OBAMA: YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

Extraordinary history will unfold over the next few weeks in the wake of the Massachusetts revolution.   We will watch Republican cocks crowing and that is to be expected.  They will proclaim that they have recaptured America's love.  After 8 years of Bush horrors, America forgives and forgets after one year of Obama incompetence.  Of course this is a ridiculous assumption and an embarrassment to the intelligence of the American people.  Nonetheless such will be the Republican claim as they grossly and dishonestly exaggerate and twist the truth--vultures taking credit for a carcass they did not kill.

At the same time too many Democrats will blame an incompetent Senatorial candidate as they retreat from their own truth.

But what the world will see--and what Obama must see if he is to survive beyond 2012--is that betraying your voter base, compromising your values, lying to voters and spending your days pandering to the opposition and turning your back on leadership and ethics is the work of incompetent gutless boobs--and progressive and independent Massachusetts voters voted against boobs, liars and hypocrites.

And what a wonderful world it would be, if both parties would face the truth and deal in reality for a change.  Ain't gonna happen, but a man can dream.

The Massachusetts "shocker" was very simply Obama's voter based sending him a clear warning:  Stop lying to us, show leadership and deliver on the progressive programs you swore to honor during your campaign.

The most Democratic of Democratic states, Massachusetts did not suddenly go Republican--and if the Republicans continue to claim so, they will just look more stupid and ridiculous than they already do--which is hard to imagine.

Massachusetts voters used the opportunity of Ted Kennedy's death to ring a warning bell.

Instead of CHANGE, Mr. Obama, you've given us the same old hypocrisy, compromise and incompetence that has been the way of Washington for way too long.

Instead of equality and a repaired post-Bush democracy, you have furthered the cause of theocracy.

Instead of delivering health care reform to the American people, you have delivered more income and business opportunities to the insurance industry and a globally embarrassing health care system that looks for the most profitable patients, kicking the sickest and the most vulnerable into the gutter.

Massachusetts has yet again delivered a shot heard round the world--but will either party hear it? 

Will Obama and the Democrats heed that warning and start leading America into the progressive future promised during the campaign of 2008?

The White House and the Democrats must now fight tooth and nail for a public option that will lay the foundation for truly humane and universal health care, they must go to war over ending DADT and DOMA, and they must openly declare their support for an ENDA purged of exemptions for organized religion.

Without the 60 Senatorial super majority, Democrats may fail to pass all of this, but a courageous and relentless demonstration of leadership, progressivism and ethics will pay off in 2010 and even more importantly in 2012. 

But a continuation of compromises, indecisiveness and betrayal will result in a one term president and a crumbled democracy. 

If Obama does not heed the Massachusetts warning bell, he will have turned King's "Dream" into a nightmare.

The GOP will claim that Massachusetts is a stop sign for Democrats.  They will be very wrong.  Massachusetts is a get off your gutless asses and deliver on your promises and stop pandering to those fucking morons who nearly destroyed this nation during the Bush Administration.

If Obama pursues more compromise in response to Massachusetts, he and his Democrats are done--and sadly so are gay rights.  Done.  Obama needs to take the opportunity of his State of the Union Address and apologize to his voter base for so badly screwing up. He needs to respond to Massachusetts by telling the Republican fools to get the fuck out of his way and then he needs to show leadership and relentlessly crusade to deliver on his election platform--no ifs, ands or buts.

Comments

[Vincent]

Shout it out loud and proud Richard....so many agree and wait in hope....Americans and those around the world who hoped too for a change as promised.

[Jim Kelly]

The election in Mass. was more than a wake up call to Obama & Co. Make no mistake about it. The results seriously damaged the Obama presidency. There will be much fall out from this, but anyone who thinks that Obama will spend political capital that he no longer has on repealing DADT or DOMA is delusional. Gay rights, and the rest of the progressive agenda, will now be permanently shelved as team Obama moves further to the political right, just as Slick Willie did after the 1994 mid term elections, when Dems also got their clocks cleaned.

So, what is the gay community to do? We have few options, but certainly closing our wallets to the Democratic Party should be a no brainer. We should also stop enabling the HRC and other lame national gay rights organizations who are in bed with the Democrats. Going forward we should accept nothing less than full and unequivocal support for our agenda from candidates for public office. That means no voting for Democrats Obama on down in 2010 and 2012 unless and until they endorse full equality, fight for us, and deliver victories. Finally, what we should be doing is taking it to the streets, but we're just to tame as a people to do that, unfortunately. The fact is, we're stuck in the political and social mud for the foreseeable future. The time is long past for us to get deadly serious about our own plight.

[Alan down in Florida]

I think the use of the picture of the Cowardly Lion is cute but you've picked the wrong character from The Wizard Of Oz for your metaphor. Obama is. in fact, The Wizard himself, trying to stay behind the curtain in order to build consensus and bipartisanship or, to put it differently, trying to recreate the system from the street upwards.

What he needs to do is step out from behind the curtain and show some f**king LEADERSHIP. He is the POTUS now, not some community organizer.

This came in my e-mail today from Democracy For America:

"Last night, Democrats lost Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in a bitter special election. This is already a sad day for all of us who loved Ted Kennedy. But to make it even worse, conservative Democrats and Washington talking heads are claiming that the loss happened because Congress was "too far to the left."

They're wrong again -- and we can prove it.

We had Research 2000 poll voters immediately after the Election ended: Even Scott Brown voters want Democrats to be bolder and they want healthcare reform that includes a public option.

You read that right. By a margin of three-to-two, former Obama voters who voted for Republican Scott Brown yesterday said the Senate healthcare bill "doesn't go far enough." Six-to-one Obama voters who stayed home agreed. And to top it off, 80% of all voters still want the choice of a public option in the bill.

The message is clear, there is only one way out of this mess if Democrats want to win in 2010. It's time to pass healthcare with 51 votes in the Senate using the budget reconciliation process. And it must include the most popular piece of bold reform: the choice of a public option."

My reaction was "Finally, someone other than Richard gets it."