A sorry state of affairs
A friend of mine named Bev wrote this on my Facebook page earlier today. I couldn’t agree more …
Bush was able to ride 9/11 for a lot of that crazy legislation. And the dems were too scared to look unpatriotic. Obama has no such catastrophe and the Republicans are united in their quest to block everything he does. All of a sudden being unpatriotic is all the rage.
It’s true—being unpatriotic is the rage. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the Democrats in the Senate and House made an incredibly strong show of support toward the president. Hell, one of my all-time favorite political moments was when the entire Senate—all 100 Republicans and Democrats—stood on the steps of the Capitol and sang God Bless America. Nowadays, that is unambiguously impossible. Why, in Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is being flogged by his own party for having the audacity—the nerve!—to hug the president. He might actually lose his senatorial primary to an arch-conservative opponent based upon that hug. Friggin’ scary.
I don’t think Barack Obama has had a brilliant first year, and as a liberal Democrat I’ve been disappointed by his non-movement on gay rights and shutting down Gitmo. But much of this is a political trap of the worst kind: If the Republicans (and some conservative Dems) stand in his way and try and try and try to block everything, they can then say, “Look, he’s done nothing. He’s ineffective.” As far as politics go, it’s brilliant stuff. But it’s … absolutely … positively … killing … this … country. All we do nowadays is look for the political edge—righteousness be damned. Heaven forbid a Republican support anti-global warming measures or oppose assault rifles or be pro-choice. Heaven forbid anyone hold an opinion contrary to party dogma.
And while I’m at it, why are Republicans so gleeful? Why are they so thrilled to point out any Obama flaw? Aren’t we united as one country? Aren’t we in this together? Hell, weren’t you the ones furious over people bashing Bush during a time of war?
What happened to us?
What in the world happened to us?
Previous Post: The best hit by a little receiver you’ll ever see
January 21st, 2010 at 7:39 am
spare us jeff.
the democrats control the house. they had 60 votes in the senate. they control the white house. them getting nothing done isnt because of the minority party. its because of them.
thats it
January 21st, 2010 at 7:51 am
Honestly it’s always been this way. The partisan battles that took place around the time Jefferson took office make today’s partisan bickering look like mere child’s play.
January 21st, 2010 at 8:13 am
Jeff….
You honestly think that, in terms of oppositional rhetoric, that Obama has it worse than Bush did?? Or Clinton?? Or Nixon??
Spite for the opposition is a natural byproduct of the two party system. However, I think Obama has gotten off pretty easy and unscathed the past year. If only he had the balls to use his bully pulpit, he could actually get something done….
January 21st, 2010 at 8:42 am
What on earth is the liberal idea of patriotism? My brain hurts whenever you talk about such things.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:59 am
Well, my question is very simple. How is it that Bush rammed so much crap down our throats without having 60 votes in the Senate? Was it because the Democrats agreed not to filibuster any idea that was proposed by the White House?
Most unpopular thing in Obama’s first year: Bank bailouts. Passed by the previous Congress. Proposed by the prior administration. Put into effect before the inauguration.
Santyana almost had it right. The real statement should have been “Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to be Americans.”
January 21st, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Michael, there is a simple answer to that.
Bush wielded most of his power through at best fishy and at worst illegal signing statements.
The only real legislation he got done was tax cuts and troop funding and no one but an idiot would filibuster that.
My real beef is with the pissy left. We SAW that the Republicans were going to burn the country down if necessary and they still acted like brats.
Shut up and stand behind the president. He is under attack and he needs you. Worry about whether you’re getting a blue BMW or a red Ferrari later.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:46 pm
You know, I’m almost eager to see how bad the next Republican president has it during his/her first year in office.
I mean, I thought politics couldn’t get any lower…then this.
And when that Republican takes office the Democrats will attack and attack and attack.
It will be sad, and what’s worse, guys like Classicist will call out the Democrats for halting the country’s progress.
I still want to punch that dude.
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
it goes both ways, W’s kiss of Lieberman at a State of the Union address was used against him in his Democratic primary.
As a Republican, I don’t root for Obama to fail – but if he is advocating policies that I think are absolutely terrible for our country, I root for them to fail.