July 16, 2012

Romney is most likely going to pick a conservative, white male for his running mate

All of the talk and speculation about a women, a minority, or both getting the nod is just a weak attempt to make it appear that Romney is inclusive and supporting of diversity.

That effort is a hollow one because the voters Romney thinks he needs to support his campaign don't really believe there's any race, gender, or ethnicity deficit in politics -- or in the country, for that matter -- which need special attention and elevation. In fact, Romney just went out of his way to show that he's willing to talk down to minority communities (in his appearances at Latino and African-American forums) and tell them, for the benefit of his right-wing supporters, that they needn't ask his presumptive administration for anything which might be of particular interest or concern for their community.

As far as Romney's craven campaign is concerned, blacks Latinos, women, immigrants, etc., are best represented in government by the paternalistic, misogynistic, xenophobic, bigoted agenda of his homogenized party's regulars. Any deviation from that ideal would alienate the Romney campaign from their increasingly isolated base of supporters who insist that these diverse Americans' pleas for inclusion and legislative equity amount to wanting 'handouts' and special treatment.

It's safe enough for the Romney campaign to throw out a few names of 'safe' minorities, like Condi Rice, but she, and other diverse choices mentioned have never been anything more to republicans than cynical props to try and make it appear that the vast majority of minorities and women who identify their politics with Democrats aren't the decided monopoly that they demonstrate almost every presidential election.

I fully expect the charade to end in a week or so when Romney announces someone like Rob Portman or Chris Christie to share in his campaign's political assault on progress and progressiveness in this election. Is anyone really buying into their pretense that they have enough regard for minority or women voters to include someone who would actually represent them in their campaign?

After Palin's disastrous addition to the McCain presidential bid, it's unlikely we'll see another experiment in gender triangulation; much less likely we'll see some reliance on someone who's race or gender isn't actually viewed as an asset by these privileged pols and their scapegoating, republican following.

There's so much of the republican political appeal and logic which assumes that government is too focused on addressing the needs and concerns of these diverse interests and individuals. That overriding, bigoted peeve of republicans and their conservative supporters is just too ingrained and encompassing of the majority of their politics and initiative for Romney risk identifying his presidential bid with anything other than their white, male ideal that I can't see this craven man diverting from all of that.

July 1, 2012

Passed, Signed, Upheld

'Health Battle Enters Round 2'

The pathetic headline above appeared on the front page of the WSJ yesterday. This is the corporatist right-wing's version of democracy today. It's not enough for Congress to pass landmark legislation and for the President to sign it (at least not this President). After all of that democracy, the right needs to test our product of legislative government against their conservative dominated court; not on the merits of the law, so much, as a gamble against their stacked majority.

Next, presumably, they want a re-do of the last presidential election to re-shuffle their etch-a-sketch and wipe out history with a supposed wave of their corporate-executive's hand. Romney and the rest are busy telling their supporters that they'll have a shot at undoing this health care law, in their favor by just electing them to office.

That might well be a possibility, but it's certainly wishful thinking. I'll say this, though . . . this will be their last shot at manipulating the democratic process which brought us the ACA and pretending like it's some unsettled law which is open for debate.

We win this damn election and we make the ACA the new 'third rail.' Damned if we're going to let these politicians and their flacks pretend like the last three years of this presidency and its legislative accomplishments were just some aberrations. We lived and breathed this history and they are fighting with our futures to undo all of it and replace it with NOTHING!

Round two? KICK THEM TO THE CURB!