One thing I learned in a schoolyard years-ago, is that the bullies are always the first to cry when given a taste of their own medicine.
Eveyone knows that Republicans love to call people they don't like, names. When Obama was elected President they called him a "Socialist" and then lied that he was not even born in America. Protesters in Wisconsin have become "union thugs" and the GOP name calling extends onto policies, so we get the often-used "Obamacare" when discussing healthcare reform.
The right-wing name calling is so pervasive in our news-media that even the word "liberal" has become a polite way of calling someone a dirty word without cursing.
But when a dirty "liberal" calls a republican a "wussie" watch the tears really begin to flow.
It was after several months of watching the tears flow on TV, over the only problem our news media admits that exist; the "budget deficit," that I was reminded of Ex-Gov Ed Rendell's comment that we have become a nation of "wussies."
So I sent an Op-Ed to our local paper, the York Sunday News, that they published under the headline "Many political "wussies" in Congress." Scroll down to read the full article.
Of course the first comment added on the newspaper's web-site called me a name!
Liar. Libs sure do hate the truth. - Bob, East Sandwich, MA
Oh boo-hoo! He called me a liar and even worse he said I was a "lib"!
Of course, since York County is a GOP stronghold, most of the comments don't get much better from there.
I won't quote anymore of their comments but you can click here to see the rest.
It is very telling that every negative comment (9 of 10) completely ignored the three main points I was making in my article:
There is a simple reason Congressman Platts (R-PA) had no problem voting for spending increases and revenue cuts in the past, and now wants to cut funding that creates jobs and benefits for the working class. He is just way too afraid of doing anything that may displease his fellow regressive Republicans. This is not budget "leadership," as the media would have you believe. It is just plain kissing up to the rich and powerful.
and...
So it seems that even Mr. Platts, who makes something like $174,000 a year in his cozy D.C. government job, needs to accept government help with his own health care. That is not an example of Mr. Platts' "integrity," it is self-serving hypocrisy.
finally...
Instead of setting that surplus aside to ensure the viability of Social Security for another 20 years, Platts and other Republicans are using our money to pay for their own personal perks like government-subsidized health care while giving tax cuts for their wealthy campaign contributors.
They are not fiscal heroes. They are the perfect examples of opportunistic political wussies.
True to form, the Republicans who commented on my article can't seem to handle the fact that they are just plain too pampered and thin-skinned to take the heat on any difficult issue. And they get really terrified when a solution to real problems might cost them even a penny more in taxes.
Just like the schoolyard bully, the GOP wussies prove, again and again, that while they have no problem dishing it out - they just can't take it.
This is why I feel it is so important for Dems/Progressives to take the fight directly to the Republicans. Not just like we do here at KOS, but also to their own right-wing websites, TV & Radio talk-shows, and newspapers.
Even if you don't get anywhere with most of the right-wingers, you might just plant a seed of doubt among one or two. Don't just "preach to the choir" copy your diary to a right-wing web site or send it to your local newspaper. And when you really feel passionate about your cause, call into a local right-wing radio show and give 'em hell!
Don't hold back; Be a "lib" and Troll for the Truth!
Read my whole article below:
Many political "wussies" in Congress
by Joe Otterbein
Recently, our ex-governor impolitely said we have become a nation of "wussies." The word comes to mind as I hear one big-media pundit and politician after another talk on TV about budget deficits.
They claim that to reduce debt they must cut spending, and that the middle class must "get serious" and be willing to endure the resulting pain caused by cuts to Social Security and other "entitlements" in order to save "our" children from absolute calamity.
I'm surprised that such supposedly strong believers in American exceptionalism take such a negative, can't-do outlook on our ability to solve the debt problem. There must be some other reason they get so teary-eyed at the thought of deficits.
While the tears and fears of these wealthy TV pundits are flowing, they are positively gushing enthusiasm about so-called "tough" governors like Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who they claim are "really serious" about deficits.
Don't expect any of these so-called budget hawks to tell you this, but maybe these Republican "tough" guys are really just wussies.
In fact, we really are a great nation that can easily solve our deficits and actually increase spending on investments like education and health care at the same time. We are the strongest nation in the world, with the most productive workforce and tremendous natural resources. The only reason we can't solve our budget problems is because we are led by a bunch of "wussies" like York's own congressman, Todd Platts.
In the Feb. 20 York Sunday News, Platts fearfully exclaims, "The days of burdening future generations with unsustainable levels of debt must come to an end." He actually sounded like he wasn't in Congress when we went from billions in surpluses to trillions in debt.
Mr. Platts was first elected to Congress the same year the younger Bush was first elected President. Many times, for year after year, Platts voted for hundreds of billions in spending on a war he did not support enough to pay for, and supported policies that provided plenty of unfunded perks for wealthy Wall Street barons. And he did it all while simultaneously reducing revenue by voting to cut taxes for the richest of the rich. Mr. Platts helped create the same deficit he now so plaintively bemoans.
There is a simple reason Mr. Platts had no problem voting for spending increases and revenue cuts in the past, and now wants to cut funding that creates jobs and benefits for the working class. He is just way too afraid of doing anything that may displease his fellow regressive Republicans. This is not budget "leadership," as the media would have you believe. It is just plain kissing up to the rich and powerful.
After Platts voted to deny health care for the working class, I called his office to ask if the congressman was planning to refuse his own government-run and sponsored health-care plan.
The nice lady who answered the phone took more than a few moments to admit that Platts does indeed enjoy the same government-subsidized health-care plan presented to all members of Congress.
So it seems that even Mr. Platts, who makes something like $174,000 a year in his cozy D.C. government job, needs to accept government help with his own health care. That is not an example of Mr. Platts' "integrity," it is self-serving hypocrisy.
Personally, even though I support universal health care for all Americans, I would be very happy to pay for my own health care if I had such a well-paying job as Mr. Platts.
Before the last election, the GOP claimed that companies were not hiring because of "uncertainty" over the Bush tax cuts. Now that the tax cuts were extended, the very same Republicans are now claiming that businesses are not hiring because they are now afraid of "uncertainty" about the budget.
Refusing to raise taxes on the rich does absolutely nothing to create jobs. Just look at the records of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. When they both raised taxes on the wealthy, jobs increased.
In contrast, when Bush and Platts handed over a large budget surplus to massive tax cuts and other perks for himself and the very wealthiest, they managed to destroy the economy, create trillions in debt and lose over eight million jobs all at the same time. That is not responsible budgeting, it is willful incompetence.
Now Republicans, and their cronies in the news media, are using the budget problems they themselves created as an excuse to go after Social Security. The fact is Social Security will continue to bring in more money every year than it sends out for at least another 20 years.
Instead of setting that surplus aside to ensure the viability of Social Security for another 20 years, Platts and other Republicans are using our money to pay for their own personal perks like government-subsidized health care while giving tax cuts for their wealthy campaign contributors.
They are not fiscal heroes. They are the perfect examples of opportunistic political wussies.