Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.
There has been a lot of dissent by Progressives on some of the decisions made by President Obama and rightfully so. Starting with the retaining of Bush's Defense Secretary and the attempt to put Judd Gregg as Commerce Secretary, Obama has done much to perplex true Progressives. From dropping his former support for single-payer, to attempting "bi-partisan" healthcare reform, on down to appointing a Kentucky Neo-Conto protect China's interests on our Consumer protection panel many decisions Obama has made need to be opposed.
Despite all the spewings on the right of our party being engaged in an "Obama cult", I seem to remember it was their party who fell in mindlessly without a whimper of protest as George W. Bush wasted over a trillion dollars and thousands of lives in failed wars in the middle-east. Theirs is the party that falls in line behind crazed talk-show hosts. There were no "tea parties" when George W. Bush threw almost a trillion dollars at the bankers who along with his own failed policies brought us to the brink of Depression. For eight long years Republicans fell blindly in line with their "god-king" as he wiped his ass with our Constitution and flushed it all down a toilet.
Our party does not fall blindly behind anyone as well we should not. Before we get too angry and determine to throw Obama under the bus though we should consider what is waiting in the wings if he is not re-elected. The list of candidates reads like a horror story Stephen King would be proud to sign his name to. As expected from the party of no, and no new ideas or solutions to real problems, they can only regurgetate failed candidates already widely shunned by voters in their top tier:
Consider this: In the first half of 2009, Mitt Romney’s political committee paid $188,000 to a small army of consultants, Newt Gingrich’s dropped $628,000 on charter flights, Mike Huckabee’s wrote staff paychecks totaling $131,000 and Sarah Palin’s spent $107,000 raising more money.
All four are considered potential presidential candidates, and the flurry of campaign finance activity, outlined in reports filed late last month with the Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service, may hold clues about their prospects — and intentions.
http://www.politico.com/...
Want to be really scared?? Look at some of the recent comments from these top-tier candidates for the Republicans in 2012:
And of course Newt Gingrich needs no introduction but here he is defending the ridiculous comments spewed forth by "Caribou Barbie":
Yes, Newt we all know that we should trust the insurance companies as we do at present. I mean, they would never deny life-giving services or throw someone from the rolls from getting sick, would they??
As for Mitt Romney, they say birds of a feather flock together:
Republicans "Tapping" for Mitt!! You gotta love it!!
And of course Huckabee needs no introduction either:
As if these candidates are not demoralizing enough, the Republicans also have produced a "second-tier" that promotes fear not only on purpose, but through their very existence as candidates:
The political groups run by Romney, Gingrich, Huckabee and Palin, combined with those run by Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Jim DeMint of South Carolina (also thought of as at least possible 2012 GOP prospects), brought in a total of $12.9 million in the first half of the year, a POLITICO analysis of IRS and FEC reports found.
Other Republicans are also using their political positions to keep their profiles raised. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has a relatively inactive 527 group, has been traveling the country meeting activists and raising money for his 2011 reelection campaign. It’s not clear how much he’s raised, since he won’t have to disclose his campaign finances for months.
And Govs. Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota are expected to use their posts as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Republican Governors Association to travel the country raising cash for the party’s gubernatorial candidates — and their own profiles.
http://www.politico.com/...
Every single candidates the Republicans have thusfar produced as "viable" represents a failed vision of right-wing lunacy that almost destroyed our whole country. These candidates if elected would quickly go about the process of finishing the work done by Bush/Cheney to bring our country to complete collapse. Looked at through this prism we should not only feel some disappointment at Obama, but some real relief that he is there.
So while President Obama has disappointed me on several fronts and I believe we should keep the pressure on him and other Democrats who try to avoid fighting for Progressive ideals we need to keep some focus on his Presidency. If one of these lunatics would have been elected instead, or succeeds in defeating President Obama in 2012, we would be in serious trouble. While we can share disappointment in him and some of his decisions we must realize that the Republican alternatives to him would do more damage to this country and indeed the world than the re-emergence of Nibiru in 2012 if indeed it is coming:
We need to work to insure that Barack Obama is re-elected because the alternatives are scarier in presence than any "death panel" anywhere.