This was supposed
to be an entry about Obama's first year. About me
being in DC a year ago with a hopin my step during
Obama's first day on the job. The fact that my biggest
disappointments a year later have nothing to do with
him... and then today's ruling. Then again, I guess
that's perfect. Because what, the fuck, just
happened?
In case you
haven't heard yet, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to
basically lift every regulation on how corporations
can donate money to campaigns/politicians, etc. I
mean, it's not like they didn't find ways around the
regulations before, but this opens the door in a way
that's so egregious, so clearly the opposite of what
our democracy was founded on... and why? 'Cause they
ruled corporations have a right to free speech just
like individuals do? HUH? Corporations get to use our
bill of rights? Did I just wake up in some future
world we were told about as kids? I'm about as
hopeless to the system now as I've ever been. The
two-party system has always been the bain of my
existence because of the amount of money and lobbyists
involved, and now this? Is this going to become like
college football? The Tostitos Democratic Primary?
Like Nascar with stickers? Are candidates gonna have
Nike Swooshes on their lapels?
Of course not,
it's still going to be somewhat hidden, but the
president and congress had better get their shit
together IMMEDIATELY to throw down some regulations.
Do you realize that with all the money in the last
presidential campaign (a BILLION) that was 1/10th of
Exxon profits. Meaning in one check they could
literally negate everything. One company. One check.
What the fuck. It was the best thing I felt came out
of the last campaign. The internet changed everything.
3 million DIFFERENT donors to Obama's campaign alone.
It finally felt like the people were involved, and it
mattered. This ruling destroys that. I'm completely
stunned right now. Fuck health care, fuck agendas,
this is the entire system. Why the FUCK was the vote 5
republicans against 4 democrats?!?!? WHY
IS THIS PARTISAN? WHAT THE HELL. I
mean, I ask that somewhat rhetorically, because
we all have our opinions, but I just can't fathom how
you can support the government we have right now.
We're heading towards some sort of revolution where
people straight up take down big
business...
...that is, if
people even bothered to give a shit. Honestly?
I think the majority of the electorate would LOVE
it if Walmart sponsored a candidate. "Hey, I like
Walmart, and if they like Bob? Bob it is. You bet
prices will stay low if BOB GETS IN."
Fucking hell. I guess this is a perfect lead in for
all that I'm really disappointed in a year
later...
I define
disappointment as expecting one thing, and getting
another. And somehow, I'm actually disappointed in...
the media. I don't know how they continue to get
worse, but they do. A couple weeks back when Rachel
Maddow, with a smile, called the Christmas day bomber
the "fruit of the boom" bomber like that was
fucking cute or something I nearly threw my remote at
her face. Don't you DARE try and lessen the severity
of that security fuck up just because our president is
a Democrat. WHO DOES THAT SERVE? I'll
get into that security disaster at the end, but in
general the media on both sides is so unbelievably
self-serving, it's nearly unwatchable. Fox? Well it
takes a lot for them to disappoint me, but leave it to
the disaster in Haiti to show just how evil they can
be. Not only did they barely cover it at the
beginning, not only did they actually spend time
debating if Obama was reacting TOO QUICKLY to the
tragedy in comparison to his first comments on the
Christmas Day bomber, they created the saddest
situation I've seen in a long time: the infamous
"family"...
There's a family
that is angry that their kids haven't been found in
Haiti. They are angry at the US government for
creating all these miracles for the Haitians (they see
THOSE people pulled out, but not their kids), but have
actually replied with: "where's OUR miracle?". I won't
blame those parents, because I know they're going
through some shit right now - and there's a very good
reason for them to feel this way: divisive media. It's
all conservative media EVER DOES. Divide.
Constantly divide. Like Limbaugh saying why should we
help, we already donated to them with our income
taxes. It's evil. It's anti-human. Fox, by choosing to
politicize a tragedy has made it reasonable for this
family to be angry that
THEIR KID WASN'T FOUND OUT OF 200,000
bodies. Can you imagine, any family yelling at the
government during 9/11 for not finding an individual
body fast enough? Seriously. Think about the scope of
9/11 compared to that. EVERYONE understood just how
bad it was. But show a bunch of black people in
rubble? Some people's brains just short-circuit.
Suddenly it doesn't look that bad. "I mean, how
can you tell there's been an earthquake in a 3rd world
country? It already looks dilapidated!" The media
feeds our perceptions. And the divisive fear mongering
by the right continues to such a degree, I'm stunned
at the effectiveness. Therefore this family thinks
it's completely acceptable to demand "answers" for why
our government isn't doing enough to find THEIR
children out of the 1/4 MILLION dead. It sickens me.
And now other news organizations are picking up on the
story after they went on (where else) Fox News first.
It's irresponsible to even publicize this one family
with the amount of tragedy going on there. Just
compare it to 9/11 and how everyone understood how
"big" that mess was, and that some bodies will never
be found... and then realize just how SMALL that area
was in comparison and that there were just 3,000
deaths on 9/11. PERSPECTIVE. And it's the
MEDIA'S JOB to supply PERSPECTIVE to those of us
who aren't able to GO to Haiti right now.
FUCK.
Next up for my
disappointments? The sheep that elected the man in the
first place. The ones that haven't the slightest idea
how government works, who is responsible for what, and
the processes involved. Again, part of that ignorance
needs to be filled in by the media - but some common
knowledge sure would be appreciated. Some memory of
past administrations, please? But hell, can we even
have some memory of the campaign? I had a friend tell
me he was disappointed that he didn't pull out of
Afghanistan and that he didn't reverse the marriage
equality Act for gays. And I'M disappointed you didn't
LISTEN to the man you elected who stated CLEARLY
he was against gay marriage and unequivocally that
Afghanistan was the "right war" and he would funnel
resources there and away from Iraq. How did people
drink the kool-aid SO much on this guy? How were
they so in love with him, that they ignored everything
he said? I mean, I still think he's incredible, so
clearly I'm drinkin' a bit still, but at least I'm
listening and observing. And I will spit his shit out
from time to time when he messes up. But to be up in
arms about the bank bailout (which he didn't do, Bush
did-though any president would have been forced to do
the same thing) or Afghanistan or gay marriage is just
ignorant. You're just not doin' your homework, and
then you're blaming the teacher.
...but I still
blame the media. It's the only reason the polls are
against health care now. They were gung-ho a year ago.
But if it takes too much time? Or has too many
concessions? Ahhh, kill it. Then again, the democrats
are such political rejects what's the
point?
Amazingly, even
though I had hardly any faith in them whatsoever? I am
actually disappointed in the Democrats. Really? You're
bitching and moaning about losing your super-majority?
Really? 'Cause it was workin'
SO WELL FOR YOU before?
'CAUSE YOU GOT SOOOOOO much done?
Jesus. Shut up already. Obama gave those idiots way
too much credit for being capable and it will cost him
dearly. He was damned either way, had he come out
headstrong like Clinton in '93 it never would've
gotten this far, but the Dems dropped the ball
BIG TIME and they're gonna pay this fall. Which,
of course, is knee-jerk and stupid. It's been a year!
Where's the CHANGE!?!?! So we continually replace
incumbents ad infinitum insuring nothing gets
done.
I would say I'm
disappointed in the Republicans, but it would be
naive. Why not just say "no" over and over until the
next election and laugh at how little the Democrats
could do? This is all about winning the next election
right? And when you have your own news network to
support you? That branches out into radio, tv, print
and internet? It's a cycle that will continue forever
as long as the people allow it. So I'm not
disappointed in the Repugnants. At least they're
consistently divisive and black and white. Seriously,
no shades of grey in that pool. I don't mean
conservatives by the way, I mean those that chose to
have an "R" next to their name. They're a different
breed.
Of course it comes
down to President Obama and I gotta say, other than
one incident, he's been everything I could've hoped
for as a leader considering the impossible situation
he was thrown into. Let me get to the
incident...
The Christmas day
bomber was ON OUR LISTS. We knew him. He was
a suspect. Because the two databases don't overlap, we
let him on a plane with a bomb that he was able to
ignite. Thankfully, something faulty made him only
hurt himself, but this is an absolute disaster
security-wise. WASNT
OBAMA SUPPOSED TO BE THE TECHNOLOGY PRESIDENT?
A database? A fucking
EXCEL SPREADSHEET would've prevented this.
We already had his name. The dude's dad was
WARNING US. Hire MARK ZUCKER (Facebook
founder, ran part of Obama's campaign) to fix that
shit already.
I CAN WRITE THE CODE FOR THAT ONE.
I just can't believe it. He wasn't on the "no-fly"
list, just on a different list, but the TSA and the
CIA and the FBI don't talk to each other? They don't
share information? WHAT THE FUCK. And the
response? The area that everyone focused on after? The
new body-scanners we need that can determine your NUT
size yet still miss most explosives. This is where the
media determined the story was.
(sigh)
The story wasn't
how the machines missed the explosives; the story is
how we allowed a guy on a terror list onto our plane
without pulling him aside for some UBER-CHECK. That
was the only story. How in fuck's sake can these
agencies not be cooperating. How can they not be
sharing a SPREADSHEET for crying out loud.
GODDDDDDDDDDDDAMNIT. Huge black-eye for the Obama
Administration in my opinion. Do it, NOW. I'm not
saying everyone on every list shouldn't be able to
fly, but they sure as fuck should be interviewed and
screened like no other... THEN if they still get
through? It's an issue with the machines we're using
and the techniques, etc.
Ahem. Sorry. That
shit angers me. I fly CONSTANTLY. Use technology.
Allow those that ticket passengers to cross check
their names for fuck's sake.
Otherwise? All I
can say negative is that Obama believed too much in
the goodness of the Republicans to play along. He
tried so hard to be bi-partisan at the beginning it
looks like he was drinking his OWN kool-aid. Hillary
never would've done that. And something tells me, we'd
have a healthcare bill right now. Sorry, has to be
said. Then again, she's SO POLARIZING, that's a
longshot as well. But she certainly wouldn't have
faulted on the side of believing in the Republicans.
That much is certain. On a worldwide level though,
Obama has been an incredible representative of our
country. As I mentioned so often during the 2008
campaign, this isn't about my own policies, ideas,
agendas because I don't believe anyone will ever be in
office that shares those with me. I gave that up a
loooooooong time ago. My hope has always been somehow
breaking the 2-party system for good, and I just don't
believe I'll see it in my lifetime. No, the presidency
for me is about having someone who is competent, can
express thoughts in a coherent manner and is clearly
trying to help bring people together. That's what
leading the free world means to me. We're all one big
group, and your actions have to bring
cohesiveness...
And that's how
I have to end this entry. Think about it. Anyone
who doesn't agree with me, think about what we're
really arguing about right now. Obama's actions have
nearly unanimously been about helping. His biggest
undertaking right now, health care, is at its core
about helping. Not dividing. That's the direction we
have to go in as a society. Have to. We can't give
into fear. It's what kills me about the grassroots
tear party bullshit. It's surrounded by fear and hate.
I'm not saying they don't have points, and I'm not
saying that health care isn't a bureaucratic debacle.
I'm saying at our core, we HAVE to fault with
love. We HAVE to fault with helping. 'Cause if we play
into our fears? If we focus on hate? We're done. So
because of that, and because I don't presently have a
working HD camera, I will repost my video from last
year. So fucking sue me, I'm a bit burnt out after my
race to 1000. I promise you new content in the next
entry on Sunday.
SOOOOOOO MUCH TO TELL!!!!
Still feel that.
Still proud of him. Still think his competence level
is staggering. Still think our government is broken
and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. It's a
contradiction for sure. But so is life.
