Counting Down To…?

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicalgarbagechute.com/counting-down-to/

Counting Down To…?
October 29, 2012
by James Schlarmann

snip//

The stakes of this race are extremely clear. From a macro and micro-level, we are at not just one crossroads, we are at about fifty all at once, which is what makes this election truly historical. The absolute mess that the Bush/Cheney administration left us in sort of forced our hand. They had a booming economy when they took over. Their idea for keeping that boom going was apparently to rest as much of the economy on the Defense industry as possible. But what we wound up with were two incredibly long, expensive wars and an extremely damaged reputation in the global community for being a bunch of dick-waving assholes; the guys at the party no one wants to hang out with because you don’t know who they’re going to pick a fight with next…and it could be you.

Bound up in the context and subtext of this election is a question that I suppose is probably part of every election this country has ever held, but not in a very long time has it been so crystal clear: “What direction do we want our country to go in?” Mitt Romney represents the Neo-Conservative movement. His foreign policy is not much different from President Obama’s except that he seems to be saying, “But I won’t be such a fuckin’ pussy!” That’s really what I get out of the Romney/Ryan ticket for their foreign policy stance. The embrace of the NeoCon movement also makes Romney part of the group of Republicans that doesn’t just view taxes as a necessary evil, they just remove the word “necessary” from the equation altogether, insisting that government has no place in helping people. That’s not hyperbole either; that’s basically what the idea is that comes from the NeoCons. They want to starve the beast, after all, and what’s the purpose of starving the beast if not to keep it from helping those pesky poor people eat or get shelter from the elements?

Do we want to be a society where a group of adults are not afforded the most basic of human rights, to love whatever consenting adult they choose to love? That question is on the table. Do we want to be a society that still undervalues the economic contribution and therefore compensation a woman is entitled to simply because she has breasts and a vagina? That question is on the table. Do we want to be a society that approves of corporations, whose sole intent are to make as money for their shareholders as possible, regardless of the damage done to the rest of us, to have unlimited say in who our leaders are? That question is on the table.

There’s a reason that Mitt has tried to meticulously reboot his image since the first debate. He wants to lull unsure voters into a sense of security that, “Hey, man, I’m just a moderate business guy who knows what this economy needs! I might have socially conservative views, but I’m not going to force those on anyone, I promise.” We’ve heard that argument before. Not that long ago, in fact. And what we got was a busted economy and an international community that didn’t trust us as far as they could throw us. We would survive a Romney/Ryan administration; but at what cost?

Let’s hope that’s a bill we never have to pay.