(An earlier post seems to have been lost in the e…)
“But it would mean that you are giving credence to that philosophy and that you agree with it by default.” – No, it means nothing by default.
Given the logic that you’re displaying above, you suggest that Obama is a communist by association. If he has appointed commies, then what do you make of Ray LaHood’s cabinet appointment? If we’re playing the identity-by-association game, then Obama is simultaneously a communist and a Republican.
I haven’t read his books but I’ve heard the excerpts from the audio version where he says, “You know that guy ain’t shit. Sorry-ass motherfucker got nothing on me.” Sounds like a freedom lover to me!
For real though, I just can’t understand how otherwise reasonable people are getting duped into thinking Obama’s an anti-capitalist commie. He fucking saved capitalism’s ass. (And yes, I realize that’s a link to a New York Times opinion piece, so a certain segment of the population won’t even consider it, but I think we’re all a little smarter than that, no?)
I wish he was more of commie.
(Also, remember that comments with links need to be approved, which takes a while sometimes.)
Obama saved Capitalism, and Capitalism rewarded him by calling him an illegal-alien-communist-Muslim.