November 6, 2010
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Democracy Is Messy
A week or so ago I made a comment at mommachatter’s right-wing blog that was totally ignored. Somehow that bothers me. Here it is. Maybe someone will have a comment.
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Hi, Karen.
Thanks for writing a provocative entry that elicited a most interesting comment section.
What do I think will happen? At the moment I’m pessimistic, and I need to disclose right away to your Republican readers that I am foursquare behind President Obama and Nancy Pelosi. I’ve been trying to be optimistic throughout most of this campaign season but the poll numbers indicate that the GOP will win the House (control of the Senate is iffy, but because of the way those silly filibuster rules work, it doesn’t really make much difference) and with the executive and legislative branches divided, we’re in for increased gridlock.
Democracy is a messy system, but it is way ahead of whatever the second best system is.
I have faith that this nation will survive and prosper. I do NOT see a second Civil War coming. I was thrilled that in the aftermath of the 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections, there was no violence in the streets, as we see in places like Iran and Iraq.
As for the folks on the other side (of me) who decry that President Obama has referred to certain Americans as “the enemy,” forgive me but I don’t recall any such words and I would like someone to give me a reference so that I can read them for myself.
That said, I remain staunchly in defense of President Obama and everything he’s done or tried to do, said or tried to say. Recall that he has been criticized from the Left for not standing up for what he believes. (He sacrificed a public option, for example, because it was determined the votes were not there in Congress to include that vital provision in the healthcare bill.) I share the sentiments of those on the Left who want such actions, but I also respect the fact that compromise is necessary if we are to get anywhere and move forward. When President Obama called out Fox News for being a propaganda arm of the Republican Party, he was dead-on balls accurate. He was criticized for being unpresidential, but as far as I was concerned, what he said needed to be said, and by him.
As I said earlier in this comment, I don’t recall Obama saying that so-and-so (John Boehner, people like that?) is “the enemy,” but I DO most emphatically recall hearing Rush Limbaugh say that he wants the President to fail. And everything that comes out of Boehner’s mouth seems to be in support of that stance.
I get it that the Republicans want to regain power and that if they can obstruct the engines of government to keep unemployment high, the “people” will be angry enough at the Dems to replace them with folks who want to perpetuate the rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer state of affairs that has this country in the dire straits in which we find ourselves.
Would you believe that I used to be an Ayn Rand Republican and expect to be one again some day (if I live long enough)? I’m a firm believer in capitalism over socialism, but neither system works. Capitalism fails because of human greed and socialism fails because of human laziness.
That means, we have to go back and forth — between capitalism/socialism and between states’ rights/federalism and between any two other dichotomies that get out of balance when we have all one and none of the other.
I am proud of my two votes for Ronald Reagan, but I am also proud of the fact that I have never voted for anyone named Bush.
The two greatest presidents that we have had in the last hundred years have been Reagan and Obama.
And it’s a pity that too many Americans are unable to appreciate their greatness.
As for the increased divisiveness and polarization, a big part of that is the Internet combined with a lack of objective news sources. Folks read and hear what they want to read and hear, and everything gets reinforced.
As I said in another comment at another blog, we need statesmen in Congress. And all we have are politicians.
I believe that President Obama is TRYING to be a statesman, but somehow is not succeeding. But I’m not indicting him for failure, because no President has ever been up against the challenges that he has had to overcome.
Comments (3)
I do not recall reading the above on mommachatter’s site. If I had, I might have commented.
Mostly, I agree with you. As to mommachatter, she claims to be “right-wing”, but on some issues, she is not — at least not in my other convos with her via IM.
You have stated in your own way that economic systems have their upsides and downsides, and I certainly agree. I have tried to point that out myself. The problem is that many folks don’t understand that, it seems. It make sense to me to try to keep capitalism in check where it encourages greed, but also to take advantage of the good aspects in socialism. Unfortunately, because people don’t know very much about the latter, the mere use of the word is designed to strike fear as it is used perjoratively. All people know is what they’ve heard erroneosly about how bad socialism is.
Obama is not succeeding because there are too many individuals who don’t want to cooperate with him so that he can succeed. We’ve heard that from “Rash Limburger”. I think John Boehner (“the boner”) has made it clear that the prime objective now is to make sure that Obama does not get re-elected. What a shameful priority! This takes precedence over working together to fix problems that got us into this mess that Obama inherited??? God Help Us!!!
BTW: I, too, was once a Republican. However, the party stopped representing me, most of us in the so-called “middle-class” or those less fortunate. I had bought into the quote, “The great American Eagle cannot fly on two left wings.” But later I realized, ”The great American Eagle cannot fly on two right wings, either.”
~~Blessings ‘n Cheers
@DonnaLou - Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I got to mommachatter a little late (because of being busy and all, which I know you understand) but I really hoped for a bit of feedback. Thanks again for providing some.)
HERE
“In a radio interview that aired on Univision on Monday, Mr. Obama sought to assure Hispanics that he would push an immigration overhaul after the midterm elections, despite fierce Republican opposition.
“If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,’ if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it’s gonna be harder and that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2.”
Referring specifically to Republicans such as Senator John McCain, who are stressing border security and supporting strict immigration laws like Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration measure, Mr. Obama said, “Those aren’t the kinds of folks who represent our core American values.”
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Believe me if anyone wants to question what I put on my blog, I appreciate it. It says you posted this on Saturday, Nov. 6th. I do apologize that I didn’t answer it immediately. The above is the statement from which the inferrence came. I can not find the entire interview. If you still have questions I will try to look further. If you google “Obama Enemies” you will find other references to the quote.
Now that we have that cleared up…I want you to know that I do not hide from critizism of anything I put on my site, had I seen this earlier, I would have responded earlier, but as you sometimes have busy weekends, so do we all. If I am wrong in something I say…please…do not hesitate to point it out but I do not appreciate your saying I wouldn’t respond. Healthy debate is on what this country is based and I welcome it…a personal affront is not a healthy debate.
I want to end this comment by reitterating that I don’t think Obama is a bad man…I am not even truly sure how I feel as him being a President. I think he is being pressured by people who, in the public eye, have no names. This is also not the first time I have said that. I firmly believe that Clinton and the Bushes were being crowded by this same orgainization. This secretive organization has been laying the groundwork for a One World Order for almost a century with them pulling all the strings. If you have a critizism of my blog be sure to leave it on my blog for discussion. If you have a critizism of me personally…please message me in private and I will pay you the same courtesy.
With all due respect, ~ mom