Will Obama Split The Democratic Party?
Will Obama Split the Democratic Party in Two?By Timothy V. Gatto
I never thought I would see the President of the United States respond to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. To tell you the truth, I had thought liberalism had already been embalmed and buried when JFK and RFK were shot. Sure the Democrats tried to ensure that liberals believed that they were still part of the Democrats agenda, but in all actuality, they haven’t been included for quite some time. The last years under Bush, it was almost impossible to find a liberal Democrat. Idiots like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Rielly and Michael Savage castigated liberals to the point where they behaved as if they belonged in the closet!
I always proclaimed myself as a liberal. Most of the people I network with are liberals. I was amazed at how some of these liberals managed to talk themselves into believing that Barack Obama was one of us. In almost every instance he has let us down. His support for the Military Commissions Act, the revised FISA Law giving immunity to the telecoms, the continuing presence in Iraq of our military and mercenary forces, the expansion of the war in Afghanistan, no indictments for torture for the Bush Administration and the continuance of Rendition flights and the use of foreign governments to extract information from “suspected” terrorists makes liberals wonder if we’ve been fooled again.
The answer is that of course we have been fooled again. The only question left is the position on healthcare that Obama touted when he was running for President. Is he about to backslide on this issue also? Is the “public option” that most liberals adamantly endorse about to be thrown by the wayside so that “free enterprise” (in other words healthcare for profit) can rape the American public with a profit margin of approximately 30% while government run healthcare runs about 4% over cost (Medicare)?
This I believe will be the pivotal point in Obama’s presidency. The truth is that you can’t please all of the people all of the time and this issue is no exception. Sometimes however, pleasing the people hasn’t been Barack Obama’s forte. The issues in the paragraph above illustrate that he really doesn’t mind ignoring his left/liberal supporters. He hasn’t balked at throwing us under the bus in almost every instance. Will this issue be the exception?
The outcome will be exactly what Obama wants it to be. If he has the wherewithal to keep pushing for a public option while he ignores those on the right that believe insurance companies profits and free enterprise are sacrosanct , huge gains will be his from the liberal wing of his party. This is the time to judge Obama’s mettle. He has a huge majority in Congress and enough clout to keep the conservative wing of the party in line. FDR didn’t pass social security without opposition, but he did it anyway and Americans are eternally grateful. Obama needs to take a good look at FDR’s stand on protecting the financial security and the well-being of the country as a whole. The truth is that this chance may never come again, especially with the monetary clout that Big Pharma and insurance companies have. The Democrats in the House and Senate should also revaluate the public option. Backtracking on this issue could well split the party in two.
Another thing, I don’t make this stuff up.
timgatto@hotmail.com Read Tim Gatto’s new book Complicity to Contempt
Labels: Democratic Guile, Obama, Third Political Party
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