2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I guess I’m an Obama apologist... [View all]calimary
(81,845 posts)Last edited Wed Jun 12, 2013, 12:18 AM - Edit history (2)
WAY too many!
- How 'bout the Supreme Court nominations that will come, and who will retire to create those openings in the first place, one of ours or one of theirs?
- How 'bout the appointees and nominees that will come, and the mindset that would take over? Surely you don't want to see the PNAC having The Big Access again, do you? They were all over the romney campaign in the foreign policy department. These same wannabe warriors are in mid-life or later, and never served when they were younger and had a chance to go to Vietnam or maybe Desert Storm, so they have no concept about the real costs of war. They want to lead the way in a great crusade, from the safety of their well-appointed offices, of course. When a Dem is in the White House, their access becomes more difficult, because the Democratic world view is a lot less welcoming to these wild and totally failing notions of the imposition of an American Empire upon the world. It's the republi-CONS who are into that juvenile, unrealistic, self-absorbed shit. Dems not so much, and when they're in power, the PNAC is not exactly in with that in-crowd.
- How 'bout the "advisors" who'd come in with a republi-CON president? Consider: who are their campaign chieftains, their head fund-raisers, their debate coaches and sparring partners, their activist business pals, their big-ass donors who all see this as an investment. ALL THOSE PEOPLE would come flooding in with their pal, the GOP president.
- How 'bout energy policy? We'd have NO hope whatsoever of combatting Keystone XL, protecting the ecosystem, developing and promoting sustainable energy sources, or cracking down on polluters, dumpers, manufacturers of toxins and toxic byproducts, and more. All the polluters would be given free passes to the Fast-Track lane because their pal who also hates regulations just grabbed the ultimate brass ring.
- How 'bout civil liberties. Okay there is shit going on, on Obama's watch. But it started and came to full flower under bush/cheney, and they never bothered getting warrants.
- How 'bout other civil liberties? Do you think for one minute any kind of worker protections, women's rights, voting rights, marriage equality, reproductive freedom, consumer protections, universal health care coverage, immigration issues, gun safety issues, issues involving the poor and homeless and elderly, the addressing of climate change, or any number of other issues that we care about - would figure anywhere in a republi-CON adminstration's agenda? Anywhere at all? How 'bout all those Congressional panels discussing women's reproductive rights or violence against women, and all the panelists are male? At least when the Dems get in, those things do go onto the "to do" list. Those are issues Dems talk about and are far more likely to try to accomplish things. Back it up from Election Night and consider the dramatically differing manifestos and mission statements of the party platforms of the Dems and the GOP. Look at all the planks in those platforms. THAT is the mindset that would come in with the winning ticket, and which would govern all decisions and policy directives. Which do YOU prefer?
- How 'bout the kinds of visitors they have, the kinds of events they attend and who they hang with? In other words, just who is getting regular and friendly access to the Oval Office & Co.? Who is it who's whispering in the ear of the (GOP) president? reagan's so-called "Kitchen Cabinet" exerted tremendous under-the-radar influence over his presidency. The members included a number of industrialists and California business tycoons. They were neither formally appointed as advisors nor nominated for Senate approval, so there was no accountability whatsoever. They operated in the shadows, out of public view and indifferent to public opinion. Is it gonna be another "Millionaires on Parade" as reagan's years were nicknamed? Exclusively the 1%, invitation-only, thank you? Just the have's and the have-more's?
- And you know there's more.
You're actually electing a mindset. How they lean, what they believe, where they stand, and all their like-minded friends, benefactors, associates, and advisors.
I'm gonna stay with the Democrats for awhile. There really isn't another option - any genuinely realistic one, that is.