Baying at the Moon

No matter what you may think about President Obama I think you have to give him very high marks for persistence. He’s at it again, trying to get Republicans to cooperate with him. He never seems to give up. But no matter what he offers them, even proposals they themselves originated, they never agree. His attempts at bipartisanship have truly produced virtually noting, like baying at the moon. It should have been clear to him long ago that the Republicans who actually announced they were not going to cooperate were going to keep their word, and they have for the entire term of his Presidency.

It is hard to understand this. On the one hand you might argue that Obama’s persistence shows a trend towards insanity (trying the same thing over and over again and expecting to get a different result). On the other hand, what else could he have done? After all, he is the President and it is his job to try to get things done. It’s not his fault they have refused to cooperate (other, that is, than trying to be President while Black). I mean, this is the United States, he could not really have declared martial law, arrested Republicans for their near treasonous attacks, sent them to the desert for cultural indoctrinations or whatever (which, given their current level of their atrocious behavior might be the only solution).

I confess to not being happy about Obama’s foreign policy, especially the drones, Afghanistan, and other military adventures around the world. And I am not at all pleased with his sanctions on Iran, although I guess I should be happy that he has at least kept us out of outright war. I am still outraged at his failure to prosecute Bush/Cheney for their blatant war crimes although I guess I understand why he could, realistically, not do so.

I am also not too happy about his coziness with the Banks or his flirting with changes to Social Security. But of course when it comes to domestic affairs in general his is obviously the “only game in town.” He does seem to be genuinely concerned with trying to save the Middle Class, raising the minimum wage, providing health insurance, improving education and our infrastructure, and so on. When you contrast his agenda with that of Republicans there is simply no contest, and their hypocrisy literally seems to know no bounds. Having blocked his every attempt to create jobs they still have the audacity to blame him for not creating jobs. This is truly a case of telling a gigantic lie so often that some will come to believe it. And they have also refused to give him the respect any President should have received as a matter of course (racism, pure and simple).

As far as I am concerned, starting with their unprecedented attack on President Clinton, and throughout the worst of “Roviation,” and the Bush/Cheney “nightmare years,” their party has descended to the level of pond scum, where it sits at the moment with no hope of renewing itself. If they are not massively defeated in 2014, I doubt there is much hope for the remainder of Obama’s Presidency and his legacy, an outcome that will have racism written all over it.

 Of course Hillary is going to run in 2016. She is a woman who has always hoped for a female President, has more than enough credentials to become the first one, and is uniquely in a position to attain the highest office in the land. And she is experienced and tough enough to stand up to the outrageously vicious attacks Republicans will no doubt throw at her. Even though I think she is too “hawkish” I’m all for her. Go Hillary!

   “Do you really believe ... that everything historians tell us about men – or about women – is actually true? You ought to consider the fact that these histories have been written by men, who never tell the truth except by accident.” 

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