Allow me to quote directly from Politicus, in an editorial comment by Rmuse:
"Since teabaggers and Fox News seized control of the Republican Party directly after the 2010 elections, there has been a preponderance of petitions decrying everything from the Christian right’s attacks on women and gays to the Supreme Court’s unwavering devotion to corporations and Catholic dogmata. It is true that Americans opposed to losing their democracy to religious and corporate fascism are rightly frustrated, but it is just as frustrating that any American is under the delusion that signing a petition is ever going to achieve or change anything, or prevent America’s slide into a corporate theocracy.
There is an inconvenient truth Americans are going to have to come to grips with even though it is painful; no amount of signatures on a petition equals one vote at the ballot box, one vote in either house of Congress, or will overturn a Supreme Court decision. One wants desperately to believe that Americans understand the gravity of the Supreme Court setting a precedent that, in effect, can abolish legally passed laws and eliminate long-standing protections in the United States Constitution, but sadly that is not the case. If the American people were aware that only through their votes could they affect change, it is possible that a close vote in 2000 would not have given the Supreme Court the opportunity to appoint George W Bush as president who followed his father’s footsteps and installed two hardline religious corporatists on the High Court."
The fact that "liberals" and "progressives" talked the talk in 2010, but did not "walk the walk" is why we are in the shape we are today. Each and every one of us has the right, nay, the obligation to get off our dead asses come November and make certain that we have turned the corner on this terrible regression we find ourselves in today.
It astounds me that Americans have such a short memory of current history . . . I'm speaking of going back no more than 14 years!
Because the print is so small in the picture, here is the copy accompanying it: "Learning the Wrong Lessons" (Steve Benen)
It's not uncommon to hear Democratic officials complain that Republicans, if given half a chance, would return the country to the failures and disasters of the Bush/Cheney era. In an unexpected twist, the Republican National Committee is helping make the case that Dems are onto something.
The Republican National Committee is celebrating former President George W. Bush's birthday this weekend by selling wistful "I Miss W." t-shirts to its supporters. "President George W. Bush led our nation through some of its most challenging moments of our nation's history - - and we miss him and his leadership," reads a fundraising pitch on the RNC's website. "By sporting this comfortable, classic, American-made tee, you can share our message and help us elect principled conservative leaders to office."
(The shirts available for the low, low price of $27.00)
The larger point, however, isn't that Republicans miss a Republican president. Rather, the significance of the silly t-shirt is appreciating just how little the GOP has changed in recent years, even after party leaders seemed to decide collectively that changes were necessary.
So let me get this straight. We are to miss the guy who:
started two wars
One . . . Iraq . . . in which the whole case for was was built on lies.
Introduced the worst recession in U.S. history; one from which we still have not recovered fully.
Implemented a policy of TORTURE
Implemented a doctrine of WAR . . . BECAUSE WE WANT TO
Implemented a policy of not admitting people to a speech if they disagreed
Ignored previous administration's warnings about terrorist attacks and allowed the attacks on NYC on 9/11
Damaged irreparably the credibility and reputation of the United States of America.
A Facebook friend of mine posted: "the only person that missed G W Bush was the Iraqi that threw his shoes at him."
"Americans, says Bmuse, "have to come to their senses and face a fundamental, and very painful fact; because the Supreme Court and Republicans serve the religious right and corporations, it does not matter one iota what the people want. They can gnash their teeth, sign petitions, and bemoan the fascist elimination of their democracy until the proverbial cows come home, but nothing is going to change and it is all down to not voting; particularly during the 2010 midterm elections. It has gotten to the point that even when Democrats do turnout to vote, Republicans in service to the real leaders in America, the religious right, Wall Street, and Koch-corporate fascists, oppose their chosen representatives as evidenced by obstructing anything President Obama supports. The American people twice elected Barack Obama to lead the nation, but because Republicans do not want him as President, they spent the past five years bringing governance to a veritable standstill and it is due to being inexorably bound to the Christian and corporate prerogative.
In the leadup to elections, there is a mantra espoused ad nauseum that “elections have consequences.” One never hears that petitions have consequences for one simple reason; they do not. It is true that turning out en masse to evict Republicans from Congress will affect change for near future, but those Supreme Court rulings giving the religious right and corporations control over Americans’ lives are here to stay. One imagines a different America if more Democrats turned out to vote in the 2000 general election that would have prevented embroiling Americans in two unfunded and unnecessary wars of aggression, and prevented an out-of-control banking industry from nearly destroying the world’s economy. A few thousand more votes would also have prevented a conservative Supreme Court majority from abolishing the Establishment Clause, voting rights laws, campaign finance laws, and the right to class action lawsuits against predatory corporations.
It is true Americans are frustrated with the path the country is on, but their frustration should be put to use educating, registering, and encouraging other Americans to vote instead of signing useless petitions to overturn High Court decisions. It is too late to even ameliorate the damage conservatives on the Court have imposed on America, and the Constitution, but there is time to stop any further damage Republicans in Congress are planning to unleash on the people whether it is privatizing Medicare and Social Security, or eliminating Medicaid, food stamps, environmental protections, and every other social program the Koch brothers, Wall Street, and religious right want abolished. If Americans should feel anything, it should be desperation because while they are signing petitions, the religious right, Koch brothers, and Wall Street are mobilizing their forces to finish what they began in 2000 and 2010 to get what they want; government beholden to the Christian and corporate prerogative and a quick end to democracy."
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND OUR COUNTRY, PLEASE VOTE THIS NOVEMBER . . . AND TAKE A FRIEND WITH YOU TO THE POLLS!
_______________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment