The rocket’s red glare is waning……flags are not waving so vigorously……and “patriots” wait another holiday to spread their message…..it is time for reality to return….and I am NOT talking about some damn trial in Florida……time for the world to restart!
We are warned every damn day that our way of life, our democracy is being threatened……by whom? Liberals, Democrats, Obama on and on…..some on the Right see undemocratic boogeymen everywhere…..just listen to the rhetoric flying around the airwaves ….health care will destroy our freedoms, congressional Dems are un-American and destroying our way of life and yada yada….and then there are those on the Left that trying and equate everything Repubs do as some sort of hidden conspiracy to destroy life as we know it…..personally, I think that all this rhetoric is just mindless political BS, with that said I will agree that there is a possibility that our democracy, that institution that we so love, is being threatened……if so….by whom?
At this point I was having a difficult time trying to decide which to proceed with the post….that is until I heard newbie Florida senator, Marco Rubio, lose his speech virginity in the Senate…..his first speech went something like this…..
yada….yada….yada…..(typical Repub talking points and doublespeak)…..and then he said this…..
“Now we find ourselves in a new century. And there is a growing sense that for America, things will never be the same. That maybe, this new century will belong to someone else. Indeed, we do stand now at a turning point in our history. One where there are only two ways forward for us. We will either bring on another American century, or we are doomed to witness America’s decline. A new American century is within our reach.”
And then he returns to the typical clap trap of a Repub…….
There was my hook!
I agree with Rubio (maybe the only time I will do do) I feel that we are doomed to watch America decline….but why?
It seems that ever Repub thinks that it is 1980 and the Reagan era….they think that tax cuts are the only answer to the problems of the nation……as long as they keep telling themselves that and convincing an uninformed public to buy into the whole tax cut theory then decline is assured…..the tax cut rhetoric worked in 1980 but has NOT worked since…..incomes have declined, jobs have been lost, perhaps forever, cost of living has increased and the standard of living has declined….corporations do not create jobs, they buy other companies and lay off workers…..now what part of that sounds like a country on the rise?
So yes….to answer my own question….democracy is being threatened….it is being threatened by partisan politics, by reform instead of change, by a lack of ideas and by planning that looks only tw0 to 4 years down the road; no long range planning what so ever and it is being threatened by the loss of rights being pushed by one side or the other………while the people sleep and dream the democratic state and the government have been replaced by a plutocracy…..and policies of the GOP are doing NOTHING to prevent the loss of democracy…..So Rubio is correct……America is in decline and the issues that he champions is doing more to assist the decline than anything Planned Parenthood could do…..but to be truthful, we cannot lay all the blame for this decline at the feet of the GOP…Dems have been as much a player as anyone…they are the ones that pushed financial deregulation and all those damn funky free trade agreements that help the out sourcing of American jobs….DEMS are NOT guiltless!
The only way to stem this tide is to get the people to act like they care about what happens to the country and stop whining over their tiny little world…..for the only way the nation can come first is if ALL the residents come first….without that we have NOTHING!
Good post. For once I largely agree – though possibly not for exactly the reasons you might think and except for the fact that I don’t think you live in a democracy and possibly never have!
I don’t believe you will ever see any GREAT nation go forward and prosper if it spends all its time and much of its wealth on worrying about the “poor” – the UNABLE to help themselves because of disability etc. and those in short term need, YES, but I CAN see where these guys THINK they are coming from…
However, what these people don’t get (and I suspect never will) is that no nation will prosper if it only worries about ANY minority – and THAT particularly includes the very wealthy few as well as the indolent, dishonest, or just downright useless.
If the economy (and it IS “all about the economy, stupid”) is run properly for the benefit and prosperity of the COUNTRY as a whole, then there will BE very few poor except for those who don’t want to change or improve their circumstances (which is their right – just as long as they don’t expect someone else to pay for it).
Quin…..then I ask what makes a country great? Is it the economics? Is it the people? Personally, I do not think that the control of other nations makes us great…..isolationism? (oh crap! Another post?)….LOL
Isolationism is not possible in the modern world – does North Korea or Cuba (apart from the senoritas rolling their Havanas) sound like an attractive proposition to you?
By “great” I simply meant large and economically important (there are a thousand other definitions and they are all totally subjective). If America wants to stay prosperous and increase that prosperity (or restore it depending on your perspective) then it HAS to look to the WHOLE of the working population and provide the vast majority with something to work FOR!
I agree….but here in the US we are hearing that more and more from people who oppose a troop drawn down from the ME…accusing supporters of isolationism…..and it deserves a post…..
I would argue that democracy still works, and worked too well in 2008, when we started witnessing the aftermath of the Bush years, and came to the conclusion that we’re screwed, so why not take a chance on this young black man named Obama. Although it doesn’t seem like it at times, I thik the American people can discern bullshit when it hits the fan.
Hansi–people voted on the rhetoric, I am not saying they were wrong, just that they expected too much and did not get the change they wanted…..I predicted there would be little change. Change is NOT in the political vocabulary of the US……reform is and that has NEVER been change. Reform is most used because it is a minor tweaking of a system and can be overturned quite easily.
I believe that the current climate here is normal. We’ve seen it all before, and we’ve managed to survive. Republicans and Democrats have always been at each other’s throats (supporters and politicians alike). The economy has been plain awful for many years, then suddenly we have a huge boom and everyone is happy. In short, history constantly repeats itself, even though names and situations change somewhat.
I agree with what Quin said: we don’t live in a democracy, and I’m pretty sure we never have. There are parts of our system that resemble a democracy, but under a pure democracy, things would be different. I remember reading a story about Benjamin Franklin once: a lady asked him what the founders had given her, and he said, “a republic, ma’am.”
It’s a unique system we have. It isn’t perfect at all, but somehow it manages to bounce back from even the worst situations.
Angie……..I think you are right that this has all happened before….but this time there is more attacks on the institutions that have made this a good country……we could argue about political stuff but let us look at economics more closely……the middle class has been slowing disappearing since the mid 70’s (rough estimation)…….and what we have now is an all out attack on the livelihood of most Americans….each time these institutions are challenged they get a little closer to disappearing….eventually they will and then we will be back to the days of peasants and serfs with overlords…..but you are right…the system is unique and that uniqueness may well be its downfall…..
Angie: I agree with both you and Lobo – what America HAD was unique and in some ways was very worthwhile, though full of odd contradictions. The path the US is NOW on doesn’t look at all good, not least because it’s hard to see what political changes you, the people, could attempt to make that would actually alter anything at all. I have my fingers crossed for you (metaphorically at least), but I’m damned if I’d hold my breath waiting…