The Bullshit Observer

OBAMA: Politics Fail Us

As predicted, I've started to see a lot of negative press out there about President Obama. The honeymoon wears off, always. So not only do we get the constant barrage from FOX "News", but there's also quite a bit of biting chatter from the left. He's squandering this opportunity, they claim. He's mismanaging the change, they infer. He's allowing torture to continue. He's perpetuating Bush policies. Etc. and so on.

I'm not going to defend him.

Because I don't really know if it's defensible. But what I would caution is the tendency to equate crticism with knowing the right answer. Just because you can see a good example of how it should NOT be done, doesn't mean you know how it should be done.

Politics has become more about what flaws your willing to accept. And I'd prefer Obamas flaws and failures to Bush's any day of the week. I think Obama's flaws and failings are probably better than McCain's would have been. And I'm so reliveved that we don't have to sit around the campfire and converse about Sarah Palin and her nutball family. Small mercies.

As an American, I'm not sure we can say that we have leaders per se. We have market forces, and lobbyists, and PR firms, and representatives who are bought and paid for. But we do not have leaders. We are a country that is leaderless. We're flaiting along. I wonder where wi'll end up.

Politicians Screwing Around: Should We Care?

 

As a congressman, Mark Sanford voted in favor of three of four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, citing the need for "moral legitimacy." As a Governor, he's just admitted to having an affair of his own. Will he step down?

Doesn't look that way.

And you know what, I really don't care. Like you, I'm tired of hearing about every single politician screwing around on their wives. Does it have anything to do with their job performance? No. Does it endanger the citizenry? No. Does it throw into question your trust of that politician? Ha! Trick question. You should never trust a politician.

These are people who time and time again have shown that they have a questionable relationship with the very idea of morality. These are people who think ethics is situational, not absolute. These are people whose voting records can be directly linked to their donor records. Of course they screw around on their wives. The wives are mostly for show anyway.

The fact that this Governor went missing (out of country no less) for a week to see his lover is a much bigger issue than the fact that he actually had one. But that doesn't sell news coverage to the same degree that extra-marital affairs do. The only way the media will stop trying to get you riled up about this cheating that doesn't matter is if you stop caring.

And then every time they report it, you can loudly proclaim to anyone within earshot that you couldn't care less. That would help.

It's Here! Your Gay Pride Parade Postcard Is Here!

Click to send it to your red state friends. Don't have any red state friends? I didn't think so.

The First Hundred Days: An In Depth View

Rush Limbaugh: New Leader of The GOP

Am I dreaming? How the fuck did this happen?

OK, forget that question and answer me this: What does this mean for the GOP and America in general that Rush Limbaugh, serial fuckface, is leader of the GOP? What does it mean that the worlds biggest (and I do mean biggest) loudmouth, redneck, hypocrite and liar, is the leader of the entire red side of the aisle? And by the way, I challenge anyone to locate a human who would dispute any of these adjectives in this paragraph.

I can tell you what I think it means. I think it means two things: 1) The conservatives are truly lost right now and clinging to the politics of "Anti Liberal" for fear of falling into a vortex devoid of any leadership whatsoever and 2) The current schism that defines red and blue politics, that religious folks are red and progressive free thinkers are blue, that pro-business is red and regulators are blue, etc, that this whole paradigm that has ruled American politics since the mid 1960's (and the last eight years in particular) is starting to deteriorate. As our city centers grow and our rural communities either stay the same or shrink, that schism starts to stack the deck in favor of the Democrats. Urban centers are lean strongly to the blue side of that schism.

Then again, as Politico reports, it could be that Democrats are the ones that elevated him within the Republican community by giving their attention to the ugly, incendiary comments that he made about President Obama. As Democratic strategist James Carville says. “It’s great for us, great for him, great for the press,” he said of Limbaugh. “The only people he’s not good for are the actual Republicans in Congress.”

Well, that is true. What's good for Rush Limbaugh is good for Democrats.

Hey Barack, Don't Look Down!

Since he ws elected, and even before then, Barack Obama has come to represent a lot of things to a lot of people. He has become a living icon of the restoration of the United States we once admired. An icon representing the rejection of the cynacism, rampant profiteering, and lawlessness that has leaked out of DC and infected the whole world. He is being revered as a savior before he even steps into office. A Jesus-Buddah-MLK.

No doubt some people are hoping he can reverse global warming, feed the hungry, cure the sick, bring about world peace and invent a tomato plant that thrives in winter.

Today, I saw a several childrens books honoring his name and story.

World, you've gone way way too far. Not only is he just a man, he is a politician. He hasn't even begun the freakin' job. He will soon show you what he is made of and I'm afraid he's not the Midas you were expecting. He's no messiah. He's not even an Oprah.

That said, he's no G.W. Bush, which I think is where the original spark of enthusiasm came from. He does appear to be a moral man and I do think we will repsresent a significant, positive change in the way this country operates.

Furthermore, I do not want to diminish the significance of having, at last, a black/mixed race/different looking president. It is a historic time and I'm glad he's in the White House and not John McCain and the Alaskan hussy.

But I do worry about how high the world has built him up. There are very smart political hitmen that work for the conservative wing of our government who have taken character assasination to high art. Barak Obama will be an easy target sitting on that shakey pedastal and there is a long long long way to fall.

World, I urge you to temper your enthusaism with a heaping helping of realism. It'l ll be better for you in the long run and it'll be safer for Barak Obama.

America....Now Under New Management

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Let us be resolved

I'm breaking from the format of this blog to issue a thought. And the thought is that this country is stubbornly dug in as a conservative leaning nation. Do not let the election of Barak Obama distract you from that reality in any way. For doing that is the folly of progressives. Sometimes the right guy (left guy?) wins. But the attitudes and ideas that make America a right-leaning country remain.

Barak ran a brilliant campaign and only won by 6 points. The guys that feed off the conservative attitudes and ideas will be back. And when they do come back, they'll be better prepared and will be more resolved. 

In order to move this country more quickly to productive change and further away from the right, we need to focus on that fact. We need to understand the hell out of those attitudes and ideas. There are people that populate this country that desperately need some attention (here's one of the places they hang out). The need to see that the Republican Party is the opposite of what it says it is. They need to see that their true economic interests are not well-aligned to the Republican Party. They need to see that their religions have been basically co-opted by the Republican Party and used as a tool to gain power. They need a talking to. Or a lot of them.

Let's be clear. That's not to say that the Democratic Party can do no wrong. They can...and how. But what we have just seen is eight years of Republicanism is E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. going about as wrong as it can go for this country economically, militarily, and diplomatically. It's difficult to imagine bigger fuck ups and more broken laws than the Bush administration (with it's Republican Congress in tow) has already perpetrated.

Our job for the next four years is to make sure this shit DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. It's a big job. I hope you're with me.

Todd

Rove's Top 10 Ways To Win Back America

The past eight years were painful to watch. And frustrating. But peeling back the emotions of it, I was able to find something about the right wing to marvel at and even admire. It was just remarkable how disciplined they were with their messages and agenda. It seemed like everyone was on the same page all the time. With that consistency and message volume in the marketplace of ideas, they were able to maintain the momentum necessary to run right through the cacophony of objections without breaking stride.

How they did that I still have no idea. But I do know this: they did it once and they can do it again.

Late in the election season, I discovered Karl Rove's blog. I find it comforting to keep one eye on what the diabolical mastermind of the first six years of Bush is writing. Even if fewer people are reading his stuff.

Today he posted a link to an article he penned in Newsweek Magazine about how the Grand Ol' Party can get back that 6% that cost them the election (yes, let us not forget the margin wasn't huge). Free thinkers everywhere should pay attention to his game plan and prepare for the coming resurgence of the conservative extremists.

Here's his advice:

1) Avoid mindless opposition. We should support President Obama when he is right (Afghanistan), persuade him when his mind appears open (trade) and oppose him when he is wrong (taxes). It is the Republican Party's job to hold him accountable on the merits only.

2) Be as comfortable talking about health care and education as national security and taxes. Republican health-care proposals are strong; they can trump the Democrats' big-government ideas. We must stress that the GOP wants families to be able to save, tax-free, for out-of-pocket medical expenses. People should be able to take their insurance from job to job. A national market would mean that health coverage for a 25-year-old New Yorker wouldn't cost four times what it does in Pennsylvania. Individuals and families, not just companies, should get a tax break for buying health insurance. And we must stop junk lawsuits that drive up everybody's health-care bills.

3) Winning the war on terror is a matter of national survival. Republicans must be President Obama's best allies in waging unrelenting war against terrorists, and prod him sharply if he weakens or wavers.

4) Republicans must regain ground among critical voting groups. Voters ages 18–29 voted Democratic by a 2-to-1 margin. A market-oriented "green" agenda that's true to our principles would help win them back. Hispanics dropped from 44 percent Republican in 2004 to 31 percent in 2008. The GOP won't be a majority party if it cedes the young or Hispanics to Democrats. Republicans must find a way to support secure borders, a guest-worker program and comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens citizenship, grows our economy and keeps America a welcoming nation. An anti-Hispanic attitude is suicidal. 

Winning requires addition, not subtraction. While the GOP's strength is in the suburbs, exurbs and small towns, it cannot surrender urban America, especially if it wants to win states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio and regain strength in New England.

5) For now, our party's face is our congressional leadership. In the coming year, their response to the Democratic agenda will largely determine the speed of the party's recovery. We must put on center stage their most persuasive, compelling members and they should make our case as Congress and the administration wrangle on the economy, spending, taxes, health care, energy, education, values and defense.

6) Good candidates are essential. The GOP's return can start as early as 2010. In the first midterm, since World War II, the "out party" has gained, on average, two seats in the Senate. The GOP can have a better-than-average 2010, but only if it recruits strong candidates. Their cultivation starts now. States remain our best source of presidential contenders and new ideas, so elect more governors.

There's another reason why governors' races and state legislative seats must be a priority in 2010: redistricting and reapportionment in 2011. Seven electoral votes (and congressional seats) are projected to move from mostly blue to mostly red states, and every House district will be redrawn.

7) Let every 2012 presidential prospect run free; there is no need to throttle anyone's candidacy.Gov. Sarah Palin will be held to a higher standard than she was during her nine-week vice presidential campaign; voters want to see if she can improve her game. 

Republicans believe in markets, so why not let the marketplace of ideas, performance and persuasion naturally winnow the field?

Regardless, a consensus about who should be our next standard bearer should develop organically, not be forced by public intellectuals intent on smashing a candidacy this instant, as some are with Palin.

8) Anyone interested in 2012 must help in 2010. Republicans should remember how much presidential candidates help in re-energizing the grass roots, raising funds, encouraging good candidates and articulating a strong message. Palin, Romney, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Huckabee, Jindal, Giuliani: if you want to lead our ticket, earn our good will.

Think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Hoover Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute and state-level operations are stuffed with writers and thinkers who should be drawn into the orbits of these potential candidates.

9) Culture matters. Suggestions that we abandon social conservatism, including our pro-life agenda, should be ignored. These values are often more popular than the GOP itself. The age of sonograms has made younger voters a more pro-life generation. Republicans, in championing our values agenda, need to come across as morally serious rather than as judgmental. More than 4 million Americans who go to church more than once a week and voted in 2004 stayed home in 2008. They represented half the margin between Obama and McCain.

10) The GOP must master new media. Today, more than 70 percent of Americans say they find news online; 37 percent are online daily looking for it. Democrats have successfully developed tools to exploit online advocacy, and Republicans must spend more time and energy doing the same. The Web edge we had through 2004 is gone.

I dont know about you, dear reader, but that does sound like pretty good advice. It also sounds like the party of "No Change" does not plan on changing much. But let's see how the marketplace of ideas he refers to deals with all of this.

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