Conservatives just discovering concerns Democrats had for decades
November 29, 2010
Living in Texas (a purpleish red-state), I talk to a lot of Conservatives… be they friends or family… on a near daily basis. And while I know I’m on solid footing when it comes to my positions, the Conservatives in my life certainly do a great job of keeping me honest. Over Thanksgiving, one could not comment on the (felony) conviction of Tom Delay without “Charlie Rangle” (convicted of ethics violations) being thrown out in his defense (“they all do it!), even though one knowingly laundered tens of millions in campaign contributions in order to gerrymander future elections, where the other failed to pay the taxes on property that was given to him while in office. Not exactly tomato/tomahto… but I digress. No, what stuns me more listing to my Conservative associates is the SUDDEN OUTRAGE over things I’ve been “outraged” over for years. The only difference is that when I was outraged, it was a Republican president doing it, and now its a Democrat!
That sign always pisses me off, because it was I… and Democrats like me… that first started carrying that sign in 2004 (although in fairness, Republicans used it in 1996 against Clinton). We were paying attention as Republicans pushed through the offensively-named “Patriot Act” that permitted illegal searches and seizures of your property, followed by the government engaging in illegal warrantless wiretaps of EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN CITIZEN, quardened off protesters in “free-speech zones” (WE THOUGHT the entire United States of America was “a free speech zone”?), the suspension of Habeus Corpus for American citizens declared “enemy combatants”, the outing of a CIA Agent for political motives, and the unprovoked invasion of another country on false pretenses; while the Right was asleep at the wheel. And on more than one occasion, I’ve seen Teabaggers on TV carrying that exact same sign while saying, “I never really paid attention to politics before, BUT…” then we elected a (black) Democrat. A week ago on the 11/21 edition of Meet the Press, roundtable guest, author Richard Wolffe asked, “How come people who didn’t say a word about warrantless wiretaps and illegal searches & seizures under George Bush are suddenly outraged over their privacy being violated by the TSA?” Where were the Teabaggers then? “Illegal wiretaps and illegal search & seizure” = fine as long as the president is a Republican. But when a Democrat takes office: “TSA patdowns are a violation of my privacy!”
And speaking of “privacy”…
It was during President Bill Clinton’s first State of the Union Address that he first proposed a “National Medical ID Card” (while holding up a mock card for all to see) that would have allowed any American citizen to obtain free health care. Similar to a credit card with magnetic strip on the back, not only did the card serve as a universal “National ID”, but could also store all your medical records on it, so you’d have your medical history with you where ever you go (and reduce costs by making medical care paperless). The Right went apoplectic. “What an invasion of privacy!” they screamed! (Nevermind the outrage over “being forced into Socialized medicine” against their will!) Storing your identity on a government card? It was the dawn of “Big Brother”, a “government tracking system!” and even the “Mark of The Beast!” Flash forward to 2008 and 2010, where Wingnuts started going bonkers over mythical “voting illegal aliens” electing Democrats. Suddenly, Wingnuts were all for that “National ID Card” idea and started backing “Voter ID Cards” to ensure no illegal immigrants could vote in an election. And it went beyond that. Feigned outrage over non-existent voter fraud by groups like ACORN had many Republicans demanding that “no one be allowed to vote without proper ID.” In Arizona, they even passed a law requiring that “anyone” must be able to produce “proof of legal residence” on demand, or risk arrest. They said “a state drivers license was valid proof”, but what if you don’t have a drivers license, are stopped while on foot, or just a passenger in the car and left your wallet at home?
As I noted last week, according to Republicans, the 2010 mid-terms were “transformative” and REQUIRE that Democrats “compromise” and “move to the center”, but the 2006 election that swapped control of BOTH houses of Congress, followed by 2008’s election of a Democratic president AND increase to a 60-vote “Super Majority” in the Senate resulted in NO calls for Republicans to “compromise” with Democrats or “move to the center”. Did you even once hear a pundit suggest this was now “a center Left country”? Of course not.
On Fox “news” Sunday yesterday, demonseed Liz Cheney argued that the results of the 2010 mid-term elections DEMANDED that “Democrats compromise” with Republicans by capitulating on extending the Bush Tax Cuts “permanently“. Someone should set Ms. Cheney down and explain to her like a child what “compromise” means. It DOESN’T mean one side gives the other everything they want. Even host Chris Wallace acknowledged that a “compromise” might be “extending the Bush Tax Cuts for one or two years, but not extending them permanently.” But Cheney refused to equivocate, arguing that the results of the mid-terms gave Republicans a “mandate” that Democrats should acquiesce to. Funny, I don’t remember anyone named Cheney saying anything like that about Republicans in 2006 or 2008. Do you? No, instead, Republicans went on a filibuster binge, and became the most obstructionist Party in history.
The Tea Party started going nuts over the size of the National Debt back in 2009… LONG before President Obama had even passed his first budget. Like the National Debt suddenly went from zero to $13 Trillion the day President Obama took office. But as I’ve noted numerous times before on these pages, my very first YouTube video in July of 2006 was on The National Debt, and how after just five years of a Republican president and Republican Congress, we went from a balanced budget and $5 Trillion National Debt, to a Trillion dollar annual Deficit and a Debt that was about to DOUBLE. And what made it worse was their defense: 9/11. We were expected to give them a pass on exploding the Debt because of a terrorist attack THEY FAILED TO PREVENT??? It was like the guy who murdered his parents asking for leniency because he’s an orphan.
President Bush went on his “rewriting history” book tour last week and “bragged” that “his greatest accomplishment” was “53 weeks of uninterrupted job growth”… some of the most pathetic job growth in history (and almost NONE of it in the private sector)… which he credited his 2002 tax cut (which, as I just noted, went to people who did almost no hiring) that Congress now wants to repeal (so much for the idea “tax cuts create jobs”). Of course, under President Clinton, we saw historic job growth despite taxes being much higher. So arguably, Bush’s tax cuts only depressed job growth, not “promoted” it. Despite rising unemployment, President Obama has already created MORE private sector jobs in his first year than Bush did in eight. Think about that. Same tax rate, first years’ budget written by the Bush Administration… what was different? The Stimulus. Massive government spending. Republicans HATE “The Stimulus” with a passion because of how much it increases the National Debt. I’ve described this before as people who spent billions on lunches complaining about spending another billion on a new kitchen.
I remember… as I’m sure that you do too… that Bush’s re-election in 2004, winning by just 10,000 votes in Ohio, gave him a “mandate”… “Political capital” that he then went out and spent trying to convince the country that privatizing Social Security was a good idea, just one year before the bottom fell out of Wall Street and the economy collapsed. But Barack Obama, winning by nearly 8 million votes, a more than 2:1 Electoral victory, plus gains in both the House and Senate, was a call for “unity”. This was the scene in the movie when the bad guy begs for mercy after the victim they’ve been beating like an egg wrestles the gun away.
Teabaggers, do us all a favor and go back to sleep for another 28 years. We’ll tell you when something worth being outraged over comes up again.
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November 29, 2010
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Admin Mugsy · 
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Posted in: Economy, Election, General, Politics, Rants, Right-Wing Insanity
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