Allow me to introduce myself to those of you of which I have not yet had the pleasure:
My name is Mike and I emigrated to Argentina in 2003. Technically, that makes me something other than an expat. However, it also makes me feel that I have as much or more to offer an expat in Argentina than the average foreigner you might meet on the streets of Buenos Aires.
Most recently, I became the head of the US Democratic Party in Argentina by virtue of my election as Chairman of all the Democrats Abroad down here. The term is good for another 18 months or so ...and I hope that gives you time to prepare to run against me for re-election ...and I hope you defeat me. Because that means that you're better than me for the job ...and there's always room for improvement ...and we need the very best people to steer Democrats Abroad Argentina.
My name might be Mike but I'm known as Yanqui Mike and that's probably appropriate even though I have no plans to ever leave this lovely place and people that have so generously adopted me. I'll always be known as a "Yankee" to everyone here and abroad (apologies to Southerners and Cubs fans for which that term is a pejorative!)
I hope all of that excuses me as I now take up a portion of this blog that is devoted to expat matters in order to talk to you about the upcoming elections in the US.
I was inspired to write after reading the New York Times article about the upcoming Pennsylvania primary and a quote from a fella at the bar who was also inspired to say something to the NYT reporter.
I asked him if the presidential campaign interested him. “Absolutely,” he said. Rapid fire, he told me the issues he cared about: “No. 1, gas prices. It’s killing everybody. No. 2, immigrants. They should go back to Mexico. Three, guns. Everybody should have the right to bear arms. In fact, everyone should have a gun in this day and age.”To you eligible voters: HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH, YET?
I wondered if he was a Republican. “Are you kidding?” he said. “I’m a Democrat all the way. I hate Republicans.”
Apparently, the gentleman quoted above certainly has.
Personally, I have no doubt that he voted for Ronald Reagan (if he was old enough) and was probably at least among the 89% of US citizens that supported George H.W. Bush and the 92% that supported his son and his junta. That's OK.
That's OK because he came around. He finally came around to thinking about his country. He finally came around to thinking for himself about his country.
God knows, we Democrats didn't help him in his decision. He did it on his own. He finally decided that he'd had ENOUGH! ...and my gratefulness goes out to him.
For more than 25 years, all of the radicalism in US politics has come from the Right. We have been fed such an unrelenting stream of (insert your favorite term here) that even I have found myself on occasion parroting their talking points such as "there not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties."
Our sitting president is the culmination of that 25 years of radicalism and has finally euthanized that old saw and a host of other beliefs heretofore accepted as gospel:
- Government can do NOTHING as well and as efficiently as the private sector...
- The adults are in charge now...
- Making the rich richer is good for us all and the only way to keep our economy strong...
- Republicans are the only party that will protect our economy and currency...
- Democrats are weak on defense and do not honor our troops...
- Republicans lead lives that are morally superior and protect family values and the institution of marriage...
- The Federal Government needs to be reduced to a size that can be easily "drowned in a bathtub."
But now, as our presidential primary drags on and on, there are Democrats everywhere that are quoted as saying that they could not possible vote for ANYONE other than their chosen champion for Democratic candidate for president.
The Levittowner in the NYT today is ready to throw away everything that everyone from Rush Limbaugh to NPR has spoon-fed him for 25 years ...but some loyal and activist Democrats are at the same time telling reporters that THEY CANNOT.
This small-town dweller in Pennsylvania, gun-owner and former BUSH SUPPORTER, has had enough ...but some phonecalling, doorbell-ringing, campaign-donating, fiercely-blogging, liberal, politically sophisticated, true Democrats are now saying loudly that if their candidate does not come out of OUR convention as the nominee... they will be unable to bring themselves to vote Democratic.
In my current position, I have personally spoken with several (a dozen or so...and Bush supporters are now harder to find than Nixon-voters) Republicans outside the 29% that still see George W. Bush as god-sent ...staunch "rock-ribbed" Republicans ...that have all told me, to my absolute amazement, "I hope they ALL lose!", "I could never vote for John McCain", "I'm staying home this year."
To Obama supporters that are thinking that they will not vote Democratic unless their man is chosen at our convention...
To Clinton supporters that are thinking that they will not vote Democratic unless their woman is chosen at our convention...
...I have a question for you:
Could you be more short-sighted than a (former) Reagan/Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft/Rove/Gonzales/Tenet/Mukasey supporter from a small town in Pennsylvania who has finally shrugged-off the entire Rightwing Noise Machine that he once embraced and that for 25 years has given him all the assurances he needed to vote against his own personal interests ...even up to and including the destruction of much of what he held dear?
I don't believe you could. Don't fail us now. Get out the vote ...and that includes yours.
10 comments:
Mike! Long time no talk, hope all is well!
This election is going to be ridiculous, you have republicans saying they won't vote for McCain because he's not "conservative enough" and you have Hillary supporters who are way to loyal to only her, then you have Obama fans who aren't so much loyal to him, but hate hillary.
My problem with the parties is the fact that they are only loyal to their party, what happens when a republican enters the white house, they are only helping the republicans, and it's a war between republicans and democrats, and vice versa. This to me is bullshit, I don't want to elect someone who is going to go in and try to help out one set of ideas, and help their party.
I want someone who is going to go in, and work with everyone, not just their party to make things better, to improve things. All candidates say that is what they want to do, but when it comes down to it, they all bullshit. We all know this, but we tell people who question the bullshit that it will be different this time..
With over 300 million people in our country, you'd think we can find some people who aren't so damn corrupted.
p.s. To me anyone north of the mason-dixon line is a yankee! yeeeeeeeeeehaw
The best argument I have heard for voting for McCain is this: no matter who gets elected in 2008, it's going to be a miserable 4-year term, because that person will have to deal with the enormous mess that Bush created. And OF COURSE taxes will be raised. Therefore, whoever is President will be a 1-term president, since they will get the blame for the tax increase, etc., and the other party will then be in for the following 8 years. So with that reasoning, let the Republicans clean up the shit they created. Then 8 years of Democrats. In theory, anyway, if Democrats control Congress, the damage McCain could do would be limited.
But actually, the Democrats DO control Congress now, and they don't seem to have done much; is there really such a big difference between the two parties? Neither party is "liberal" --- just the Republican evangelical fantatics (aka the Republican party) vs. the Rockefeller "moderate" Republicans (aka Democrats). The importance of voting is perhaps overrated --- what's the point if there are no real choices?
But going back to the 2008 election. The argument against voting for McCain so that Republicans have to clean up their own mess is simply to point out that the country would nevertheless be MUCH worse off with another 4 years of Republican rule.
Personally I would find it VERY difficult to vote for Clinton if she gets the nomination. I really don't know what I would do. But since I still haven't figured out how to vote from down here, it might be a moot point anyway! ;-)
I have always considered myself an independent. These last 8 years have made me run towards the democratic party.
I can not, no matter how nice McCain seems to be or how much of a "good" person he seems to be, I just can´t stomach another Republican term in office.
The next four years could be, and should be worked with the idea of fixing, not just as a waste of one´s time.
I really would have wished that we had a clear Democratic nominee by now. I will wait to see who wins and elect either one. I will not give my vote to a party that messed up my country.
"I will not give my vote to a party that messed up my country."
If you take that approach, Frank, how can you vote for either party? Where were the Democrats when it was time to take a stand against the Patriot Act and all the other laws that gradually eroded our rights? Or to debate the Iraq war? Or to stand up to Bush & Co. and seriously evaluate the various nominees for Supreme Court justices, federal judges, etc.? They just went along with everything, with an eye on voter mood and re-election.
Clearly the Republicans have made a mess of the country, but I think you have to consider the Democrats as "enablers" at the very least.
Neither party will seriously address any of the real issues, such as healthcare, social security, taxes, education, etc. Nothing will be "fixed" yet --- things have not gotten bad enough for the American people to acknowledge that serious change is needed. And too many powerful people benefit from the current system --- they don't WANT change. Both parties still believe that "market forces" will somehow solve all the problems.
Good to see you back on the intertubes, Rob! Got a new site for us yet? I'll go along with you a little ways... at least to the point that we ALL represent our own interests. That's probably because we know ourselves better than anyone else. But that's as far as I'll go with your comment.
We can still represent other people ...and not necessarily just those that are like ourselves. That's a good reason why I'm a Democrat. We are the "big tent" party: we have a tougher job than the Republicans in that we represent people from the very richest to the very poorest walks of life, we represent all races, there is a place under our banner for opinions from very conservative to radically liberal and you can point to Democratic politicians all across the political spectrum.
Until the Bush regime, you could find a lot more Republicans that represented a wide range of opinions too ...not as wide a range as the Democrats but much more diversity of Republican thought than now.
Today, almost every Republican office holder that could not go along with the Bush/ Cheney/ Rumsfeld/ Tenet/ Ashcroft/ Gonzales bunch is gone.
As a military man, yourself, I know that you could add a few Generals and Admirals to list of good people forced out too.
I miss those Republicans. They were good men and women and patriots first. I always use former Illinois Senator Republican Bob Michels as an example of the ones that were purged from service to their country by the radicalism that has gripped the US since 1980 and the insanity that descended upon us since 911.
And I'm not sure that I want to elect Democrats that are going to "try to work with everyone" that supported that madness with full throat. Some of those guys need more than a good ass-kickin' ...some of those need to go to jail for what they've done. Some from my own party, as well.
Barbara's having trouble figuring out more than just how to vote from down here (Barb, just send me an email... yanquimike@democratsabroad.com.ar ...and I'll register you to vote for anyone you like.)
While everyone would like to see the Republican clean up their own mess ...you assume that they will and you sound like you believe that things can't get any worse!
Gotta think of it that way, Barbara. You really gotta think of it that way. Have you looked at the ages of the Supreme Court Justices? The next president will be making a couple, two, three appointments to the big bench. That alone is worth the price of admission to voting them out no matter who runs against them.
My mother could wait FOREVER until I cleaned-up my dinner plate or cleaned my room ...but the USofA cannot wait any longer for the Republicans to clean up their mess. Will it be fair to saddle the Democrats with the military mess, the banking mess, the phonetapping mess, the fired attorneys general mess, the economy mess, the US Dollar mess? No. It won't be fair. But we can't wait. We already need a hazmat cleaning crew instead of the maid. Real, honest to God, laws were broken. And there's a bunch that need to go to jail ...not that that will ever happen.
"Where were the Democrats", she asks? It's an understandable question.
Especially, in light of whining, crybaby antics of the Republicans all through the Bush administration and even before!
I, myself, almost forget that Neo-conservative radical Republicans controlled the Executive Branch (and all the parts such as the Pentagon, Justice Dept, CIA/NSA, etc) the Legislative Branch (BOTH houses!), the Judiciary Branch (how many times did the Supreme Court vote against the Bushies? They even appointed him president!), and the "Fourth Estate": the press.
Yet all the while, they cried as if they WEREN'T in control of anything, let alone the whole shootin' match!
Sometimes even I thought that Democrats were in the majority!
All that power, all those years ...and they whined and moaned as if they couldn't do anything ...and they didn't ...and they destroyed a lot about what we all loved about the US.
Less than 2 years ago, the Democrats won a 1 seat majority in the Senate and a surprising but slim margin in the House.
...and you're complaining about how little change the Democrats have made?
No need to apologize, I'm used to that sort of nonsense. It's spews out of the newspapers and television all day/everyday ...to the point that sometimes I even think it myself.
That's what a political party can do when it's in charge of EVERYTHING, top to bottom.
Back to the "big tent" party ...it would be very difficult for the Democrats to anything of the kind. We're just too big! We're too diverse. We could never in a million years purge all the conservative and centrist Democrats from our party the way the Republicans got rid of everyone that didn't go along with their radical agenda.
And we could never have shit-canned all the goodwill from every country on earth after 911 just see if we could corner the market on middle eastern oil.
That's just not in our blood.
Hell, Al Gore woulda had even our own enemies fighting Al Qaida for us! You know that's true. Bush threw all that away.
Let's take a page from Frankie's comment: Let's Talk A Little Bit About McCain! Whaddya say?
No, seriously! Let's talk about the 72 year-old Senator from Arizona, John McCain.
Yeah, what he said.
No seriously, thanks Mike for expressing yourself so eloquently. You touched just about everything I could have answered so I do not want to repeat any of it.
I just want to express that I just don´t want to give up. I am not so naive as to think that everything will change as soon as someone else gets behind the wheel, but I do believe something will change.
Big change is usually made up of a bunch of smaller, little baby step changes.
Let´s pick a direction and start walking. This is a time to start walking away from this last mess.
I had never supported Bush. I did not like the way he got elected the first time and I just never liked him in any way, not even to have a beer with like most people liked to describe him.
Is it so wrong of me to cast my vote to the other side? In fact, I want to make sure my vote counts to that effect and I will vote for whoever ends up winning the democratic nomination.
I do not want any more hawkish views of the world according to the President. McCain sounds pretty hawkish to me. In fact, the only other person more hawkish than him is the current VP.
I have just had enough of that.
Not fair. I responded to Mike's comments but my post disappeared...
It's not the point whether the Democrats were a minority or not. They did NOTHING for 8 years. They acted like Republicans; they just went along. They voted for the Patriot Act, for the Iraq War, etc. They didn't have the nerve to suggest that impeachment might be in order. They let themselves be bullied into silence (or maybe they never had enough integrity to notice/care that Bush and Cheney were taking away our rights, creating an Imperial Presidency?). The Democrats in the Senate didn't put up much of a fight when Bush submitted nominees for the Supreme Court. They rubberstamped his choices for Attorney General, etc. Maybe they stopped one candidate, and then after that, the next candidate just got in easy, because the Democrats didn't have the strength/will to wage another fight.
I don't particularly respect the Democratic Party. And I am convinced that neither party has the courage to take on the serious issues facing the country. So no matter who wins, we're screwed until there is a massive cultural change in America. And I think things will have to get a whole lot worse before people are willing to change.
Barb, I like you, but we don't need a cultural change. That's neo-con talk.
The great majority of Americans still support the same agenda as FDR with his creation of Social Security, AFDC, and the banking reforms that stood until President Clinton.
Full disclosure: I've said it so many times publicly that I might as well say it here in print: imho, Bill Clinton was the best Republican president the US ever elected. I'd rather vote for a good Republican than a bad Democrat.
But that's not our choice, this year.
More to your point, we Democrats are not a very good opposition party ...the Republicans are very good at that but are not a very good as a governing party.
I wish that the DNC would listen to me... and you! I wish every bumpersticker and TV and radio spot simply said, "HAD ENOUGH YET?" That would be sufficient, as far as I'm concerned.
I also agree that the Democrats deserve some flak in not opposing the president's agenda ...but I won't pretend that we were actually in power ...like FOX news would have you believe.
Cultural change, my Irish ass. We need a cultural change ...but only going back to the days in which we were taught to parrot neo-con think-tank nonsense.
Democrats haven't had a chance since GHW Bush won Iraq War One so skillfully. After 911, the neo-cons ran away with the till.
Democrats actually have a chance this year. Give it to them. Make sure they get one.
Then... hold us responsible.
Don't hold us responsible for the last 6 or 7 years ...unless you're talkin' some SPECIFIC Democrats.
In that case ...I'm with YOU!
Why doesn't anybody wanna talk about John McCain?
Seriously... why don't we want to talk about the man that is BushIII?
Are we being "talked-out" of talking about him?
Think about this: if the press doesn't talk about something ...we don't think it's worthy of talking about.
Does that sound right to you?
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