Thursday, January 22, 2009

A few thoughts on the post-Bush era.

Well so much for the honeymoon...

I was reading the conservative blogs earlier today, and most are in full throated "Loyal Opposition" mode. Shouts to the rafters that the GOP defeats of 2008 will not deter them from making fun of the new President. Promising that their blogs WILL go on, full of conviction that President Obama is manifestly unqualified for his office. Their duty and patriotic obligation is to point this out at every opportunity.

Well Hooray... I have no problem with that. Likewise, it is just as important to point out who owns the steaming pile of "legacy" that the Republican Party has left behind on its way to political exile.

Many conservatives, faced with a new political reality, are feeling a bit put upon. So they are are coming out swinging, full of comparisons to the chorus of dissent that greeted George W. Bush in January of 2001. Now I can understand the desire for payback. Yet the difference in the path to the Oval Office taken by President Obama compared to President Bush (43) is worth noting. President Bush's road the White House had to be cleared for him by the U.S. Supreme Court. President Obama's road to Washington was paved by the most decisive electoral victory since Ronald Reagan stomped on Walter Mondale in 1984.

Now let's be clear about something, the role a Loyal Opposition in a democracy is VITAL. It is essential for the checks and balances on power to be more than just words. It preserves, protects and defends our nation from the tyranny of the majority. And the Republican Party must fulfill this role as a critical rudder on the ship of state.

Yet what many conservatives don't like to admit, is the GOP has no problem with the tyranny of the majority when that majority is theirs. The strategy of gridlock wrapped in righteous indignation is understandably a very attractive one. It enables people who have turned a willfully blind eye to the disaster of the last 8 years to turn the torn, charred and bloody page, without having to face the truth of their own handwriting on that page.

So by all means let there be no "honeymoon". Come out swinging gloves off, and ready for battle. But just as you will be there to trumpet every misstep, so many more will be here to remind you who got us in this mess to begin with. The hard reality is the GOP will never move forward until they admit the horror story that we now face economically, strategically, environmentally and culturally in this nation was largely authored by them.



If the GOP decides to continue down a path of petulant denial wrapped in a cloak of historical revisionism, the electoral rehabilitation of the Republican Party will have to depend upon the American People being two things; Stupid and incredibly forgetful.

Fortunately 2008 has proven neither to be the case.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Finally....

Our long national nightmare is over...

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Transitional Thoughts...

January 20th , 2009

Seems like that day will never get here. After 8 long years of disaster cloaked in stupidity covered in greed, it seems that the whole world, not just these United States is ready to bid a not so fond adieu to GW Bush, et al.

Yet this Presidential transition, like most has had its ups and downs. For the most part, the cabinet picks have been spot on. I think that Hillary Clinton at State, and Rahm Emannuel as White House chief of staff were both brilliant choices. Yet there have been some bumps in the road as well. A feeling that a campaign that ran on "Change" is relying rather heavily on familiar democratic faces. Not that this is a bad thing but it has given a despondent and diminished GOP a familiar talking point to drone on about.

Funny how the Republican party always wants to set aside "partisan bickering" only after they lose an election. The 2008 election was a CLEAR repudiation of the policies and philosophy of the GOP. They lost, and they lost BIG. This was not a close election by any means.

A graphic in the current issue of The Atlantic magazine clearly shows the Bush/GOP legacy. (Click on the map to see a larger version).



My advice to the incoming administration is simple. Forge ahead and do what you feel needs to be done. And anytime the GOP stands in the way, you get into the bully pulpit of the Presidency and you say to the entire nation; "look, the same incompetent, greedy, corrupt dolts who got our nation INTO this mess are now doing everything they can to prevent solutions to clean it up." You point to every Republican up for re-election in 2010 and you ask why do they not want America to succeed?

"Post-Partisan" must now mean that the GOP gets to go sit in a corner for while and think about what they have done.

The far right in this country still cannot grasp the reality of their loss. Ridiculous wing-nut websites touting theories of electoral conspiracy, and media collusion show how completely out of touch the GOP has become from lives of most Americans.

As I have said many times, I do not envy President Obama and the task that lies before him, but the facts are, he won. The GOP lost. The time has come to call failure what it is. As the GOP liked to say in 2000, "They had their chance, they would not lead, we will".

Time to grow up and take your own medicine.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Wow... Speaking of historic...

Regardless of your politics you have to appreicate the sheer historic nature of this..

Thursday, January 01, 2009

HAPPY 2009!

Here is what we saw here in London Standing in the massive crowds along the Thames Embankment freezing our toes off! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE