I hear people say that "It doesn't matter who gets elected" jazz all the time. However, I truly believe if we had 8 years of Al Gore or even 4 years of Bush, cut short by 4 years of John Kerry, this country would be in much better shape than it is now. If you disagree you are delusional buddy. The razor close elections and reign of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney really proved to lots of people, that your vote does matter (especially if you live in a battleground state). Now, while I'm a registered Democrat, I'm not a liberal Kool-Aid drinker and I don't agree with the Dems on everything, especially immigration. Even the independent party is a farce, because only billionaires have any success with it, such as Ross Perot, Michael Bloomberg or Ralph Nader (with the exception of Ron Paul). Most billionaires are so entrenced with that corporate mindset, they will eventually fall victim to their instincts. When Michael Bloomberg was running for his 1st term as mayor of New York City, he went on Black radio and promised to deal with communities of color a lot differently than Rudy Giuliani. The progressive Black New Yorkers (such as I) who voted for him on the independent line, really solidified his victory. Well, he really hasn't lived up to his campaign promises. He's not the aggressive tyrant that Giuliani was, but he a smug @sshole, who has allowed real estate developers to run amok. Minority business participation in city government/agencies are at their lowest levels under his administration. The Village Voice said the guy (appointed by Bloomberg) that runs the agency responsible for rewarding gov't contract is a out and out bigot. Bloomberg, real estate developers and their minions are improperly using eminent domain, to displace the poor and elderly for their land grabs and line their pockets. He's running around saying, since he's a businessman, he should be entitled to a 3rd term to steer NYC thru this financial mess, in spite of the 2 term limit in place. Well, why didn't Mr. Businessman, warn New Yorkers, Wall Street and real estate developers, to proceed with caution, as the financials backing the securitization of subprime mortgages and the credit default swaps (the main culprit of this mess), that acted as a quasi-insurance to get investors on board with these risky mortgages, was akin to playing with fire. Many reputable economists warned this was going to happen years ago, but he thought he'd enjoy the ride up and be out of office on the ride down. He is the owner of the biggest financial information company in the world, so I know he knew about this for years. Bloomberg was against term limits, when Rudy Giuliani tried to use the 9/11 crisis for a 3rd term, yet he's using this financial crisis to do the same thing. The Dems pissed me off at times too, because they did have some people like Chris Dodd and Bill Clinton who were bigtime players in this mortgage meltdown crisis, but Nancy Pelosi wants to play partisan blame games. It's both these parties' fault, if you wanna keep it real!Quote:
Originally Posted by El Nino
I am a student of history and how it affects people. I think I'm that way, because I've seen how it has affected African-Americans for the worst, but that's a debate for another day. However, when I look back personally or ask others about how the poor and working folks in communities of color remember their lives under the Republicans and you just get frowned up faces and profanity laced criticisms. You don't hear that same talk when Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton names are mentioned, even though Carter presided over a bad economy. The rich got richer under Ronald Reagan (see the movie Wall Street) and the inner cities and rural areas were forgotten about. The same B.S replayed under George Bush Sr. As far as Bush Jr, I think he does care about the little guy, but he cares way more about the big guy. That is why he's used this country's tax dollars as his personal fiefdom, to give hundreds of billions in no-bid contracts to companies he, Cheney and Rumsfeld were chummy with (i.e Halliburton, Blackwater and Bechtel). That is the type of leadership, that ballooned our deficit, while Republicans talk about "small government" and "prudent spending". Well, Reagan and Bush Sr. left a huge budget deficit and Bill Clinton left a huge surplus and Bush Jr. burned thru it and created more national debt, than any President in U.S history. My point is, both parties are full of shyt to some degree, but the Republicans are the party of the wealthy and corporations, but they use fearmongering and the biases of poor, small-town folk (like the lady that called Obama an Arab) to get elected. Karl Rove was the king of this type of campaigning. I find it ironic how Cindy McCain has said Barack Obama has run the nastiest campaign in history, when McCain has way more negative ads running and his rallies are full of negativity. Coupled with the fact, that Bush Jr and Karl Rove brought up Cindy's prior addiction to prescription medications and McCain supposedly having a child of color out of wedlock somewhere. Barack Obama has not mentioned either issue once. Yet, Cindy McCain is saying Barack is the most vile
campaigner in history. Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin supporters accuse Obama of being sexist, yet both women have used racial code language in interviews and rallies (especially Hillary). Remember the "I can get the vote of hard working White Americans, not him" comment (probably why he didn't make her V.P). Hillary Clinton and the McCain/Palin tickets both resorted to sewer, biased politics out of desperation, when they saw their campaigns fizzling out.
People need to stop being slaves to politicians and think for themselves. People act like being a registered Democrat or Republicans is like some fraternity or sorority membership. I respect the few GOPers, who came on TV and reprimanded McCain for taking the "low road" and exploiting people's prejudices and fears. I find people who are overly partisan, highly suspect and morally deficient (see Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin or Sean Hannity). I watch Lou Dobbs on CNN all the time, even though I don't agree with him half the time. Why? Because, while his views are typically conservative and Republican, he realizes that the Republicans never do right by the hard working Joes out there. They're allegiance is to greed and corporations, but they wrap themselves in the American flag, lathered up in bogus patriotism and Christian values, while they're shafting those hard working, small town folk, that voted for them. That's one reason why Barack Obama is doing well in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, where Democrats and minorities never did well statewide, because many of them are starting to wake up and smell the coffee. I'm not naive, I know Barack Obama isn't going to make America some great paradise or even do half of what he promised in his 1st term. However, I'll know he'll point us in the right direction and the average Jo and Joanne will do better under his policies.
