Two Oh One Oh

It’s been a rough couple of months for progressives—and Americans—surrounding all this health care reform traveling vaudeville show.

Nothing is certain as yet, but many believe Obama pulled the rabbit out of the hat. I did not get to see the speech because I was picking up a friend at the airport.

However, I saw snippets of it and listened to some guests on the Marxist Socialist Nazi Bolshevik Communist network (MSNBC) and they believe Obama “hit one out of the park” and brought a “game changer”.

The four year conversion time table may complicate my strategy of making America a more progressive country, but we have time.

I said a couple of weeks ago that Republicans could lose even more seats in the House and the Senate in 2010 if the Democratic Party and the progressives in it play it right.

By 2012, progressive Democrats could win even more so that the Blue Dogs are significantly marginalized just in time for the asteroid to wipe us all out because the Mayans said so.

The working, middle and lower classes of America want and need help and not just because of Bush’s economic meltdown. Average Americans have a deep need to know that their government cares more about them.

Senator Tom Coburn’s belief that people should not turn to their government for help is, I believe, classism. If corporations can turn to their government for help, and Republicans agree with that, they are classists and corporatists and hypocrites.

Taxpayers pay taxes. They deserve more for their tax dollar than to have 50 cents of every one of those dollars to be given to the military for contractors and weapons manufacturers who have no oversight or accountability. That is never mentioned by the Coburns and his ilk—I mean, like.

This is their Achilles Heel. Republicans don’t really care about the American people despite the right-wing Christian and abortion and flag-waving brainwashing. This needs to be explained to the American voter provided the Supreme Court doesn’t rule in favor of Citizens United and our elections can be bought and sold by corporate America.

They can also lose from a true Christian point of view because their lack of compassion for the uninsured in favor of insurance companies is certainly un-Christian. If Christ was anything, he was progressive. Lying and scaring old people is not something Christ would approve of. Really make the old Midwesterner Bible Belters understand this and watch what happens.

Someone with guts and balls needs to exploit the Repub’s and Blue Dogs’ lies about health care reform at their town halls and defeat them in the next available election. But that requires a very good opposing candidate.

If health care reform succeeds, all the Birthers in Congress could be forced out of office because of the high poll numbers Obama could well have because of a rebounding economy and the initial successes of health care reform.

I would caution progressives not to get greedy. The goal is to win centrist and slightly-conservative Americans with health care. Americans want to know that people care about them and do not care more about illegal aliens, etc. The Republicans are going to exploit immigration. Progressives should not make the mistake of stepping into the trap.

The goal is to build a better America. That cannot be done by piling on everything all at once. Some issues must be left for another time. If you convince Americans you are for them, they will help you be for others next time.

Certain Congressional races should be targeted, but not all. Perhaps Grassley is vulnerable—and easily defeated—because of his speeches about “death panels”, obstructionism in his “Gang of Six” seat and flip flopping on “death panels” by blaming it on Sarah Palin.

Obama needs to help forcefully. With the anticipated success of health care reform by 2010, Bill Clinton also needs to campaign. His ability to gloat because of the health care victory could be extremely valuable and key to Congressional victories in many, many races.

I personally am slightly more conservative than the average progressive on some issues. But we need to take this country in another direction and swimming to the other shore after the shipwreck we all survived since 2000 is the only real way to recover. We need to get as far away from conservatism and corporatism as possible then we can slide back down when progressives begin fucking everything up in another 10-20 years.

This is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Grassley, Coburn, Vitter and the others need to be made understand that fact in no uncertain terms.

And if they do not agree, they need to hear the same phrase I remember hearing conservatives say to liberals and leftists when I was a kid, and that was: “This is America, love it or leave it!”

On to Single Payer!

Dem Damn Dems

A majority of Americans are in favor of health care reform with a public option and are more often than not in opposition with the Blue Dogs and Red Dogs who represent them on this very issue. Why? The corporatization of every aspect of American life.

It was reported last night on Keith Olbermann during Countdown’s report on United Health Group that Obama met twice in May. So, it’s not just bipartisanship Obama is pursuing, it is tripartisanship—Democrats, Republicans and corporations.

While focusing one eye on health care reform, progressive Independents and Democrats should focus the other eye on winning as much as possible in 2010 and then again in 2012. Despite what I think we will be stuck will re-electing Obama at that time, no matter how frustrating and disappointing his first seven months have been.

Recently on Huffington Post, Beltway soothsayer Charlie Cook believes the Democrats may lose a minimum of 20 seats. I assume that is from both the Senate and the House. Cook’s prediction is based on the economy as the predominate issue.

I believe it’s still too early to tell. But I disagree that things will necessarily be so bad in 2010 for Democrats or those with a progressive agenda, but there may be one hell of a fight just to hold and gain ground.

The recent ridiculousness uttered by Tom Coburn, Chuck Grassley and Michael Steele in just the last day provide a bathroom window which progressives can go through if they just make an effort to connect to average Americans.

Can the opponents of Coburn, Grassley, etc. not point out that they and Republicans like them are out of step with the American people and in-step with heartless corporations who don’t care one bit about the American people except as consumers? Of course they can.

Obama is a great campaigner as evidenced by the fact he is our first black president. Can he convince voters that he needs Democrats help to finish his economic recovery? Without any unforeseen catastrophes, what’s not possible here without some hard work?

The other thing Progressives and progressive Democrats have going for them to insure victory and gains in 2010 is we are not that much of a center right country anymore. And we have not been for awhile. Remember, America did not really elect George Bush in 2000 or 2004, but we did really elect Obama last year.

A separation between progressive Democrats and Blue Dogs needs to be made more pronounced in 2010. My sense is the average American embraced a slightly more progressive agenda in 2008 because Bush was sooo bad. Well the Republicans are also bad and I think most Americans are not represented by these town hallers or their corporate agenda. For this reason progressives should go on the attack and paint Republicans and Blue Dogs as the corporate whores they are. I believe progressives can also make more victories than in the past provided they only talk about issues important to Americans and leave immigration reform for another election cycle or until the economy gets better.

Winning in 2010 means Republicans and Blue Dogs must pay for their lies, deception and acquiescence to the insurance industry.

But that means having viable Democratic or Independent candidates who can speak to the American people and show them how Grassley, Coburn, Baucus and the rest have lied to them about death panels, etc.

Progressives can build on this with clean energy and global climate change legislation, just as Republicans and Blue Dogs hope to, because most Americans want a clean energy world, not this “I’m an Energy Citizen” crap. The important thing to remember is set the agenda. That means begin talking about issues important to Americans NOW.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s Senior Health Care bullshit is only an attempt for the Republicans to save face in 2010. The Democrats and Progressives may see this as an RNC-Steele hypocrisy—Republicans saying they’re protecting Medicare for Seniors while having bashed Medicare while ranting against health care reform—but progressive may not be looking down the road.

The Democrats are only in power because Bush was so bad. Unfortunately, America electing the Democrats in 2006 was like an abused child running away from its violent and drunken father and into the care of a psychopath.

If a progressive agenda and candidates can hold against the push back in 2010, Republicans will be even more marginalized and crazed and will run someone guaranteed to lose in 2012 like Sarah Palin against Obama.

Barring any political violence—and you all know what I mean—there is hope for a progressive America in 2010 and even more so in 2012 and beyond. President Rahm Emanuel, anyone?

Will Democrats become impassioned by Kennedy’s death to vote for health care reform with a public option? Doubtful.

Most of them are not very bright guys and they will see Kennedy’s death as an excuse not to feel guilty about doing what the insurance industry wants them to do.

No, Obama Got a Little Excited!

In his radio interview with radio talk show host Michael Smerconish yesterday, President Obama said that the media and progressives got “a little excited” about the public option issue.

I would counter that President Obama got a little excited about the prospect of bi-partisanship for his health care reform effort. He got a little “turned on” one might say about Republicans helping him pass substantial and historic health care reform and I think it goes back to his semi-delusional Lincoln fantasy that he touted during the campaign. Did he think he and the Republicans were going to bring this country together? Is he putting his legacy ahead of the process of health care reform? Shouldn’t he be channeling the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt instead of Lincoln and FDR?

I would also argue that “progressives”—and me—didn’t get a little excited as much as we became a little afraid. Why? Because we can’t read his mind, and lately he has said some things about health care reform which raised concern that he may be selling us out. Also, we don’t fully trust that he knows what he’s doing or he is doing what he should be doing the right way.

Now, while we don’t all crowd into the cockpit to second guess the airline pilot when we’re going through turbulence, Obama seems to have lost some measure of control. Did he jump into this with too much naiveté? And by “this” I don’t just mean health care reform, I also mean his presidency.

I would have approached health care reform in a different way, so obviously there is not as much faith in him as he may expect us to have. Our trust is not strong for this and other reasons. Why? Because this is the President who has gone soft on the Bush-era torture issue prosecutions and policies, he has kept his White House visitor log secret, and he confused and even angered many with his reversal on Guantanamo, among other things during his seven-plus months in office. And, because this is the President who insists he is going to get the very same Republicans to join him who want to destroy him.

He is too nice and calm when I want fight and fire. Has his being born in laid-back Hawaii revealed itself to be a detriment for him? Seems like it. Next time we elect a black president maybe he should be born in Kenya!

Now, if this pursuit of bi-partisanship is a tactic of Obama’s to make the Republicans look bad and lose even more in 2010, I’ll give it a chance. But first, let me explain what I mean.

Only Obama knows exactly what he can and will do on health care reform to get what he promised during the campaign. Just as Captain Kirk frequently took the Enterprise to the brink of destruction—and scared Scotty, the ship’s most intimately knowledgeable engineer, to death—in pursuit of that week’s enemy, perhaps that is what Obama is doing. Perhaps the Spock comparison has been misapplied all along.

If Obama is buttering up the Republicans by being very diplomatic in his pursuit of bi-partisanship by not doing or saying anything rude or mean or nasty to anger them, his strategy may be that he knows the Republicans will reject his attempts in the end anyway and then when Democrats do pass health care reform with the public option alone and the American people like it and find there are no death panels and none of the other scare tactic items they hurled with venom during the August recess, then Americans will have good reason not to trust Republicans. That’s my theory.

Two things anyone who has ever played poker knows are: play your cards close to your vest and always keep a poker face. Is that what Obama is doing? Is that what he did on Saturday when he said the public option was only a sliver of health care reform? Was he bluffing the Republicans?

The Republicans have already shown their hand because we know how many cards they have in Congress and from these stupid town hall bullying sessions, they led early with their best cards. Everyone already knows the Republican believe they are ordained by God to head the American government. Therefore, their actions are somewhat predictable and their hand can be figured out.

However, to embellish my theory about Obama, when the American voter sees how the Republicans shamelessly sided with the insurance industry and blatantly lied to scare them, maybe a sufficient number of elderly, poor and working class Republican and Independent voters may vote against Grassley, Coburn, DeMint and Vitter in the Senate and various Republican and evil Democrat Representatives in the House.

We’ll see.

On the other hand, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Obama needs to become someone we can trust by fighting. He needs to stop being Barack Obama and become Barrage (of punches) o-BAM!!-a, and he needs to start swinging now.

SOCK!

POW!

ZOK!

BAM!

SOCK!

BLAP!

WHAP!

BIFF!

OOF!

Yes, I loved the 60s Batman TV series when I was a kid.

So, no, Mr. President, we did not become a little excited. It was more like we don’t know you that well or for that long and what you revealed about yourself during the courtship, you changed noticeably once we said “I do”.

What kind of marriage is this going to be?

Well, if we find out after the 2010 elections that Obama has secretly been a Scientologist since the late-80s that may explain some things but we’d better make an appointment with an attorney asap.

If he is or has ever been a Scientologist, he needs to resolve this bi-partisan engram that tortures him and focus on a uni-partisan endgame.

Rimshot!! Goodnight, everybody!!

Join us Monday for another thrilling and rapturous episode of the Internet’s #1 blog serial, Congressman Christ, where President Obama invites Jesus to the White House to shoot some hoops.

Check out the best of JimBuckBlog list over the weekend!!!