Sunday, November 11, 2012

OBAMA'S SECOND TERM AND THE GOP



It takes much more self control than Jay H. Ell has, to not say that "He has been telling you so for over a year now". He also has been blogging again and again as to the intellectual and political bankruptcy of the Republican Party. It is totally out of sync with the demographic, political, social and financial realities of the new millennium. With all that money, voter suppression activities, the parlous state of the economy, their total neglect of veracity and their unashamed harping that Obama was "Un-American" - code for African American - they still lost the Presidency.  

"COMES DOWN REALITY"


The temptation will be to blame Romney, Hurricane Sandy, Christie or whatever but that really doesn't fly. They can maintain that it was Karl Rove's fault, (in fact he is favorite for the position "scapegoat in chief"), that Obama was better organized and on and on. The crisp point is that their electoral future is just going to get worse. 
The Republican Party are at a crossroads. The establishment can still continue to pretend that they control the Party but they don't. The Tea Party does. The establishment was powerful enough to get Romney as their nominee; their last best shot, but if they stick with the Tea Party, the Republican Party will gradually become more and more insignificant. 
The Tea Party can believe they are an alternative government but they are not. It was their policies that were so soundly beaten. They are the Party of yesterday and as the years roll on they will become vestigial. 
MORE POSITIVES
Besides Obama's victory there are other bright spots to this election. One was that no group made an issue of Romney being a Mormon and the other was that America did not get the best President money could buy. 
The Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision to allow screeds of money to imbalance the voting process had limited impact. The major donors to the Republican cause are apparently furious that their money yielded no return. Trump, for example, has turned his bile on Rove. Rove, as a guru is history. Some of his explanations were bizarre maintaining, "Obama had suppressed the vote". Sheldon Adelson, as a multibillionaire, who made his money from gambling ventures, should know that if you put all your money on red that black can come up even if you own the casino. 
The positive impact of all this money is in accordance with the Republican credo of trickle down economics. Instead of all the money going down to the Cayman Islands it was poured into the economies of the swing states providing plenty of jobs. Also that money is taxable helping to reduce the deficit. Political Action Committees are not tax havens. So the Republican plutocrats have already improved the economy.
The impact on the Republican Members of Congress who have been shackled by the Tea Party and their paymasters is evident. Republican House leader Boehner has already asked Obama for his plan to avoid America going over the fiscal cliff and agreed to compromise. After this mess Boehner can take charge and crack the whip. He may even have to risk just help create a majority with the Democrats with some members of the Tea Party voting against.


GOP FUTURE.
As Jay H Ell has written American politics relies on consensus.  (Blog: The Republican Party after Romney). The GOP have been given a breathing space to adapt and make a contribution to the future of the country. If they don't they will be condemned to the sidelines for a long long while. Against all odds the Democrats held their own in the Senate and picked up seats in the House. In case it passed unnoticed more Democrats voted for House of Representative candidates than Republican candidates. Only the fact that the Republican State legislatures were successful at gerrymandering the voter districts allowed the Republicans to hang in.
As Bill O' Reilly of the Fox stable wailed,” This is no longer a White Male Country". In that vein the Republicans have to ignore the unelected media leaders whose every beck, (pun intended), and call they respond too. 
So they have to change their policy from obstructionism and  "preventing Obama a second term" to involvement. (They don't have to worry Obama is not allowed a third term anyway). They have to dump the arrogant Grover Norquist and recognize to solve the fiscal dilemma they have to increase taxes of the very rich. Who is Grover Norquist anyway? Who voted him in? What constituency does he represent? What is he going to do if they break a "pledge" to him about not elevating taxes for the rich? Sue them?
OBAMA

Obama too has to get his act together. This after all this is HIS second term. He has to lead, initiate, caucus, mediate and circulate. He cannot just leave it to Pelosi and Reid. In negotiating a package he cannot let go of his fundamental election platform plank to alter the American tax structure to get the "rich" to pay their fair share. 

WAR OR PEACE.


It is not just a cliché to say that America is at a crossroads. However only slightly more than half the country has leaned towards accepting the change as women’s glass ceilings get shattered, that the newer Latin American immigrants have begun to assert themselves as Americans and that the youth have refused to accept the shibboleths of their elders. (Blog: Half of America has Romnesia).


America's history has been punctuated by such crises, the first being the Civil War and the last, a half century ago, in the aftermath of the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King and the midst of a futile war where America lost 70,000 of it's youngest and finest died, Voting and Civil Rights were enshrined and the Founding Voters ideal for Votes for all American was realized. 
How the leaders and society and its leaders now behave will dictate how the world's most powerful nation inches into the new millennium. Will it be a peaceful change or will this metaphorical war continue?
Will the businessmen unleash the capitol they are hoarding and get the economy going and co-operate in creating a fairer and equitable society? Will the leaders of all branches of Government reflect the clearly stated will of the majority of society?
Only time will tell but Jay H Ell is optimistic.

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