You Didn't Get Mad...

I received this in my inbox today:

We had eight years of Bush and Cheney, but now you get mad!

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got ousted.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed..

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.

You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq .

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn't get mad when we let a major US city drown.

You didn't get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich.

You didn't get mad when, using reconciliation; a trillion dollars of our tax dollars were
redirected to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage which cost over 20 percent more for basically the same services that Medicare provides.

You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark, and our debt hit the thirteen trillion dollar mark.

You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans... oh hell no!!!!!

Moderate Republicans Will Survive as Independents

Gov. Charlie Crist has switched his status to Independent. Once regarded as a front runner for John McCain's VP running mate (McCain probably rues that day he didn't choose him.), Crist has fallen behind the GOP teabagger candidate, Rubio in the polls for the Florida GOP primary senate race. Yet as an independent Crist leads the extremist, Rubio.

Since moderates have become unpopular in the new teabagger, extremist GOP, we will most likely see more GOP candidates going "mavericky" as independents, as they face the Palinista candidates. Since most close races are normally decided by moderate and independent voters, it is likely that GOP moderates, facing opposition by the extremists will move to independent status. Another sign of the impending doom of a GOP overrun by the racist, extremist teabaggers?

The rise of these moderate independents may signal the rise of a new conservative party that will be more inclusive and closer to the center. If that is the case, Democrats may face a huge problem as an alternative party for moderate Republicans, who cannot stomach the racist and extreme rhetoric of the GOP Palinista teabaggers, begins to form. It might very well appeal to moderate Libertarian-leaning voters, who cannot stomach the extreme edges of that party, not to mention more moderate Democrats. This might be the straw that brings moderation to U.S. politics. Lord knows any group with Sarah Palin at the forefront won't be able to survive for very long.

How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot

The GOP continues to endear itself to various groups of the American public. There are those who desperately need affordable health care. There are millions registered latino and African American voters in this country, and most of the American public has been mightily screwed by the big banks. In each case the GOP and its Tea Party wing continue to alienate these segments in a rapid pace. Then we should also remember last week's fau paux, when they advised a congresswoman to go back to the kitchen. Oops!

The teabaggers, the extremist arm of the party, continually flaunt their racist signs and their verbal taunts, railing against immigrants, African Americans, and those without affordable health care. The Arizona GOP has now passed and signed into law a hughly discriminatory anti-immigration law. I feel quite sure that we can see other GOP run states pass similar legislation now that their sisters in Arizona have broken the ground. This week the GOP has successfully blocked debate on financial reform, siding with the big banks, who continue to flaunt their billions in profits and their millions in bonuses.

The GOP lets its teabagger extremist arm do the dirty work, while the leaders of the party try to stay, rather unsuccessfully, above the fray. It is clear that Sarah and her "baggers" are the front for the GOP, so they aren't really fooling anyone. The question that will arise in the fall is whether the backlash from the groups who have borne the brunt of the hate-filled tirades from the "baggers" and the mainstream GOP will put the party in its place once and for all.

The Democrats have not carried the banner of sanity very well. They weren't forceful enough in their opposition to the GOP roadblocks. Instead they dilly-dallyed around until the GOP was actually able to make them look rather weak, even by being simply obstructionist. It would have been better for the Democrats to have borrowed a play from the GOP playbook and run rough-shod over the Republicans with health care and every other vote that has come up. Such actions would have demonstrated to the American people that they were moving forward and doing something.

Now the Democrats are going to have to work from a defensive posture and hope that the GOP continues to shoot itself in the foot with large segments of the voting public. I don't think we have seen the polls yet that show the effect that these extremist GOP positions will have on the voting public.