This is one of those posts that gets put up in a hurry. Because of an irritated response. Because it seems to make sense at the time, but after looking at it you realize that it’s in the wrong place, on the wrong blog, and doesn’t completely make sense.
So here I am, a day later trying to fix it.
So….
In 2008 I found myself an Obama supporter. I didn’t start out that way, but that’s where I landed. Gave money to the campaign. Did some volunteer work.
Image by Todd Barnard via Flickr
I managed to hang on to that attitude and feeling for close to 2 years. Even weathered the underhanded behind closed doors tax deal from the last time around. But no longer.
Image via Wikipedia
This last set of ‘negotiations’ left me with the clear picture that not only is the Democratic side of Congress completely ineffective, but the President has rendered himself ineffective as well. A Democratically controlled Senate, a Democratic President, Republicans with a bare majority in the House, and the Democrats are on the run. Absolutely tragic.
Change is not easy. It’s one of the most difficult tasks that anyone can set out to do. But that was the job that this President defined for himself. And he’s accomplished some of it.
Image via Wikipedia
However, the change that I worry about, the change that involves the keeping a reasonable future for my children, my grandchildren, and their yet to be born children, that change was very nearly the first item to fall off the Presidential agenda. Global weirding, climate disruption, climate change, global warming, whatever you call it was sacrificed to permit a badly mangled, unenforceable national healthcare mandate to limp out of the legislative process.
Image via Wikipedia
What was the calculation? Was it easier to fight the insurance industry than the fossil fuel industry? Was a short-term immediate potential gain more important than acting on a problem that will take down the whole planet? Were the chances of being reelected part of the decision? Whatever it was, the gamble seems to have been to get a short-term political gain that might kick in sometime in the next few years by sacrificing the future of our culture.
We won’t be wiped out, unless we pass one of those tipping points we suspect exist. No, somewhere along the way we might manage to stop pouring gigatonnes of heat trapping gases into our air, we could survive as a species. With 7 billion of us on the planet, chances are reasonable that Homo sapiens will struggle through for another 300 or 400 years while the planet tries to regain its equilibrium.
So the President, who decided to become the cruise director on the Titanic rather than avoid the iceberg, has now joined the band rather than trying to save any more of the passengers.
On Tuesday, I got this email from the organizers of the Obama 2012 campaign. In multiple formats I sent the following response back to various elements of the organizer’s teams.
Sorry, no, I wasn’t planning on voting Republican next year… I thought I’d wait to see if there will be a Democrat in the running, since President Obama seems to be prepping for a run on the GOP ticket.
| Subject: | Re: Tomorrow: house meeting |
|---|---|
| Date: | Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:24:38 -0600 |
| From: | tweetingdonal at Gmail <tweetingdonal@gmail.com> |
| To: | info@barackobama.com |
On 8/2/2011 5:34 PM, Jeremy Bird, BarackObama.com wrote:
 |
| Friend –Tomorrow — Wednesday, August 3rd — volunteers will gather at campaign house meetings across the country to continue laying the groundwork for the 2012 campaign.
This kind of organizing work matters more than ever. Now that President Obama has reached a compromise with congressional leaders to meet our financial obligations and reduce our debt, it’s up to us to get the word out about how important this agreement is and why it’s crucial to have a leader like President Obama in office. Tomorrow, volunteers will talk about how to build this campaign at the local level — Here are the details: What: House meeting Where: When: Wednesday, August 3rd
At this week’s house meetings, we’ll discuss the best way to keep bringing new folks into the political process in our own communities and neighborhoods. It’s important that folks hear about the President’s accomplishments from their own friends and neighbors — from forging this new bipartisan debt compromise to reforming Wall Street, repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and passing the historic Affordable Care Act. Wednesday also happens to be the day before the President’s 50th birthday — and our work to build this campaign through this kind of solid grassroots organizing is the sort of gift he’ll appreciate most. Will you plan on setting aside a small part of your day on Wednesday for a house meeting? RSVP now to attend in: http://my.barackobama.com/Birthday-House-Meetings Thanks, Jeremy Jeremy Bird
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