Originally published on February 28, 2010 at Yo Mama For Obama
Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote a pointed article today about the frenzied anger engulfing our country:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
He specifically cites the suicide crash of Joe Stack and his plane into the IRS building in Austin. Rich was exact today in his choice of words: Stack was on a Kamikaze mission to avenge the tactics of the IRS. Then, the thinly veiled praise lavished on Stack by various right wing politicians and Teabaggers only added fuel to the fire.
Our nation is spiralling downward, ethically, economically and socially. We have a vacuum of morals —- not the tightly wound, unforgiving discriminative morals of the far right religious sort mind you, just everyday values of treating human beings like human beings —- which is being propagated into accepted responses of anarchy. That was exactly what Joe Stack was: an anarchist, a murderer and a coward. Whether a response to sheer frustration at the paralysis of this country or a deep-seated hatred of government, these people who offer kudos to Stack for his deed are tempting fate. To rev up the anger right now is not productive and the biggest danger is that someone, somewhere, a person teetering on the edge of insanity, will cross over that line and commit a heinous crime. Those public figures who nurture their careers and public image by focusing and feeding on the anger are criminals just as much as the lunatics who carry out the actual deeds.
Let me start at the top. This week, President Obama was criticized for his pedantic, professorial demeanor at the health care summit. His total grasp of the numbers —- and the amount of information was vast —- , his measured presentation of talking points and his lack of humor in responding to the participants digs was so controlled. He stayed completely on task. His goal of providing decent health care for all superceded his personal partisan beliefs. His strict focus was to stay on the track of "common interests" and to avoid partisan issues. After all, they were there to offer help to all Americans, and their incessant bickering offered no aid whatsoever toward a beneficial end. President Obama, over and over again, pleaded with the opposition for compromise to accomplish an admirable and much needed program. Yet, I do not think the goal was accomplished.
Even though polls show that 70% of Americans want health care reform, the selfish bastards in Washington cannot overcome their own personal career ambitions and use their fear of being thrown out as an excuse not to deliver to the people. That, coupled with their sole intent of placing failure in the lap of our President, is not going to move our country forward. What? The anger spewed from the mouth of Sarah Palin, a totally narcissistic tact meant to line her pockets with speaking fees and possibly reward her with the top elective office in the U.S., is productive? I think not. What hubris these politicians demonstrate to think that scalding vituperativeness and vitriolic diatribes will get them popularity. They stoop to new lows in protecting their own jobs without any consideration for getting the actual job done.
Moving down the food chain in terms of public figures, the Teabaggers disregard all attempts to reconcile this country. Their motives are purely a nod to the joy of the moment, of getting their jollies by destroying any and all of our societal structures. They hate all government, but they sure love their Medicare and other entitlements. Their platform is a perfect outlet for fame-and-power seekers like Palin. Of course we know that they will eventually turn on her as well. Be patient, my friends: we all know that Palin does not have much brain matter between her ears. Even if she did understand the mechanisms of the Tea Party, she would still use them to forward her desires. How dare she call herself an American? With patriots like that, who needs enemies?
Last fall, this issue of public outrage —- and its inherent, potential dangers —- came across my horizon. Paul Krugman wrote about it on 11/09/2009:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
This fueling of the fires of public unrest is not a new concept. Nevertheless, it is an issue that must be diffused and treated with reason. And that, according to the haters of Obama, is the man’s perceived downfall. Where Barack Obama sees compromise for the greater good, his opponents see "socialism" and a lack of engagement. They use strong words mistakenly to fan an even larger fire of fear in the hearts of Americans. This is very dangerous for all concerned. In fact, it could be the demise of our nation.
Our people in power need to take inventory and subjugate their destructive, selfish political goals to the aim of general betterment and the re-building of our supposedly beloved country. Make believe I am from Missouri: SHOW ME your true love for the United States. Palin and the other empty-headed politicians may be too stupid to realize this, but if this country goes down, they are going down too. An uncontrolled feeding frenzy of anger has no place in our world. Those that use such base tactics for ideological reasons deserve to be first in line for entry into the gates of Hell.