I’ve never been a joiner. I wore the marching to my own drummer badge proudly ever since I was an outsider in school. I registered as a Democrat after spending years with No Party Affiliation (even though I’ve never voted for a Republican) so I could vote for John Edwards in the Florida primary in 2008. I know what Edwards turned out to be… but during the primaries, he appeared to me to be the most electable progressive choice we had.
I did, however, enthusiastically support Obama when he became the nominee. And I’ve watched incredulously as my hopes for the future of this nation have been shredded under his ineffective presidency. While watching this president concede a single payer health care system before the negotiating table was even set, to his bargaining away the public option and importing prescription drugs in back room, secret deals to escalating the war in Afghanistan and waging a new war in Libya, I’ve grown more and more incensed over the past two years!
And how about his 180 on criminal trials for the 9/11 masterminds and closing Guantanamo Bay? (Read Kristen Breitweiser’s HuffPost blog about that subject – she’ll join me on the show tomorrow!) And choosing Jim Messina – the most progressive unfriendly choice he could make – as his liason to the progressive community? (Read Ari Berman’s piece in The Nation on that subject — he’ll also be on the show tomorrow morning!)
I could go on..and on… and on… So now, when President Obama challenges me to jump into the fray to help him get re-elected, and people start posting “I’m In” widgets on my facebook page imploring me to do the same, my instincts are to run in the other direction.
Seriously, at a time when I -and many others on the left- feel like our leader has defected to the dark side, he challenges us with a question that just begs for a snarky retort, like asking who’s pocket he’s in. Or simply saying he’s insincere, inartful, insufferable, inexcusable and, at times, incompetent and flat-out insidious.
Will I opt in to the game of knocking on doors, raising and contributing money and actively campaigning for a guy who shows that he’s just another politician who should be wearing corporate logos on his racing suit? No. I think I’ll stay out.
Of course, I will ll vote for Obama when the time comes. And there’s one main reason. Five to four.
That was the vote in the Supreme Court on a truly insane ruling by the Supreme Court (with the majority opinion written by the inept Clarence Thomas) that ruled against monetary damages awarded to a man who wrongly spent 14 years on death row in Louisiana when the district attorney withheld crucial exonerating evidence. Five to four was also the inexcusable vote that ruled against the First Amendment when it said that taxpayers in Arizona had no legal standing to challenge a state law that gives tax credits for religious school tuitions.
Am I in? I guess. Just not as IN as President Obama would like me to be.
Today on the show
This morning, I spoke with the guy who made national news because he dared to utter the word uterus on the floor of the Florida House! State Representative Scott Randolph is my new hero. He’s outnumbered 2-1 in the Florida legislature, which currently has 18 bills wending their way through the process which would outlaw or limit womens rights of choice. While delivering a floor speech, he had the gall to say
“The point is that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government. But I say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife’s uterus was incorporated or my friend’s bedroom was incorporated, maybe the Republicans would be talking about deregulating.”
Ironically, the GOP didn’t object to the point he was making. No, they objected to his using the word “UTERUS” on the floor, saying it was “language that would be considered inappropriate for children and other guests.”
No, I’m not kidding.
After a news update from Ellen Ratner at the Talk Radio News Service, I was joined by GottaLaff of The Political Carnival for our weekly segment dishing about some of the news we might otherwise have missed.
Today, we touched on these stories and more…
Transocean “apologizes” for calling 2010 “best year” ever, but not for cash awards
VIDEO: Another awkward moment on Fox
VIDEO: Are Facebook, Twitter & Youtube Making Us ***holes?
VIDEO: The Original Tea Party was not Anti-Government but Anti-Corporation
Sometimes I think it is more helpful to formulate a question that you have a better chance of getting answered. In this case, I would like to know who in the White House is down with Incubus.
Green
As to Scott Randolph- the old ‘argumentum ad uterus’
Nicole:
You hit the nail right on the head about Obama. And yet, you are still going to vote for him. Sonia Sotomayer is a corporatist too, and the next Supreme Court Justice he appoints will be the same.
Your right, its better than a teabagger judge, but it comes down to the tug of war waged on our governments ideology. This ‘lesser than 2 evils’ voting has been going on since Reagon. And when we look back 30 years, Reagon sounds pretty progressive. Even worse, think about how progressive Nixon is now.
The solution? The Labor Party, or what you talked about yesterday, the Job Party or even the Green Party. We all need to vote who represents us, not do a c*ck block, so a teabagger doesnt get in. It will be painful at the beginning, but if we vote by representation and the Labor Movement continues, we will get the progressive leaders we have been starving for. – Ed