On the Contrary

President Obama in his inauguration address told us what we all should know:  “But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

Apparently the message was lost on many who want an easy road forward.  They missed the whole point about this not being easy and even more important, they missed the point that the world has changed:  “What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works…”

What demonstrates this very clearly is the same old Republican obstructionism in their complaints about the economic stimulus plan.  They want to be in charge, they want to do the same stuff that brought us here and was rejected in the last election, and they think that if President Obama doesn’t roll over there is no bipartisanship.  But you expect no less from these low-life scoundrels.  Just keep reminding yourself who got us here and even though the bailout bill is not perfect (see The Economic Stimulus), it is a start.  But what is coming to the forefront is that we are not ready for the hard work, courage, and bold action necessary to bring about the change necessary to save us.  Here is my evidence:

• The Democrats are working way too hard to achieve bipartisanship agreement on the stimulus package when the compromises they make with the Republicans further waters it down and makes it less likely to succeed after passage.  The tax cuts in this bill are a bone thrown to the Republicans, but a big one of 37% of the total package.  They are inefficient for stimulating the economy and give us nothing for our money spent.  Democrats need to have the courage of their convictions and write a bill they think will really help (move the money to infrastructure).  As it is they are giving the Republicans a chance to water down their bill and then claim victory if it fails to stimulate the economy because it is too timid.
• When President Obama signed his executive order to close Guantanamo and to end torture, the cries went up that we would not be safe.  I have addressed this in detail in my blog (What Part of Get Rid of Guantanamo Don’t You Get), but to make long story short either we have values or we don’t.  Those who want to throw out the law so they can feel safe are moral cowards.  They don’t have the guts to stand by their values and except the consequences.  There is no other way to look at it.
• President Obama not only asked EPA to revisit allowing states to set their own greenhouse gas limits, but moved to raise the mileage standard by 2011.  Let the shrieking begin.  The auto industry, you know, those guys who have run themselves into the ground with poor decisions, starting shrieking how this would be their downfall supported by their paid for politicians.  This is just too much to bear in these hard times.  So when do you guys come into the 21st century and retool with a car we want?  When it was the good times you made the same argument.  Hard decisions don’t wait and those that can make this transition will be around for a while, and those that can’t wouldn’t be here anyway.  Just exactly what were they going to do with the bailout money, continue building their gas hogs?  The climate and our dependence on foreign oil won’t wait any longer.  What part of this don’t you get yet?  Recovery is a bitch isn’t it? (New York Times)
• Energy policy is producing some dissidents in the Democratic Party.  Republicans by definition are dissidents.  The argument is quite frankly who are the winners and who are the losers.  The mid-West, dependent on coal and manufacturing, wants a much more slow moving program that does not disrupt their economic life.  The West and East want, well, you have seen California’s approach to capping green house gases.  It would seem at first blush to be prudent to move carefully, but global warming and our dependence on foreign oil are not moving carefully.  Sooner or later we have to make hard decisions to move us away from our failed path and in those decisions some will be losers.  So far we have not shown the moral courage to face the hard consequences of hard decisions.  We are still addicted to the Republican free ride. (New York Times)

There will of course be more to come and the whining and shrieking will commence again, “It’s too hard, we can’t do it now, it hurts too much.”  So I will ask you all, if not now, when?  We already lost eight years.  Every day we lose is a day we lose.  It is now or never.  It is going to hurt and some apple carts are going to get over turned.  Isn’t that what President Obama said?  Where the hell is our courage?  Do I sense some gutless wonders out there hoping for gain without pain?  That is what we got from the Republicans with trickle down economics and it has been a disaster.  Didn’t you all say we were on the wrong path?  Where is your courage to face change?  What I see is a bunch of gutless wonders.

A breath of fresh air is blowing in from Washington.  For me it is like leaving the 80’s and going straight to the 21st century.  It’s a chance to stop doing stupid things, to be free to think new thoughts.  It is like losing 30 pounds and having this new body where there are all kinds of new possibilities.  It’s like being twenty-something again and having your whole life in front of you.  The change has already been palpable in the celebrations that speak to a younger generation and the look of hope in the participant’s eyes.  The reins of government may have finally been wrested from fat old white guys with tired ideas.  Hope instead of fear may be the order of the day. Rational thought and fact may finally overcome ideology.  Ignorance may no longer be a badge of honor.

But least we forget where we have been, here are a few of the tidbits from the weekends news to remind you of how much we have to overcome:

• In the last three months, at least 24 detainees have been declared improperly held by courts or a tribunal — or nearly 10 percent of the population at the detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where about 245 men remain (New York Times).  Think about it.  10% of your life being held, mistreated, and quite possibly tortured, and then released with a  “Never mind”.  Those that are truly guilty and should face trials will not be tried because out treatment so tarnished our behavior that a fair trail is no longer possible.  We might as well just release them and face the consequences.  If they didn’t hate us before, they do now.
• As Representative Pelosi pointed out in her differing position from President Obama on repealing the Bush tax cuts, “Nothing contributed more to the budget deficit than the tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America.”  Now we are starting a major fight against a downturn in our economy with a debilitating debt run up by the Bush Administration (Associated Press).
• Judge Vaughn Walker rejected the ridiculous claim by the Bush administration that no one can sue for illegal wiretapping unless the government admits the surveillance.  This puts the Bush administration’s violation of Americans’ rights when it intercepted their phone calls and emails without seeking a court’s permission back in play and maybe we will finally get a full airing of what went on and how our rights have been violated (San Francisco Chronicle).
• Abstinence-Only Programs to be challenged.  The Bush administration spends $176 million to push abstinence only programs that have been shown to be ineffective to deterring teen sex and in fact may lead to more frequent occurrences of unprotected sex.  But stupidity and ideology dies hard and in places like Georgia (the South, where else?) they are going to continue to throw their money away on this program.  For some people facts are just too hard to accept but maybe we won’t be wasting federal dollars on failed ideas any more (Plain Dealer).
• Paul Krugman made an elegant argument why we can’t just look the other way on torture, politicizing the Justice Department, illegal wire taps, et. al., and move on (New York Times).   We know President Obama will move immediately to make sure that even the CIA won’t torture anymore, but we don’t know if he has the political courage to face the war crimes and other laws we have broken.  We must hold those who committed these crimes against America accountable.  If it is a new day in America, actions must have consequences and the rule of law must prevail.
• And finally maybe we can end that moron approach we have to Cuba that has been driven by right wing Cuban refugees that has been totally counter-productive, made Cubans suffer, and helped prop up Fidel Castro.  Wouldn’t that be a breath of fresh air?  If we could make this change maybe we could even understand that gays threaten no one.

It is a truly new day and hopefully we can start looking at policies we have been promulgated and judge them truly on their efficacy, not on partisan ideological need.  That is the promise so many of us are so excited about.  Welcome President Obama.  May the wind be at your back.