Since Barack Obama's election there has been a huge turnover in the dissent present in the United States. Of course, for eight years the democrats showed their dislike for the man in charge. Now, with the democratic president, it's the Right's turn to dissent. As mentioned in previous blog posts, this is realized mostly by the Tea Party, led by the former clown who became the guy that told you what to think, Glenn Beck and Mrs. Alaska herself, Sarah Palin. Political discourse has taken a new direction: Backwards.
Barack Obama: Not a socialist.
In the 1940's and 50's Senator Joe McCarthy led a witch hunt for communists in the United States. The US had just begun the Cold War with the Soviet Union, so fear of communism was in abundance. It has been said, by no one in particular, that the strongest tool to gain people's support is fear. McCarthy used fear to drive his ridiculous witch hunt, which left innumerable people without jobs and the ability to get a job, along with a couple casualties. The McCarthy Era was a dark time in US History.
Personally, I consider myself a Social Democrat. This, in the simplest terms, puts me one step away from being a socialist, and two(ish) steps from communism. So, I OBVIOUSLY do not fear communism. In fact, I strongly believe a certain amount of socialism is a MUCH better system then this capitalistic one, which has done a great job at making the United States full of obese Wal Mart shoppers and McDonald's patrons. Regardless, point is, socialism REALLY isn't something people should be fearing.
A main point of the Tea Party movement is the belief that Obama is a socialist. I'm here to tell you, right now, that Barack Obama is absolutely NOT a socialist. He is a democrat. The Tea Partiers seem to have missed the memo about the philosophies of the two major political parties in the US. Republicans favor small federal government, while Democrats are okay with the federal government. This means that a Democratic president should be expected to make government programs. When a Democratic president makes a new government program, this should not surprise people. This is to be expected, and has been happening literally for years. So, in accordance with this, when a Democratic president acts like, well, a Democrat, people should not be surprised. This fact was lost to the Tea Party.
ANY government program started since Obama has taken office is socialism, according to the Tea Party. ESPECIALLY "Obamacare," the health care bill he worked so hard to get passed that the new Congress is attempting to now repeal. Ignoring the fact that the Tea Party has also asserted Obama is a Nazi (mostly Glenn Beck here), a Muslim, an illegal immigrant, and communist (all of which are NOT true), they are two-faced.
The most supposed-socialist piece of legislation to have passed in recent memory is probably No Child Left Behind, a law that created federal regulations for academic assessment, in any effort to strengthen the nations' weak education ratings. This FEDERALLY funded law was the brainchild of George W. Bush, the very-much-Republican president who preceded Obama (and who I will be blogging about the memoirs of next weekend). When this bill passed there was no Republican bitching and moaning, and finger-pointing the socialist ideology behind the bill. If it had been proposed under Obama instead of W. Bush, we would never heard the end of it. The Tea Party would have called it Obama Youth. It would've been bad. But, if told a Tea Partier today that it was a socialist program, they would wholeheartedly agree and raise that it has been pretty much an utter failure. Yep. They're right. But, they've missed half the point. Socialist programs work off of government funds. Without adequate funds for the program, it will undoubtedly fail. Hence, NCLB. W. Bush made a socialist program that he intended to fund by cutting taxes, those little things that the government uses to pay for the maintenance of programs such as No Child Left Behind. EPIC FAIL.
While I am highly in favor of as much dissent as humanly possible, (because that's the way democracy works) I am strongly against the use of lies and fear as a means. I think it is silly to fear socialism, but that is mainly because I kind of am one. In the same strain, socialism has been given a negative connotation, which also upsets me. I really do wish Obama were a socialist, and that all of his programs/bills/what-have-you were socialist in nature. In actuality, he's pretty far from a socialist; (He just extended the Bush tax cuts, a very Republican thing to do.) If Obama were a socialist, and doing socialist presidential things, the Tea Party would AT LEAST not be lying in their assertion. The Tea Party's perception of what is socialist is pretty incorrect.
The Giffords Shooting
We've all heard about it by now; recently reelected Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot while holding her first "Congress on Your Corner" session, where she basically stood outside of gas station and talked with people. Jared Lee Loughner, the accused shooter who killed 6 people and injured up to 20 in the January 8th firing, was a member of the Tea Party. A high school drop out who withdrew from community college after inability to procure a mental health clearance, Loughner was clearly not a sane person. This, however, does not excuse Sarah Palin's map.
In response to Tea Party losses across the country, Sarah "I can see Russia from my house!" Palin's website, had a map up during the 2010 political campaigns with gun-scope markers showing candidates who had voted in favor of the health care bill. The point of the map was (supposedly) to show places where "change was needed," and the incumbents should be ousted in the election. Rep. Giffords was on of such. I understand the supposed point of the map, but some people don't. Some people are gun-toters. Some people are ardent in their political beliefs. Some people are not sane. These people may not "get" the map.
While it has not been legitimately connected to the shooting, I've got to believe that this map had something to do with it. Maybe it had nothing to do with it. But, regardless, it's quite the coincidence that a crazy person associated with a group that has cut the gas lines of candidates' brother's homes attempted to do what Sarah Palin's map seemed to suggest.
No comments:
Post a Comment