They Have Fallen and Refuse To Get Up

The August 2009 health care town hall meetings held by the Democratic Party have Republican knickers in a collective twist it seems. Republicans have uniformly lost their cool; have marshaled their dwindling base to oppose Obama on health care, regardless to majority public dissatisfaction with runaway health care costs. But these town hall meetings have done more to shed light on the differences between the two political parties than anything else this year, save the hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor...

It is apparent that the Republican Party's fall from grace last November was even more devastating than previously understood. They are now a "regional" party of extremists and Southerners... But they are very serious about getting power back at all cost.

In an effort to remain viable and keep hope alive for the 2010 mid-term elections, Republicans must stoke the anger of their Southern white base against a black President using the most inflammatory rhetoric allowed under the First Amendment.

With the backing of Newt Gingrich, even Sarah Palin accuses President Obama of seeking "Death Panel squads" in his health care bill. There is no truth to this absurd accusation, but unfortunately 58% of Republicans are "not sure Obama is a U.S. citizen" according to a recent poll conducted by the Daily Kos... Does this sound like a party of truth seekers?

The once powerful and proud party of Republicans has fallen and doesn't want to get up. They like wallowing in the murk and mire, because that is where they have been since their demoralizing 2008 defeat. And it is there where they will seek a re-birth, only to realize they have reached a dead end... They will need a better plan.

How the mighty have fallen... Or is it, "A proud heart goes before another fall in 2010?"

G.L.M.

What Du Bois Said

While celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the NAACP, one cannot find it easy to declare the issues of race solved in America anytime soon. Sure, we have an African-American (black) President of the United States. We are about to get our first latina Supreme Court Justice... But what price must we pay for future advancements, and are we willing to pay it?

The underlying issues of race in 2009 America are still poorly cloaked in the cozy entrapment of media, and will not be recorded correctly by corporate historians. NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois raised this issue a century ago when he wrote, "One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel Webster got drunk but only that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner . . . and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect man and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth..."

True historians are those who know their own histories, and relate them to the events of their times. Those who do not rely on others to define their own works and witness will be those who clearly know their own truth, and value their own life experience. But these historians are not content to know just what they know.

Du Bois also wrote, "A little less complaint and whining, and a little more dogged work and manly striving, would do us more credit than a thousand civil rights bills..." Know your enemies well, but make sure you're not one of them I'd say...

The history of the NAACP has been accorded more truth than fame. It has fought the good fight, but has not finished its course. Unfortunately, its course will never be complete as we can clearly see the need for more intervention where issues of race and social equity are concerned. We have witnessed what happens when leadership is more interested in repeating empty words and phrases about "loving the troops" while they send those very soldiers to death based on distorted facts and opinions...

We need the NAACP to remind us of the truth when popular culture goads us to pursue fame, and convenience for the sake of institutional traditions that bear false witness about their concerns for our concerns... Du Bois also said, "The worker must work for the glory of his handiwork, not simply for pay; the thinker must think for truth, not for fame..." I say truth is wind to the chime. Ring chime... Ring!

G.L.M.

America Finally Sees the Elephant

Senator Norm Coleman’s defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Supreme Court has handed the Democrats a filibuster proof United States Senate. This hopefully brings an end to Republican legislative policies that have severely hamstrung the nation’s business. Considering all that we have been through since Gore v. Bush, we can repeat the old saying of Civil War combat veterans, “I saw the elephant.”

We have experienced something so powerful and devastating to our lives over the last 8 years that it should have felt no-less like civil war. Our country has been torn apart by extreme right-wing agendas, and we may never be the same. It still frightens me to think that America wanted such a grotesque beast trampling over all its noble beliefs…

I saw the elephant… clearly.

The ascent of Al Franken to the United States Senate now becomes the Democrat’s double edged sword. It provides Democrats with an immense opportunity to pursue all of their ideals and dreams for the nation. Democrats can now ignore the GOP chorus of moral hypocrisies, as well as Republican cries on behalf of their corporate health insurance company sponsors, and do the full-time bidding of the American people.

Democrats are now free to tackle issues such as global warming and stem cell research without the unfounded denials and false alarms of Republican Senators James Inhofe and Pat Roberstson getting in the way. They can add oversight to American banking industries, and continue exposing politicians who enable the Ken Lays and the Angelo Mozilos and the Bernard Madoffs of Republican lore.

The consequences of greed, evidenced from the Reagan Revolution up until now, can only lead sensible Americans to say with certainty, “We unmistakably saw the elephant.”

Finally, Democrats can officially stop blaming Republicans for stonewalling everything, and push their agenda through both houses of Congress. Needless to say, this is what Americans voted for this past November. This is why there is a President Obama in the White House, and a filibuster proof Democratic Congress… With Coleman out and Franken in, we expect real changes in our government.

How appropriate it is for a Democratic comedian to become the 60^th Senate Democrat, ending the Republican circus that presided over the worst economic crisis since World War II. How refreshing to know that our faith and trust was rewarded with new hope, and renewed power.

But… how disappointed I will be if I see a revived Republican elephant wreaking havoc on the nation, and the world as a result of Democratic majority stagnation...

G.L.M.