Last night was midterm election night. I purposefully tried to avoid the returns because I knew what was coming and I just wanted to find out in the morning when the dust had settled. I say tried because I was unsuccessful in my attempts to do so until I got off work and drowned my sorrows with a beer for 5 at the bar. But that is neither here nor there.
My take on what happened?
1) 2012 elections will be easier for the Dems. Boehner says he wants to cooperate with the Senate and Obama, but will that actually happen? No. He wants to extend the Bush tax cuts, which WILL NOT happen because he'd need to get it through the Dem-controlled Senate and Obama, who I will hope stand their ground and let them expire. He'll also work his tail off to repeal healtch care reform, which ironically enough the American people don't want repealed - they want it expanded. And God forbid the people railing against the reform get sick and then either get dropped by their insurance provider or have them not cover their expenses. News alert - because of the reform, they can't do that anymore! But again, he'll have to work with the Senate and Obama to do so. But Boehner has said in the past that he will refuse to work with the Dems to get anything accomplished. They've been saying all campaign long that this election will be a referendum on Obama's presidency. If the American people were really as fed up with Obama's presidency and the actions of the 111th Congress, they would have won by a much larger margin and won both houses back. Their majority is 239 compared to the 262 that the Dems had and they only gained 6 seats in the Senate to break the filibuster-proof 60 the Dems had. So, why do I think 2012 will be easier for the Dems? Simple, really. The GOP will continue to undermine any progress by holding the House hostage unless the Dems compromise. Being the spineless oafs they are, they will of course bend to the GOP's will because they are a big bunch of bullies. Things will still not get any better and in 2 years time, the Dems can say that they worked with the GOP to get things accomplished, but still nothing changed and if we were to re-elect them to a majority, there will be progress. And either we will see the GOP win back both chambers and the White House or Dems win it all back. See what I mean about this being a cycle?
2) My faith in America has been restored, for now. There were limited winners from the Tea Party: Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, to name a couple. Christine "I'm not a witch" O'Donnell and Sharron "rape victims should make lemonade out of a lemon situation" Angle both were defeated. I don't think the Tea Party is going anywhere, unfortunately. With the Dems still in control of the Senate and in the White House, the GOP will operate in one of two ways. They will either continue to be a bunch of obstructionist bullies or they will mellow out and disengage with the extremists in the Tea Party in an effort to appear more moderate and to actually govern. I still favor the idea that they will continue to be obstructionists. And if they do continue to do so, the Tea Party is the new face of the GOP. That may be good news for the Dems, since more moderate Republicans will jump ship and become Dems or independents who caucus with the Dems. Like I said, my faith was restored for the time being. I can only hope that the Tea Party will become a faint memory. I really don't see them trying to reach across the aisle and win support amongst moderates and the left.
And with that being said, I have a few questions for the GOP/Tea Party/Libertarians: if you're against the government in your private life, why are you pro-life/anti-choice and anti-gay rights? Those are both very private issues. To me, it's simple. If you don't believe in abortion, don't get one. Don't force your religious views on the rest of the country. The same goes for gay marriage - if you don't want gays to "devalue" marriage, maybe you shouldn't get married either since half of straight marriages end in divorce these days. I know they all say they are Constitutionalists, but I'm sorry to burst their bubble. First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." If you're going to try and make abortions and gay marriage illegal based solely on what your holy book tells you, it won't pass. It's against the Constitution. Thanks for playing, though.
Also, why do you want lower taxes? Will it create jobs? NO! Will it cut the deficit? NO! Are you, the people in the middle class getting the lower taxes? NO! All it will do is de-fund important programs. Your tax dollars funded my grade school education. Your tax dollars pay for fire and police departments. Your tax dollars pay to repave roads that you drive on every day to work. Your tax dollars will also pay for your Social Security and Medicare when you retire. You were expecting those benefits, right? Kiss them goodbye if you want to lower your taxes. If the GOP really had it their way, we wouldn't have Social Security or Medicare anymore. And as a side note, you do realize those programs are socialism, right? What programs do you want to cut in order to make a dent in the deficit? GOP leadership has yet to offer any solutions. What programs do you want to cut to pay for the Bush tax cuts? They don't have answers for that either. You benefit the most from the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision since you are the party of Big Business, but would you really do the will of the American people who overwhelmingly want that decision overturned? And since the American people want health care reform expanded, why are you trying to repeal it?
And since you are the party of Big Business and Wall Street, are you really going to repeal financial reform as well? You do realize that those companies on Wall Street are the ones who got us into this mess to begin with, right? Repealing that reform just opens the doors for this to happen all over again. If they couldn't regulate themselves the first time around, what makes you think that will change?
My final thought is this: I think we are entering a new era of politics. Increasingly, older people and young people who are still attached to their parent's apron-strings will vote GOP. Why? They're afraid of change. They like the status quo and don't want us to make any progress into the 21st century and beyond. Younger people, who are more willing to adapt to what the world throws at them will vote Dem. There's a reason I prefer the term "progressive" when referring to how I view myself politically. The reason the GOP is putting up such a fight is because they don't want things to change for their children and their grandchildren. Well, you know what? I like change. Quit telling me what I want and what I don't want and let me think for myself. It's my government, too, you know. Quit holding it hostage because you're scared.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sanity vs. Fear
Well, I've caught up on my sleep from the past weekend, so I feel it's time to crack open the blog and post something about the rally. For those of you who don't watch The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, or news programs for that matter, there was a small gathering of people in Washington DC this weekend. I've been reading a lot of the media coverage of the event since we left on Saturday for the drive home, and it's been interesting.
First off, there was the sheer size of the crowd. I think the unofficial number has been pegged to be around 215,000 at the moment. And while this was a political rally, whether Stewart will admit to it or not, people were extremely polite. Of course there were people pushing and shoving to get closer to the stage or to get better views. But were they rude about it? No. Did fights break out? I'm sure they did, but nothing got out of hand from what I've heard. It was a polite gathering of moderate people who wanted their government to know they exist and they vote.
I will say I think it was bullocks that the area closest to the stage were for people with special tickets. I can't complain too much, though. We were only about 20 feet behind the barricade between us and that section. We arrived around 9 AM and it was already packed. The signs were all great, properly spelled and grammatically correct. One of my favorite signs in my immediate area said "It's a sad day when our policiticans are comical and I have to take my comedians seriously." I regret not making one that said "See, I can spell. Your tax dollars at work." And I don't like the fact that it was a cell phone dead zone. I couldn't call, text, tweet or do anything on Facebook until about 6 when we finally got out of the city, despite the presence of several AT&T vans.
However, if you focus on the fact that it was an overblown comedy show with a bunch celebrities or as a giant publicity stunt would be to misconstrue the entire event, I think. We are all Americans, whether we are Democrat, Republican, black, white, Christian or Muslim. The vast majority of us are perfectly reasonable people. Just look at the turnout for a rally aimed at a group of disengaged moderates (215,000 for this) vs. the turnout for a rally aimed at an engaged, extreme fringe group (87,000 for Beck's rally). The people want their politicians working together and not pandering to the extreme fringes of their base. And Jon's intentions for the rally aren't that far from this goal. If you've seen his speech at the end of the rally, he says he wanted this to be essentially a rally against the 24 hour news networks who hyperbolize everything and pit one side against the other, with no input from the middle. While it makes for great TV (see: the back-and-forth between Olbermann, Maddow, MSNBC vs. Beck, O'Reilly, Fox News, Limbaugh), it does not aid our political discourse. If all the news networks do is scream at each other that they are right and the other side is wrong, you're not accomplishing anything. Talk to me and try to convince me that you're right. Don't yell at me and call me a socialist just because I believe social welfare programs and universal healthcare are good ideas. Give me evidence of why you're right and I'd be more willing to accept your ideas. I'd also tell you that while I agree with you in some aspects, such as people taking advantage of such systems, that the government is there to legislate and reform broken systems, so if you want people to stop abusing it, vote for someone who will reform. Politics shouldn't be a shouting match to the death.
I know we live in an era that demands instant results from everything, and the news networks don't help that at all. We want our news as it happens, and we want everything analyzed for us so that we don't think for ourselves. Two years is entirely too early to judge Obama's presidency. Everything he has accomplished (health care reform, Wall Street reform, etc.) has been drowned out by the right-wing media saying what he's done are either wrong and need to be repealed or just ignoring them and trying to perpetuate the myth that nothing has been done. Or the left-wing media has been saying, yes, but it's not enough. It's been 2 fucking years! I know he promised a lot during his campaign, but government moves at a snail's pace. The news networks and the internet move at lightning speed and the hyper-polarization of politics is just the knee-jerk reaction the news networks have to the slower pace of government. They take a single story and analyze the living crap out of it. And by analyze, I mean they either have people on with conflicting views and have them duke it out or they have a bunch of yes-men on, play video of the other guys talking and then go on to bash them and their views. Either way, nothing gets accomplished because they really aren't talking about solutions, only why they are right and the other person is wrong.
I think at this point, the parties have been reduced to caricatures of themselves, each portrayed as the people on the fringe left or right, instead of a complex party of people who really range from the middle, moderate area of the political spectrum to the fringe on the left or right. I'll gladly admit that I do politically lean to the left and I consider myself a Democrat, however I would vote for a Republican if I find one with whom I can agree with on the issues. It isn't about what side of the fence you're on, it's about who will get the job done.
And to those people who just think this wasn't something to be taken serious, I remind you that comedy is an important lens through which to see the world. Jesters, you'll remember, were the only ones who were allowed to mock the aristocracy back in the day, and many were counsel to their king. It may be serious work governing a country, but it's important to sit back and have a laugh. It keeps you sane.
First off, there was the sheer size of the crowd. I think the unofficial number has been pegged to be around 215,000 at the moment. And while this was a political rally, whether Stewart will admit to it or not, people were extremely polite. Of course there were people pushing and shoving to get closer to the stage or to get better views. But were they rude about it? No. Did fights break out? I'm sure they did, but nothing got out of hand from what I've heard. It was a polite gathering of moderate people who wanted their government to know they exist and they vote.
I will say I think it was bullocks that the area closest to the stage were for people with special tickets. I can't complain too much, though. We were only about 20 feet behind the barricade between us and that section. We arrived around 9 AM and it was already packed. The signs were all great, properly spelled and grammatically correct. One of my favorite signs in my immediate area said "It's a sad day when our policiticans are comical and I have to take my comedians seriously." I regret not making one that said "See, I can spell. Your tax dollars at work." And I don't like the fact that it was a cell phone dead zone. I couldn't call, text, tweet or do anything on Facebook until about 6 when we finally got out of the city, despite the presence of several AT&T vans.
However, if you focus on the fact that it was an overblown comedy show with a bunch celebrities or as a giant publicity stunt would be to misconstrue the entire event, I think. We are all Americans, whether we are Democrat, Republican, black, white, Christian or Muslim. The vast majority of us are perfectly reasonable people. Just look at the turnout for a rally aimed at a group of disengaged moderates (215,000 for this) vs. the turnout for a rally aimed at an engaged, extreme fringe group (87,000 for Beck's rally). The people want their politicians working together and not pandering to the extreme fringes of their base. And Jon's intentions for the rally aren't that far from this goal. If you've seen his speech at the end of the rally, he says he wanted this to be essentially a rally against the 24 hour news networks who hyperbolize everything and pit one side against the other, with no input from the middle. While it makes for great TV (see: the back-and-forth between Olbermann, Maddow, MSNBC vs. Beck, O'Reilly, Fox News, Limbaugh), it does not aid our political discourse. If all the news networks do is scream at each other that they are right and the other side is wrong, you're not accomplishing anything. Talk to me and try to convince me that you're right. Don't yell at me and call me a socialist just because I believe social welfare programs and universal healthcare are good ideas. Give me evidence of why you're right and I'd be more willing to accept your ideas. I'd also tell you that while I agree with you in some aspects, such as people taking advantage of such systems, that the government is there to legislate and reform broken systems, so if you want people to stop abusing it, vote for someone who will reform. Politics shouldn't be a shouting match to the death.
I know we live in an era that demands instant results from everything, and the news networks don't help that at all. We want our news as it happens, and we want everything analyzed for us so that we don't think for ourselves. Two years is entirely too early to judge Obama's presidency. Everything he has accomplished (health care reform, Wall Street reform, etc.) has been drowned out by the right-wing media saying what he's done are either wrong and need to be repealed or just ignoring them and trying to perpetuate the myth that nothing has been done. Or the left-wing media has been saying, yes, but it's not enough. It's been 2 fucking years! I know he promised a lot during his campaign, but government moves at a snail's pace. The news networks and the internet move at lightning speed and the hyper-polarization of politics is just the knee-jerk reaction the news networks have to the slower pace of government. They take a single story and analyze the living crap out of it. And by analyze, I mean they either have people on with conflicting views and have them duke it out or they have a bunch of yes-men on, play video of the other guys talking and then go on to bash them and their views. Either way, nothing gets accomplished because they really aren't talking about solutions, only why they are right and the other person is wrong.
I think at this point, the parties have been reduced to caricatures of themselves, each portrayed as the people on the fringe left or right, instead of a complex party of people who really range from the middle, moderate area of the political spectrum to the fringe on the left or right. I'll gladly admit that I do politically lean to the left and I consider myself a Democrat, however I would vote for a Republican if I find one with whom I can agree with on the issues. It isn't about what side of the fence you're on, it's about who will get the job done.
And to those people who just think this wasn't something to be taken serious, I remind you that comedy is an important lens through which to see the world. Jesters, you'll remember, were the only ones who were allowed to mock the aristocracy back in the day, and many were counsel to their king. It may be serious work governing a country, but it's important to sit back and have a laugh. It keeps you sane.
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