Monday, October 7, 2013

Lies and Whispers

When did we become a nation of liars?

October 3rd, 2013
Listening to Rand Paul on MEET THE PRESS on Sunday morning was an exercise in the art of deceit. As he so carefully pointed out in that open mic incident the other day, his utterances are all sound bite approved and poll tested. Telling the truth to the American people has nothing to do with it.

I just did CNN, and I go over and over again: "We're willing to compromise. We're willing to negotiate." I don't think they've poll-tested "We won't negotiate." I think it's awful for them to say that over and over again. [...] I think if we keep on saying we wanted to defund it, we fought for that, but now we're willing to compromise on this, I think—well, I know we don't want to be hear—but we're going to win this, I think.

To have the unmitigated gall to keep repeating, “We’re willing to compromise,” over and over and over when there has been no intent to compromise is a joke being laid over a lie, as if that will hide it. We, the People pretty much know when smoke is being blown up our collective butts. If you’re going to do the shifty eye thing on MEET THE PRESS like Rand Paul did, you can be sure most viewers will wonder what snake oil you’re selling.

So let's look at this another way.

The House of Representatives has 435 members.  Currently, there are 200 Democrats, 232 Republicans, and 3 vacancies. Of that number, 49 are Tea Party caucus members, but approximately a total of 80 congressclowns are aligned with the positions of the generic radical right. That translates to about 33% of the GOP House membership. Extend that out a few notches, and it means that about 18% of the population aligns themselves with that radical right.  Which, in turn, means over 82% of the population of this nation does not align themselves with the cabal currently holding our nation hostage.

82%. That’s a lotta percent. But here are the component parts of that  number for a moment: only 53% of the House is Republican, while 47% is Democrat; their majority isn’t totally lopsided. One would think there would be enough common ground on which they could tread toward some sort of compromise. Right?

Apparently not. That itty bitty 18% is directing the show, and Speaker Boehner is acting as their very own personal ventriloquist dummy. Lord knows, the man hasn’t had an original idea in his head since kindergarten, and even that’s questionable, but standing there with his hands in his pockets while Rand Paul runs roughshod over the House leadership is pathetic. And sad. The cabal doesn’t like how the last election turned out. They don’t like that Congress passed an Affordable Care Act, and they really don’t like that the Supremes adjudicated the act and it stands as settled law. So despite that these here United States are a democracy, these guys don’t want to play by them rules.

They are attempting to stage a coup.

The shutdown of this government coupled with the pending refusal to service the debt ceiling is not exactly a covert attempt to topple this nation. Just like in Libya and Egypt, the cabal is plotting to overthrow the president and not necessarily with an election. When the shutdown fails, they will attempt to impeach him. They will attempt to do whatever it takes to get President Obama out of office. They assume they will wrest power from whomever, but here’s the thing: once they have it, what are they gonna do with it?

If you wanna play scary for Halloween tricks, try thinking about this for a while. In all their talk of repealing Obamacare, did you ever hear them mention an alternative?

In all their talk about killing programs like SNAP and WIC, have you ever heard them propose what to do with low wage earners who can no longer afford a roof AND food?

In all their talk about illegal immigration, have you ever heard them discuss who is going to do the agricultural scutt work that Americans don’t wanna do?

And in all their talk about job creation, have you ever heard them mention what kind of jobs they’re creating while they’re shipping more and more manufacturing overseas?

If the Republicans want to negotiate, they’d better start showing up with plans in public. Let We, the People decide who has the better long range vision for this nation.


I don’t think I can stand another election where one side lays out plans and programs while the other side just rips everything to shreds. And quite frankly, gentle readers, I don’t think any of you should either.


Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week
Need something to do Saturday night?
If you're in the Cities, find your way to Harrier Brewing Company
Misha Siegfried and his band are playing The Taproom.
All the fun people will be there. 



5 comments:

  1. A coup d' etat is exactly what they want - the people behind them talk about it openly:
    Check this out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-wilson/republicanlinked-religiou_b_4031453.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

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  2. Echoing exactly what I've been thinking!!

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  3. “We’re willing to compromise,” over and over and over when there has been no intent to compromise is a joke being laid over a lie, as if that will hide it.
    -------------------------------------------

    This is eye opening for me- I do realize our differences in political views, but I'm almost in disbelief that you don't believe the above statement isn't in regards to Obama & Dingy Harry. In fact, the Tea Party Caucus has compromised. They started out wanting obamacare defunded. Then they went to asking for the congressional workers to receive the same obamacare without privilege and then to delay the mandate a year, as Obama did (illegally) with corporations. ('they' wouldn't compromise on anything, not EVEN to ask congress to have the same obamacare as the rest of us. 'They' don't want equality and fairness. Obama wants what he wants. His way or the highway. If you're not the Muslim Brotherhood, or Al Qaeda in Egypt, and especially if you are the U.S. House of Representatives, he will not negotiate. Never has, never will. Here's an eye opener: Obama HAS PROVEN TO BE EVIL> MAKE No mistake that the 'pain & misery' that the NPS has been asked to provide to the American people, came directly from the White House. Putting cones on roadside view points to prevent people from photo ops of Mt. Rushmore? Arresting people who park in the coned off parking lot of the privately owned & operated Mt. Vernon?? Really? Yeah- really, that's who this president is, alright.

    -doug

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    1. The President has been willing to compromise for months, heck for years. The Affordable Care Act is a compromise - he initially wanted a single payer system. He is still willing to compromise, but only in appropriate DEMOCRATIC ways. That means, not "take our deal or else." It doesn't matter if the hostage taker reduces their demands, it's still a hostage situation.
      Just so you know, Congress (and staff) will be getting their healthcare through the ACA. Yes, Congress is the only "large" employer who funds healthcare but is also required to use the ACA. A Republican talking point bluff was called and now Congress is part of the ACA. There is no special treatment, no exemption, no holier than though attitude. Yes, the OMB had to make some tweaks to make it work for Congress but that's because the ACA wasn't designed for such employers. But Congress is part of the ACA and it appears to be because the Democrats COMPROMISED.
      All the Republicans have to do is drop the gun that's at the hostages head and then they can start to negotiate, just as the Democrats have been trying to do on the budget since March.
      I understand the confusion - the Fox News telenovela doesn't cover all this.

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  4. As the spouse of a Govt employee (and a former Govt employee), I am angry. To be tagged "essential" or "non-essential" is demeaning enough, but this morning I heard Chuck Todd refer to the shutdown situation as a "minor inconvience." Not getting a paycheck is a "minor" inconvience? Govt employees can't get a temp job because they must work w/o a paycheck or because nobody will hire someone who may have to leave at a moment's notice to return to their career.
    There was no need to shutdown the Govt. It's all a game to Congress--everyone wants to win for their own re-election. It's all about sound-bites, photo-ops, and name-calling, and using scary words like "evil" as Doug felt the need to even capitalize. The Tea Party knew the NPS sites would be closed and knew to use the photo ops to their advantage.
    You wrote what many people wish we could say. But no matter how loud we say it, the Tea Party has a bigger microphone and the media's holding it in front of them, scared to ask the hard questions.

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