Been Away from Here. Got Apathetic. Then Got Pissed. Had to come back and vent. [View all]

[Armstead]

Call me a fair weather friend if you want. But after the election, I felt very relieved. Then I got apathetic and somewhat complacent. Then I got mildly annoyed...Then I get increasingly pissed. that even in victory the Democrats have been acting like whipped puppies....While the GOP yet again eat our lunch in the ways that matter.

It's fucking Groundhog Day. Except -- unlike Bill Murray in the movie -- we aren't learning anything or improving ourselves in this cycle of repetition. It just repeats with no growth in the political world.

The public moves somewhat leftward in a slightly more progressive populist direction..And yet our government stays far to the right (Democrats included) in terms of placating the rich and powerful, while giving the rest of us the shaft. It's tragic because the pendulum is swinging in our direction, but our "elected" representatives keep ducking out of the way -- or actively pushing it back in the wrong direction.

Same old shit as when the GOP had Congress and Bush was president. Except now we have the benefit of experience of the crappy results of GOP/Corporate Dominance --- and the people saw it too and gave Democrats a chance.

So what happens? Obama is Bill Cinton, happily supping at the Corporate trough and tossing us a few leftover bones. A Democratic president who won handily but can't -- or doesn't want to -- exercise his power to actual;ly implement some liberal/progressive policies and laws.

Obama is proposing reducing SS benefits -- Something that was unthinkable not very long ago. (Even Bush backewd away from messing with that.) Negotiating secret "free trade" scams that hand over even more power to corporations at our expense...etc.

Congress is still their namby-pamby ineffectual selves -- except when it comes to passing crap that helps out their corporate masters.....The GOOD progressive Democrats in Congress STILL get ignored and marginalized by the so-called "centrists."

So, it seems that with a few exceptions, we're just going to allow things to get more corporate, more right wing and make life worse for average people and the poor while a few enrich themselves at our expense....And so, instead of hope, average people get more cynical and burned out by all the meaningless political games.



And so that old adage remains in place -- "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."