I've really kind of ducked low below the radar here at Daily Kos lately. I've no desire to get into the middle of "for" and "against" wars, nor to spark a war myself. But the other day, I was talking to a coordinator with whom I work in the animal rescue arena (I volunteer in a variety of capacities). When she started talking about September and October, I let her know that it would be fairly unlikely that I would be available for activities until the 2010 midterm elections were concluded. The reason? I'll be out volunteering locally as we gear up, when everyone's back from vacations and more accessible via canvass.
On the heels of that conversation, I thought about Daily Kos - the activist base - the dedicated, the motivated, and the most likely to give up their time and put in the work. I was mentally setting that aside given all the angst here lately - but I decided instead of staying away, I should maybe put out a reminder of why you should give a shit, and why I'll be giving up my September & October (and early November) weekends to the cause.
More over the fold.
So without delay, here are the Top Nine Reasons You Should Give a Shit (TTRYSGAS for short - ha) - These are in no particular order:
Number 9:
October 26, 2001 - USA Patriot Act - An oldie but a goodie, the gift that keeps on giving, the USA Patriot Act was signed into law in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. This brought you gems like "Enhanced Surveillance Procedures", a softening/circumventing of FISA, and the right of the FBI to delve into your library records, just to name a few.
Ahhh... The Patriot Act. To this day, an offense to the Constitution, privacy, and rights across the country. Good times.
Number 8
January 8, 2002 - No Child Left Behind Act - NCLB introduced us to the beauty (snark) of standards based education, utterly discounting the fact that every child is an individual who learns differently and responds with success to different methods. It also introduced strong incentives for schools to game the NCLB system, effectively leaving the children behind. Another bonus was NCLB's utter failure to take into account that arts and creative education are integral parts of learning and education for students. The cherry on the NCLB cupcake was the lack of proper funding for it, which particularly hurt students in districts that were already financially disadvantaged.
I don't know - maybe it was all part of some grand Republican plot, the brainchild of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy - impose a flawed method of measurement that provides incentives to "teach to the test" without funding it, creating literally a generation of children who are so poorly educated that they don't know to be pissed off when their rights are trampled. Hm....
Number 7
(This is a biggie) October 16, 2002 - Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of US Armed Forces Against Iraq - Yep. The Iraq war authorization. Built on a foundation of lies, mythical WMDs and horrendous (and dishonest) "intelligence" information. While it's winding down, we're still in Iraq. To date, 4414 American military personnel have perished. 31,902 have been wounded. An estimate 100K Iraqis killed (this is a rock bottom estimate - some estimates are as much as 10 times higher). Need any more be said about this?
Nuff said.
Number 6
May 23, 2003 - The Bush Tax Cuts - A massive giveaway to the rich on the backs of the working middle class, this gem legislation has the added bonus of decreasing government revenue while Federal government spending exploded under Bush with non-"PayGo" initiatives (two wars, a massive prescription drug program, etc.). Another bonus: the disparity between the classes just got bigger as the rich got infinitely richer and the middle class struggled to survive. I could go on about the Tax Cuts' role in the current financial situation, as well as state the obvious about the current defecit having been teed up by these tax cuts - but you already know that.
What can you say about these tax cuts? I guess if you make a whole lot of money, you think they're great - it's the other 98% of us who continue to feel the effect.
Number 5
August 29, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina Response - There is nothing that can be said about this that isn't best said visually:
Immediate aftermath:
Left behind at the Superdome and the Convention Center:
Some victims:
A complicit Congress conspired with an MIA President to foment this tragedy. As of December 25, 2009, The Lower 9th Ward is still a disaster zone.
Number 4
September 25, 2005 - John G. Roberts appointed as Chief Justice to the United States Supreme Court - The gift that keeps on giving! A well-known (and young) conservative with a penchant and love for all things Corporate, he was a part of the majority in the Citizens United ruling, allowing Corporations to spend unlimited funds to broadcast advertisements for or against a particular candidate. I could go on about Roberts, but why would I...
...when I have
Number 3
January 31, 2006 - Samuel Alito appointed as Associate Justice to the United States Supreme Court - I could write a book about all the ways this guy is wrong - but if I did, I would be sued by Jeffrey Toobin in his fabulous SCOTUS book The Nine (please read this if you haven't already). Justice Alito has a long track record of loving Teh Gun and all things gun-oriented, hating the worker and anything that might protect said worker, and relegating women to second-class status who clearly shouldn't be trusted to make their own decisions regarding their bodies.
The hits just keep on comin'.
Number 2
April 20, 2005 - Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention & Consumer Protection Act of 2005 - In yet another endorsement of the Corporation (and its donations) over the citizen, Congress passed this travesty of a piece of legislation which placed enormous burden on debtors and made finding relief more difficult. Those seeking relief - many of which were filing bankruptcy due to medical bills, family emergencies, and job loss - are subject to a "means test" in Chapter 7 filings. If their particular filing is deemed and "abuse", they have to undertake litigation to challenge the ruling, driving them further into debt.
Eff those lowly, out-of-work people in financial trouble! They don't donate because they have no money!!
Number 1
July 29, 2005 - Energy Policy Act of 2005 - A collection of subsidies for the oil and gas industry (particularly those based in Texas), this Act did virtually nothing to address conservation and just lined the pockets of politicians in bed with the energy industry.
Honorable Mention: Terri Schiavo!!
Hopefully it's obvious that I'm pulling from the time period between January 20, 2001 (inauguration of George W. Bush) and January 2, 2007 (the last day of the Republican-controlled Congress), when the White House was Republican and both houses of Congress were Republican - the nearly six year Republican majority. It is a time period marked by two wars, a massive erosion in basic rights to privacy, a surge in the era of "hating teh gay and loving the fetus", a total financial and power boon to the very rich and the very Corporate, a propensity to willfully (and successfuly) foment fear to exert control, a willingness to do the unthinkable to achieve ulterior motives, etc. and so on and so forth.
I'm leaving SO MUCH out. I know this. Feel free to add your outrage high points from that time period.
Look. I know many of you have grievances today. Many question the agenda of the President and the Congress. It's your right to hold that opinion and air your legitimate concerns and criticisms. Power should always be checked. Pressure should always be applied, even if the person or persons to whom it is applied is characterized as a "friendly".
But for those of you whose grievances are causing them to seriously consider just abstaining from voting, reconsider. Go review my list, then do some Googling on your own (you can start with the Wikipedia links for the 107th Congress, the 108th Congress, and the 109th Congress - there are nice summaries of legislation passed during the relevant time periods). I am also the first one to admit that it's hard - it's difficult - to find the time and enthusiasm to volunteer when a general sense of malaise hangs overhead. But for me, all it took to really commit to the midterms and volunteering to keep the Republicans from taking back either house of Congress was a review of just those few items - 10 in a sea of many. It didn't take much, from there, to remember what it felt like and how flatly awful it was during those dark days.
And remember - as unbelievable as it seems, the Republican party is even worse than it was during those days. They now have Sarah Palin and the emergence of the Tea Party and the inexplicable asescendance of the likes of Michelle Bachmann and Sharon Angle. They are a party that harbors in its ranks the likes of known immigrant-based racist Tom Tancredo and the ridiculous "terror babies!" idiot Louie Gohmert (who totally flipped out on Anderson Cooper last night - worth a watch at the link provided). They are a party that generally refuses to acknowledge that our President is an American citizen. They are a party that allows depictions of our President in blackface, as a witch doctor, as a terrorist, as a nazi. They are a party that thinks nothing of using anti-Muslim sentiment to block the First Amendment rights of Americans and then further push that message onto the airwaves - blatantly - and proudly.
Do you seriously want to be complicit in returning the racist, irrational, fear-mongering fucks back to power?
I know you're pissed. At least some of you are. I do. And I'm not saying things are perfect or that things are going the way I would like to have seen them go - by any means. But I am saying that the remembrance of what was and the realization of what is with respect to the Republican party is enough to make me shake off my ennui and get me off my ass.
Are you in?
Update [2010-8-13 12:39:36 by RenaRF]: Ok. This started out as "Top Ten Reasons..." and I swear I thought I had ten. But it was my birthday yesterday, and as my age advances, maybe counting is becoming a challenge. So rather than change the substance of the diary, I changed the title and appended the numbering. Doh!