BATTLING OBAMA SUCCESS IS HARD FOR GOP

As an educational exercise, I expose myself to as much right wing rhetoric as I can. Because I have been doing that for along time, I sense what they are thinking but more important, what the objective of their attacks might be. Something about their assaults on President Obama has changed lately. Their attacks have always been personalized and fell into the category of harassment; his “weak character” is ruining America’s standing in the world; he is “clueless” about the world situation because he is destroying the Pentagon; he “lacks leadership ability” because he drew a red line and then does not follow through; he “is lying” about Affordable Health Care; etc. However, lately, since his re-election, they have changed the focus of their assault; the objects of their attacks are not him but his policies but seem to lack substance. Clearly, he has had great success with his intellectual approach to governance, and apparently, that is scaring the opposition; they do not know how to attack success.

The Affordable Care Act is a success, as everyone knew it would be but it is more than that, the government the right wing wants us to despise, is doing something good for the people. Think of the mass of people the radical conservatives have been educating to hate big government; suddenly, they have multiple reasons to “love” what they have been taught to “hate”; these are strong emotions that are not easy to change.

The Obama successes with the ACA remind them that the Social Security act of 1935 worked. In addition, Civil Rights signed into law in 1964 worked, and the amendments to the Social Security Act in 1965 known as Medicare/Medicaid worked. As a child, I can remember the hate generated for their idol of evil, Franklyn Delano Roosevelt, the architect of the new Deal and as an adult; I saw the same thing when it came to Lyndon Baines Johnson, the signer of the social security amendments. The American People benefit from having the government—elements of socialism—in their lives. I am pleased to tell Reagan that the government is not the problem; the government is the solution.

The ridiculousness of the rancher Bundy stand off in Nevada reminds people how foolish anti government movements really are. They are nothing more than a few ridiculous looking bearded guys in camouflage with assault rifle parading in front of cameras. It stands as an example of the idiocy of what these “duck dynasty” types stand support—anarchy. The American people are not silent as they have been in the past leaving the press to off the wall type people like Bob Livingston un opposed. I have seen numerous published comments relating to the facts of the case: the man is stealing from the American People; he is violates the law for his own benefit; and he is a criminal. Even Sen. Reid drew a line in the Nevada sand. Bundy will lose, as he mustbut it will happen without a lot of fanfare.

President Obama drew a “red line” in the sand; Assad of Syria crossed it and paid the consequences; he lost his stockpile of poison gases without the fanfare. The United States did not have to drop one bomb to do it. Israel wanted us to invade Iran, however, Obama saw a better way; Iran has stopped building atomic weapons, without much noise. McCain and company, the reference here is to the military industrial complex, wanted us to arm Syrian rebels; Obama saw that the rebels were Al Queda or otherwise anti America and refuse to put arms in their hands. For that, he is accused of not have a “back bone”; what he should be accused of is having a brain.

All the countries in the Middle East involved in the Arab Spring” are becoming democracies including Syria and Iran. President Obama’s foreign policy is to let them do that on their own; let them establish their own government without the United States standing over them with an assault rifle at the ready just in case they do not do it exactly the way we want.

Putin has a goal of “restoring Russia to greatness” on annexation at a time. The right wing sees no military solution so they fell silent except for a weak cry to arm the Ukrainians. They make their lack of understanding evident by comparing the Ukraine to Syria, as if the Ukrainian government were rebels. We can rest easy because Obama is at the helm, which almost guarantees Obama will either drive Putin out of power or render him helpless with economic sanctions and unrest in Russia, again without the fanfare of the mighty United States dropping bombs.

The right wing is having trouble deciding how to attack all of this success. Their arguments are becoming more unfocused and frivolous. They sound stupid telling people to hate government and say ACA is not providing health care and lowering cost, Social Security has not eliminated old age poverty, civil rights is not equalizing society, government is good not evil, and that Arab spring is not creating democracies in countries where religious dictators have ruled since the being of time. What is there about war neocons can sell to the American people? What is there about plutocracy conservatives can sell to the people? What is there about a government bought and paid for by big money that the people will find appealing? What is there about conservative policy that is good for the world and good for the American workers? More and more, they resemble a small bunch of armed thugs with assault rifles supporting a lawbreaker and their rhetoric shows it.    

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