From the beginning,

I have felt a great affection for the tea partiers.

I think my affection stems from the fact that these tea partiers, for the most part, seem so genuinely—well, nice. They seem a little embarrassed and self-conscious because they probably never imagined themselves as street protesters. They have always been the ones to go to work and pay the bills. Chanting and carrying signs? Nah, that was not for them. See, they believed that people should play by the rules. Don’t like something? Then work to change it, but work within the system. Now, though, the system seems broken, and they have very reluctantly decided to step forward to try to fix it.

My affection has grown in direct proportion to the efforts made to ridicule, distort and destroy the movement. There they are, on their best behavior, kids in tow, picking up after themselves, for God’s sake! Have there ever been political protesters who have tried this hard to be good? No!

So very hesitantly, teachers and doctors and factory workers and hardware store owners are joining the party. If you can’t hear them, you aren’t listening. And if you aren’t listening, their voices will swell until you cannot hear anything else. These are the people that built America, dammit, and they can sure as hell tear it down and start over.

Good luck tomorrow to all the tea party protesters who love America enough to take a stand.

Don’t care.

There comes a time when hearts harden, minds are made up. I don’t care how many TV ads politicians and their supporters buy. I don’t care how many biased “news” stories appear in Big Media. I just don’t care.

Don’t buy it.

Don’t believe it.

Don’t care.

Who I Am

Sometimes I just feel like crying, and it’s been that way since May 31, 2008. I don’t have to detail the causes. They’re written in neon across a nation. I’ve tried to write through, and around, and over, on a blog no one ever reads because–well, just because. It hasn’t really helped. I’ve lurked through thousands of posts on dozens of sites populated with people as demoralized as me. I’ve gone from being the person who bought XM radio simply because I could not live without Randi Rhodes Shake Your Boobies Fridays to the person who nods along with Sean Hannity on Conservative Talk Radio. I have gone along with 3^rd party dreams because—because what else is there? None of that has helped. Not really. That’s not who I am.

And then today I saw this video:  http://pumaeyes.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/real-hope-and-real-change-you-can-believe-in-hillary-2012/

My crying’s done. It’s over. That’s who I am.

Hillary’s smart, strong, and even better qualified than she was before. AND SHE’S AVAILABLE! People of all political beliefs want competence now. Nothing trumps it. That’s why Hillary Clinton will be our next president. It really is 2012 or Bust.

Goldman Sucks & Co.

30 billion in bonuses, a 60% increase over last year? I am more than shocked, more than appalled, more than angry. I want them punished. They make the robber barons of the early 20^th century look like genial old misguided uncles. Clean out their accounts, dissolve their boards, sell their property, & pay it all down on the national debt. Plunk their families down in a $45,000 house in Mississippi and give them a 1999 Toyota Corolla with 180,000 miles on it to drive. Put $1000 in their bank account. Health insurance? Nope. Then put these arrogant SOBs in a prison labor camp. Make them work 10 hours a day for 10 years. At the end of their sentence, give them a shirt and a pair of jeans from Wal-Mart. Plop them down in flyover country and see how too-big-to-fail they feel then.

Basic Math

I enjoyed Jay Cost’s article, “How to Divide a Party, In Three Easy Steps!”  http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2009/11/how_to_divide_a_party_in_three_1.html

Here are the first couple of steps:

So, you’ve decided to become the leader of a big political party. Only one problem: it’s too big! What to do?

Step 1: Participate in a bitterly divisive nomination battle against a prominent opponent, making sure that you only win certain factions within the party. Leave your opponent to win other factions, even down to the very last contest. If possible, make condescending remarks about how bitter, clingy, and xenophobic some of those other factions in your own party are. This will ensure that they remain perpetually skeptical of your administration. 

Having won the nomination, make no serious effort to unite this divided and fractured party. Do not nominate for vice-president somebody who is a prominent member of the opposing faction. For instance, if you’re a Northern/urban candidate looking to alienate Southern/rural members of your party – make sure that the well-regarded governor of Tennessee does not find his way onto the ticket. Also, no unity tickets. Make your primary opponent swallow hard and endorse you, then give the veep nomination to somebody else.

If you complete Step 1 perfectly, you should see early signs of success. Namely, lifelong members of your party will vote for the opposition, perhaps for the first time ever. If they do this in an election that you win decisively anyway, all the better. That’s how you know you’re off to a good start.

Step 2: Design your cabinet so that there are few (if any) prominent members of the opposing faction installed in any important posts. If you followed Step 1 perfectly, it means your primary opponent is still out in the cold. You might have to nominate her to a prominent spot. That’s less than ideal, but it is understandable. However, make no additional gestures to those other factions in the party.

I’d say that’s about right.

Peeved

Republican men saying they don’t want obstetrical care covered in basic insurance plans because they themselves will never need maternity care so why should they have to subsidize it? Murphy  <http://pumapac.org>

 Oh, really? Say, that’s a good idea! Then we can cut women’s taxes a lot because it’s takes a lot of tax dollars to arrest, prosecute, & imprison criminals, and men make up the majority of criminals. So there!

 

Silence

Like many Americans, I am confused by the health care debate. I wonder why I can’t import cheaper drugs from India just like corporations input cheaper labor from India.  I think, on the one hand, profit does spur innovation, but, on the other hand, isn’t the healthcare industry too greedy? I don’t trust political leaders and government bureaucrats to do it right, but I also don’t trust insurance companies and Big Pharma. There really is only one person I trust in this whole debate, and that is Hillary Clinton. Isn’t it ironic that hers is the one voice that is silent?

I wish I could just talk to her, ask her, “Hillary, what do you think about this whole mess? What should we do?” (Yes, I still feel that personal, first-name connection.)

Of course, I could never trust what she says if she speaks only as a mouthpiece for this administration, and that’s what I would think if she breaks her silence now. I guess, then, I am glad for her silence. Even though I am lonely. Even though the silence of that one voice of reason drowns out all the raucous voices that I hear.

Bums & Blogs

The Bums
Murphy was right. It’s the system that’s screwed up. If we “throw the bums out” without fixing the system, we’ll just get more bums. We must have real political financing reform. Limit the primary elections to 3 months & the general to 2? Limit the amount of airtime sold by TV, radio & print & fairly distribute that time? Kill K Street? I’m not sure what should be done. I just know that our political leaders no longer truly represent the interests of the American people and that it is not wholly the fault of those leaders. It is up to American citizens to reform the system that is creating a sham democracy.

And while we’re fixing the system, let’s stop treating corporations as “persons” and stop speculators from gambling with our oil futures!

The tea parties are the first sign that real democracy may not be completely dead in America. Sure, some of the protesters may be wrong about some of the issues, just as their detractors are. And, yes, the Republicans have tried to appropriate the movement and make it their own. However, both parties have abysmal approval ratings. Americans are beginning to see that it doesn’t matter which party is in control; neither represents working Americans. The middle class is being sabotaged, and maybe the Big Middle in American politics can make a difference.

It has been really interesting to follow the reactions of the “elites” to these grassroots protests. They scoffed & ridiculed & dismissed. Now they’re scratching their collective “elite” head:

“Something is going very wrong in the heads of a substantial number of Americans.”
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/a-strange-madness/

“But Americans seem to me especially piggish critters these days. . . .”
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/05-5

I think something is going on very right in the heads of a substantial number of Americans, and if those Americans are a bit “piggish” these days, maybe it’s because of the political slop they’re being force-fed.

The truth is, Americans have been amazingly patient. Maybe if we had taken to the streets a few years back, we wouldn’t have our futures mortgaged and our candidates chosen by Big Media & the moneybags behind them.

I feel tremendous respect for the tea partiers, but I’m wondering if the tea parties will have to become whiskey brigades before long. A swig of Jack Daniels may be just what is needed to step beyond the cordoned-off protest cages into some kind of real street change.

The Blogs
I’ve had a touch of the blogging blues lately. ClintonDems went on the selling block. Lynette Long & texasdarlin went on hiatus. The hillbuzz boyz disappeared after the death of a close friend. HireHeels, Sugar ‘n Spice, & That’s Me on the Left became inactive. Riverdaughter’s powerful voice seems no longer front & center. (I like dakinikat’s financial analysis, but the sometimes snarky superior attitude is repellent, and the wonderfully witty myiq2xu sometimes joins in.)

But today there seems to be hope. There are a couple of September postings on ClintonDems and there were 17 users & 17 browsers so something is going on. HireHeels & That’s Me on the Left have up new posts. The hillbuzz boyz are back. And I’m thinking of those that went inactive as little pods, already sown, ready to spring into full bloom when the need is there. And there is always PumaPac, which is my favorite. So the blues are becoming blue skies again for this lurker!

Gee whiz!

A lot has happened since my last entry. Sarah Palin announced that she will be “advancing in another direction.” I think I will be advancing in that direction with her. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

The only thing that could stop me now would be for Hillary to run again.

But for now, I don’t know, Sarah seems so classy next to her detractors. [BTW, I don't think her resignation had anything to do with Todd Pur-dumb (and he SO wishes he were HER Todd).] I liked seeing her talk in front of the rich, wild beauty of the Alaskan landscape instead of in front of a podium with a hundred flags hung behind it. Plus, wasn’t it nice to see someone give a speech without her head swiveling left-to-right-to-left?

The intellectual “elites” are amusing, too, aren’t they? Eleanor Clift said Palin is good at “fanning the resentment of Americans who feel left out and left behind in a world that’s changing too fast for them.” [http://www.newsweek.com/id/207253] Oh, Eleanor. The only resentment I feel is a result of the immense greed and corruption that is destroying America’s middle class. I certainly don’t feel “left out” or “left behind” and I think I’m managing the changes in the world quite well, thank you. See, Clift cannot see the condescension in her statement.

I am so tired of both the Dems & the Repubs, & I think a lot of others are too. There’s something else out there. I want to be a part of it.

Curses!

I went to see The Taking of Pelham 123 yesterday and if I had a dollar for every time the word m——–ker was used in that movie, I’d probably go out & buy a new flat screen TV. Now I’m all for realistic dialogue, but in this case, I don’t think it was realistic. I actually think cursewords, using sparingly, are effective and even necessary. Hit my finger with a hammer–expletive! It’s a way of venting. It makes me feel better. And saying m——–ker a few times in strategic circumstances could have packed some punch. But, no. If you have to say in a thousand times to get a little punch out of it, it’s no longer an effective curseword. So where are the new cursewords? Damn!

[And by the way, I'm glad to see that particular curseword bite the dust.]