So, the Republicans are saying that if the Democrats don't agree to destroy the unions, they will block any loans to Detroit, and allow the auto companies to fail. And even that might not be enough to stop them because this wrecking crew seems have decided that the country needs to understand that if they vote for Democrats the Republicans will make them pay by ushering in another great depression.
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Indeed, breaking the UAW seems to be the ultimate goal. Point of fact: Union wages and benefits only make up 10% of the carmakers' expenses.
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Republicans spent the last eight years like drunken sailors on their first shore leave after years at sea. They wantonly drained the treasury of billions and billions of dollars on harebrained schemes to induce "birthpangs of democracy" around the world, chasing phantom enemies and enriching their defense contractor contributors. They created a lobbying culture so corrupt it finally collapsed of its own weight. They deregulated the financial industry so thoroughly that it created an elaborate ponzi scheme that has just about destroyed the world economy.
They have no standing to lecture anyone about responsibility, fiscal or otherwise, and no right to obstruct the cure for the problem they created.
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Digby also mentions the Dems' enabling of the Republican looting but you know who it really comes down to? It's on us. If it weren't for the apathy, ignorance, and just plain stupidity of the average American, we wouldn't have petulant teenagers representing us.
After decades of not giving a shit, of allowing themselves to be brainwashed into voting against their own interests, this is what we get. On one side we have the big children, the Republicans with their childlike view of how the world operates and on the other, the Dems, a spineless bunch of pantywaists who are afraid of their own shadows; afraid to anger anyone because of perceived future political considerations.
Our political system has become a joke. The strong principles the Founders built this nation upon took a long time to erode under the constant assault upon it over the past 40 years because it was made to withstand aberrations - a rogue administration, civil war - but what it couldn't support was an entire political party devoted to its destruction (and one too weak-willed to stop them). It took 40 years but it is done and over the last 8 years - after what we see happening now would be the obvious outcome - we have none but ourselves to blame.
As anybody who's overcome an addiction knows, one day you have to look in the mirror and admit to yourself how far you've fallen. Once you see what you've become (not the drug-induced delusion of grandeur), you can begin to assess what got you there and what you must do to correct it. It's time for Americans to look in that mirror realistically. The reflection ain't pretty.
When the American people will elect leaders like Richard Shelby, Mitch McConnell, and those of their ilk, term after term, when we send people like Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi to Congress, we have a serious problem. We're addicted to what people like them give us; the status quo.
The status quo where everybody generally gets along. No great highs, no serious lows, the chance once every decade to make some real money if your timing is right and life plods along. We're able to have our stuff, a TV in every room, boat, cars, house, whatever, and as long as our representatives kept the status quo we were good. We didn't really have to pay attention because the talking heads on TV told us what we needed and as long as they were good with it, so were we.
And then we got George Bush and Dick Cheney. The guy who everybody thought was just like them and wanted the same things. We looked in the mirror and George Bush looked back at us, we believed the delusion. They were gulled into thinking he was looking out for them and they let him do what he wanted. When they might be having doubts (those that come with a particularly bad hangover), a 'tax rebate' check appeared in the mail (the hair of the dog) and the high returned. We turned away from the mirror when the financial institutions were deregulated because it meant we could have more stuff. We could afford a house, and then we were allowed to remortgage that to get more, bigger, better, more. Pay it back? Times can only get better, right? A permanent Republican majority was the answer! We tightened the tourniquet and stuck the needle in.
And now we have the big crash, when all the dope and liquor in the world won't make the shakes go away, the itching at the needle marks becomes relentless, and you wonder when you're going to puke up your upper GI because your stomach emptied out hours ago. And, as you pass the mirror on another trip to the can, you realize you can do one of two things. You can go for the big, hot load, a desperate attempt to catch the high once more, even though it'll probably kill you, or you can say 'enough', and start to change the behavior that got you to this point. It's the point you reach when you know there is no one to blame but yourself.
We are at that point. We can't blame our representatives because we put them there. We can't blame them because we allowed them to do what they've done. Seriously, would you want any of them representing you in court on a murder charge? Shit, you'd get the needle for manslaughter. If you wouldn't hire them as your attorney, why would you hire them to protect your rights and interests? It's time to kiss the status quo goodbye and to change our bad habits before they finally kill us. The first step is to pay attention to what really goes on (in the age of the intarwebs, there's no excuse not to) and vote sensibly. The next is to make your voice heard to the people you hired to represent you. Everything that's happening now comes down to the fact these people are more interested in their own (and those of their friends) self-interest than yours. It's time to stop being ignorant sheep, we can't afford it anymore. We can't survive it.
On the bright side, things might get bad enough that we actually do gaze upon our reflection and are disgusted enough with what we see to affect some real change in the next few years. If we don't, we might as well kiss what's left of this nation goodbye.
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