Mad_Machine76
Mad_Machine76's JournalThe efforts to stop this Amendment here in Indiana
is rather impressive for our state. I assumed that it would likely sail through our teabagger/fundie supermajority-controlled Statehouse (it passed during the last session after years of being blocked by Democrats) but there are a lot of organizations and businesses "coming out" (pun intended) against it. Maybe they- and even some "old guard" Republicans seem to be finally coming to the realization that the long-discussed but never really addressed "brain drain" is really happening and that bigoted anti-LGBTQ policies are not making Indiana a very hospitable place for its Hoosier LGBTQ citizens and driving them off to more friendly states after High School (or College). Indiana is actually coming to the table quite "late" with its same-sex marriage ban and it's possible that, even in deep red Indiana, anti-gay sentiment just isn't as strong or pervasive as it used to be. 
Soon?
and Republicans are STILL talking about Benghazi anyway (and will certainly ramp it up if Hillary runs in 2016).
I'm from Indiana
It's still full of fundies and, recently, teabaggers, but nowhere as bad as things were even about 10-20 years ago. The fundies are trying to pass an anti-same-sex marriage amendment to the state constitution (which they passed once and have to pass again in order to get it on the ballot) but there is an impressive array of organizations and businesses "coming out" against it. To make it a little more personal, my stepdaughter came out about a year but, despite our concerns, she has not reported any problems with her peers at school. She isn't out to everybody but she apparently has a group of supportive friends that she hangs with that are helping make school a safe experience for her, for which my wife and I are thankful.
Then our former (P)resident includes them in an "Axis of Evil" and invades it's neighbor
and then wonder why they are scared of us and interested in nukes (because we've shown that we won't directly attack anybody who has them).
There's a logical/rational thread here that most neocons can't/won't follow in terms of how what we do in terms of foreign policy can (and often does) affect us in the long term.
Is everything "new" that happens from here on out nothing but a conspiracy to change the subject
from whatever Ms. Sarah and her fellow Republicans want to obsess on (and have the media obsess on)?
I guess that it should be good that, however it happens, that the Republicans aren't able to always drive the media (though it often does). Of course, the media always eventually moves on to the next "shiny object". It's just inevitable and will happen sooner or later, especially when there doesn't seem to be any more juice to be wrung out of it.
The problem IMHO is less of ideology
and more of "reality" and who's living in it and who's not.
We have one party (Democrats) whom, for the most part, live in reality and are interested in facts, empirical evidence, and research to determine the best policies to pursue (and which ones to avoid). They don't get it right everytime, of course, but at least their efforts often result in successful, productive, and enduring policies. OTOH we have another party (Republicans) whom reject all of those things and seek to create their own reality and whose policies- to the extent that they develop them at all- don't reflect the real world experiences and needs of most people.
We also have one party (Democrats) whom believe that government should function as it is intended to do regardless of who's in power and will compromise when necessary to achieve this goal. OTOH we have another one (Republicans) whom simply believe that they are entitled to power and that if they are not in power, it is perfectly acceptable for them to refuse to compromise on anything (even while demanding that the other side "compromise"
and instead seek to obstruct and sabotage the normal functioning of government to get their own way or, if nothing else, prevent the other side from getting anything done, including normal legislative business, some of which used to pass totally unremarked (i.e. debt ceiling increases).
I could go on but the basic point is that the failure of Congress to work together to get stuff done isn't so much a matter of ideology but rather each party's individual approaches to governing and the political process and until the Republicans come back down to Earth and start living in reality again, I don't see much changing in terms of the ability to get anything done. The only solution(s) that I can think of at the moment is that the Republicans need to be kept out in the wilderness for awhile and/or try to broker deals with some of their more rational members (are there many left at this point?)
The discourse (so far) about the Iran deal has been rather discouraging so far
The Republicans are acting as though President Obama- in true Neville Chamberlain fashion- is giving the Iranian regime everything it wants without conditions and is being foolishly naive about its intentions and/or claiming that President Obama is using this deal in a cynical "wag-the-dog" fashion to distract everybody from the troubled (but improving) ACA roll-out. There was one of them whom said that we are rewarding bad behavior in spite of the fact that it seems to be quite opposite. This all despite the fact that this deal has been in the works for some time and could hardly be said to have just come from out of the blue, not to mention that Iran's new Iranian President has clearly indicated that he is much more willing to deal with the US on this issue than their previous President. I'm also not very happy with some of the Democratic Senators whom are continuing to saber rattle and are still supporting ADDITIONAL sanctions on the moment at the precise moment when we are trying to lift some of the sanctions in return for Iran's cooperation on the nuke concerns but their problem is just that they- for whatever reason- seem to be more concerned about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position on the matter than US President Barack Obama's position. Et tu, Chuck?
Certainly, we need to keep up the pressure on Iran to make good on their end of the deal and the partial lifting of the sanctions can easily be reversed if they're not and military action, which is what most Republicans are usually salivating for (unless a Democrat is President that is), is always on the table if there is a real threat but Iran is also going to be allowing some pretty intrusive inspections on its part, so it's not like we're just pinky-swearing with them.
Why would they want people to lose the plans they just got
When they have been so incensed over President Obama's inability to promise that everybody could keep their plan?
Just a reminder that it's MUCH easier to sit on the sideline and take potshots at somebody
than it is to have to own up to mistakes and accept the responsibility to roll up your sleeves and fix problems. Taking potshots at somebody from the sidelines is a luxury that President Obama and Democrats in Congress don't have. They enacted ACA and they have to get it working. Republicans and a few other select individuals OTOH have nothing else to do but sit around and carp all day and plan for the electoral destruction of their opponents over the ACA's obviously problematic rollout. Republicans have actually had nothing much else to do- or at least nothing that they've wanted to do- since 2009 other than destroying President Obama- and Democrats- politically.
They've not been held responsible (much) for their irresponsible economic brinksmanship that resulted in two near debt defaults and a government shutdown. They haven't been under any kind of pressure to clean up their mess from when President Obama took office much less propose any viable policies to address........well, anything. All they do- and what they constantly are allowed to do is whine, complain, gripe, and pooh-pooh everything that President Obama and Democrats want to do to address important national business!
If Healthcare.gov works well in the woods
will the MSM- and Republicans- make a sound about it?
Seriously, the website is already working better from where I am (Indiana) compared to how it was at the beginning of October but all we keep hearing is how bad the website (still) supposedly is. When it gets better for more people, is the MSM going to report it on as much as they have it's initial problems? Do they have correspondents checking on the site? I know that the Republicans won't say anything as they will instead be holding hearings, maybe as long (if not longer) than Benghazi! It will certainly be long past when the website is fully functional in any event...........
Profile Information
Name: Mara Alis ButlerGender: Female
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Home country: USA
Current location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Member since: Sat Feb 28, 2004, 01:13 AM
Number of posts: 24,407
