When Is Enough Enough?

by VC

A poll of Americans today would likely reveal most generally accept as an irrefutable fact that to become president of the United States you campaign for years through a long drawn-out process.  The actual governing of a country as vast in space, huge of population and as diverse as is the USA, ought to be a team effort with checks and balances.  The Founding Fathers thought so.  The Constitution decrees it.  Consequently, you would think it is commonly accepted that once the winner has been declared, politicking would pause and, as president, you get the opportunity to work *WITH* the members of each branch of government for the progress of the entire nation.  In other words, victory (or defeat) ought to be what pushes the pause button on campaigning and grandstanding, so that the will of the people can be respected and enacted …… at least until the next round of elections.  It ought to be commonly accepted, but it is not!  Instead, by their actions, Republicans have continuously displayed contempt for the democratic process and it has been heartbreaking to see them stomping all over opportunities for governance, even in areas that previously were relatively straightforward.

As we all know, when Barack H. Obama (along with Joe Biden) won a decisive victory to lead the USA in November 2008,  senior Republicans met secretly less than three months later,  to plot a strategy to derail the nation’s legally elected leader, …..

…and their chosen strategy was to deliberately and unanimously prevent the USA from pulling itself out of a major financial slump by never supporting any of the new president’s proposals!

And so Ladies & Gentlemen that's the way it's been since January '09 but the MSM ignores that piece of information. http://t.co/0kH05uZMbJ

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Donna NoShock (@NoShock) September 10, 2015

To this day I still find it shocking that Republicans took great pride in their decision to deliberately sabotage the government!  They broadcasted it shamelessly, stating their primary goal was – not to govern, but – to make President Obama a one-term president!

Theirs was an audacious goal and an even more audacious dereliction of the duties attached to their jobs, and Republicans have continued to play the ‘Block-the-President’ game since 2009 with painful repercussions for civilians and veterans alike.  The fact they have been able to get away with deliberately hurting actual citizens for so long, even after the majority of Americans gave the Obama-Admin a second term, is scary.   In addition, watching them in action it is hard not to conclude that the media have played a major role in encouraging the Republican leadership to dismiss the result of both elections. The MSM have done so, IMO, by not highlighting, en masse,  GOP malfeasance when it occurred, and not calling out the fact that Republicans have a tendency to routinely ignore results that don’t go their way.

 “If democracy means anything it means that, if you are outvoted, you accept the results and prepare for the next election.  Republicans are refusing [have refused] to do that. It shows contempt for the democratic process.”  ~Thomas Friedman  – NYTimes 

The Republicans’ persistent obstruction has been the only issue on which GOP politicians have been consistent, and unfortunately no one (other than the president, and an odd media voice here and there) have challenged them consistently re this blatant disrespect to the American people.  For over six years Republicans have loudly stated they would not do their jobs; and they not only haven’t done so, they have faithfully, religiously, and gleefully stood in the path of others attempting to do theirs.   They have tried blackmail tactics re budgets, engineered one government shutdown (and are muttering about another), and have attempted dozens of repeals of the same law] all while collecting a handsome salary!   Nowhere has evidence been found that Republicans have once considered the impact of their non-participation in governing on average Americans who may be suffering through difficult financial times.  In fact, they actually celebrated their decision to shut down the government in 2013!!!

The New York Times on how happy the GOP was after voting on taking away healthcare from millions of Americans RT http://t.co/grs8cbjH1l

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Americans America (@americans4amer) March 16, 2015

This is unconscionable behaviour – behaviour that Republicans have been able to perpetuate to their advantage over the years!  Tell me, why is there no mechanism in place to curb this type of bad faith governing?  That the nation has to suffer through deliberate and destructive tactics for years until the next election shows a weakness in the system that ought to be addressed, don’t you think?  Americans young and old – veterans, food stamp recipients, underpaid women and others – all have been caught in the trenches of the GOP war against one man – the president of the USA!  There is little doubt that the Republican Party’s total focus on thwarting any recovery President Obama tries to accomplish has hurt the nation fiscally in different ways.

In summary, Republicans have replaced governance with blackmail, or hostage taking, or with bad faith bargaining.  They have plotted with allies [Netanyahu] and tried to plot with enemies [Iran ayatollahs] to embarrass the head of the government.  Nonetheless, President Obama and his administration have persevered and we have seen tremendous accomplishments in many areas.  For example …….

REMINDER: Small sample of recent accomplishments despite pervasive Republican obstruction and game playing. http://t.co/khbof4zVOr

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Vick C. (@sonamie) September 18, 2015

We cannot forget that all that has been accomplished in government has been done in the face of continued GOP malfeasance.  Republicans have contributed nothing – their latest slap in the face of the nation was the realization that not even a handful of Republicans in Congress saw any merit in the Iran Deal!  How is that leadership? Right now they are muttering about another possible government shutdown; that is, of course, easier for them to do than to prepare the budget that is their job.

House back in session 12 leg days be4 FY15 ends w potential #Govtshutdown & 13 leg days before #sequester returns. http://t.co/ujbsKB6c8K

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Rep Donna F Edwards (@repdonnaedwards) September 08, 2015

Given the fact they clearly have no moral or empathy compass for US citizens, ‘How much more will Republicans NOT do?’

Former Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, is reported to have said…

“If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.”                                        

For over a decade, the Republican Party has done little to advance the U.S, and its members have done a whole lot to ensure the nation does not move forward.  In fact the party has, more than once, perpetuated actions that would cast doubt on the USA’s very integrity on the world stage.  Instead of helping to govern, Republicans have been blatantly obstructing, playing word games or behind-your-back games, and calling upon foreign leaders to interfere in US Executive Branch decisions.   My questions really are:-

Isn’t it time a system that has gone so far out of sync these last seven years be recalibrated?   And, how does one recalibrate it?  How can Americans, real Americans (who love their country and want to see it daily working towards a ‘more perfect union’; who genuinely want to live as “e pluribus unum”) take their country back?

When is enough enough?