The Right thinks if we don’t continue the neocon’s programs in dealing with the rest of the world, we’ll be losing the edge in foreign policy. But is this true? Is the “we’d rather bomb you than talk to you” approach the best chance we have for world order? Or is President Obama, our Community-Organizer-in-Chief leading us in the right direction?

Being the schoolyard bully certainly has its perks. Nobody dares take anything that belongs to you, no one would even consider standing up to you, or refusing you your favorite seat in the cafeteria. The downside is, nobody will stand up with you, or share anything with you unless you take it from them.

In other words, bullies have no real friends they can rely on!

Sure they get their way most of the time, because everyone is afraid of them. They also get a lot of space, because no one will go near them. The tough guy life is a lonely life indeed!

And this is exactly what we’ve seen throughout the Bush years. The United States pretty much had to go it alone with just a handful of nations, possessing little power of their own, tagging along. It was very costly for the nation both monetarily and in casualties. The Bush concept of “coerced democracy” left us with a wide berth in the schoolyard, and alienated itself from the rest of the world.

Now we have the “we’re all in this together if its going to work” mentality through President Obama, and the Right Wing thinks we’re a lot less safe. Yet the President is mending alliances throughout the world, including with Russia, and the world is beginning to stand together on some important issues. Sounds a lot safer this way, don’t you think?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen many a bully get what’s coming to him when the other kids finally had enough of him. Yet I never did see any kid, with the ability to come up with inclusive ideas for the whole schoolyard, get a beating.

It’s all a very simple equation really, the World is a community (whether anyone likes it or not), and all it needed was a “community organizer” to begin the process of setting things right. So if you ask me if we’re losing the edge in foreign policy with Obama at the helm, I’d have give a resounding “No!”

Technorati Tags: Community Organizer, foreign policy, Obama, Pesident Obama

I kept trying to wrack my brain about who these teabaggers reminded me of. It was something I had witnessed before, but I wasn’t quite sure where or when. Then it hit me!

It was the People’s Front of Judea! Or was that the Judean People’s Front? Splitters!!

Technorati Tags: protesters, teabaggers

In light of all the hubbub going on with right wing protesters who cry out about big government, and government take overs, it would be good if we took a moment remembering the words of Candidate Obama about that very topic during the presidential campaign.

“It’s not whether we have big government, or we have small government. It’s whether or not we have good government. Government that works.”

Now I know we’re all fed up with government bureaucracy, and how it seems when a crisis comes up, the government builds a new department with a whole new set of requirements and regulations, and how even when the crisis passes, the government never backs down. This has created a real mess in the way the country runs, and the taxpayer has to carry the burden of all that wasted effort to keep those agencies functioning with nothing really to do.

But it seems to me, the now President Obama still holds to the concept of good government. He certainly doesn’t seem the sort to waste time, effort or money. And he definitely doesn’t give one the impression that he’s for the “set it and forget it” style of bureaucratic uselessness we’ve seen over the years.

Rather it appears his methods are designed to handle a crisis, see it through, then back off. We see this in how he’s dealt with Wall Street and various other problems. TARP funding is temporary and will not continue once the banks are recovering. The car industry got a boost from government with a bailout and the “cash for clunkers” program, but now they’re relatively on their own.

Regulations need to be put in place to prevent the same problems from occurring again, but this is not “government take over.” It’s government working for the best interests of the people so the people aren’t faced with the same hardships in the future we face now. It’s government protecting the “common wealth” so we can all prosper.

In essence, it’s government doing the job government is suppose to do. To me, that’s good government.

Technorati Tags: bureaucracy, government, government take over, Obama

Among all the FoxSpews zombies at the latest 9/12 march, there was a group who had perfect pitch. Billionaires for Wealthcare sang out the praises of letting things remain as they are. These guys were great, but its amazing how many people around them had no idea Billionaires for Wealthcare were laughing at them.

Check them out

And read more here about the Billionaires for Wealthcare

Technorati Tags: Billionaires for Wealthcare, FoxSpews, protest, tea baggers

At this moment we’re facing one of the most historic votes in Congress. More than sixty years in the making, and finally we may have a real health care reform bill being signed by the President. This was Senator Ted Kennedy’s life work, and sorrowfully he isn’t here to see it through. But what’s even worse is, we may not have full representation from the state he came from. At this point it seems the lights are out in Massachusetts and nobody’s home.

State lawmakers are dragging their feet in allowing Governor Patrick to appoint an interim replacement for Senator Kennedy. This is temporary mind you. The replacement will only be in office until a special election can take place, and the person getting the position cannot run in the election. Its merely to give Massachusetts full representation at this critical time.

Now I understand the “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander” problem. If the Democrats in Massachusetts allow this now, it could happen again when a Republican governor is in office later. Naturally a Republican governor would appoint a Republican replacement, and that could spell problems for the state.

But its only temporary! Senator Kennedy asked for an interim replacement pending a special election. So even if a future Republican governor got the opportunity to appoint someone somewhere down the road, the special election would remedy the situation with little time to do very much damage to the state’s policies.

So what’s the problem here? Will someone please turn the lights back on?!?

Technorati Tags: interim replacement, Massachusetts, Massachusetts lawmakers, Senator Kennedy, special election

President Obama’s health care speech to the Joint Houses of Congress certainly shook things up a bit, and I in no way want to belittle it. It was masterfully given, and spelled out exactly what everyone wanted to hear. But the best part of the night for me was the behavior and appearance of the Republicans throughout the whole evening.

It reminded me of a group of school bullies who were being brought to terms by their principal. There was defiance for sure, but the majority of them looked like the jig was up for them and they were about to spend the rest of the year in detention.

Though I’m still deeply troubled by the lack of respect given to the office of the President by these supposedly intelligent, patriotic leaders, I can understand their frustration. For so many years the Republican party has stood their ground on purely partisan politics, using fear and misinformation to thwart Democratic liberalism. But now they’re up against a President who’s smarter than they are, totally dedicated to working for the people, and perhaps the best “roper-doper” since Mohamed Ali.

One has to wonder if Obama’s push to get a bill voted on before the August recess wasn’t a calculated maneuver to send the GOP into a frenzy, knowing full well it would nudge them into revealing all their dirty tricks throughout the recess. Let’s face it, they threw everything they had at it, but in the end, health care reform is still the most popular way to go according to the majority of Americans, and all the right-wingers managed to do was expose their lack of a plan and their unwillingness to participate like adults.

Politics is a bit like gambling, and our President seems to have an excellent poker face.

Technorati Tags: behavior, Democrat, health care reform speech, Joint Houses of Congress, political bad behavior, politics, President Obama, Republican

A lot of the pundits on both sides keep pointing to the fact how the Republican got control of the health care reform issue and almost ran it into the ground. That was their intention, because frankly, if President Obama and the Democrats succeed in bringing in major reform, it’ll be a cold day in hell before Republicans can drag themselves back into good graces with the public. But was it a mistake on the President’s part to let them get away with this for so long?

It certainly was unfortunate that so many people got so badly affected by all the lies and deception, but I have a feeling former President Bush’s misquote a while back will come up in the end and haunt the GOP for a long time to come. “Fool me once, shame on me . . . you. Fool me twice . . . and we won’t get fooled again!”

The madness of this past August allowed the Republican right to play out their entire hand and expose them clearly as mere obstructionist. They used every underhanded trick in the Rove Play Book to kill Democratic efforts. But in the end, they never really got away with their phony “grassroots” appearance, and even the spewing of people like Glen Beck didn’t hide the fact it was coming directly from the GOP.

And now they face the “Community Organizer” tonight as President Obama addresses the Joint Houses of Congress. What do they have left to say that could possibly be taken as credible? How will what they’ve already said measure up to Obama’s ability to motivate in a positive and progressive way?

We’ll see who gets the last word on health care reform, but I have a suspicion the Rove Play Book may end up being good kindling for the GOP funeral pyre when this is all said and done.

Technorati Tags: Community Organizer, Democrats, health care reform, Joint Houses of Congress, politics, President Obama, Republicans

Labor Day is when we honor the workers in the country. Most of the time it goes by without a great deal of thought, but this year I think we should really focus on more than just how many hamburgers to cook on the barbecue. Labor is the real force behind our economy, and at this time when corporate greed is taking its toll on our lives, it’d be good to remember where our prosperity actually comes from.

With all the jobs being lost due to corporate cut backs in the workforce designed to keep the CEOs making obscene amounts of money, to all the pensions being dropped, and health insurance becoming virtually useless, someone somewhere has to stand up and take notice. Without the worker, this country would be nowhere, and its high time Congress realizes this.

Our representatives were elected to look after the interests of the people, the average laborer. Taking care of the people is not Socialism, leveling the playing field so the blue collars get a even break is not Fascism, regulating how business is conducted in this country is not government take over. It’s protecting the Commonwealth (common wealth) so the economic machine can keep rolling along smoothly.

Let’s face it folks, Reagan’s “trickle down economics” never worked. No trickle, but plenty of hoarding at the top. So on this Labor Day, perhaps we can dispense with all the foolish talk about President Obama being a Nazi, and really take a look at what’s really going on. On this Labor Day, there’s no honoring as long as the average citizen is being screwed by the corporate machine.

A day off work really doesn’t cut it this time.

Technorati Tags: blue collar, Economy, Labor Day, laborer, workers

A sleeping giant has awoken! And no I’m not talking about some lunatic fringe who wants everyone to just say no to health care reform, or some frightened, unread mob who wave their banners and guns at town hall meetings. We’re talking about labor here!

The incoming president of the AFL-CIO has laid down the law on those Blue Dog “Demoochrats” who beg for votes on election day, but turn their backs on the people when its most important. No more playing both sides of the fence. It’s fish or cut bait time for those who think they can get away with pandering to the big corporations’ funding schemes while playing nicey-nice to the Labor Unions.

The message is clear . . .

You vote for the people, or the people won’t vote for you. You back our best interests, or we won’t back you.

Now we’re talking!

Technorati Tags: AFL-CIO, blue dogs, health care reform, Labor Unions

This is a must read from Frank Schaeffer for anyone losing hope in President Obama’s methods of politics:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obama-is-right-his-critic_b_273314.html

I’ve always believed the President is a smart guy! And even though he’s been laughed at by the likes of Palin for being just a community organizer, he’s been effectively using that talent to draw the right people and policies to him, while exposing those with no willingness for progress into the light.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Far Right, Obama Critics On The Left, politics, Politics News, Republicans, Senator Edward Kennedy