Thursday, June 25, 2009

op-ed: the changing face of ineptitude

The Democratic Party is having a rough go of it lately. You'd think that the party in power of both houses and the White House would be living on easy street. Able to do what they like and accomplish everything they have stumped for, for the past 8 years.

Weeeeelll it turns out it wasn't as easy as all that. You see when you promise something, again and again and again, and THEN are given the power to give it, and DON'T, people are going to want to know WHY.

The Democratic Party has promised gays equal rights, environmentalists that we'd save the earth, people going bankrupt paying hospital bills universal healthcare, and unions a chance to, at the very least, organize without fear of retaliation.

For SO LONG the Democratic Party has promised these things, that the environmentalists, unions, the uninsured in debt, and gays have been rock solid voting groups for the Democrats. UNFORTUNATELY now that the Dems have their day in the sun, the whole ordeal seems to only shed light on the fact that the Democratic Party is just as guilty of siding with lobbyists as Republicans are, albeight a little less psychotically.

Honorary VPAR Bill Maher explains this dutifully.



And President Obama isn't exactly free of blame either. As Bill explains here.



President Obama has already had one fundraiser cave in on him, due to the fact that it was to feature prominent gays and lesbians, who were just the slightest bit put off lately by the DOJ defending DOMA, and Obama putting off retting rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell until who the fuck knows when. Sensing a rift with gays and lesbians, Obama signed an Executive Order giving federal gays and lesbians more rights, BUT being as its not FULL rights, and it's JUST federal employees, the LGBT fundraiser looks like it will be a shell of what was intended.

This isn't just about people not realizing that washington is harder than it looks, or groups not getting that things take time. This is about a Party and a President who like being popular and like their jobs more than they respect the vows of office they took to their constituents, and who seem to have forgotten the whole FUCKING REASON THEY GOT ELECTED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

The Windfall of 2008 wasn't made of thin air. It came about after 8 YEARS of ass-backwards, dumbass leadership from a party who was so far right they fell off the edge of the flat earth they believe in. If the American people wanted the same old meandering, half-ass, bullshit, leadership. The Democrats would still be the minority party.

If this country is to ever get the true Progessive Leadership it deserves, it has to make crystal clear that nothing even close to what we were forced to survive in the past 8 years will be tolerated.

Fortunately this isn't a futile exercise. Change-Congress.org is currently working to remind Democrats WHY they were elected and have so far been effective in doing it.

In the end, we have to do something. IF we're to save the environment, or ever get true universal healthcare, or give gays the same rights as minorities then we have to take advantage of the power available now, and run with it like there's no tomorrow. Because frankly, at this rate, there might not be.

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