Obama critics vs Bush critics

McClatchy political correspondent Steven Thomma was wrong in Sunday’s edition (The Charlotte Observer) to equate the demonstrative anger on display this month with the anger toward the Bush Administration shown during the last election.

Besides the involvement of separate political groupings, a major difference is that the anger toward the Bush Administration was for actual deeds, while the anger towards Obama is based almost entirely on lies and half-truths propagated by his Republican opponents and the insurance lobby.

Much of the shouting at this month’s town hall meetings was more about “breaking” Obama than health care reform. “Let’s take our country back” is the long held cry of right-wing conservative extremists. And across the south, many whites will never “accept” an African American president. Republicans carefully cultivated these and other extreme views to manufacture “outrage.”

The true villain in this “angry and bitter” public debate is a news media so desperate to survive that it lacks the fortitude to accurately take on those who would use fear and uncertainty to stifle progress on such an important issue as health care reform.

As a result, this country suffers.

(an edited version of this post appeared in The Charlotte Observer on 9/1/09)

Obstructionists would kill the Golden Goose Charlotte

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners cannot allow the forces that would destroy the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system to succeed in their strategy of “death by a thousand cuts.”

Those forces don’t include those suburban parents who rightfully desire adequate space and facilities at the now crowded schools attended by their children.

But it does include the movement, with lingering ties to the pro-segregation era of our region’s history, which believes public schools are no longer desirable or indeed necessary.

Whether opposing equitable school spending or complaining about the school system’s diversity, their ultimate underlying solution is an end to public schools and imposition of education vouchers.

Why else would a county commissioner propose ignoring the facilities needs of inner city children, while catering to the new children whose parents were drawn here, ironically in part, because of our diversity. Those opposing the $618 million bond issue do so for the express purpose of ensuring the break-up of CMS. They would oppose any equitable bond package. Remember, these are the same forces which opposed the last bond and it was even less than any of the proposals on the table today.

If we allow CMS’s destruction, if their mission is accomplished, such a victory would slit the throat of the Golden Goose Charlotte.

It was community diversity and a demonstration that Charlotte represents the South’s future that helped create this city’s many economic successes. Those successes have drawn so many new families to us. New schools are needed in the suburbs because their employers put down roots here.

We are home to two of the largest banks in the nation and world. There’s more money deposited in this town than in any other in the nation, save New York City.

IBM, Transamerica, Microsoft, TIAA-CREF…. There’s an endless list of Fortune 500, national and international corporations with headquarters or major facilities here.

Charlotte is home to NFL and NBA franchises, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Discovery Place, Imaginon…

This is a place to raise a family, build a future.

Newcomers flock to our community. CMS is enrolling more than 4000 new students a year. This despite the “flight” everyone talks about these days.

This board must not allow opponents of an equitable bond package to kill the Golden Goose by neglecting the diverse communities for which Charlotte is known and respected.

 

Question…Why blame Democrats for no Iraq withdrawal date?

Those pundits rushing to blame Democrats for failing to pass an Iraq funding bill without a troop withdrawal date should stop accepting the spin from Republicans. Anyone who understands parliamentary procedure and American legislative rules know a slim majority cannot override a presidential veto. Democrats can’t win without the help of Republicans or the acquiescence of Bush. Failure to withdraw the troops is the fault of Bush and Republican lawmakers, not the Democrats. How long is the American press going to allow themselves to be used by Bush and the Republicans to carry out a failed policy…to mislead the American public, both about what’s going on in Iraq and, lately, what’s going on in America.