Putin on the Ritz

The love affair a lot of self-proclaimed "conservatives" have with Russian President Vladimir Putin may have finally provided the answer to their long-standing question, "do liberals think we're stupid?" Doubtless they won't like the answer, but what else can you say about a group people who use words like "dictator" and "tyrant" to describe President Obama and then fawn over an honest-to-god dictator like Putin without a hint of self-awareness? Seriously, are they taking numbers to see who gets to suck him off first? I wouldn't want to speculate too deeply about this crowd's paraphilias, but I suspect they'd be in for a big surprise when the object of their infatuation decides to perform an impromptu colonoscopy on them with his KGBoner. 

Counting Down to 1/20/17

I wonder how all the people who've been complaining about President Obama so venomously are going to feel when he leaves office in January 2017. As much as I'd like to think that most will realize that they've spent the better part of a decade being taken in by the Hannity/Levin/Limbaugh-industrial-complex's brand of scare-mongering, I'm skeptical it will unfold that way. More likely, a large number will proudly assert that their commitment to freedom is the only thing that stopped the weak-willed Muslim socialist tyrant in the White House from taking all their guns and declaring "marshal law" (yes, usually spelled that way) so that he could make himself President for Life. 

There are very valid reasons to criticize any President, because - as any responsible citizen understands - politics is easy but governing is hard. The criticism of President Obama is something different - and fouler. It's fouler not just because of its racial/xenophobic undercurrents but rather because it stems from a substantial portion of Americans taking leave of their senses. 

In some ways, it's reminiscent of George Orwell's concept of "doublethink" from 1984, where being a good party member requires one to believe multiple contradictory ideas. Instead of "2 + 2 = 5", it's believing that a bacon-eating, beer-drinking, gay-marriage supporting smoker is actually a Muslim despite evidence to the contrary (and the irrelevance of their faith to being President). The sad part is that those ignoring all evidence to the contrary in an effort to believe that President Obama somehow isn't "one of us" aren't doing so to survive a totalitarian regime but rather by choice. The fact that they have this choice is, of course, empirical evidence that they do not live in a totalitarian society - evidence all too many of them will doubtless ignore.

Democracy is Messy

On the one-year anniversary of the passage of the health-care reform act, many things may have changed but the rhetoric certain hasn't. As often happens when they accomplish something, the Democrats aren't doing quite enough to highlight the benefits that have already taken effect. For their part, the Republicans continue to insist that the majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of the law, despite polls showing that said "majority" includes many people who think the law doesn't do enough.

All this is a reminder that this law, like the democratic process of governing itself, is a messy business. Rather than lament that fact, though, I think we should embrace it, because it shows that our democratic process is alive and well. The GOP really has no business complaining about the law passing without their input. The Democrats tried numerous approaches to get Republican support, before finally deciding that their responsibility to govern was more important than holding out for a token showing of bipartisan support to give themselves political cover for the tough re-election fights many of them knew were coming. Those congressional Democrats are true patriotic heroes for doing the right thing, even knowing they would pay a political price.

In the movie Touch of Evil, when responding to another character's complaint that a policeman's job is hard, Charlton Heston's character points out that a policeman's job is supposed to be hard and is only easy in a police state. The same is true of governing. Dictating laws without public accountability is simple, but working in a system where you have to explain your actions to constituents is a much trickier proposition.

The essence of a democracy isn't that elected officials should only do things the majority likes. That approach may be less messy and more beneficial for individual politicians but not so much for the whole country. Democracy demands breaking the mold for the common good. It isn't always pretty, but that's how we know it's working.