I made some mistakes in my last "diary". The biggest mistake was thinking that this website would be different than, oh, a sports website, or a website dedicated to some art or hobby. I had ASS-UMED that because this is supposedly a "progressive" website composed of allegedly intelligent people, that I would be able to post how I really feel about where we're at one year into the Obama Era. I thought I would be able to do so without having to deal with the usual Anon cretinism that exists on other websites. I thought that I wouldn't have to deal with the snotty "you're a newbie" responses from the self appointed "board leaders". I thought that I wouldn't have to learn what cliques were "in charge" over here, and therefore have to temper my words accordingly. I thought that I wouldn't get "piled on" over here by those looking to "score points". And I never thought that I would be labelled a TROLL for disagreeing with the "party line". Or a "racist" for posting as I speak, the way we do in Brooklyn, where I'm originally from. I got accused of "typing the way Bill Shatner speaks", LOL....Oh, and my habit of capitalizing certain words and phrases for EMPHASIS....some dwork had to upbraid me for shouting at her...it was all pretty hilarious.
So ok, my last diary was an education, that's for sure, but I learned about more than just this website, that's for sure. I learned from the responses to that diary and to my first one that "they" are right when they laugh at us LIBERALS. Yeah, I think I'll just go ahead and use the Lib word; why do I need to be ASHAMED of it? The word "Progressive" was cooked up by Liberals who are ASHAMED of being called LIBERALS. The reason many of us are ashamed is because we have ALLOWED the Far Right to turn the word Liberal into a SLUR. And it's that IMPOTENCE that I see in our side and that makes me SICK TO MY STOMACH. We have been getting our asses kicked by the Far Right pretty consistently for the past 30 years and even when we WIN, even when we are blessed to find a candidate charismatic enough to spark a MOVEMENT, we find a way in short order to give the momentum right back to the Far Right.
We are our own worst enemies; it's always been that way. The same way the little cliques on this website jumped all over me for my last diaries, that's the way we savage each other and blow it every chance we get. We had A Movement. A popular President. Control of Senate and House. Millions of people on the mall ready to march for change. Yet here we stand in danger of losing Kennedy's seat on Tuesday. How did we get here? It's very simple. We all went HOME after the inauguration. While the GOP went out into the streets and organized their Tea Party movement, we laughed at them, but we ain't laughing no more. What a disaster this year has been. We are in danger of losing the Health Care reform battle if Brown wins on Tuesday. But let's be honest; we lost the Health Care battle a LONG TIME AGO! We lost it back in August as we sat home and allowed the GOP to take over those town hall meetings and turn the tide of public opinion against us. So here we are hoping we can get this piece of garbage health bill passed just so the President doesn't suffer a "loss". Guess what? It's already a loss. Guys like me with pre-existing conditions lost when we gave away single payer BEFORE even negotiating! Where was Obama on this? Nowhere; he betrayed us. Let's not sugar coat it. He campaigned on the public option and then walked away from it. Joe Lieberman won that fight; we lost.
Then there's the whole Bankster scandal. Who among us would have been so enthusiastic over Obama if we had known just how TIGHT he was going to be with the EXACT SAME Wall Street THIEVES that wrecked the economy under Bush? This is what it's come to, eh? I gotta hope that we win the Health Care vote because it would be bad for Obama to lose, even though the bill itself is PURE GARBAGE? And I gotta support the President as he goes through the CHARADE of reforming Wall Street when we all know he is doing nothing of the sort? If Glass Steagal isn't re-instated, we all know that "reform" is a joke. But we gotta support our President. Because he's OURS. But you know what? I'm 53 years old. I remember when DEMOCRATS demonstrated against a Democratic President, LBJ. I remember when we held OURS accountable.
Oh, and I got ripped here pretty good for saying that I don't see a lot of difference between the Old Boss and the New Boss. Well, other than the COSMETIC, the words, I don't see a lot of difference. Obama & Biden kept harping on how they were for the middle class. Well, where's the change that the middle class demanded? It hasn't happened, and in fact it's no longer even spoken about. The Wall Street types are doing well, just like they did under Bush. We still have two wars going, just like under Bush. More and more I'm starting to think we got played, scammed. I expected Obama to be out front on health care, leading the charge for a single payer system. It never happened. I expected him to be out front on reforming the Financial Industry and Wall Street. It never happened. I expected him to be out front on ending both of these wars. It never happened. I expected him to be out front in helping to revitalize our unions, the backbone of a strong middle class. It never happened. The New Boss sure sounds better and looks better than the Old Boss; I agree with that. He's much smarter and he sure says the right things to our ears. But damnit, look around; basically, the way things were going before is the way they are going now.
And I should be able to say these things without being attacked by anonymous twits trying to out "Oscar Wilde" each other with their witty, catty, little barbs. The Right Wing kicks our ass because of that crap. Because instead of standing strong together the way they do when in power, we enjoy ripping each other more than anything else. Well, go ahead and have at it; I've given you hens plenty to cackle about in this diary. All you "board leaders" and well respected "diarists" or whatever the hell you call yourselves can have a lotta fun, and your sycophants can score points with you as well, by following your lead. But don't think for a minute that any of your lame remarks are gonna sting me at all. Now that I know that I'm on the political equivalent of Yankees or Red Sox major league baseball website, I know better than to take you seriously.