POLITICS AND NATURE

The First Wire

Here it is. CNN is counting down the hours to the first votes in New Hampshire. Shepard Smith on Fox is wearing what appears to be a tremendous amount of make up. It is as if he's thinking its time for a change moving toward a broadway career. I could be wrong but it seemed odd and out of place to me. In any case, the press is spending hordes of network sponsored cash in small towns throughout the state and good for them. Nobody in the media really cares about the outcome.

Lou Dobbs looks like he hates just about everyone. Large corporations. Illegal immigrants. Outsourcing businesses. Taxes. Free Trade. And China. Lou's program really lays into Red China on a regular basis. In any case, Lou is an angry man. He supported the views of Tom Tancredo before Tacredo even knew they were his views. Lou was mad tonight about all the talk about change. Change is the buzzword now. The news networks are clashing over who can say change most. Lou's audience doesn't like it either. They see no difference between the two parties and they are clamoring for an independent like the one being talked about in the Midwest somewhere. In their opinion, things would not have been any different if Gore or Kerry had won. The whole thing is a mess. Corruption and Greed move mountains. Simple common sense, like that of Ross Perot or consumer protectionist zeal of Ralph Nader will not find its way into the dark hallways which constitute political power within the parties today.

And the only thing wrong with this passion for the third party shows its face when people learn Ross Perot was a crazed, maniacal, billionaire with what can only be described as no desire to actually BE president and a single mindedness which moved the entire political system. Anyone laughing with his VP candidate Admiral Stockdale when he turned off his hearing aid understood the insane falacy of the whole thing. Nader won such a small percentage of the vote he did nothing in 2000 but gratify his own ego and help raise a goofy cowboy into the most powerful position in the world.

This time is different though. Everyone is mad. Not in the angry sense because if this was so John Edwards would have swept Iowa and would be marching toward the nomination while Dennis Kucinich would be more than just the uncivilized red faced dwarf caricature he has become. Even Mike Gravel would get some votes. No, the electorate is simply off kilter, ashamed of the face of politics upheld by the Republican Party for seven years and disappointed in this years Democratic leadership who appear to need a time out despite some accomplishments near the end. The madness is contagious and Barack and Huck how themselves as the only ones taking it on.

The Factor

Bill O'Reilly headed off to New Hampshire and was seen in his Fox News jacket at a Hillary rally. She said hi to him while in front of the crowd but big Bill says she wouldn't talk to him. He was able to corner Obama but the candidate was a bit busy. Bill complained this shows the press couldn't get near Hillary and to prove his point he interviewed Romney. Bill doesn't seem to realize his antagonistic style turns some folks off. Especially when they have better things to do and his is a conservative audience. Barack did say he'd talk with O'Reilly after the primary. Huckabee talked to Bill. O'Reilly attacked the Clintons and their "machine". Who is shocked Dems wouldn't speak with O'Reilly.

Some Obama staffer stood in front of the camera. It was funny because Bill got mad and claimed to be protecting freedom of the press by acting like a child. Then he asked his audience if he was right to remove the guy blocking the camera shot of Obama. He did shove the guy. He didn't remove the guy. Now, I like O'Reilly. I think he's a prick and his method of analysis, in my opinion, is one-sided and argumentative. But he offers a certain twisted humor supported by a strong paranoid delusion based on self gratification and a classic sense of victimization.

Let's Just All Get Along

Meanwhile a group of powerful partisans met in Oklahoma to create the all encompassing Bi-party. Get rid of partisanship and elect mayor Michael Bloomberg. These people are claiming partisanship has never been worse than today. Hmmmm? I wonder what John Adams would have to say about this? Or Abe Lincoln? How would Teddy Roosevelt react if asked why he left the Republican Party to form the Progressives? Republicans were simply shut out of government from 1932 until Ike ran for office in 1952. Yet David Boren, a former Senator and important figure in this bi-partisan meeting, called on the NewsHour for a call to create a bi-partisan cabinet to craft change.

When I was young, gridlock was the word of the day. Nothing got done because of the anger across the aisle. A Democratic Congress faced off with a popular Republican President and he left office garnering almost as high an approval rating as Bill Clinton had when he left office. Clinton, a Democratic President, fought a Republican Congress. They shut down the government. The refused to compromise while continuing to meet. They also reformed welfare, reduced crime, and paid off the national debt. But here is this bunch of people calling for things to be done the way it was in the past and considering nominating a third party. Good for them...third parties have failed historically.  

The frightening thing is, despite all the rhetoric these days, the two parties are good for liberty. Freedom is not assured. A great deal of discussion can be mounted about the evils of the two party system. They are not fully representational. They are corrupt and will not change. They are all about power and influence. They don't care about the little guy. They aren't concerned about the future or about making government working effectively. But they keep each other from gathering up the ultimate power, which leads to tyranny.

The Blame

Now, if anyone were to ask me, I would argue the loss of governmental respect comes directly out of the Grand Old Party abuses the nation has watched from 2001 to this year. Democrats were in the political wilderness. Like scared rabbits they cowered everytime the Republicans called them traitors or pushed the extremist agenda of electing a permanent majority of Republicans insinuating all Americans were either for them or against them, selling governmental favors, and creating a sense among many Americans that it is a corrupt, ignorant, and shameless organization. The only catch is their continuous drumbeat of anti governmental rhetoric aimed at liberals...whatever they are without offering any comprehension of what the government actually does and how to make it more effective. The end result of untrammelled conservative leadership is a failure of the system and a loss of motivation. They no longer argue for anything. The entire platform is based on attack politics and anti-governmental pie in the sky ideology.

Yep, I blame the right wing for their inability to capture the minds of America and to refuse to work with others. There's is politics aiming at the lowest common denominator. They refuse to be accountable for anything. They breed people who's sole purpose is to attack liberals and government. A welfare mom has nothing on the Republican Party leadership when it comes to victimization. It is an unfortunate turn of events which has taken place over the past seven years. Even the Republican candidates disavow the crash and burn politics of their party leadership in the past.

We'll see how it all turns out. I for one, vote for America in all its glory and diversity and madness and I think times are great and the future is very bright.