Barack Obama And The Republican Unbelievers

Obama– Moving forward even with Unbelievers in Congress

[Revisiting Paul Krugman’s Critique]

As the nation awaits President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight with Republicans controlling both Houses of Congress I revisit our “Unbelievers” whom the columnist Paul Krugman so eloquently and factually identified and critiqued in his piece entitled “Voodoo Time Machine” in The New York Times of Friday, January 9, 2015.

Here is a man, Mr. Krugman, a scholar, an intellectual of the highest order who has not simply sung praises of President Obama, but importantly, over the years has had the vision to recognize and the tenacity to point out the significant accomplishments the Obama Administration has achieved.

He equally and rightfully recognized not only have Republicans blocked every meaningful legislative initiative the President proposed but those, through political skill and Presidential pulpit cajoling representing significant progress was made in furthering the interests of the American people; but, Republicans nevertheless missed these successes. In modern parlance, “They never got those e-mails.

Witnesses to the two terms of President Obama’s Administration and even “a blind man” can discern the nation has made enormous progress in furthering the best interests of the American Republic, at home and abroad.

But Republicans in their “Parallel Universe” understandably deny these accomplishments and where possible still claim responsibility for all that is good and beneficial.  Clearly, these “Brothers from Another Planet,” like bloodhounds with their noses to the ground, cannot see the clear waters and reflecting blue skies Mr. Obama has sailed the ship of state into in his futuristic vision. Nor have they recognized the fields he plowed with their flowering greenery and prodigious fruitfulness promising many predictable harvests he will reap and bequeath his successors.

Put another way:

A tortoise was ambling along and came upon a giraffe feeding upon the luxurious greenery amidst the clear skies and fresh air circulating above. Looking skyward and hailing the fortunate ruminant the tortoise asked, “”How’’s it going?””

Looking downward the giraffe responded, ““Great! It’’s like Heaven up here! Nothing but luxuriant shrub and clean air amidst a blue sky creating a wonderful view with great promise! How about you?””

The tortoise responded, ““It’’s like hell down here! All I see is garbage. The air is foul and people keep stepping on me.”

“How sad,” ” the giraffe responded, “”you should step up a few notches!””

Fact is, both parties gave honest appraisals of their situation and view. From his skyward vantage point, the giraffe could see nothing but a positive, clear and refreshingly promising future.  Down on earth, the tortoise’s vision is clouded and stultified from seeing nothing but trash and wallowing in the foul odor of negativity. Unfortunately these Republicans; as we know, “Leopards cannot change their spots;” while unquestionably having the Obama giraffe towering over their heads, should, to quote Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Get out of the gutter.”

So, Mr. Krugman particularly identified some “bloodhounds” with their noses to the ground, a posture some may call foolish. Fortune has now favored these men, positioning them at the pinnacle of the American political structure, controlling both Houses of one third of the American government; but alas a record precedes their ascent.

Given a fraction of the obstruction Mr. Obama experienced, Mr. Krugman’s indictment questions Republicans’ ability to govern in a manner beneficial to the broad masses of the American people. Equally too, their misguided determination to roll back Obama’s legislative policies and executive actions while also seeking to benefit their wealthy 1% base questions the notion of objective leadership on their part.

Let’s look at some features of his indicting critique:

(1) The author mentions that Mitch McConnell is claiming credit to incoming Republican leadership for the nation’s economic growth now in process.

(2) While Republicans chastised “Obamacare” in the Pre and  Roll-out stages, particularly the “glitches;” in the positive turn around, some have cried foul, as Senator John Barraso of Wyoming let loose, “They are cooking the books.”  Can you imagine, President Obama, a leader of impeccable credentials and a clear conscionable view of history, as soon as he steps down, would have to shamefacedly back-peddle, saying, to Quote Richard Nixon apologetically, “I am not a crook.”

(3)  Paul Ryan, in response to the current successes of the Affordable Care Act, charged, “The law will collapse on its own weight!” The question is, will this new Chairman of the House and Ways Committee, after his party has tried nearly four dozen times to gut “Obamacare,” will he put his weight behind such efforts “to fix something that works?”

Has he not heard of, “If it works don’t fix it”?  Of course, Mr. Ryan is a “special,” and I don’t want to say, “basket case.” Mr. Krugman wrote, “Speaking of Mr. Ryan: almost four years have passed since he and many others in his party lambasted Ben Bernanke then the Chairman of the Federal Reserve for policies that they claimed would lead to higher inflation and debase the dollar. The inflation never materialized, and the dollar proceeded to strengthen, but Mr. Ryan gave no sign of having been chastened – and many Conservatives including favorite intellectuals like Niall Ferguson of Harvard became ‘inflation truthers,’ insisting that the government is hiding price rises.”

Can you do that in an open society? What of the Freedom of Information seekers with their ‘Hubble-like’ intrusion, have they found the price rises? Are they still searching, as the Westerners are probably still looking for “Prester John” in Africa.

Next, Mr. Krugman points to “climate Change” citing 2014 as the hottest year yet. Still, Senator James Inhofe now heading an Environmental Committee thinks, “all the science in this field is a liberal hoax.” This “Brother from Another Planet” would not know climate change, if, as E.F. Hutton would say, “It arrived, slapped him on the bottom, and said I’m here!” However and prophetically, Mr. Krugman sounds the alarm, “Congress is now controlled by men who never acknowledge error, let alone learn from their mistakes.’

Three such mistakes  can be referenced here:

(1) The treasonous conspiracy among high ranking Republicans, and who, while not many names were mentioned in The New York Times article of October 6, 2013, but by virtue of their seniority to hold such Chairmanships today, must have participated in, certainly known of and accented to Mitch McConnell’s marching orders to “make Barack Obama a one-term President.”

Instead of Senator McConnell giving that now infamous “Thumbs Up” signal, he should have been doing the “Perp Walk” in front of a Federal Judge for treason or certainly sedition. While Paul Krugman goes on to conclude a brilliant article by stating, “We can’t have meaningful cooperation when we can’t agree on reality, when even establishment figures in the Republican Party believe that facts have a liberal bias!”

One fact among many is that this party’s base has not simply been brainwashed, it’s been “Republican washed” through misguided propaganda, falsity, juggling and suppressing the facts, listening to Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and other such psychopaths.

It’s like these people are in another universe and their thinking and actions can affect America’s future. Fact is, if they remove the plugs Mr. Obama inserted in the leaky ship he inherited, we may end up marooned on some remote island in the stratosphere in their party’s fairy tale “Parallel Universe.”