every morning, i wake up and check msnbc on my blackberry to see what’s going on in the world. the last year has been very frustrating. i have watched/heard on a weekly, almost daily, basis the republicans obstruct, obfuscate and lie their way through this first year. i’ve also watched the right wing brigade of “average americans” lap it up like kittens to milk. i’ve also watched as the supposed “main stream media” plays directly into their hands.
one of the many lies that has pissed me off is the lie about reconciliation. the repugs make it sound like this is some new fangled procedure used to skirt the rules and pull the wool over the americans’ eyes. they, and americans, seem to forget that republicans have used it significantly more than democrats. (though both sides have used it as a weapon.) they like to complain that never before has it been used to so significantly remake the american economy but it has. when bush and the repugs used it to give the wealthiest americans more tax breaks than they had already. it damaged our economy and sent us on the road to the economic hell we’re in now.
that’s bad enough but now that democrats are trying to use another procedure in the house called “deem and pass” republicans are acting as if such a thing has NEVER been done before. they act as if this is some new trick that democrats have come up with. i don’t like this procedure. i think it’s tricky and allows those in congress to be able to play both sides come election time. that being said, if the repugs would have allowed the majority to govern as the congress was set up to do, this would not have even come up.
i blame a whole host of democrats for being weak willed and spineless. i blame many democrats for shooting inward toward their on party rather than outward at republicans. however, this would never have been an issue if mitch mcconnell had not decided, even before obama was inaugurated, that republicans would govern in an obstructionist manner. because mcconnell is very skilled at procedure, he has used every trick up his sleeve to slow process down in congress. it’s underhanded and vile.
has the main stream media reported this vile, underhanded behavior? not really, what the msm feels that they need to do is report in a “fair and balanced” manner (not in the fox meaning of the term but actual fairness and balance). it’s not that easy. sometimes, one side is just wrong. news should not be about balancing each side. it should be about reporting the truth. if republicans are obstructing procedure, report that. don’t look 5 years back and say dems did it too. if dems do it again when they’re out of power, then report it! reporting shouldn’t be about fair, it should be about getting to the bottom of underhanded behavior.
the other problem with the “fair” reporting is that those americans who don’t have time or prefer not to look into what is happening, fall for each talking point or each headline as if it were the gospel.
i watch msnbc everyday. i would say that their right wing guests outnumber the liberal guests at least during the daytime hours. (the right wingers are too afraid, for the most part, to appear on the evening programs.) often, these guests are allowed to spout talking points without ever having to prove them. they have said over and over again that reconciliation is a nuclear option. they coined that term and it was a term used to signal getting rid of the filibuster…not reconciliation. yet they are allowed to repeat this over and over and over again…even on msnbc.
when is someone going to challenge these people? just say, you’re lying! those nascar dads and bible belt evangelicals are eager to follow the repugs to their own detriment.
ugh…i didn’t think things could get worse but i think repugs will win big in november. they will take back the house and make significant gains in the senate. this will not be because their ideas are better or even that they are more popular but because democrats have been to weak and have had too much infighting to keep themselves on course. democrats will deserve the losses. we’ll go back to being the indignant minority. america will suffer but democrats won’t have the spine to use the procedural hurdles to stop the repubs.
sickening. i’ve told the dccc and dscc over and over that i will NOT contribute to their campaign requests until the grow a spine. they don’t deserve my support OR my vote OR my money until they step up and do their job.
that’s it. enough…
