From past experience, I know that some people just can’t take it. My wife and my mother, for instance, and my neighbor up the street, and my former boss. They refuse to watch or listen to Dubyanocchio speak.
It’s not that they’re politically disengaged. On the contrary, they’re all activists electorally and on issues they consider crucial: reproductive rights, health care, education, energy.
They. Just. Can’t. Stand. That. Man.
If you’re like them and you’d like something political to do while the rest of the family is hanging on every word in the State of the Union tonight, here are some excerpts from, and links to, alternatives:
Robert Borosage:
Over the past three years, America has experienced a stunning reversal of fortune. We have gone from peace and prosperity to war, recession and a jobless recovery. We were hit by the worst terrorist attack on US soil in history. We suffered the most costly stock market bust ever. The worst corporate scandals in a century. The most extreme inequality since the Gilded Age. We have gone from record budget surpluses to record deficits. We struggle with the worst state and local fiscal crisis in fifty years. We face unsustainable and record trade deficits and are the world's largest debtor, even as the dollar sinks in value. Climate change poses a real and present danger to our security and our economy.
America's families are paying the price. Unemployment is up and wages are down. Health care is broken. Millions have had their retirement dreams shattered. Children are facing larger classes, overcrowded schools, cuts in vital preschool and after-school programs. College is getting priced out of reach for more deserving young people.
Amnesty International:
45 countries in 2002 were given licenses to purchase electro-shock technology by the Department of Commerce, including 19 that had been cited by the Department of State for the use of such weapons to inflict torture since 1990.
National Organization for Women.
In 2003, a civilian commission investigating sexual assault charges at the U.S. Air Force Academy blasted top officials in September for ignoring persistent reports of recurrent and unpunished sexual assaults. The commission lambasted leaders at the highest levels of the U.S. Air Force, saying they had known about sexual misconduct problems at the Colorado academy for more than a decade, but failed to take action to stop misconduct or punish offenders. NOW's efforts helped to remove at least one member of the commission who had made offensive comments about women who are raped, adding in her place the only victim advocate to serve on the investigatory group.
Coalition on Human Needs:
The report also describes the real state of the union as one of irresponsible choices. In 2003 alone, the tax cuts passed during the Bush Administration cost $260 billion in lost revenue. Last year, millionaires received an average of $113,000 in new tax cuts, while households earning between $10,000 and $20,000 received an average of $307.
The Atlantic Monthly and New America Foundation forum:
Paul Starobin, a correspondent for the National Journal Magazine, continued on the topic of political expression in the discussion of his article entitled “The Angry American.”
“The nation’s getting angrier, and I say, praise be,” Starobin said.
Public anger at the political process, he said, can be channeled to create positive change. According to Starobin, anger has been building recently along both sides of the political divide. He said he felt that the debate over gay marriage will continue to incite anger between clashing liberal and conservative values.