“Guess again Diamond - there was no gun to anyone’s
head in December when the dems still controlled both
houses - harry Reid made a political calculation that
he could roll the repubs and Obama went along - they
could have raised the debt ceiling as much as they
wanted then.”

Are you actually claiming that the Democrats wanted this debacle? If you believe that you’re not only delusional but have a very strange view of political reality. And the reason they no longer control both houses? Because morons voted for Tea Party anarchists. Perhaps the Democrats had too much faith in their fellow Americans and thought they would see through the Tea Party’s lies and motherhood statements and they would retain their control of both houses but sadly, brainwashed by people like Rush Limbaugh and the rest, they didn’t and now far too much power is in the hands of people who don’t know their behind from their elbow when it comes to government or economics. People who don’t even care if they’re re-elected as long as they can destroy Obama and his administration and put more right win nutjobs in the White House so that the entire economic and military disaster of the last decade can be repeated with God only knows what consequences for America and the world.  Obama is not perfect but he is sane while the far right is barking mad and always has been. Only a masochist would ever vote for them or not vote and thereby assist them into government.

Ah, now I get it. I’ve seen enough predictable police dramas on TV to recognize a “good cop/bad cop” scenario. The Republicans are itching to work us over with the rubber hose, but the understanding Democrats stand in the way, tell the bad cop to take a breather, leave the room. Meanwhile the wily Democratic interrogator extracts promises from the “suspect” to curb his expectations of income security and social justice. The currently working US citizen or aspirant is being grilled under the hot lights, asked to prove that he/she deserves a job now or retirement later, made to feel small, naked and vulnerable, just like the residents of Abu Graib. Shame on the Democrats—a deep, enduring, defining shame on their party.

An additional comment.. If Obama is handed the chance of appointing another Supreme Court Justice he will follow the same path he has taken in every major Political and Policy choice of his Presidency.. he’ll make the decision based on his own political aspirations..

And if history is to guide us, he’ll choose someone that pleases his detractors, not to reassure what remains of his erstwhile supporters.

Adios!

IMPEACHMENT! NOW NOT WHEN! Obama lied his way into office for his first term and plans to allow himself to be bought for a second! I voted for a president who claimed his sole duty was the restoration of this nation’s democratic principles. What I, as well as so many others, got was a judge, jury, and executioner-in-chief who can’t tell the difference between true patriots and criminal usurpers of power and privelge at the expense of those who actually make this nation work! FREE BRADLEY MANNING AND TIM DeCHRISTOPHER!!!!

How about a “Draft Howard Dean” or “Draft Bernie Sanders” movement? I hate to say it, the ONLY value Obama has left over a Re-thuglican President is the Court Appointments.  In everything else he is a weak disaster.

I won’t argue the point of whether he’s a big biz/Re-thug mole or shill, or just weak, spineless and incompetent.  Why?  It doesn’t matter. The effect is the same. Whether he sold the nation out due to “under orders” or because he’s weak, the EFFECT is the same: He sold the nation out when there were better alternatives.

I hope Ruth Bader Ginzberg does the right thing and retires to allow Obama the ONE GOOD THING he will do, appoint a proper justice before he loses the 2012 election.

BTW, I think that showing this weakness has guaranteed a Re-Thug victory in 2012.  And they’ll take the Senate, too.

I always thought there wouldn’t be a Social Security when I retired.  But I thought it would collapse of its own weight, not be murdered.

gerard, July 31 at 8:14 pm:

’ Quote:  ” Reasonable people are forced to give in to those willing to endanger the national interest.”

Wrong, wrong!  They are NOT forced….’

Quite right, gerard.  They are not forced.  Conservatives like the New York Times and the Democratic Party leadership, however, have short-term class interests which align them more with right-wing radicals than with the people they are supposed to represent.  So a small minority of radicals can shake them down.

There are people out there trying to raise consciousness, but as with the anti-war movement, the Democratic Party has thus far been very good at sabotaging and deflecting them.  At some point, though, as things get worse, that strategy isn’t going to work any more.  Then we’ll see.

Obama had a choice, and he made the wrong
one. We have a choice every couple of years,
and I hope to hell we´ll make the right one
next time. After this complete sell-out,
never again will I vote for a Democrat.
Never again.

Obama the PUTZ!

and now, the great depression will begin…

DOW Futures up triple digits before today’s opening.. We’ll see what transpires through the week but it seems Wall Street thinks they know who that money is for.

Adios!

I admit it, when Obama was elected I hoped against hope for, but I did not expect, change. I’m not disappointed that change has not occurred, because I hoped, but did not expect, the promised change. Hope as in “I hope we’ll have world peace” but if pressed as to whether I ever expect to see world peace, I would have to admit I don’t ever expect to see world peace as a reality. Was it realistic to hope that a smart, educated, capable guy could change politics as usual? Yes. But like Charlie Brown who endlessly hopes that football won’t be pulled away by Lucy as he attempts a field goal, we again have found ourselves gripped by unbearable pain and suffering and looking upward wondering why we ever bothered to hope against hope.

That being said, I’m never voting for a DEM or GOP candidate again. I’m done believing these are the best choices we can have.  I’m done trying to fit my 4 square progressive beliefs into a Democratic round hole. I’m on the prowl for how to resist the system for it is clear that within the time of my mother’s generation to the age of my daughter’s generation we have gone from the New Deal to the We’re F**ked.

Republican and Democratic parties do not represent the interest of the majority of the American people. This budget deal will only protect the interest of the extremely wealthy. Poor and Middle Class son’s and daughter’s will continue to sacrifice their lives in America’s resource wars directed by the IMF.

Only if American’s would join the Green Party or another political party that refuses corporate contributions things would change for the better. However since corporate owned media controls what Americans see and hear there will be no change.

Many Americans have also suffered from an educational system that teaches inaccurate accounts of American history. To me it’s no surprise when hearing comments from American’s who only see life through their tiny picture instead of the big picture that includes compassion for others and themselves.

American cities and states used to have character. We use to enjoy the cultures of different parts of America by it’s art and food. Today we go to chain restaurants and stores that look the same no matter where you travel in America. We eat glorified TV dinners at these establishments that make our bodies sick.

This has caused America to lose it’s character. The Mom and Pa establishments that gave our country character and beauty are now gone. 

We are now witnessing the lasting effects of a system that tells our friends and children what to think instead of how to think critically and connect the dots.

Without a movement towards a new and honest political party America will continue it’s spiral downward.

Our rich will continue their moral downward spiral liken to many other lost empires in history.

If this current deal passes, it simply projects America’s continued moral demise.

“Since the French Revolution, budget deficits have been considered among the prominent portents of a coming revolutionary crisis…” (Leon Aron)

de Tocqueville would recognize the current situation, and would predict revolution.  It may not happen right away, but if the country keeps going in the direction it is going, don’t think for a moment that it would not be possible.

gerard, as usual, you are on point with your observations and analysis.  I, for one,
would gladly contribute to a campaign to educate and enlighten America, common
sense and practical application.  Thanks for the observations and suggestions.

Each day things will increasingly make less sense.  You are empowered to do nothing but watch.  Now you are the victims.  The crimes of your ancestors have come full circle to confront you.

Stop pretending Obama had a choice. He had as much choice as someone with a loaded gun to his head. What this shows is that the Republicans don’t give a damn about America. But I already knew that.

For Eight years under Bush American’s hoped and prayed that it would some day end
and that, the American people would some how come to their senses, and not elected
another conservative to run their government. The endured eight long years of paranoia,
and ruinous economic policy, with a lunatic at the helm. The final ignominy occurred
with the financial cous de tat, of the banks.

That Barak Obama was elected seemed to be a miracle, that the country that so
idiotically, elected Bush, to two terms, could do an about face, when faced with the the
results of Bush’s reign, the financial apocalypse, the never ending scandals of
corruption, and greed the abandonment of the bill of rights.

There was hope again.

Now that hope is clearly gone, with no hope of redemption.

Obama is just the flip side of Bush instead of following the psychopathic conservative
blue print to dismantle this country piece by piece, methodically, he is giving in to it,
accepting it, bending over and taking it, and never bothering to stand against the lunatic
right.

The end results are the same. This country is in dire need.

And each and every American, should be terrified of the future that they have planned
for us.  It is only with courage, and much sacrifice, that we will survive as a free nation

Sacrifice, of the same kind as our forefathers, during our revolution.

There is an evil that has gripped this land. And evils, goal is always to kill and destroy.
There will be no safety, and no freedom for any of us as long as it controls our
government.

Quote:  ” Reasonable people are forced to give in to those willing to endanger the national interest.”

Wrong, wrong!  They are NOT forced.  They just have to take the opposition’s intransigence to the people and make their case loud and clear, over a period of time sufficient to put the cards on the table even for a financially unsophisticated public. If the media won’t do this, raise the money for an educational campaign from anybody and everybody, a March of Dimes campaign. (In 2009 it raised $215 million dollars for specific health care needs, and that amount could do a lot of educating, at the same time reaching middle and lower classes. It would also have some effect on forcing the rich and the Tea Party types to release their stranglehold on public policy. Such down-to-earth campaigns tend to bring people together in the process.)
  Why not?  What sick lethargy permits such a despicable broo-ha-ha from dominating the news and people’s conscioiusness for weeks on end?  The sickness is inertia, lack of imagination and will?  It’s not that we can’t, it’s that we don’t.