Tell me what you pay attention to, and I will tell you who you are.
~ Jose Ortega y Gasset
When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
~ Maya Angelou
The GOP is paying a lot of attention to Donald Trump. In the process, GOP Trump supporters are telling the nation exactly who the GOP is, and I'm believing them the first time. And for that, the Democratic National Committee says, "Thank you, GOP."
At first I thought the whole Donald Trump thing would die out, especially after he made misogynistic remarks about Megyn Kelly. I thought he definitely could not continue to pick up steam after using the term "anchor babies."
Not only did he pick up steam, he got Jeb Bush jockin' him and using the term, too.
Poor Chris Christie wants to avoid paying attention to Trump, but he can't seem to do so. Yesterday on CBS This Morning, Christie said it wasn't his job to talk about Trump but to talk about his own ideas. He did, however, take a swipe at Hillary Clinton, saying she was not qualified to run for president because of the FBI investigation of her email server. That's funny coming from someone who almost caught a case himself behind a missing Democratic endorsement and some resulting bridge constipation induced by his staff. The lack of self-awareness among the GOP candidates almost rival's Clinton's, what with her ill-chosen SnapChat joke.
But the rally in Mobile, Alabama -- Black Man Not Blogging's hometown -- said it all. That crowd was whiter than the sheets at a Klan rally. With Donald Trump, they were having their White Privilege Moment, getting high on their own supply -- of white privilege, that is.
"White Privilege Moment?", you ask? Yes, it's a moment, for electoral purposes.
What Trump's supporters like about him is his "tell it like it is" way of speaking and his refusal to be "politically correct," with him making a sexist joke about a female reporter and making amends with her male boss, and not her, about it, or having Jorge Ramos thrown out of a press conference for daring to take him on about his immigration policy (more about the two-faced nature of GOP immigration politics later). These GOP Trump supporters like the idea of Trump telling countries like Mexico that they're going to build a wall between them and the U.S. AND pay for it, or threatening to put China in its place. These poor folks long for a President who will tell marginalized people (people who don't look and/or think like them) and other countries what he ain't gonna do for them and what they ain't gonna do about it.
Cue "Dixie."
To borrow a turn of phrase from my mama, I'ma let them have their White Privilege Moment, just like they did when they put Mitt Romney up against Barack Obama and got b-slapped in the general election. Why?
Because demography is destiny.
Jorge Ramos is right -- the GOP cannot win the general election without the Latino vote, 'cause they sho ain't gonna get the black vote. Threatening to send U.S. citizens -- children no less -- born of undocumented parents back to their parents' home countries is no way to get the Latino vote. Epic. Fail. You can't even think of trying to tack to the center after being so far to the right of the Latino vote and much of the electorate in general especially in light of the two-faced nature of GOP immigration politics.
The GOP is so damned two-faced on immigration policy that it makes me want to scream. Who does Donald Trump think builds his buildings, cleans his hotels and casinos, and serves in his restaurants? If ICE did an immigration sweep right now of every Trump entity, I'm sure there would be a whole lot of undocumented workers caught up, undocumented workers who come to this country to work and whose presence in industries owned and run by GOP voters is benignly ignored when the GOP talks about immigration policy. If "President Trump" were to ramp up deportations, California's agriculture industry -- its biggest industry by far - would come to a screeching halt. Yet, California's central valley farmers, most of whom are Republican, are strangely silent on Trump's immigration policy. Trust me, if you deport the undocumented, no one else is going to step up to do the hard labor they do, especially not my people. Field work is so last millennium for my peeps, and they sure would open up a can of "Si Se Puede" union organizing in a heartbeat if you tried to get them to pick crops. When it comes to immigration policy, the GOP has a stunning lack of self-awareness.
But the Trump supporters continue on with their White Privilege Moment. In their mind, a Trump presidency would, to borrow from an old song, "lift them up where they belong," i.e., not having to give a crap about people who don't look or think like them. Demography be damned. And so they'll continue to support Trump because the White Privilege Moment feels so good to them, and because the rest of the GOP contenders collectively and individually lack the balls of a field mouse when it comes to having the courage to call Trump out.
But demography is still destiny. The demographic the GOP needs but does not have in its winning coalition is taking note of who the GOP is paying so much attention to. Just like the polls were misleading with respect to Mitt Romney's standing, they will be misleading with respect to accurately capturing the amount of Trump disgust among the Obama coalition of voters -- young people and people of color -- because these voters don't always vote consistently enough to be considered "most likely voters" pollsters use, and yet they come out in droves for the general election like a sneaker wave when there's a candidate they love (Obama) or hate (Romney or Trump).
Which means that Trump. Can't. Win.
But go on, GOP. Enjoy your White Privilege Moment.
P.S. Vice President Biden, please put Democratic donors out of their misery and run. You know Hillary can't win, either.
Showing posts with label Mitt Romney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mitt Romney. Show all posts
Why Mitt Romney and the GOP Lost: Ask Maya Angelou
"When people show you who they are, believe them."
~ Dr. Maya Angelou
There's been a lot of punditry going on about Mitt Romney and the GOP's loss of the presidential election. It just isn't all that deep. Just ask Dr. Maya Angelou.
Dr. Angelou has been quoted a bazillion times for saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them." Simply put, Mitt Romney and the GOP showed the American electorate who they are. And we believed them.
Mitt Romney showed us he's the kind of man who would strap his family's dog on the roof of the family minivan in a pet carrier. And we believed him, hugging our pets closer to us all the while.
Paul Ryan showed us he was the kind of person who would decry entitlements for everyone else despite the fact that he collected Social Security as a minor after his father died. And we believed him.
The GOP showed us they have hated President Obama since day one of his presidency, when they vowed to make him a "one term president." They showed us over and over again during the primaries, when more than a few of their candidates made making President Obama a one term president their rallying cry, with little to no substance in their campaigns. And we believed them.
Mitt Romney showed us he was willing to tack hard to the right on immigration and abortion during the primaries and then attempt to Etch-a-Sketch his way to the center during the presidential campaign, backing off of his hard right positions. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us, albeit inadvertently, that he had contempt for 47% of the country. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us he was not only willing to outright lie about his position on the auto industry bailout, but to lie and say that the auto industry planned to ship jobs to China, so much so that the CEO of Chrysler had to blast him publicly. And we believed him.
The GOP showed us that they were willing to lie about voter fraud to make the case for making it more difficult for minority communities to vote, even down to the outrageous curtailment of early voting in minority communities and the enactment of voter ID laws. And we believed them, so much so that we flipped the script and voted absentee, since most states don't require an ID for absentee ballots because the GOP STILL thinks that only old, white Republicans vote absentee.
The GOP showed us they were willing to lie about President Obama's record, creating this false narrative of him being a failed president. And we believed them - not the false narrative, but that they were willing to lie to create such a false narrative.
Mitt Romney showed us that he was willing to make a tragedy political, to wit, the raid on the U.S. Embassy in Libya. In a presidential debate, no less. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us that he was willing to back away from his most significant accomplishment in elected office -- health care reform, or "Romneycare," because it was politically expedient. And we believed him.
And even after defeat, Mitt Romney ungraciously stated that President Obama won because of the "gifts" he bestowed on minorities and women.
No, Mitt, you lost because you showed us who you are. Despite the mainstream media's pathetic failure to hold you to account for your flip-flopping, despite the Super PAC money that the titans of industry poured into your campaign, despite having Karl Rove on your team, the voters were not distracted. You showed us who you are. We paid attention. And we believed you.
That's why you and the GOP lost.
Just ask Maya Angelou.
~ Dr. Maya Angelou
There's been a lot of punditry going on about Mitt Romney and the GOP's loss of the presidential election. It just isn't all that deep. Just ask Dr. Maya Angelou.
Dr. Angelou has been quoted a bazillion times for saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them." Simply put, Mitt Romney and the GOP showed the American electorate who they are. And we believed them.
Mitt Romney showed us he's the kind of man who would strap his family's dog on the roof of the family minivan in a pet carrier. And we believed him, hugging our pets closer to us all the while.
Paul Ryan showed us he was the kind of person who would decry entitlements for everyone else despite the fact that he collected Social Security as a minor after his father died. And we believed him.
The GOP showed us they have hated President Obama since day one of his presidency, when they vowed to make him a "one term president." They showed us over and over again during the primaries, when more than a few of their candidates made making President Obama a one term president their rallying cry, with little to no substance in their campaigns. And we believed them.
Mitt Romney showed us he was willing to tack hard to the right on immigration and abortion during the primaries and then attempt to Etch-a-Sketch his way to the center during the presidential campaign, backing off of his hard right positions. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us, albeit inadvertently, that he had contempt for 47% of the country. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us he was not only willing to outright lie about his position on the auto industry bailout, but to lie and say that the auto industry planned to ship jobs to China, so much so that the CEO of Chrysler had to blast him publicly. And we believed him.
The GOP showed us that they were willing to lie about voter fraud to make the case for making it more difficult for minority communities to vote, even down to the outrageous curtailment of early voting in minority communities and the enactment of voter ID laws. And we believed them, so much so that we flipped the script and voted absentee, since most states don't require an ID for absentee ballots because the GOP STILL thinks that only old, white Republicans vote absentee.
The GOP showed us they were willing to lie about President Obama's record, creating this false narrative of him being a failed president. And we believed them - not the false narrative, but that they were willing to lie to create such a false narrative.
Mitt Romney showed us that he was willing to make a tragedy political, to wit, the raid on the U.S. Embassy in Libya. In a presidential debate, no less. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us that he was willing to back away from his most significant accomplishment in elected office -- health care reform, or "Romneycare," because it was politically expedient. And we believed him.
And even after defeat, Mitt Romney ungraciously stated that President Obama won because of the "gifts" he bestowed on minorities and women.
No, Mitt, you lost because you showed us who you are. Despite the mainstream media's pathetic failure to hold you to account for your flip-flopping, despite the Super PAC money that the titans of industry poured into your campaign, despite having Karl Rove on your team, the voters were not distracted. You showed us who you are. We paid attention. And we believed you.
That's why you and the GOP lost.
Just ask Maya Angelou.
This Time, I'm Voting for Obama Because He's Black
This time, I'm voting for President Obama because he's black. Before you accuse me of "playing the race card," a phrase I find offensive because it is intended to thwart any meaningful and real discussion of race and racism in America, hear me out.
Last time, I voted for President Obama because I believed he was the candidate with the better intellect and temperament to deal with the challenges American would face.
I was not disappointed. I knew that there was no way he was going to be able to reverse the tsunami that would become the Great Recession in only four years. But you could not have told me that the GOP would have, from day one, conspired to make President Obama a "one-term president" before he had even done anything to deserve such animus. To my knowledge, the GOP didn't even conspire to make Roosevelt a "one-term president," and his agenda was decidedly more radical than President Obama's.
You cannot tell me in good conscience that we'd even be saying that a white president who accomplished all of the following and more in four freakin' years was a "failed president":
So I've already voted for Barack Obama because he's black. Since he's not been graded fairly because of his race, I've decided to balance the unspoken racial bias with my racially biased vote. As a fellow African-American Ivy League-educated professional, I totally get it. Been there, got the "unspoken racial bias" t-shirt many times over. Hell, it's not like a whole lot of evangelical white folks aren't holding their noses about Romney's religion and voting for him just because he's white.
As Iyanla Vanzant says, "Call a thing a thing." If Barack Obama were white, we wouldn't even be talking about a close race. Nor would he have been treated with more disrespect than any sitting president I can recall in my 49 years in these united states.
Yep, I said it. And I'm not playing the "race card." I'm playing the "reality card."
Get over it.
Last time, I voted for President Obama because I believed he was the candidate with the better intellect and temperament to deal with the challenges American would face.
I was not disappointed. I knew that there was no way he was going to be able to reverse the tsunami that would become the Great Recession in only four years. But you could not have told me that the GOP would have, from day one, conspired to make President Obama a "one-term president" before he had even done anything to deserve such animus. To my knowledge, the GOP didn't even conspire to make Roosevelt a "one-term president," and his agenda was decidedly more radical than President Obama's.
You cannot tell me in good conscience that we'd even be saying that a white president who accomplished all of the following and more in four freakin' years was a "failed president":
- The Lily Ledbetter Act
- The Consumer Protection Agency
- Appointing two women to the Supreme Court
- Ending the war in Iraq
- Earning a Nobel Peace Prize
- Health care reform
- Taking out Osama bin Laden and most of the top leadership in Al Qaeda
- Saving the U.S. auto industry
- Ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
- Deferring deportation of Dreamers
- Keeping the entire U.S. economy from going off a cliff
So I've already voted for Barack Obama because he's black. Since he's not been graded fairly because of his race, I've decided to balance the unspoken racial bias with my racially biased vote. As a fellow African-American Ivy League-educated professional, I totally get it. Been there, got the "unspoken racial bias" t-shirt many times over. Hell, it's not like a whole lot of evangelical white folks aren't holding their noses about Romney's religion and voting for him just because he's white.
As Iyanla Vanzant says, "Call a thing a thing." If Barack Obama were white, we wouldn't even be talking about a close race. Nor would he have been treated with more disrespect than any sitting president I can recall in my 49 years in these united states.
Yep, I said it. And I'm not playing the "race card." I'm playing the "reality card."
Get over it.
Born In The 47% (A Million Little Miracles)
You know, I kind of feel sorry for ol' Mittens Romney. He's the only presidential candidate in my recent memory who has successfully opened up a can of whoopass on his damn self. That said, I, like, say,47% of the country, took offense at his remarks about the 47%. Because, unbeknownst to me until recently, I was born into the 47%, at least for a while.
Like ol' Mittens, I, too, used to be on my high horse about people on public assistance. I would see women at the Winco with their manicured nails handing over their EBT cards or hearing in the news about folks using their EBT cards at casinos and I would think to myself, "This is just wrong. I get up and go to work every day, took a pay cut, cut coupons, and watch every penny, and they're going to casinos and getting their nails done." I started to look down on healthy-appearing folks on public assistance and started to voice my disdain of them to my family members.
Until my oldest brother informed me that I, too, had been on public assistance.
My oldest brother, whom I will refer to as "He Who Is Wise" (HWIW for short), told me about the real deal of my existence in my early days on this earth. It appears (and I may be getting this wrong since it's family stuff that happened before my memories formed) that my dad loaned his car to a family member who had an accident in that car and had no insurance. The judgment against my dad wiped him out -- our family lost the house we were living in and had to move in with friends of the family. During that time, my dad moved out so that my mom could qualify for food stamps for their six kids, me being among them.
HWIW informed me that our dad hadn't abandoned the family; he just did what he had to do financially to, in the words of the Beverly Hillbillies, "keep his family fed."
This little fact checking of my past made me realize that the things I thought were normal about my life were indeed not normal. That the position in which I sit now -- well-education black woman from a two-parent family where both parents had jobs, benefits and pensions despite the fact that neither had graduated high school -- was not normal at all, but the product of a million little miracles.
It was a miracle that I was born to married parents.
It was a miracle that my parents stayed together.
It was a miracle that my parents had jobs with benefits and pensions, even though neither of them graduated high school.
It was a miracle that my parents were homeowners (eventually).
It was a miracle that I went to good public schools.
It was a miracle that I graduated high school
It was a miracle that I was admitted to Stanford, Princeton and Harvard.
It was a miracle that my parents stressed education and never gave me the option of not considering college because of the cost.
It was a miracle that my parents discussed world events at the dinner table and made my siblings and me think for ourselves and sharpen our critical thinking skills. To this day, we can spot an idiot a mile out.
Most importantly, it was a miracle that my parents were able to get off public assistance.
Sure, what my parents did is what parents should do, but there's a huge difference between "should" and "could" in America. What I thought was normal in my life and what I've been able to do with my life is really the result, the amalgamation, if you will, of a million little miracles. Miracles that didn't happen to many other people.
I understand that some of ol' Mittens' family were on public assistance at some time, like mine.
So before you look down on women with manicured fingernails who use EBT cards at the Winco, check yourselves. They don't represent all folks on public assistance any more than I do, even though being on public assistance is an experience we both have in common. There is no one type of person on public assistance or in need.
And, Mittens (and Lyin' Paul Ryan, for that matter), before you criticize folks on public assistance, you might want to make sure that you or your family weren't among them at some point in time.
That's what I learned from my brother, HWIW.
Like ol' Mittens, I, too, used to be on my high horse about people on public assistance. I would see women at the Winco with their manicured nails handing over their EBT cards or hearing in the news about folks using their EBT cards at casinos and I would think to myself, "This is just wrong. I get up and go to work every day, took a pay cut, cut coupons, and watch every penny, and they're going to casinos and getting their nails done." I started to look down on healthy-appearing folks on public assistance and started to voice my disdain of them to my family members.
Until my oldest brother informed me that I, too, had been on public assistance.
My oldest brother, whom I will refer to as "He Who Is Wise" (HWIW for short), told me about the real deal of my existence in my early days on this earth. It appears (and I may be getting this wrong since it's family stuff that happened before my memories formed) that my dad loaned his car to a family member who had an accident in that car and had no insurance. The judgment against my dad wiped him out -- our family lost the house we were living in and had to move in with friends of the family. During that time, my dad moved out so that my mom could qualify for food stamps for their six kids, me being among them.
HWIW informed me that our dad hadn't abandoned the family; he just did what he had to do financially to, in the words of the Beverly Hillbillies, "keep his family fed."
This little fact checking of my past made me realize that the things I thought were normal about my life were indeed not normal. That the position in which I sit now -- well-education black woman from a two-parent family where both parents had jobs, benefits and pensions despite the fact that neither had graduated high school -- was not normal at all, but the product of a million little miracles.
It was a miracle that I was born to married parents.
It was a miracle that my parents stayed together.
It was a miracle that my parents had jobs with benefits and pensions, even though neither of them graduated high school.
It was a miracle that my parents were homeowners (eventually).
It was a miracle that I went to good public schools.
It was a miracle that I graduated high school
It was a miracle that I was admitted to Stanford, Princeton and Harvard.
It was a miracle that my parents stressed education and never gave me the option of not considering college because of the cost.
It was a miracle that my parents discussed world events at the dinner table and made my siblings and me think for ourselves and sharpen our critical thinking skills. To this day, we can spot an idiot a mile out.
Most importantly, it was a miracle that my parents were able to get off public assistance.
Sure, what my parents did is what parents should do, but there's a huge difference between "should" and "could" in America. What I thought was normal in my life and what I've been able to do with my life is really the result, the amalgamation, if you will, of a million little miracles. Miracles that didn't happen to many other people.
I understand that some of ol' Mittens' family were on public assistance at some time, like mine.
So before you look down on women with manicured fingernails who use EBT cards at the Winco, check yourselves. They don't represent all folks on public assistance any more than I do, even though being on public assistance is an experience we both have in common. There is no one type of person on public assistance or in need.
And, Mittens (and Lyin' Paul Ryan, for that matter), before you criticize folks on public assistance, you might want to make sure that you or your family weren't among them at some point in time.
That's what I learned from my brother, HWIW.
The GOP Pussy Riot: Shit Just Got Real
Soooo . . . . the GOP, from ol' Mittens down to Karl Rove, are running for the hills and taking their money with them, trying to distance themselves from the ignorance that is Missouri GOP senate candidate Todd Akin. Akin got on a local TV show and revealed his complete and utter ignorance about female physiology, telling us that. with a "legitimate rape," the female body can somehow shut down conception. After getting woodshedded by his party superiors, he walked back his statement, apologizing for using the term "legitimate rape." The entire GOP is telling Akin to drop out no later than today so they can put another candidate in his place.
WTF?
What we have going on here is a GOP pussy riot. It's not that they're ashamed of Akin's uninformed and antiquated views. Heck, Paul Ryan and many GOPers have sponsored bills with Akin to eliminate abortion rights except for "legitimate rape," whatever that is. And there are many ignorant GOP members who share Akin's ignorant view on conception, as if an ovum can outrun sperm that comes from "legitimate rape." Oh no, it's just that President Obama has a commanding lead among women and the GOP can't afford to fall further behind. So they're using their former ally Akin as a whipping boy. If they can literally get him off the stage, they can continue to distract us from what they would do with women's reproductive rights if they had all the power to do so and hide their ignorant views on rape.
I, for one, want Akin to stay in the race. Let's go ahead and have that debate about abortion rights and what the GOP would really do if they were in control. Mind you, I'm not all that hyped about abortion. I don't support it as a choice in my life, although I'm way past the age of having to make that decision. I'm for all the contraception a woman can get so she never has to make the choice to abort a child. But I have a major problem with men deciding this issue for women. Let's have a pussy riot for real.
Let's talk about rape and the fact that there is no such thing as "legitimate" rape. "No" means "no," and rape is rape.
Let's talk about the inconsistency of opposing contraception that would make abortion not even be an option and opposing abortion, too. About making women have children against their will, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Let's talk about basic conception -- that an ovum can't tell whether sperm comes from rape.
In fact, let's just go all out and talk about all the ways the GOP has put the rights of women in their cross hairs.
The GOP started this pussy riot; let's finish it. Shit just got real.
WTF?
What we have going on here is a GOP pussy riot. It's not that they're ashamed of Akin's uninformed and antiquated views. Heck, Paul Ryan and many GOPers have sponsored bills with Akin to eliminate abortion rights except for "legitimate rape," whatever that is. And there are many ignorant GOP members who share Akin's ignorant view on conception, as if an ovum can outrun sperm that comes from "legitimate rape." Oh no, it's just that President Obama has a commanding lead among women and the GOP can't afford to fall further behind. So they're using their former ally Akin as a whipping boy. If they can literally get him off the stage, they can continue to distract us from what they would do with women's reproductive rights if they had all the power to do so and hide their ignorant views on rape.
I, for one, want Akin to stay in the race. Let's go ahead and have that debate about abortion rights and what the GOP would really do if they were in control. Mind you, I'm not all that hyped about abortion. I don't support it as a choice in my life, although I'm way past the age of having to make that decision. I'm for all the contraception a woman can get so she never has to make the choice to abort a child. But I have a major problem with men deciding this issue for women. Let's have a pussy riot for real.
Let's talk about rape and the fact that there is no such thing as "legitimate" rape. "No" means "no," and rape is rape.
Let's talk about the inconsistency of opposing contraception that would make abortion not even be an option and opposing abortion, too. About making women have children against their will, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Let's talk about basic conception -- that an ovum can't tell whether sperm comes from rape.
In fact, let's just go all out and talk about all the ways the GOP has put the rights of women in their cross hairs.
The GOP started this pussy riot; let's finish it. Shit just got real.
GOP "Gaslighting" the American Electorate
To hear ol' Mittens Romney and Paul Ryan tell it, President Obama has plunged the American economy over the cliff, and only they -- the GOP -- are in a position to rescue America. Even Mrs. Romney has bought into and perpetuated the narrative of Mittens as "Superman" saving America.
WTF?
This is what could best be described as the GOP "gaslighting" the American public.
The term "gaslighting" comes from the movie "Gas Light," in which a husband tries to make his wife think she is crazy so that others will, too. According to Wikipedia:
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory and perception. It may simply be the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, or it could be the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
So when I hear Paul Ryan say that President Obama made our economy worse, I know for damn sure I'm being gaslighted. What President Obama did, consistent with what President George Bush did before him, was to keep the American economy from going off the cliff by keeping the banks AND the Detroit auto industry in business. And I really feel like I'm being gaslighted when the press reports that Paul Ryan voted for TARP.
Like my doctor says, just as no one ever gives a doctor credit for the heart attack her patient didn't have, no one ever gives a politician credit for the crisis he averted.
What's even more "gaslighty" about this is that they want to revert to the policies that almost pushed the country off the economic cliff and roll back the limited protections put in place by President Obama under their rubric that less regulation is good for all of America, not just their corporate cronies. NOT.
Let's face it -- if a white man of EITHER political party had kept the banks afloat, kept Detroit in business, passed a stimulus package that not only augmented the budgets of several states in recessionary times but also kept many teachers and public safety officers on the job, ended a war, created a consumer protection agency focused on reigning in financial institutions' wretched excess, passed health care reform that allowed people to get coverage DESPITE pre-existing conditions and put their 23 year-old kids back on their health care insurance, ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," signed the Lily Ledbetter law, AND freakin' killed Osama bin Laden, we wouldn't even be talking about a re-election. We'd be talking about a coronation.
What the GOP won't cop to is that they've been trying to derail this president from day one.
Well I, for one, refuse to be gaslighted. And I think the American public will refuse to be, too, in November.
WTF?
This is what could best be described as the GOP "gaslighting" the American public.
The term "gaslighting" comes from the movie "Gas Light," in which a husband tries to make his wife think she is crazy so that others will, too. According to Wikipedia:
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory and perception. It may simply be the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, or it could be the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
So when I hear Paul Ryan say that President Obama made our economy worse, I know for damn sure I'm being gaslighted. What President Obama did, consistent with what President George Bush did before him, was to keep the American economy from going off the cliff by keeping the banks AND the Detroit auto industry in business. And I really feel like I'm being gaslighted when the press reports that Paul Ryan voted for TARP.
Like my doctor says, just as no one ever gives a doctor credit for the heart attack her patient didn't have, no one ever gives a politician credit for the crisis he averted.
What's even more "gaslighty" about this is that they want to revert to the policies that almost pushed the country off the economic cliff and roll back the limited protections put in place by President Obama under their rubric that less regulation is good for all of America, not just their corporate cronies. NOT.
Let's face it -- if a white man of EITHER political party had kept the banks afloat, kept Detroit in business, passed a stimulus package that not only augmented the budgets of several states in recessionary times but also kept many teachers and public safety officers on the job, ended a war, created a consumer protection agency focused on reigning in financial institutions' wretched excess, passed health care reform that allowed people to get coverage DESPITE pre-existing conditions and put their 23 year-old kids back on their health care insurance, ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," signed the Lily Ledbetter law, AND freakin' killed Osama bin Laden, we wouldn't even be talking about a re-election. We'd be talking about a coronation.
What the GOP won't cop to is that they've been trying to derail this president from day one.
Well I, for one, refuse to be gaslighted. And I think the American public will refuse to be, too, in November.
Grand Old Party? More Like The Donner Party
So Newt Gingrich has won the South Carolina Republican primary, despite allegations by his second wife that he requested an open marriage and despite him unloading on CNN's John King for asking about said alleged request. Independent expenditure PACs have been firing at Romney and Gingrich in ways that do violence to President Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment -- Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.
I'm not a Republican, but is it me or is the Republican party looking more like the Donner Party? It seems each candidate or their surrogates are willing to do or say anything to stay in the game, even at the expense of the party's ability to put someone in office come November.
What's more telling is that none of the candidates is speaking of their vision for the country going forward. Their campaign slogan? "Beat Obama," as if this were the Army/Navy game, or Big Game between Stanford and Cal for that matter.
Republicans, let me give you a hint: Running on beating Obama might get you through the Republican primaries to the nomination, but it won't necessarily get you to the White House. And feasting on each other on the way there certainly won't help.
From my point of view, given how the GOP has disrespected this President and the First Lady in ways I've never seen in all my born days as an American, any candidate running on "Beat Obama" without more strikes me as racist because the GOP has done little, if anything, to disavow the racist attacks from its own party operatives on President and Mrs. Obama. Given that the economy is starting to pick up, Republicans are going to need more than just "Beat Obama" to win the independent voters they're going to need to get to the White House. More like "Beat Obama because (fill in the blank)." But "Beat Obama"? That's not enough.
Plus, the candidate who had the best chance of "beating Obama" is already out of the race -- John Huntsman. Huntsman was articulate, independent-minded, and without the 1% baggage of Mitt "I Like To Fire People" Romney and the failed ethics of Newt "Contract ON America" Gingrich, yet he had the misfortune of not being conservative enough to make it out of the primaries. Are Republicans not old enough to remember that Newt's speakership was a failed one? That he had ethics charges handed down against him? That as he was chastising Bill Clinton for lying about having an affair, he was engaged in one himself? Quite frankly, the personal stuff in Newt's life might not matter had he had a stellar political record as speaker, but he didn't. In my opinion, the only Republican candidate who could have possibly beaten President Obama hands down is sitting in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. Heck, even I would have given Governor Christie a look-see, and I'm a yellow dog Democrat. And yes, the Southern evangelicals need to get over the elephant in the GOP room (no pun intended) -- Mitt Romney's faith. No one will say they won't vote for him because he's Mormon no more than they would say they won't vote for President Obama because he's black. But that doesn't mean they're not thinking it, and both thoughts are bigoted ones. I might disagree with Romney on the issues, but I respect his faith, period.
So, as a Democrat who will be supporting the President this fall, I can't help but say I'm enjoying the Donner, er, Grand Old Party doing the work for the Democrats this fall. Munch on, Donner Party. Munch on.
I'm not a Republican, but is it me or is the Republican party looking more like the Donner Party? It seems each candidate or their surrogates are willing to do or say anything to stay in the game, even at the expense of the party's ability to put someone in office come November.
What's more telling is that none of the candidates is speaking of their vision for the country going forward. Their campaign slogan? "Beat Obama," as if this were the Army/Navy game, or Big Game between Stanford and Cal for that matter.
Republicans, let me give you a hint: Running on beating Obama might get you through the Republican primaries to the nomination, but it won't necessarily get you to the White House. And feasting on each other on the way there certainly won't help.
From my point of view, given how the GOP has disrespected this President and the First Lady in ways I've never seen in all my born days as an American, any candidate running on "Beat Obama" without more strikes me as racist because the GOP has done little, if anything, to disavow the racist attacks from its own party operatives on President and Mrs. Obama. Given that the economy is starting to pick up, Republicans are going to need more than just "Beat Obama" to win the independent voters they're going to need to get to the White House. More like "Beat Obama because (fill in the blank)." But "Beat Obama"? That's not enough.
Plus, the candidate who had the best chance of "beating Obama" is already out of the race -- John Huntsman. Huntsman was articulate, independent-minded, and without the 1% baggage of Mitt "I Like To Fire People" Romney and the failed ethics of Newt "Contract ON America" Gingrich, yet he had the misfortune of not being conservative enough to make it out of the primaries. Are Republicans not old enough to remember that Newt's speakership was a failed one? That he had ethics charges handed down against him? That as he was chastising Bill Clinton for lying about having an affair, he was engaged in one himself? Quite frankly, the personal stuff in Newt's life might not matter had he had a stellar political record as speaker, but he didn't. In my opinion, the only Republican candidate who could have possibly beaten President Obama hands down is sitting in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. Heck, even I would have given Governor Christie a look-see, and I'm a yellow dog Democrat. And yes, the Southern evangelicals need to get over the elephant in the GOP room (no pun intended) -- Mitt Romney's faith. No one will say they won't vote for him because he's Mormon no more than they would say they won't vote for President Obama because he's black. But that doesn't mean they're not thinking it, and both thoughts are bigoted ones. I might disagree with Romney on the issues, but I respect his faith, period.
So, as a Democrat who will be supporting the President this fall, I can't help but say I'm enjoying the Donner, er, Grand Old Party doing the work for the Democrats this fall. Munch on, Donner Party. Munch on.
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