I saw another one of these polls on last night's NBC nightly news program. I've been reading about them for the past year or so, always 70% or better of those polled say it. We're headed in the wrong direction. No doubt about it. Our nation has been dominated by conservative politics and leaders for three decades. We've been cutting taxes and keeping our military active for three decades. Even the two Democratic presidents we've had in these years were moderates, not the dreaded L word, liberals. Back in the 1950s Clinton and Obama would have been considered Eisenhower Republicans.
Today there seem to be few Eisenhower Republicans. Republicans don't like Romney so much because 70 percent of them identify as conservatives and most of them consider Romney a moderate. I really can't tell. Romney is so busy pandering to the right it's hard to tell just where he really stands.
Personally, I'd love to see a return to those wonderful Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson days of outright liberalism. Jack those upper tax rates back up to where they were when we as a nation actually made a dent in poverty, when we actually invested in our infrastructure and education.
I am a liberal, and damn proud of it.
I still think Barry Goldwater was nuts in 1964, that his clone Reagan should have stayed in Hollywood, that George H. W. Bush was right before he was converted to the religion of Voodoo economics, and that his son George W. Bush was the worst president, bar none, this country ever had.
I believe Social Security should be protected at any cost and that the United States should enact a national healthcare program that would guarantee medical treatment to everyone without regard to ability to pay. I believe President Eisenhower was prescient about the Military-Industrial complex and we as a nation did not heed his warning.
Of course I'm under no delusion that all that is what the 70% mean by "heading in the wrong direction." They just want the good times to return again, even if it is yet another ill-fated bubble boom. They are too shortsighted to understand that a solid foundation is necessary for a sturdy edifice.
Throw out the illegal aliens and their children, give us and especially the millionaires yet another tax cut, privatize Social Security and end Medicare and Medicaid, post the Ten Commandments in every public square and every court house in our nation, bring compulsory prayer back to public schools, overturn Roe v Wade, outlaw gay marriage, bomb the hell out of Iran, and still, STILL we will not have a bright future as a nation.
We are headed in the wrong direction, and have been for three decades. Who is willing to shout back at those who are shouting so loudly now? Who is willing to actually defend liberalism, tout its many accomplishments, and wear the label proudly?
5 comments:
" George W. Bush was the worst president, bar none, this country ever had."
As a former history teacher, my vote for the worst, bar none, was Warren G. Harding. Check him out. My own personal opinion, of course.
Don,
Thanks, as always, for voicing your opinion. I just wish you would have elaborated.
I would take ten Teapot Domes to one Iraq/War on Terror.
Bush left us weakened at home and abroad.
Harding wasn't a good president, but Bush was a bad president, an arrogant, hard-headed, trigger happy cowboy.
The United States endured Harding for only half a term. It endured Bush for two full terms.
Bush promised to be a uniter, but left us more divided than ever, including perverting the concept of patriotism.
For all its short comings, Harding's weak and inept presidency was not even remotely comparable to the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush.
That's my opinion.
I love this post! Love it!
It's only flaw is I didn't write it myself.
By the way, by coincidence, I posted on economic inequality in America last night. The post isn't as good as yours -- there's a debate over the reliability of the stats I used -- but it's here if you want to check it out.
Jeebers! You can't hear it, but I'm cheering you, Doug!
Paul,
I thank you for your kind words about my post. I think it is high time, way past time, those of us of a liberal mind and spirit reclaim that word Liberal from those who have made it a bugaboo. And if you really liked my post, do us a favor. Do a post or two that delves into the improvements the progressive and liberal traditions have made in our country. Help spread the word.
You're right, Doug: I need to do more to help spread the word. I'll see what I can come up with!
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