Just a quick update for those of you wondering where parts 2 and 3 of my blog are…
Given the situation in Haiti, I do not feel it appropriate to write my opinions about how to defeat the Republicans this year. I’ll pick back up where I left off once the situation is under control, but for now we all need to come together and help our friends in Haiti get through this awful calamity.
Please, click the link on the top left of my blog and see what you can do to help. This is a time that calls for action, even if it is simply skipping lunch for a day to help those who have little time left to be helped.
Thank you, and may God Bless the United States and the people of Haiti.
-Sean
2010 is obviously going to be a huge year, in one way or another, for Democrats. How we handle this election, in order to be victorious, is going to require three things that will be discussed on this blog throughout the week:
1. A reminder of what America was like with the GOP in control.
2. A firm commitment to live up to campaign promises made in 2008.
3. Growing a pair
Let’s start with number one:
Life in a GOP USA:
Most sane adults can remember the Bush years. Rampant corruption, abuse of the Constitution, and thousands of needlessly lost lives were just a few major themes under the Republicans. The GOP seems to have a short memory, however, as they are falsely accusing the Democrats and President Obama of some of the same things they were guilty of. Hypocrisy and lying are sadly nothing new in politics, but what is new is the level and severity of which it has been occurring.
Beyond the rhetoric, the lack of leadership from the GOP has been appalling. Thanks to treasonous windbags on the right-wing fringe, the GOP has somehow gained the notion that Americans will respond to “NO” as a tangible campaign message. Without clear alternatives, and true to form, the GOP has attempted to shoot down every single piece of meaningful legislation for partisan gain. Imagine, if you will, if we had another “do-nothing” federal government that focused more on keeping gay people from spending their lives with each other, solely to appeal to their “Christian” base (by the way, for opponents of gay marriage who have based their decisions on Leviticus, you should really read the whole Book. If you’re going to regulate marriage, you might as well be consistent and enact the death penalty for anyone who works on The Sabbath, as well as the price regulation of slaves… just a thought)
Republicans know that our current sad state of affairs are a direct result of eight years of horrible incompetency. Indeed, whenever someone on the Left makes any comparison to the 00’s, the Right cries foul and claims that Democrats are still running against Bush.
My message to you, Republicans: You’re Goddamn right we are. The abuses of the previous administration were far too egregious to simply forget in one cycle. You folks still have a lot of ‘splainin to do.
But know this:
Anytime you point out something Democrats are doing wrong, we’ll call you on it.
Anytime you criticize Pres. Obama’s response to terrorism while ignoring the thousands of lives lost on 9/11 by saying that we never had a terror attack under Bush, we’ll call you on it.
Anytime you criticize the lack of action from Washington since 2008, be sure that we will mention your role in it.
If you think for a moment that my party is going to cave and hand you electoral victories without a fight, you’re wrong. Democrats love our country far too much to let it fall back in your abusive hands, and we’re done playing nice.
In conclusion, its time to fight for the future of the Star-Spangled Banner. I’m ready for war. Are you?
GOP Get's Limp-Wristed Over National Security -
Apparently, Republicans can talk the talk, but unless they start supporting efforts to make our nation safer they are going to be in big trouble come 2010!
(Originally posted last month on the now-defunct class project blog HilltopperHealthcare)
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After a long day of campaigning Sunday, I sat on my couch completely exhausted and mindlessly trolled through my Facebook friend’s status updates. Everything from “hooch is crazy” to “(name) is on Facebook via Xbox Live!” let me know what all 841 of my Facebook friends were up to on a lazy Sunday afternoon. One post, however, snapped me out of my exhaustion and grabbed my attention.
Incredible. In the midst of the Republican Party’s long winter of internal discontent, a challenger to longtime South Austin State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez has arisen to take on a seat that has not even had a Republican on the ballot since 1998, according to this blogs’ right-wing counterpart Blue Dot Blues. (Whose lonely subtitle is “Conservative Dispatches from Travis County, TX)
The lady of the hour is Marilyn Jackson, a travel consultant from East Austin. At time of writing, Ms. Jackson did not have a website up yet, but be assured S.A.D. will be keeping an eye out for it.
Jackson is not the only one to try and turn Travis County red (which I just laughed at while typing). Two unknowns, Paul Workman and Holly Turner, are presently duking it out in a primary race for a chance to run against State Rep. Valinda Bolton.
A quick message and a warning to Travis County Republicans: Put on your pads and come ready to play, because the Travis County Democratic Party is not about to cede control to a bunch of yahoos who want to push our county/state/country in any direction but forward. You’re on notice, so let’s play ball.
Penny for your thoughts?
Political parties have been a part of the human experience is some form or fashion since two groups of people disagreed over something. Attacks and insults have flown, wars have started (the American Civil War readily comes to mind), and gridlock often ensues when parties become so ideologically bound and buried that they have no choice but to beat the old war drums to the beat of the Base, as they are often the only voters left who enjoy the parties shenanigans. These timeless traits of politics have been exaggerated since President Obama took office, despite his promise of change in Washington.
Despite having an apparently solid game plan to maintain a longtime stranglehold on all levels of American government in 2000, the Republican Party has, as of 2009, been reduced to a party wandering the wilderness looking for a message and a leader. With the 2010 election season already picking up steam in some pockets of the country, the GOP still has no message, no clear leader, and is losing members faster than the IRS is losing tax revenue . With regards to the healthcare argument ripping its way through Washington and the rest of America, the Republican’s attacks have been insulting toward the president while occasionally being pathetically hilarious. (Mr. Limbaugh’s incessant yammering about President Obama being a “fascist socialist”, perhaps one of the more inherently idiotic political attacks to date, readily comes to mind.)
Of course, Republican’s attacks are not always delightfully doofy. Having precious few legitimate responses to President Obama’s counter-attacks against critics of the “public option” as a component to the healthcare overhaul, the Republicans have taken a page straight out of Karl Rove’s playbook: fear. Intoning that government “death panels” would be formed to determine whether Grandma Edna is useful to save with an expensive surgery, the Republicans have caused civil unrest at town hall meetings across the nation by turning everyday Americans into ill-informed rioters. The madness caused by the right wing propaganda machine forced the President to address the nation’s fears during a joint session of Congress in September 2009 , where he tried to calmly yet firmly address why his plan for healthcare made sense.
As has been the case with Republicans as of late, during the Commander-in-Chief’s speech, the Republican’s managed to shoot themselves in the foot yet again by breaking decorum and, frankly, common decency, by declaring to the President in an outrageous act of schoolboy buffoonery “You lie!” The gentleman responsible was Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), and while temporarily distracting the nation from the matter at hand successfully managed to paint his own party as unpatriotic and disrespectful.
In short, the Republican’s strategy for reclaiming the government has been maddeningly confusing. Being unpatriotic and disrespectful while stirring Americans into a violent mass of hollering lunatics appears to be the plan-du-jour. It is sad to say the least that the party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt has been reduced to angry nincompoops with no clear message. Unless the Grand Old Party squares itself away and tempers its more vocal and insane members quickly, one can expect the significantly calmer Democratic Party to be in control of national, state, and local governments for quite some time.
"Silent Night"...or go to prison -
Wow. Tea Baggers are truly insane… not to mention hypocritical!
First off, I’d like to thank Mean Rachel, another Democratic blogger here in town, for the heads up on this.
Houston businessman Farouk Shami, an immigrant from Palestine, has made some waves in Texas by being the only brave soul to challenge the present front-runner for the Dem gubernatorial nod, Bill White.
On my friend Deece Eckstein’s radio show on Friday, Mr. Shami mentioned a few key points; his story of the American dream (which actually is very inspiring), jobs for Texans, not taking money from special interests, jobs, more jobs, and something about… jobs. He literally sounded like a broken record, but kudos to Deece and David Koberowski for being professional and treating him like a serious candidate.
One thing Mr. Shami failed to mention was his past with the Dark Side… yes, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Shami was once a Republican.
Say it ain’t so? Check out his contribution record on Open Secrets; since 2003, Mr. Shami has contributed 3000 dollars to Republicans (Specifically, the RNC and Rep. Ted Poe). Not much for someone with his kind of dough, but this little fact is not exactly going to drive me to the polls with Farouk on my mind.
My question to Mr. Shami and his main political consultant Jason Stanford is this… are you out of your minds? Do you even know what kind of state Texas is? And now, with this fundraising information becoming public knowledge, any liberal support you may have found will rapidly vanish.
You may be a business man, sir, but one place you have no business in is on the Democratic gubernatorial ticket.
Again, major props to Rachel on letting me know about this!