Margie Robben

I have been to hundreds of sporting events. Some you win, some you lose.  You always feel sadder losing than you feel elated at winning.

Politics is like a sporting event. There is planning and scheming, cohesive teamwork, and reward for the winner. In the 2010 election Democrats had big losses in Congress. They are no longer the majority in the House of Representatives but still hold on to a small majority in the Senate. The President said “we took a shellacking”. You can see the sadness on the President’s face.

But, there is no sadness in the winners. The Republicans have much to be happy about. Two years ago, before Barrack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States, they started planning on ways to defeat him and the Democratic Congress. They wanted power back and they were determined to get it. Isn’t that what a team that wants to be Number One does?

The Republicans joined with and funded the manufactured Tea Party. Combining the Party of Lincoln with the “grass roots” people was masterful. The plan was unified and carried out with selected daily talking points, and if anyone in the group went “off message”, they were reprimanded.

The Republicans use the principle that if you consistently give people information, whether true or false, they will adopt the information as if it was their own. It worked best in the health care debate.

The main focus of the Republicans since January 2008 was to say “no” to all bills presented in Congress and to get vulnerable people in America to be afraid of everything. The health care debates some Congressmen held over the summer of 2009 were set up to include paid agitators bussed in and real grass roots people who were terrified by the daily talking points they heard or read on television, cable, radio, and the internet. 

Americans were made to believe the President had set up “death panels” in the health care program and that the country would go bankrupt if the health care program succeeded.  The talking points got Americans to believe their rights were being taken away from them, including life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, freedom, and their guns. “Don’t tread on me” flags were showing up in rallies and one was hung from a balcony in Congress.  None of the talking points were true, but the message was believed.

The Republicans set up a campaign to demonize Nancy Pelosi. Ms. Pelosi was a major threat because she was a strong and successful leader in the House of Representatives. The plan was that she had to be taken down and replaced. The goal was accomplished on November 2, 2010.

Alan Grayson of Florida had to go, too. He held up a poster on the floor of Congress explaining to Americans what the Republican’s plan for health care was. The poster said “Don’t Get Sick”. For a long time Grayson’s telling it like it is” was a challenge to the Republican chatter. He lost after being ahead in the election and after millions of dollars was collected for his demise via negative ads.

Unfortunately for them, the Republicans started too late trying to get rid of Harry Reid. They thought they had the Nevada Senate race won.  Maybe it was the fighter in old Harry.  He stood up to Sharon Angle, all her craziness, fake smile, and imported money from anonymous sources.

At the end of a sporting event you sometimes hear an athlete say, “We left it all on the field,” meaning they fought a good fight and used up every bit of energy they had during the fight. But with Harry, the Republicans left Harry on the field. As a young man, Harry was a genuine prizefighter. He had a few punches his opponent didn’t know about. 

The Republicans were able to keep Obama and the Administration from taking credit for the bills he signed. In two years he stabilized the economy from a major depression, helped middle class families keep their health insurance, allowed kids to stay on their parent’s insurance policy until they are 26 years old, reformed Education, banking, Wall Street, credit card companies and got the car industry back in business. The Republicans took advantage of the Obama Administration’s laid back persona, his willingness to cooperate and quiet modesty.  All the good deeds in the world were no match for the daily and continual negative assault from the Fox people, NewsCorp and Rupert Murdoch and his money.

One of the biggest talking points bandied about is over jobs and the President’s inability to create them. I have always been curious about why there has been a lack of reporting and investigation about why job growth is non-existent. It seems obvious to me that jobs no longer exist in America because our Corporations outsourced them all and manufacturing came to a halt. The Corporations would like you to believe the reason they outsourced everything was because they had to be able to compete. They could only compete if they outsourced to countries where workers are paid pennies an hour. The Corporations also want you to believe they had to outsource because of the Unions demanding a living wage for their workers.

The Republican talking points went right up the ladder to the President, a position Americans have always respected. Among many adjectives, they called Obama professorial, a Spock-like character from another planet, non-feeling, non-human, dispassionate, cerebral, a non-citizen, a Muslim, a socialist, a communist, a foreigner, and said he does not love America. They didn’t know which adjective would stick so they used them all in an effort that one or two would stick with Americans. The Hitler mustache, the Nazi signs, showing your guns at rallies and demanding Obama’s birth certificate were about as insulting and disrespectful as you can get.

Palin, O’Donnell, Ron Paul, Sharon Angle and others used hate and fear to stir up the emotions of the voters. Republicans in Congress kept quiet as was directed.  “No comment” was consistently the word of the day. Everyone was on the Republican/Corporation payroll. They played their role as demanded.

Republicans benefited by using the recent Supreme Court decision making it legal to form non-profit organizations around the country, collect money and to anonymously fund elections. Obama, in his Inaugural Address to Congress, warned that the Supreme Court ruling was a disaster and would have a harmful affect on American elections.  The Court decision allowed the Republicans to take full advantage of the new law while at the same time it protected big donors by keeping their names secret. There would be no transparency for Americans to view who was funding the elections.

There have been rumors floating around that foreign money was sent to the Chamber of Commerce and was used in funding Republican/Tea Party campaigns. Foreign money has always been illegal to use in American elections. It has strongly been denied by Republicans.

The Republicans have scored a victory this year. They have planned, developed and used winning tactics.  There is a worry, however, that their game is personally and collectively destructive. Their game is a lot like some of the professional sports leagues today that allows their athletes to compete in dangerous ways.

The Republican all-offensive team mantra seems to be, “Lead with the head”. Don’t worry about concussions. Don’t worry about early brain dysfunction. Don’t worry about death and disfigurement. Break their legs. Take the good guys out permanently. Disfigure them. Throw the injured and weak off the field.  Put in someone healthier to do the job. Winning is the name of the game. A little more money in our pocket. A little more stroking for our ego. A little more power in our belly. Win one for the Gipper.

American politics is like a puzzle with many little pieces. It is confusing at first look. Each party has its own way of getting things done and not getting things done. Politicians use hidden tricks in their campaign and in the Congress and it is impossible for a regular hard-working American to know where the truth lies. The result of the political process is that the average American goes to the voting poll with no knowledge of which candidate will really help them and the Country.  The politicians know how busy the average American is and they take advantage of this ignorance.

Politicians use tricks of communication in campaigns and in Congress. They say something one day, and by days’ end they are saying something totally contradictory. Several special internet web sites have popped up because of the contradictions and lies and they help Americans sort out the truth from the lies.

Politicians are gifted people. They are the peoples’ people.  Most of them start their career in politics motivated by wanting to give something back to America and making the country a better place. Others like the power, prestige and the money that goes with the job. Some of the good politicians will lose sight of what they should be doing and become corrupted. It is a challenge for a politician to end a career with the same ideals he went into it with. Like the Hollywood people, there are too many seductions thrown their way.

An election is coming up this November. Most Americans will not vote. They don’t think it is important. They think that because it is not a vote for President and Vice President, they will stay home. This could be a catastrophe for the present Administration! They need the support from other like-minded politicians so they can continue the work they started on reform.

REFORM is the main issue at the polls this year. The politician who acknowledges the need to reform America against the greed that has brought America to its economic knees should get the vote. We all have been made aware that greed is rampant in all areas of American life. Because of greed, the middle class is disappearing.  Each day, more and more people in the middle class are losing their job, their health insurance, their ability to go to college, and their home. The middle class is shutting down and becoming poor. The rich have exploited the middle class.  Without a middle class, the rich will have no one to make money off.

The issue at the polls must be to vote for continuing progress toward Reform. The vote must not be for the politician fighting against reform and who is trying to scare you into thinking reform will destroy you, and who wants the Country to go back to how it was; to the ideas that got America into the mess in the first place. The vote must be for the politician who will join with the present Administration working slowly and steadily toward a better America.

Reform means that a lot of wealthy people and wealthy corporations and banks will be angry that they have to tell the truth, maybe make a little less money, and become more transparent. They will fight with everything they can muster. They might have to start hiring again instead of holding onto the billions of dollars they made during the recession. Manufacturers will have to start hiring again too instead of holding onto their cash and their practice of sending everything off-shore in order to make an obscenely higher profit. Reform means the health insurance companies will not refuse you insurance if you get sick.

If there is a philosophical bent to the political process it is this… In spite of the anger and fight of those opposing reform, Reform will be good for all; the rich, the middle class and the poor.  If no reform occurs, the middle class will disappear, moving toward a larger poorer class and we will be left with two classes in America; the rich and the poor.  The rich will be unable to sell worthless paper and goods to their previous victims. They will become stagnant, unproductive, and bored and unable to enjoy the fruits of their labor.  The middle class will disappear.  The increasingly larger poorer class, will grow impatient, weary, angry, and rebellious. America, as we know it will disappear. No one will like that to happen.

A lot is at stake this November. Every citizen must make an effort to vote. It is the least we can do while our brothers and sisters are fighting to protect our right to vote. We must go to the polls. And when we get there the decision we must make is to vote for the politicians who will support the present Administration’s effort toward healthy reform and a more perfect union.