Wow, someone actually said it out loud.

[nialla42]

TV by the Numbers: Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) say "The best thing that could happen is all of us lose and send some people up here who care more about the country than they do their political party or their position in politics."

Absolutely. The Republican Party was so set on not letting anything Obama was trying to accomplish get done that next

Comments

[superbadgirl]

For real. I'm trying to imagine what Obama might have accomplished if the Republicans didn't spend so much time, energy and money blocking every. single. thing. And then calling him out for not getting anything done, which is such a farce it makes me sad that people don't get WHY more hasn't been accomplished.

There are so few politicians (at least vocal, visible ones) that really seem to have a genuine concern for anything but the party line.

[green_grrl]

it makes me sad that people don't get WHY more hasn't been accomplished

My mom was a schoolteacher for decades (and is a firm believer in voting). She was going through an airport in a wheelchair earlier this year and got to talking to the young woman pushing the chair. The woman didn't understand about the election, the U.S. being a republic, or anything. My mom asked, "Did you take civics?" And she said no. So my mom explained our government system to her (and why the President can't just do everything, etc.) in about five minutes, and the woman was SO grateful. She wouldn't let my mom tip her! But apparently civics is not required in school anymore, and about half the kids don't learn it! That completely blows my mind.

[superbadgirl]

I <3 your mom.

Yikes. I knew things had changed for the worse in the education system (sorry, but band and art and choir ARE vital curricula items), but I hadn't realized such basic things weren't being taught anymore.

[aizjanika]

The scariest part for me right now is the textbooks. The state of Texas has way too much influence there (sorry, nialla42! :)

[green_grrl]

+1 Yes to all of the above.

I heard on NPR Romney making his final case and saying how many promises Obama had broken. Yeah, #1, the president is not the Legislative branch and if Romney were elected he wouldn't be keeping promises either (although he's so waffle-y he'd probably end up keeping some while in the midst of breaking others), and #2, ask the Republicans why those promises weren't kept. It wasn't for lack of compromise or effort on Obama's part.

[nialla42]

Whenever I hear Romney making some vague statement that hints about his policy plans (of which there's very little concrete), I always ask myself, "Which Mitt is talking today?"

The only way he'll manage to keep a campaign promise other than keeping taxes cut for the rich is by pure accident.

[aizjanika]

That's actually been his biggest fault, IMO, he's been too nice trying to be bipartisan when the other side is dead set against cooperation.

I agree! I was so frustrated by that, especially early on, but the Democrats in general have been frustrating me because of that since Bush was in office.

ETA: Though I agree that the reason things did not get done was because of the Republicans in congress, not Obama. I just didn't want the Democratic congress to compromise under Bush, and I didn't want Obama to compromise with those Tea Partiers at all. As the Republicans have become more and more and more extreme, the Democrats have been forced to move further and further in that direction in order to do any compromising at all, which does not make me happy at all.

[nialla42]

When Bush II was in office, it was almost like the Democrats were scared. I guess it's at least partly the issue of not going against a President when troops are deployed, but it's not like the GOP is adhering to the rules of respecting the office of POTUS like they screamed about when Bush II had his reign.

There was another slam against the President this week, about him not meeting with someone on an employment committee for over a year. Gee, I wonder why? The guy in question outright stated he wouldn't do anything the President suggested. Why waste the time?

I think we're seeing the last gasp of The Great White (Male) Majority, and they're going out bitterly. Some states are already "minority majority" which is going to make or break a lot of candidate in future elections.

[aizjanika]

I hope you're right about this being the last gasp. I have to admit that the extremist right-wing kind of scares me right now.

[nialla42]

I'm just not sure how long the last gasp will last. It's going to take a while for minorities to get into positions of power, on the local, state, and federal levels. I'm kind of ready for the end of the Reign of the White Guys, because as a white female, they're not exactly looking out for my interests.

The tea party folks have acted like a parasite that now controls the Republican Party. I could at least respect the old Party when it would attempt some compromises. Some people knee jerk vote around religion oriented questions -- abortion and gay rights -- and automatically vote Republican because of those issues instead of looking at the bigger picture.

If Romney does win, I'm looking forward to the number of Republicans vowing to move to Canada. You know, the country where abortion and gay marriage is legal, and everyone has healthcare.