"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
In my studies of history which are ongoing, I found that those in power in our government have forgotten this truism.
More fitting in today's environment is George Orwell
In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell
"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed-if all records told the same tale-then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'"
- George Orwell, 1984,
January 20, 1981 it began. No one really noticed, we watched the inaugural speech, heard the words and ignored the implications of what had been spoken. This new president told us that he and his campaign lied to the American people in order to win the presidency.
In the following years they have, at all costs, kept their misinformation in active play to control the nation and the populace. They in effect declared war on the constitution and the people of America. Recently the talking heads have tried to label it treason, or sedition; in reality it was voter apathy.
The message they used was designed to make you stupid. They succeeded! We are to fear the Democrats, unions, the press and our education system. We are to give corporations and the rich a free ride, lower taxes and we are to pay for it. Yes we pay for it in our taxes.
Fear, the fear of those who are not like us. Minorities, gays, aliens, legal and illegal. Non traditional religions (alright I’ll say it, Muslims and Jews.) yes we need to be in constant fear; the fear of educators, liberals, the “liberal press” and our government.
That fear equates to our shrinking consumer class (formerly the middle class) in that unions, regulations, taxes, or our wages keep businesses from hiring or growing. All the while the average pay of CEO’s are 300 times greater than that of the average worker.
During the time that the republicans ruled (well they still do) the nations legislative body, the tax cuts, deregulation's and mass mergers did not create the jobs they promised. Do we hear of this in the national discussion?
No, our news and worldly concerns must be on the house wives of some city, kids on the jersey shore, some celebrity’s failed marriage or just name a lame subject that has no substance in real life and they want us to care about it.
What we think helps to keep us stupid. So as a result, the republicans controlled the recent crisis with a crisis that didn’t exist. We fell for it. It consumed our time, energy and weaken our democracy. They controlled the message and their unquestioning minions repeated it endlessly in the “news.”
"one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended."
-George Orwell, 1984
The republicans walked in lockstep with their leadership, unquestioning the decrees, the message or the facts. They blindly follow the official news organ of the party, they believe without question the party line that they only the party, the republicans can protect them from fear.
More war, less wages, support the rich, less taxes and a life destined to be substandard by world standards. Poorer education, eking an existence in retirement and poor health. These are among the dictates of the party they blindly vow allegiance to.
We, as a political force, have been lead to attacking our own president on his ability to lead. Granted he hasn’t taken the hard stance we wanted. We are the force he needed to get the agenda we elected passed. We failed to show up at a crucial election. We failed to retake the message. We allowed the minority party dictate to us the terms of legislation in congress. We never pushed them to act.
When Roosevelt won office he had a congress on his side. The republicans had no rule in the senate to help them shut down the government. He was able to get the changes needed to succeed. He addressed the fear created by greed, he took on the wall street and the banks by ending wild speculations in the stock market by introducing economic stimulus programs and causing the recovery of a failed national economy.
The very things that the minority party have taunted as non starters in recovery. There is a lesson in the past. We know what works. Our president and the congress can’t seem to pull the trigger on ending the madness of the republicans.
"WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
-George Orwell, 1984
While we as progressives and liberals thrive on the national discussion we can see that Mr. Obama is destined to be a one term president. We have hamstrung him by not forcing him back to the true middle (not the politically middle created be the fanatical right).
They control the press, it really isn’t liberal, they control the message and they control the country through acts designed to bring down our government. They cut funding to schools causing our future to be educated at a level equal to that of the upcoming labor force, Africa. To compete in the lie created by big business, “we need lower wages and docile labor rules to compete.” Blame Americans for making a livable wage.
We left him with a mixed message at the mid terms by not showing up and voting. Our political landscape shows that we must vote with our ballot and not our apathy. The politicians will only have our ballots and numbers of voters to beat out the obscene money the rich, mega national corporations and the banks will pour into the election.
In 2012 to be successful and turn around this wild ride, everyone who voted for Mr. Obama, must come back and give him a second term and a majority in the Senate capable of defeating the current filibuster rule, and a majority in the House. For liberals and progressives to take control in 2012 we need to be there in greater numbers than before.
We need to end voter apathy by ending the republican talking points “the lesser of two evils” and “there is no difference between the two parties.” We need to take the fight to their door. Since the beginning of this great country we have won our wars under the leadership of progressive leaders and to win in this political civil war we need to give our leader the unequivocal tools of democracy.
And should he lose to a tea party crazy, yeah I said it simply because true conservatism is dead, a veto proof House and Senate with the mandate to restore the American dream.