"There's good reason why the Right is terrified of a Second Term Obama because that is exactly what they think he'll do: the real Obama will appear and take us down the road to social justice and tolerance and a leveling of the economic playing field."
Portrait, Michael Moore, 04/03/09. (photo: Ann-Christine Poujoulat/Getty)
How to Prevent "President Romney"
07 September 12
n two months we Americans will go to the polls once again to decide who the president will be for the next four years. We will not be allowed to vote on those who wield the true power in this country. On November 6th we will not vote for the chairman of ExxonMobil or JPMorgan Chase or Citibank or the Premier of China. That day will come, but not this year.
Now, I know there are a goodly number of you out there who believe there's not a snowball's chance in Kenya that Barack Obama will not be re-elected to the White House. And why would you believe otherwise? After the incredible Democratic convention this week, with the best rock-em-sock-em speeches I've heard from a Democrat's mouth since … since, I don't know when. You can't help but not have a contact high after this past week if you are of the sort who believes in economic justice, peace, and a five-dollar latte. Right now, with the buzz on, you are sitting there thinking that your fellow Americans will turn out in massive numbers, either because they want to continue the Obama era or because they're scared shitless of the barbarians at the gate - or both. You're convinced that the Republicans have blown it with all their talk of the lady parts they want to control even though we now know that they have no idea where those parts are, what they are, or how they work.
Yes, it certainly looks like the voters will reject this obscenely wealthy man called Romney — Romney of Michigan/Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Utah/Zurich/Grand Cayman — this man who will not explain exactly how all his wealth was obtained, where he keeps it, or how much taxes he pays on it. He wants to turn the clock back to the '50s - the 1850s - and he refuses to offer any specific plan about what he'll do about anything. He wants to run the country like a corporation but he can't even control one 82-year-old actor on his own convention stage, a Hollywood legend who, in the matter of ten and a half minutes went from Good (walking onto the stage) to Bad (talking to a chair) and then to Ugly (the chair started … swearing?). It was better than the best cat-flushing-the-toilet video on YouTube and it was a gift to all of us who know that Romney is doomed come November.
Or is he?
Last week, I said on the HuffPost Live webcast that we had all better start practicing how to say "President Romney" because, living in Michigan, I can tell you that there's trouble here on the two peninsulas and it's not just because Romney is a native son or that we like to watch kids from Cranbrook chase down gay kids and chop their hair off. One recent poll here showed Romney leading Obama by four points! How can that be? Didn't Obama save Detroit?
No, he didn't. He saved General Motors and Chrysler. "Detroit" (and Flint and Pontiac and Saginaw) are not defined by the global corporations who suck our towns dry and then split town to make more money elsewhere (except, of course, they continued to design and built crap cars, so eventually they didn't make the money at all). These cities in Michigan are about the people who live here, and in the process of "saving Detroit," Mr. Obama had to fire thousands of these people, and reduce the benefits and pensions of those who were left. There's a lot of pissed off people in Michigan (and Wisconsin and Ohio), people who weren't saved even though the corporation was. I'm just stating a fact, and those of you who don't live here should know this.
The other problem facing us this election (spoiler alert - angry white guys may want to stop reading right now) … is race. We all fear there's probably a good 40% of the country who simply do not want a black man in the Oval Office. In fact, in 2008, Obama lost the white vote. He lost every white age group except young people (18-29). And yet he still won by 10 million votes! The optimistic secret the Obama people know is that only about 70% of the voters in November will be white. So if he can win just 35-40% of them, and then get a massive majority of people of color, he can win re-election. There is no question in my mind that Obama is more popular than Romney and if everyone could vote from their couch like they do for American Idol, Obama would win hands down. As I have said before, we live in a liberal country. The majority of Americans (who do not call themselves "liberal") now support most of the liberal agenda - they're for gay marriage, they're pro-choice, they're anti-war, they believe there's global warming, and they hate Wall Street for what it has done to them and their neighbors. The Republicans know this: that we, the majority, will have sex when we want and with whom we want, will read and watch whatever we want when we want, will use marijuana if we want and if we don't want to then we certainly don't want our friends who do to be throw into prison. We are sick and tired of being poisoned, by chemicals or propaganda, we think the Palestinians have been given a raw deal and we want our friggin' jobs back! The Christian Right (and their Wall Street funders) know this all too well - America has turned, and there's no going back to not loving someone because of the color of their skin or expecting women to cede control of their bodies to a bunch of Neanderthals. So, what's a Rightie to do now that we've turned the joint into Sodom and G? They have to suppress the vote! They have to stop as many liberals from voting as possible. So they've passed many voter suppression laws to make it hard for the poor, the minorities, the disabled and students to vote. They honestly believe they can pull this off - and they just may. The only "positive" thing about this is that their need to have such laws in order to win the election is an admission on the part of the Republicans that they know the U.S. Is a liberal country and that the only way they can now win now is to cheat. Trust me, if they believed that America was a right-wing country they'd be passing laws making it so easy to vote you could do it in the checkout line at Walmart.
But the voting on November 6th will not take place at Walmart or on any potato's couch. It can only happen by going to a polling place - and, not to state the obvious, the side that gets the most people physically out to the polls that day, wins. We know the Republicans are spending tens of millions of dollars to make sure this very thing happens. They have built a colossal get-out-the-vote machine for election day, and the sheer force of their tsunami of hate stands ready to overwhelm us like nothing we've ever seen before. Those of us in the Midwest got a taste of it in 2008. Traditionally Democratic states - all of which voted for Obama - saw our state legislatures and governor seats hijacked by this well-oiled machine. We didn't know what hit us, but these new Republicans wasted no time in dismantling some of the very basic thing we hold dear. Wisconsin fought back - but even that huge grassroots uprising was not enough to stop the governor bought and paid for by the Koch brothers. It was a wake up call, for sure - but have we really woken up?
It's been a great week in Charlotte, and I'm getting ready now to watch Barack Obama give his speech. It's OK for us to take a couple days to high-five each other, but I cannot stress enough to you that unless you and I are doing something every day for the next 60 days to get people out to vote, then there is a chance we will all be saying "President Romney" come January. Don't think it can't happen. Hate, sad to say, at least in America these days, is a far greater motivator than love and feelin' groovy.
For those of us who believe that the history of the Democrats and the Republicans is to do the bidding of the 1% (Obama's #1 private contributor in '08 were the people at Goldman Sachs), and that while the Dems are a kinder/gentler bunch, they are also just as quick to want to take us to war and sell us out to the corporate interests (and, yes, Obamacare is a $$ gift to the insurance companies; only a single-payer system will stop that), this election is a bit of a bitter pill. We were hugely disappointed when President Obama didn't charge out of the gate after his inauguration and undo the damage that had been done (as FDR did in his first hundred days) - and only when Wall Street stopped writing him the big campaign checks this past year did he get his mojo back and start fighting the fight that needs to be fought. He's a good and decent person (when he's not sending in drones to kill Pakistani civilians or prosecuting government whistleblowers), and his election four years ago was a high point of such emotional intensity I just couldn't get over how hopeful I was that this country had changed and we had found our moral footing. Reality set in a few weeks later when he put Tim Geithner and Larry Summers in charge of economic policy and then he changed his mind about closing Gitmo.
OK, so people like me, just once in our lifetime, would like to get our way all the time! Is that too much to ask? Of course, there is a different question that is in the air now — shall we give the country back to the crowd who gave the country to the 1%? I think not. So let's join in with our liberal majority and be fierce and relentless in these next two months. Let's spend this time educating people what we mean when we say things like "single-payer" and "Blackwater." Politics and the fate of the nation (and the world - sorry, world) are on the front burner and those of us who want to wrestle control of our society out of the hands of the few can take healthy advantage of these coming weeks. Don't sit it out. Don't try to convince anyone Obama has magically transformed us - just tell them four years is simply not enough time to undo all the hurt caused by biggest economic crash since the Great Depression and the biggest military blunder/lie in our history.
I'm going to go with my optimistic side here (sorry, cynics, you know I love you) and imagine a Second Term Obama (and a Democratically-controlled Congress) who will go after all the good that our people deserve and put the power of our democracy back in our hands. There's good reason why the Right is terrified of a Second Term Obama because that is exactly what they think he'll do: the real Obama will appear and take us down the road to social justice and tolerance and a leveling of the economic playing field. For once, I'd like to say I agree with the Right - and I sincerely hope their worst nightmare does come true.
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in general this is a good piece and you make a good case but what possessed you to write in reference to the rescue of the auto industry that "Mr. Obama had to fire thousands of these people, and reduce the benefits and pensions of those who were left"? Is that "had to" as in "he did" or as in "he had no choice"? The former is simply a statement of fact but the latter (if this is what you meant) says he had no other options. This line i would reject wholeheartedly and would expect that you would to.
Also, why no discussion of the "strategic voting" tactic that other progressives have been calling for i.e., that in states such as NY or Cal. where the election is not in doubt (i.e., the dems are a shoe-in) that progressives need to organize and vote strategically for the same progressive alternative (e.g., the Green Party) to begin to develop some real influence and leverage over the party as a whole (as the old "Liberal Party" used to be in races in NYC).
While i agree that we need to reelect Obama to stave off the frightening prospect of a republican white house and congress, at the same time we need to continue to talk and stragegize how to create a real progressive alternative and we need to learn how to talk about both at the same time.
Barbara,
i took it to mean that as part of the auto "rescue/bailout " that the UAW was again "asked" (more like forced) to give more givebacks including cutting jobs. Unfortunately, the UAW has for years essentially been "selling out" future workers to protect whatever current workers get. You'd have thought they would have learned by now that this was disasterous for their memebership as a whole. My point was that I don't believe Obama should have pushed for any more givebacks from the workers and that if the companies refused then take them over like they did with AIG and then turn the companies over to the workers as worker-owned cooperatives. That would have been truly visionary. Unfortunately, Obama can give an "inspirational" speach but is far from a visonary leader (just compare his speaches with those of FDR or even his Republican Brother Teddy whose speaches against the Trusts of his day are remarkable and show what a President can say and do).
OB didn't push, The Corporate Heads didn't want to give up their bonuses and salaries or raises...they make a lot more than any one worker.
People if you review history always get laid off. It was what Unions had known would happen, company breaths, gets orders and workers are called back. Look at Mack Truck who left Lehigh Valley...then years later came back. It has been happening for decades. I believe the Wars were some of only time workers were on count at all times due to government contracts.
So people got laid off, when push came to shove, they got hired back. Some found other jobs. Also happens.
Look at all speeches, heck their are seminars on speech giving, Clinton is one of the best students.
Worker owned cooperatives might work now but under W they went down the tubes to China.
Jobs...ReaGun and Bush Sr sold us out, then Clinton signed the NAFTA and the next two continue it....Want jobs here...tarrifs on foreign imports. Imports must be up to our Regulations not unregulated...( Lead)
OB should have taken out Wall Street And Banks Big Business has been dealing with problems forever I know. The other two are getting way too big for their britches
Still, if we want Obama to get something done we need to show that he has wide support. Voting for a 3rd party candidate won't do that.
I understand the idea of "strategic" voting, but I think it's bad strategy.
Also, why no discussion of the "strategic voting" tactic that other progressives have been calling for i.e., that in states such as NY or Cal. where the election is not in doubt (i.e., the dems are a shoe-in) that progressives need to organize and vote strategically for the same progressive alternative (e.g., the Green Party) to begin to develop some real influence and leverage over the party as a whole (as the old "Liberal Party" used to be in races in NYC).
It is a dangerous slope when you think that you can project the "split" in the vote and suggest to make a symbolic statement by voting for another group. It would be better to build a grassroots organizaation and elect Progressives, members of the Green Party, members of the Working Family Party, etc. at the local level (i.e. state offices) to create a power base that can be a force for the things we want. This is actually the message of hope and change that Barack Obama projected as a candidate in 2008. WE need to work to create a groundswell of people who support our positions and working with these people DEMAND the change that we require. Notice what the republicans are doing at the state level throughout America. They are winning these battles and making it harder for us to win the war.
Many people are saying that Obama's reelection won't break the partisan deadlock but I disagree. A reelection would indicate that the Republican no compromise attitude isn't working.
By the way, it is the right that wants to make sure minorities don't vote. It is the right that is scared by pat buchanan's threats that we're facing the "end of white supremacy" in America.
It is the right that wants to accuse a Baptist American citizen of being a Muslim from Kenya and that he somehow "doesn't deserve" the Presidency.
It's the right that refers to the black guy in the White House as a "street thug".
What evidence does the right have to support ANY of those accusations other than the color of his skin?
Did you know that many of us on the left are white also and we're listening when right-wingers talk about minorities. We know how right-wingers talk when they don't think any minorities are listening. Sorry to reveal that "well-kept" secret, but it's pretty widely known. We don't need to read about it. Most of us liberal whiteys have first hand experience listening to it.
The code words are only used in public.
By the way, misspelling the President's first name isn't a very affective political strategy.
Sure there are some loonies on the right. There are some on the left too. And Moore is definitely one of the crazy hate-mongers. We should all be sorry about that. Do you believe all white people who disagree with Obama are racist?
I am very very very disappointed in Obama but he was plenty criticized by the left during the primaries so we did know. However, like others we did vote for both hope and change which the country and its people sorely need.
We still need it but Romney will give us a change that is far more terrible to contemplate.
I believe the reason the Stadium wasn't used Thursday was a death threat disguised as Muslim.
Both the right and the left are stuck with loony and dangerous extremists. Michael Moore is certainly one.
Do you think all white people that disagree with Obama are racists?
And by the way, misspelling "effective" isn't a very effective political strategy.
af·fec·tive (-fktv)
adj. Psychology
1. Influenced by or resulting from the emotions.
2. Concerned with or arousing feelings or emotions; emotional.
Look it up for yourself: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/affective
Nice try.
Michael Moore has done so much to try to help ALL of us, including you. His movies have been enlightening, revealing, funny and right on the mark. Do yourself a favor and watch several of them in a row and notice that there is no evil intent towards anyone, except to bust the real criminals that have made such a mess of our country. Gun manufacturers, auto industry CEO's and their greed, health insurance companies, and yes, bad politicians.
Notice, how Michael does not shy away from criticizing Obama as well, as he wants him to do better. I have a feeling that the things Michael criticizes Obama for, you probably like just fine. I also have a feeling that even though you must realize that Romney is worthy of wearing a dunce cap, you will vote for him, just to vote against the other guy who people like you have demonized almost to death.
With all due respects. :)
The dangerous loons are all right wingers.
I do not believe being a minister, preacher, Politician is an exemption from being criticized. In fact I believe they should be more so since they chose to lead
It is strange that those who constantly oppose the President's programs have NEVER provided an alternative one, or have agreed to build a program together. It used to be said that elections have consequences. That he who gets the most votes in a Presidential campaign deserves the chance to implement the program that was proposed. Why does this policy NOT apply to Republicans when they lose the majority status?
BTW, I am "white" and I can easily discern the racist nature of the comments that have been used against our President. Why can't you?
The reason you can see racism for what it is and other whites can't is because the label "racist" doesn't hit a little too close to home for you. As usual, the right-wingers offended by the accusation are really just frustrated that people can see through their agenda.
You're right, studies have shown that only 25% of Republicans are racists. Not an overwhelming endorsement of your views, and answering racists is not racism. Your side encompasses racism as official policy.
IN YOUR DREAMS, MICHAEL....NOT REALITY!
We don't even know who Obama is or what he really represents after 4 years??? Wall-street? International Bankers? Certainly not We, The People!
If this man isn't the genuine, real deal after 4 years in office he's never going to be...
Dumbledorf, i agree with your take on Obama but for me the point is that it has always been this way and the only time we have gotten any meaningful and substantive progressive change in this country is when the working class, the people, the 99% or however you want to put it, are organized and in sufficient numbers to scare the hell out of the ruling class, 1% or whatever such that they are forced to implement meaningful reform (whether it was ending slavery, the civil rights movement, women's suffrage, the workers movement in the 30s that led to the New Deal, etc). Progressives have to learn not to put any "faith" in politicians (no matter who they are) and realize it is about power. without numbers, organization and radical tactics we have no power and without it it doesn't matter who's in power we won't get the change we want
I'm inclined to agree with you about Obama the Wimp. I will be shocked if he changes his stripes or spots and actually does what needs to be done. I don't think he has the stones to do it.
That is up to us to do.
I do not believe the RNR Group is pro America, the America I stand for
He's far, far and away better than Bush or any republican could ever be.
No republican could ever hope to have put over all the con jobs on people that Obama has managed to put over on them and still have them cheering and believing they'd supported something even remotely progressive or good for them.
But no one likes to admit they were taken to the cleaners by a skilled con artist, so they'll hand over their money again, and they'll vote for him again.
Maybe someday they'll realize that the two party con job is the biggest lie there is.
Maybe... but not likely.
never met a Politician or Lawyer in Politics that do not lie...but rather have OB that RNR
what about his henchwomen?
I believe that is what the Republicans want, and what they hope to achieve with their lies. It is important to remember this:
Only cowards lie.
Romney and Ryan lie because they are afraid. What are they afraid of? Could it be the loss of power? The loss of face? The loss of privilege and entitlement? Could it be they take the loss of these things personally?
Many people lie so as to control people and their reactions and decisions. It's been written that if you want to control people, you must first make them afraid.
So, what is the Republican agenda, if it is not to make we, the people, afraid?
I choose to be aware rather than afraid. If I am afraid, I lose the ability to think rationally. The more fear, the less rational I can be.
If the Republicans, and Mr. Eagle can make us fear, we will not think rationally. Above all, I believe thinking rationally is the most important thing we, the people, need to do. In order to do that, we must face whatever fears we are aware of, and go through them.
Courage is the fleeing forward.
This is an interesting question. The numbers clearly indicate that investors on Wall Street do better under Democratic presidents (Barack Obama included). Bill Clinton clearly provided other statistics concerning the economic history of the US under Democrats and Republicans as well. Perhaps it is a question of power. Under a Republican Administration ALL safeguards will be off (consider the new consumer protection agency that Elizabeth Warren proposed and developed) and these "cahmpions" of economic freedom will be able to steal even more wealth from the average American citizen. Isn't one of the R/R teams plans to privatize Social Security and provide this as a slush fund to Wall Street?
I know what I felt when he had a good roll goin on then said gas beneath us...I saw flames rising out of a families home.
I heard word oil riggings. But I know that there is a chance he would make them tow the line where as, the GOP wouldn't. I gave you thumbs up but then must be a diebold working here
I am voting OB
beatdok, on what basis do you make such a claim about Obama's second term? No president has ever done this without a mass movement out in the streets that has scared the hell out of the ruling class (or 1% if you prefer). FDR was elected as a moderate democrat and it was only a mass radical workers movement that gave us the New Deal. It was only the civil rights movement that gave us the Voting Rights Act and the landmark Supreme Court decisions such as Brown (and this was from a conservative Supreme Court)...instea d of pinning their "hopes" on Obama we need to be organizing and calling for mass demonstrations and civil disobedience that would give Obama the political "cover" he needs to then push for a more progressive agenda. Hope won't do it. A mass movement at least has a shot at making it so.
If Obama does win, he doesn't have to worry about re-election, and he may then do what he really wants to do. As Bill Clinton mentioned in his speech, most of the rise in properity took place in his second term.
On top of that, Obama had the surge in TParty politicians, and discovered how much they were going to bog down everything political with their "my way or the ighway" attitude. Without the American people rising up, as they started to do with the Occupy movement, he may have felt as if he had few other choices to back off a little and wait.
Having said that, I agree with you. The more "citizenship" skills and prowess we can show, the better off our country will be. As Thomas Friedman said on the Charlie Rose show, "We don't need better government - we need better citizens."
As I said in anothe blog posting, I think the people who vote Republican have given into the Republican agenda of trying to make people afraid. It's been said that if you want to control people, you must first make them afraid. I believe that is the Republican intent. The bottom line is that we must not give in an inch to fear.
Furthermore, this man is a war criminal! Certifiable after the NATO attack he led to bomb Libya, kill people that didn’t do anything to us, and destroy another country in the Middle East.
The other party’s candidate is a greedy predator that doesn’t deserve our vote either.
We have to put our feet on another path. Voting for Jill Stein is a start.
It looks like you will choose to vote to make a point. Just realize - it is unfortunate but there are only 2 people that have a chance of winning the election and a vote for anyone other than Obama is just as good as a vote for Romney.
Short-term, it makes little difference whether Obama or Romney is elected. The total, inevitable destruction of our county and our environment cannot be stopped. The Devil and His psychopathic agents who have risen to rule us, are now firmly in the driver’s seat. The only hope for the planet and humanity is to bring down the curtain on the whole charade of Civilization as soon as possible—and by any means possible. Under Obama and the Democrats, I see Capitalist Civilization surviving for perhaps another ten or twenty years before Armageddon. By then too much environmental damage will have been accomplished and the runaway greenhouse effect will be inevitable.
Under the Republicans I see the real possibility that we will experience the destruction of this country and hopefully Civilization in a matter of years not decades. This may be our only, last chance for the survival of a small number of our species.
That is why I am praying for a Romney victory in November. Who says our electoral process cannot evoke change?
But in reality the Creator gave us everything ...it is up to Us to Preserve it.
Personally, I feel that we should take over the USA no more two party crap. Time we hold ourselves accountable for what is going on, since it seems everyone here is so perfect
You mooches live off the work people like us do.
Welfare State is Nothing Compared to the White Trash in our Country
A: The total absence of fear.
Q: What is it we fear?
A: Love
"One Minute Wisdom" - Anthony de Mello
The problem is not with fear, so much as it is with the "denial" of fear. It's people learning to be afraid of admitting to being afraid, so they cannot begin to respond to it. The key to change is awareness of fear, and then getting curious about it. (Curiosity is, supposedly, a stronger drive than fear.)
Unless we have had our curiosity beaten or socialized out of us. So, support curiosity. Ask questions. Sometimes I think one of the main problems people have is not knowing how to ask good questions.
All addictions are based on fear, and denial is the main reason why people stay addicted. Usually fear gains strength when a person's self-image is weak. I suspect a lot of the people who back Republicans have weak self-images, which is why they can be led by bold lies, and authoritarian leaders.
It keeps them in their comfort zone to give up thinking. As columnist Sydney Harris once wrote, "Truth makes us uncomfortable, and comfort insulates us from the truth. What most people end up wanting is for things to stay the same but get better."
What most people stuck in a comfort zone are really afraid of is "Unwilled Change," because it's out of their control. And for the 1%, control is what it is all about. And that is why they are afraid and want to control everything & everyone.
Did you hear about the recent scientific study that showed the Amygdala, which size correlates to how fearful we are, is much larger in those who tend to be Republicans? Not surprising to me at all.
A Minnesota Public Radio broadcaster once said "I'm still trying to get to thet truth, and you already think you're there." I don't know, but he could have been talking about Republicans.
My brother-in-law once said "I've got my mind made up - don't try to confuse me with any facts." He was speaking satirically, and I'm sure he was talking about the Republicans.
The problem with many people is, as one pundit put it, "It's not what you know that causes the problems; it's what you know that ain't so."
The key for any person is to know the difference between an opinion and a fact. A fact can be proven, but an opinion cannot. So may people assume their opinions are facts, and state them as if they were. Once they assume an opinion to be a fact, they have little room for any one else's "facts."
I don't have a problem with anyone having an opinion. The problems begin with people who cannot tell the difference between the two.
"To lift the veil that seems so dark and heavy, it is only needful to value truth beyond all fantasy, and to be entirely unwilling to settle for illusion in place of truth."
"Your completion lies in truth and nowhere else."
A Course in Miracles
With President Romney the Liberals will suddenly turn on a dime and start protesting the War on Terror, drones, Afghanistan, the spying on, torture and murder of citizens as well as the draconian measures taken against whistleblowers, Muslims and immigrants—offe nses they simply preferred to ignore under Obama. Romney and Ryan may even inspire that long, long overdue bloody, violent revolution Tom Jefferson promised.
Obama is not the lesser of two evils, he is the more effective evil. A Romney Presidency will be met with massive resistance from a majority of Americans and even the conservative Democrat power structure. Obama’s Presidential abuses of power and his sell out of Liberal values will not.
Don't expect to protest without being met with an overwhelmingly violent response either.
I hope you didn't need your Social Security or Medicare.
Exactly.
One would hope that emulating republicans is not the best that Democrats and Obama supporters have to offer now....
......
It is not Obama's fault that even though he promised transparency there are still some people who are still unable to see through him.
[snip]
[In July 2011] At a press conference held by members of the House Out of Poverty Caucus Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich), the second most senior member of the U.S. House, was pointed in his criticism of the White House regarding jobs and cuts to Social Security the President put on the table last week.
“We’ve got to educate the American people at the same time we educate the President of the United States. THE REPUBLICANS, Speaker Boehner or Majority Leader Cantor DID NOT CALL FOR SOCIAL SECURITY CUTS in the budget deal. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES CALLED FOR THAT,” Conyers, who has served in the House since 1965, said. “My response to him is to mass thousands of people in front of the White House to protest this,” Conyers said strongly.
http://antemedius.com/content/it-not-obamas-fault
Good luck on that violent revolution you're planning.
As for me, I'll stick to voting in an election. Sorry some of you can't peacefully deal with the results when they don't go your way.
If you had actually read Piven and Cloward (e.g., Regulatin the Poor or Poor People's Movements -- both seminal classic works) you would know they are not Leninists at all (which makes me suspect you have never read lenin either...shame you should...start with What Is To Be Done and Lenin's other works to the German Social Democrats of his day in which he argues for political i.e., electoral democracy as the foundtation for socialism).
So, Soros is a billionaire capitalist "marxist"...lol
Well, at least Tom Paine was genuinely revolutionary.. .i would agree that the Declaration of Independence is a revolutionary document but the Constitution was the counter revolution meant to protect the property rights of white male property owners (including their slaves).
And, to be clear, i don't blame us for everything...ju st the things we are responsible for which includes being the greatest source of terrorism in the world (e.g., 500,000 children murdered as a result of our sanctions against Iraq) and the greatest threat to world peace both through our own imperial military escapades as well as by being the largest arms dealer in the world) as well as the largest polluter and exploiter of labor in the world (though our multi-national corps).
Heh. Well, the "right" has never been known for being very bright, after all....
Some who uprated it might want to re-read it carefully.
........
Two months into his presidency, Obama summoned the titans of finance to the White House, where he told them, "MY ADMINISTRATION IS THE ONLY THING BETWEEN YOU AND THE PITCHFORKS"
[snip]
...in April 2011, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Democrat Carl Levin, after a two-year inquiry, issued a fat report detailing several transactions, including Goldman's Abacus deal, that Levin and his staff believed should be investigated by Justice as possible crimes.
[snip]
Meanwhile, Obama's political operation continued to ask Wall Street for campaign money. A curious pattern developed. A Newsweek examination of campaign finance records shows that, in the weeks before and after last year's scathing Senate report, several Goldman executives and their families made large donations to Obama's Victory Fund and related entities, some of them maxing out at the highest individual donation allowed, $35,800, even though 2011 was an electoral off-year. Some of these executives were giving to Obama for the first time.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/06/why-can-t-obama-bring-wall-street-to-justice.html
It's a sorry state for the nation cum Empire that it gets to choose between a moral midget of a con-man, one capable of taking the cane OUT from the elderly lady's clutch just as she tries to cross a busy street; and the other, who does a classy shoe shine and smile for the lords of Wall St., and sadly, the MIC as well.
In the film, The Matrix, the "Frenchmen" offers the insight that choice is just an illusion extended to the governed by those who hold power. Sounds about right to me. And not a word inside the Conventions about the record loss of Arctic sea ice... electioneering, as the world burns. That's leadership... not!
Unlike Michael Moore - or some of the conservatives - I doubt that Obama will suddenly big moves to the political left. If he tries, the conservative Congress will soon hold him back... However: I also know that a Romney victory will be a disaster... Imagine a President who will want anti-abortion judges and the destruction of "Obamacare."
Morons will continue doing what they do.
I believe we can rebuild...but thugs do not want that I can prove it right here in rivercity
Please...
Well, he tried, but all 44 job creation bills from the Pelosi congress were filibustered by the Republicans, so you're blaming the wrong guy.
"He's a good and decent person (when he's not sending in drones to kill Pakistani civilians or prosecuting government whistleblowers)..."
It's indecent and speaks of how low the U.S. moral compass has sunk.
If you live in a state where you know who will win, vote for a third party. The stronger they are, the more it is possible for them to change what gets discussed (repeat DOMA or the Patriot Act, end the drug war, pick your issues). As those in favor of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell can tell you, parties do not have to win to matter.
If you live in a swing state, fight to make sure the voting machines count accurately and are not hacked, and that those who legally can vote are allowed to do so, and then vote strategically. Just voting is not enough.
I guess only his Caymen Island banker knows for sure.
My biggest concern is those damn paperless voting machines. That's how bush won Ohio.
Has Obama done all we've wanted - no, the recalcitrant R dominated House has seen to that along with Mitch McTurtle blurping 'filibuster' it's been an uphill climb.
All I know is that I've been w/o health insurance for 6 years and boy howdy has it taken it's toll. Now, starting 10Oct12 I will have a PCIP plan. It actually has local participating providers.
I'm pretty sure a President Romney would become a health care nazi like the soup nazi in Seinfield - 'no care for you'! I share your 'nightmare' Mr. Moore that we will get the man we voted for last time around. Got to get him that Congress too!
Could it be true Obama softshoed through his first term so he could make real changes in the next 4 years? I suppose it's possible
My wife and I make a nice living. While we have each been laid off at one time or another over past four years we both know it was a consequence of what happened to the economy before '08. We are both hard working and industrious people and have regained our previous income and improved our financial standing during Obama's time in office. He gets neither credit nor blame for either.
When I think about who I will vote for this year I reflect back to the time that I voted for Ross Perot as a protest vote. I wanted anyone other than a politician in office. It was wasted vote though fortunately during a time of relatively little consequence.
Citizens United means that this election is of great consequence. A corporations mission is to increase shareholder value. Corporations increase shareholder value by increasing profits and minimizing expenses. Plainly said, their goal is to take as much money from the citizens as possible.
When corporations donate their massive amounts of money to a pol, superpac, etc, they are making a business investment.
This time I vote for Obama. A vote for for anyone else aids Romney & the corporations that see us as revenue.
Usually I'd not 'go here' but it strikes me that suddenly there is a huge roll-out of trolls coming out of the woodwork! Maybe, given how reality and facts are out-of-bounds for the Group of Psychopaths, and those fooled by their lying skills, enough of the faithful are increasingly anxious about Romney and Company, and many follow their role models and speak with hate and attack others sadistically, with ad hominem accusations and distortions. Yes...Truth sometimes hurts. Often it's just ignored.
To me, the only silver lining is that this onslaught of defense for the Ryan/Romney/TP takeover plan may reflect the desperation among the faithful to believe one set of 'truth' versus another. Not everyone is 'bad' or "right'. Even the blathering, funnel-visioned , fact-haters may (other than Romney) treat their pets well - or visit the Cayman Islands. People vary in their character and life goals. Elections reflect American values and *onshore* life, here in America. (Vote! Help others vote!)
As was said, even a broken clock is right twice a day... Would that we'd 'clean the clock' of corrupt and anti-working-pe ople politicians and set the time for 'forward', for We the People.
Obama has shown more humanity towards gays and women, apart from that, there are virtually no indiscernible differences between the foreign policies of both R and D administrations . Both are under thrall to the MIC.
Mittens want to destroy Social Security and Medicare. The President doesn't.
Mittens wants to end all federal student aid. The President doesn't.
You have a big microphone! PLEASE use it!!
V O T E F O R O B A M A
so we can have four more years with
indefinite detention
fracking
tar sand pipeline
drones
kill list
taxcut for the rich
arctic drilling
violation of 1st Amendment
this said by the strongest supporter
of Obama in 2008, but not any more !
What is your plan of action now and who will you vote for on election day?
I will vote green.
How can anyone vote on somebody
with a kill list ?
f we give him a Democratic Congress ALL that can be remedied! HOW can you throw your vote away? Surely you won't vote for "mittens". To vote for anyone else IS a vote for Romney. God help us ALL if R "n" R get in! Never, EVER vote ReTHUGlican!
I live in Georgia and I hear it quite a few times every day that they aren't going to vote for a n----r.
Yes it is still that way in the South, regardless of what they may say in public. But in private their views are completely different.
When are the folks going to cast off this yoke around their neck. And a majority of these folks are professed CHRISTIANS. Only in name, apparently
We forget at our peril just how many of his initiatives have been summarily shot down in Congress for no reason other than that they were his ideas (more than one prominent Republican has bragged about this). We must recall Bill Clinton's experience with a Republican Congress, which accomplished little other than to spend months impeaching him over a dumb fling.
Remove "the party of no" from Congress and let the President do as he has long promised. He has, in very large part, stuck to his convictions while the best the opposition can come up with is "NOT whatever the President wants".
That fact ALONE sweeps away ANY arguments I have heard against President Obama.
If he can put a "moderate" or two on the court for LIFE, this action alone will outlive his Presidency, and affect all of us for GENERATIONS.
Think of the same power in Romney's hands.
I rest my case.
You are only a racist if you think that the reason he hasn't, in your opinion, done a good job is because he is black. From your post, I suspect that only you can know if that is true.
Michael, if you are so concerned and think a strategic move is in order, why did you not produce a film about the travesty that is Mitt Romney for airing during this election. The Rethugs made such a strategic move in producing "2016", and you sat back and complained like so many Dems, progressives, and liberals have done throughout these 4 years except to criticize the POTUS. What was your strategic move, Michael?
also, anything by Greg Palast
This is the only way to change the direction of our government and save whatever democracy we have left.
The way to achieve this is to spread the word about the concept and the stats of 5 - 10% of the vote they're getting in each election vs. the 43% we are as a coalition, and talk with the leadership of each party and make it clear that they either stay as they are and continue to receive 5 - 10% of the vote and dwindling membership, no funds to run but a shoestring election, and loss of ballot access or all these parties join together as the Peace & Freedom Coalition Party/the Green Coalition Party/the Independent Coalition Party/the Declined to State Coalition Party/ the Justice Coalition Party, etc.
The coalition party is the parties united.
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