Last week the great country of the United States reelected President Barack Obama. The man who has been called a Socialist, a Marxist, a Communist, an Atheist, a Muslim and many more things that have taken up reams of paper since at least 2007 and now. I want to try to respond to this election in a civilized manner. I, of course supported Buddy Roemer in the 2012 Republican Primary and Jill Stein of the Green Party in the general election, so if this is your first time to my blog, then this may help you to understand my biases.
(Before I go any further, if at any point during this post you feel upset or overwhelmed, please feel free to skip to the bottom. With love – LHP)
First of all, I have addressed this before, Obama campaigned as a “Dove” (as is the thing that good Democrats do):
So, even though I wasn’t old enough to vote in 2008, I feel that any and all doves who voted for Obama in 2008 (and probably in 2012, when I voted for Jill Stein) were (are) being cheated and lied to. As you can see below, while Obama may have pulled boots off the ground, he is still perpetuating war and violence:
Obama, America’s Assassin-in-Chief
Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will
Now, I’m sure I’m being the traditional cynic, all of my regular readers should be used to this, but I continue to be cynical. I heard the argument during the election that the reason DOMA (Defense Against Marriage Act) can’t be repealed and ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) can’t be put in place is because of the Republicans in the House and that Obama couldn’t use Executive Orders on such things. Let’s look at a list of things that Obama could, by definition that he did and got away with it, use Executive Orders for:
Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council
Executive Order from the President regarding Authorizing the Implementation of Certain Sanctions Set Forth in the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 and Additional Sanctions with respect to Iran
Order Signed by the President regarding the Acquisition of Four U.S. Wind Farm Project Companies by Ralls Corporation
Executive Order–Russian Highly Enriched Uranium
Executive Order — Instituting a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security
Executive Order 13532 — Promoting Excellence, Innovation, and Sustainability at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
While some of these things are good, if not great (such as promoting Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Instituting a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security), some are questionable, such as the Homeland Security Partnership Council and at any rate, the Executive Order, at least under the newly reelected President, is used for vast amounts of things. Following this logic, if the president stood for gay marriage, if he stood for gay rights, if he stood for the rights of the entire LGBT* community, then he would be perfectly within his ability to write an Executive Order in favor of things like repealing DOMA and implementing ENDA.
Then again, one might be able to tie Obama’s reluctance to repeal DOMA to political motive. How could anyone go against their best campaigner?
Again, Obama went for Dodd-Frank over reimplementing Glass-Steagall and again I’m told in debate this is due to the House and Senate, it has to do with the late Ted Kennedy’s passing, the way Al Franken caucused and the stampede of Tea Party politicians brought fresh-faced to Washington in 2010. I am told that Obama is compromising and that this is something Obama supporters are glad to see in their president.
I look at The Affordable Care Act, I look at the Executive Orders, I look at the kind of people who gave money to Obama in 2008 and 2012 and who he allowed to sit beside him in the White House and I find it hard to believe that he fought hard for a Glass-Steagall reinstatement over a Dodd-Frank lax-on-the-banks kind of ‘regulation.’
I think what we see here is that Bill Clinton is the new standard-bearer of the Democratic party, and Obama is his greatest protege (sorry Hillary), and this is one of the reasons Obama could not reinstate Glass-Steagall, he had to go along with Bill Clinton.
I wanted to wrap up this part of this blog with “Obama’s record speaks for itself” but it doesn’t really do this. We still don’t know all of the details about ACA, and what real effects they will have once they are implemented, nor are any Executive Orders pored over like poll numbers are, so instead I have to say, “The mainstream media speaks for Obama, and so we aren’t sure what Obama or his record really stand for.”
So, my response to this election? Well I’m not pleased with it but I’m not going to say it is the end of the world, and I’m not in any financial situation to move to foreign countries, even if I wanted to, so instead I’ll just say this, somewhere between playing in my parents front yard, fighting imaginary wars for the greater good, and growing up and going to college I read a book called Ishmael and started listening to something called Punk Rock, and in doing these things, I developed not only a sense to do well by the world I live in, but also a sense to question everything, and that’s what I intend to do. Take the information above as you will, maybe I have put it through my own spin to make it look the way I want it to look, maybe I’m cynical and/or paranoid, maybe I just need a new hobby, at any rate…
You can Google the lyrics if you’d like, but I’ll admit this doesn’t best represent Anarchy in a economic socio-political manner, but it is catchy, and it does make the point, I think that maybe Anarchy – small level co-ops, communes and collectives – may be the only way, at least in my personal opinion.
With that being said, let’s listen to some other music I think is important post-election in America:
Now, I don’t have a religion, organized or not, and while I believe that everyone has a right to their religion, as long as it doesn’t harm others, I do not believe that religion and government mix, this is just my personal opinion, I don’t believe that a good statesperson HAS to be religious or spiritual, as I don’t think a good student HAS to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I don’t want to see the state become the new monotheism.
Lastly, a little something that inspires me everyday as a no-name aspiring journalist:
Remember these things if nothing else: Life is short, so laugh a lot, love a lot, cry a lot, do the things that make you happy and share your happiness with those around you. Love yourself and try not to let the bull weigh you down.
The Long-Haired Poet
@JAFThrasher
The Rantings of a Long Haired Poet 