Hot Corner: Bumper sticker politics
Written by Don Burnard | | opinion@toledofreepress.comI’ve been a student of politics for a few decades now, and in all that time, I’ve never seen a weirder political season than the one we are currently experiencing. The collective nation, regardless of which side you’re on, seems to have lost its mind. On one hand, we have the Right. This year, the moneyed powers have decided that it is in their best interests to ally themselves with some radical fringe elements to raise the collective fear of the following that they can usually dupe, to new heights of fear.
With a hodge-podge of candidates that in most years would be readily dismissed as crazy, and the backing of a number of deep pocketed money interests, like the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch, and the Wall Street bankers who feel their gravy train possibly grinding to a halt, they’ve managed to make a lot of normally bright people believe that they actually have THEIR best interests at heart. They’ve worked up their newly expanded base into a frenzy, assisted by the Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to put hundreds of millions of dollars of unregulated cash into elections.
They are so arrogant about it that Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News, can come right out and say he delivered a cool million to the Republican Governor’s Association to benefit his good friend John Kasich, who just happens to be running for governor of our fair state. Yes sir, when an Australian billionaire feels free to attempt to buy the governorship of our state, it’s a sad state of affairs. For decades, all the GOP has had to offer the public at large, is the fear du jour. Their real base doesn’t live in places like Toledo Ohio. Mix in a healthy dose of twisted non-facts in these corporate bought ads, and they’re off and running.
On the other side, we have the Left, a disorganized collection of disparate interests that mean well, but certainly wouldn’t want to offend anyone by actually doing something that might actually go far enough to truly address a problem. The Democrats seem to have this pie in the sky belief that bipartisanship actually still has meaning. To that end, they will water down any bill until it is basically ineffectual to try to get a Republican vote or two. If they fail in their attempt, we’ll become so despondent that large numbers will just give up and not even bother to vote. In the last two years, they managed to squander the largest majority in Congress in decades and pass some well meaning but woefully watered down legislation for fear of offending someone. In a word, basic governance has become nonexistent.
Now I’m just a poor dumb electrician, but here’s the way I see things. I worked heavy construction for 35+ years, so I’ll couch it in terms with which I’m familiar. For eight years, the Bush administration and the Republican controlled Congress, aided and abetted by a number of gutless Democrats, dug this huge economic hole. They gutted regulations and relied on the financial industry to “police” themselves, trusting them to do the right thing. We know how that turned out. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected. He was handed the shovel and tasked with filling in the hole. From a construction standpoint, I know that if you tell the average worker that you have 21 months to fill this hole it took 8 years to dig, he or she will probably tell you where to stick that shovel. Yet, this is apparently what the voters expect Obama to be able to do. Oh, and while you’re trying to fill in that hole, we’re going to hold on to the handle of that shovel so that you can’t fill that hole in. This is what the Republicans did with their blanket obstructionism.
If the numerous polls and pundits are right, the voters are poised to hand the shovel back to the guys who dug this gaping pit and allow them to resume digging, not only removing all the backfill, but widening the pit even further. If we allow this to happen, then shame on us. Whatever happened to the America that our fathers and grandfathers, the so called Greatest Generation, fought and died to protect? I think that my dad, uncles, and father in law would be appalled at what we are degenerating into. Corporate interests are running the show now and for the foreseeable future. I just hope we wake up from our stupor before it’s too late.
As always, follow the money. Sherrod Brown said it best; “Bring back preexisting conditions. Vote Republican.” The perfect bumper sticker.
Tags: Don Burnard, Hot Corner, Obama
Moody’s Bond Rating Service, has Illinois, as the State with the worst bond rating in America .
It is even worse than Mexico’s, is !!??
LOWER THAN MEXICO’S ??!!
And, Mexico, has defaulted on it’s bonds TWICE !!
Hey, isn’t this where OweBaMao, Blago, Rahm, Hillary Clinton,and other thieves ruining America, are from ??!!
OH YES INDEED !!
This comment was posted on October 21st, 2010 at 4:09 pmVOTE THE FASCISTS OUT !!!
Mr. Burnard – After seeing only the first sentence or two of your column in a TFP Facebook post, I must admit that there was a faint glimmer of hope that I may get to read something of yours that was objective and original. That being said, it really didn’t take me by surprise to find it was just another one of your regurgitated hit pieces on Republicans. I guess expecting objectivity from someone who faux-criticizes Democrats for not being liberal enough was my mistake. Oh well, moving on…
I’m not sure you can necessarily call yourself a “student of politics” without a small qualifier. It would be more appropriate to refer to yourself as a “student of liberal politics” because you have certainly mastered the art of deflection, projection and hypocrisy. Though it has been amusing to see liberal “columnists”, such as yourself, to continually roll out the same failed talking points just hoping something will stick.
To keep in the spirit of the column, I will close with my own bumper sticker; “Socialism works…I swear. Just ask Europe.”
This comment was posted on October 21st, 2010 at 10:49 pmFor those that find Don’s logic to complicated I found a video to better explain/entertain the skeptics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfuwNU0jsk0&feature=player_embedded
This comment was posted on October 22nd, 2010 at 4:05 amAFSCME, has given $ 87.5 MILLION of stolen members monies to the Demonrats this election cycle.
So, when the unions come begging for a $500 BILLION bailout, for mishandling & stealing members monies…you know where it went….down a rat hole !!
This comment was posted on October 22nd, 2010 at 9:16 amDon,
It seems that there is some selective inattention to the facts going on here. While Republicans and the Bush Administration are hardly blameless where the state of the economy is concerned, it was Congress (a Democrat, not Republican controlled Congress by the way) that assumed oversight responsibilities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with the Wall Street and Banking interests that you demonize. In fact when then president Bush warned of impending problems in the mortgage system, he was ridiculed by those very same Democrat legislators who were apparently asleep at the wheel in these oversight functions.
You likewise single out and attack the corporate contributions of Mr Murdoch, while ignoring those of another behind the scenes media mogul, George Soros. You demonize Fox News as biased but apparently find that MSNBC, CNN, and the three former major networks are not. Is this because they are not biased, or because they share your point of view?
If the left that you laud is so disorganized however, how did they win the sweeping majorities less than two years ago? If the Democrats are as inept as you portray them, why would anyone continue to leave the reins of government in their hands?
Now I may not be a dumb electrician, but even I can see that the debt has gone up at a greater rate in the last 20 months than at any other time in this nation’s history. The change that appears imminent may merely be the voters understanding that the only way to begin to fill in the hole is to first stop digging.
This comment was posted on October 22nd, 2010 at 11:58 pmTim, in reading your writing style I’m guessing (correct me if I’m wrong) you are the Tim who also writes for the Toledo Free Press, and has demonstrated time and time again your own bias against liberals and the media.
There’s a word for people who take issue with someone doing something that they do themselves. It starts with an “H.”
Burnard criticizes the left in his column as well as the right. When he says, “For decades, all the GOP has had to offer the public at large, is the fear du jour. Their real base doesn’t live in places like Toledo Ohio.” It’s true and applies to you.
This comment was posted on October 23rd, 2010 at 7:47 amBill,
Unlike many who hide behind what they believe are clever screen names, I have never chosen to hide my identity.
As for your characterization of what I have done, I must say that I am disappointed however. I have not and do not disputed Don’s right to write what he believes and feels, only some of what he puts forth as facts. You have not chosen to dispute my arguments however, only attempted to vilify me for commenting at all (and with a letter, no less). You might also note that I did not give Republicans or Fox News a pass, merely pointed out that media influence may be coming from more than the right.
In fact, I applaud Don’s efforts even when I disagree with them, for at least he has the courage to say what he believes and sign his name to it. As for the act of commenting on others efforts, I could urge you to take the time to go back and look at the history of comments on my own efforts for the TFP, knowing that you might find a comment or two from Don as well as others; but I won’t force you to read so much that you obviously object to.
This comment was posted on October 24th, 2010 at 11:39 pmOh dear, Don Burnard almost had an original thought. Then he went off the rails as usual by the third sentence of the first paragraph. Hey Don, what’s your favorite brand of aluminum foil for your little tin-foil hat?
This comment was posted on October 26th, 2010 at 10:01 pm