Last November, a near-landslide election proved that Americans desperately wanted change from the corruption and incompetence of the long, dark, disastrous Bush years. The night of November 5th was historic...both in terms of our evolution as a country, and in the much-needed hope and renewal that it provided.
All that is gone now. That night, and everything it respresented, has been stolen from us. What we wanted no longer matters. What the American People who voted last November wanted is no longer important. What the millions of first-time voters who were excited at their ability to change our country wanted has been flushed down the toilet.
Like in 2000 and 2004, our country, our voice, and yes...the election itself...has been stolen from us. But this time it's not Republican staffers pretending to be voters, Republican intimidation of minorities at the polls, a corrupt Republican secretary of state, or an amoral Republican Supreme Court that stole it.
This time it's Democrats. Blue Dog Democrats. The election has been stolen by the extreme right-wing fringe of the Democratic Party.
Dan Eggen of The Washington Post reports (Friday, July 31, 2009):
Industry Is Generous To Influential Bloc
On June 19, Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas made clear that he and a group of other conservative Democrats known as the Blue Dogs were increasingly unhappy with the direction that health-care legislation was taking in the House.
"The committees' draft falls short," the former pharmacy owner said in a statement that day, citing, among other things, provisions that major health-care companies also strongly oppose.
Five days later, Ross was the guest of honor at a special "health-care industry reception," one of at least seven fundraisers for the Arkansas lawmaker held by health-care companies or their lobbyists this year, according to publicly available invitations.
A small group of right-wing extremists from sparsely populated rural states have taken the most historic election in American history away from us. And my, how obscenely cheap their avarice comes, relative to the monumental damage it's done. More from Dan Eggen's article:
The roiling debate about health-care reform has been a boon to the political fortunes of Ross and 51 other members of the Blue Dog Coalition, who have become key brokers in shaping legislation in the House. Objections from the group resulted in a compromise bill announced this week that includes higher payments for rural providers and softens a public insurance option that industry groups object to. The deal also would allow states to set up nonprofit cooperatives to offer coverage, a Republican-generated idea that insurers favor as an alternative to a public insurance option.
At the same time, the group has set a record pace for fundraising this year through its political action committee, surpassing other congressional leadership PACs in collecting more than $1.1 million through June. More than half the money came from the health-care, insurance and financial services industries, marking a notable surge in donations from those sectors compared with earlier years, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity.
If the thought of having yet another election stolen makes you mad...burning mad...you're not alone. Tens of millions of Americans are just beginning to wake up, and just beginning to sense that stomach-turning realization that their vote simply doesn't matter anymore. THEY don't matter anymore.
So get fucking mad. Get fucking MAD AS HELL. Make your move NOW and don't let up. Fight the bastards tooth and nail and with calls and signs and knock on their GODDAMN DOORS and scream and yell and scratch and send money and make them bleed and write and burn and kick and fuck and hammer and punch like you're MAD AS HELL AND NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE.
Say it...say it RIGHT NOW. Get up out of your chair and YELL IT. Scream it RIGHT NOW.
I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!
I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!
Get the FUCK UP OUT OF YOUR CHAIR AND SAY IT GODDAMMIT!!!
I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!
Let us never forget the great Paddy Cheyefsky and Peter Finch. Let's honor their hearts and spirits and memory and FIGHT...FIGHT UNTIL OUR LAST GASP OF BREATH AGAINST THE BASTARDS.