Yesterday, on the Senate floor, the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, gave a speech on health care in which he said the following:
"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said 'slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough.' When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn't quite right. When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today."
Reid is the most powerful member of the U.S. Senate, and the person picked by the Democrats in the Senate to be their leader. Forget about the fact that he's a liberal and a generally unhappy person (and struggles to put together coherent sentences in speeches). He's not even an adult. He's not even capable of behaving in a civilized way on the Senate floor. I thought it was pretty bad a few months ago when he said that angry citizens (not politicians or pundits) speaking at townhall meetings were "evilmongers." Now Reid has shattered his own record for partisan rancor by comparing senators who oppose his health care bill to people who support slavery and oppose the right of blacks and women to vote. If you don't support government-run health care, you're pro-slavery, anti-woman, and racist. This kind of demagoguery has no place inside the walls of the Capitol Hill, but is especially disgraceful coming from the purported leader of the U.S. Senate. No wonder our country is so politically divided. We are represented at the highest levels of government by petty, uncivilized children. Harry Reid is an embarrassment to his party and to his country.
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5 comments:
I agree with Harry Reid. Republicans are a bunch of obstructionists. Whether it is health care, the stimulus or anything else, all they do is say "no, no, no." Reid was not saying people opposed to health care reform are "pro-slavery, anti-women, racists." Instead, he was saying that historically, people in this country have attempted to block progress by giving the same excuses and lies that tea-baggers are giving in today's situation. Face it, conservatives in this country have historically been on the wrong side of history (i.e. slavery, civil rights, woman's rights, etc.) and continue to be so today.
"No wonder this country is so politically divided." Are you kidding me? How about eight years of the Bush Administration for dividing a country? Baselessly invading Iraq, ignoring international norms, increasing economic inequality, overseeing the worst fiscal collapse in seventy years, deregulating everything. THIS is why the country is divided. Obstructionist Republicans are just the current iteration.
And what's wrong with the Republicans being obstructionists? The Democrats have done nothing so far except promote horrible legislation which increases the tax burden that the American people will pay for generations to come. If opposing greater government over our lives makes me an obstructionist, then I proudly claim the name.
How did you come up with that witty zinger "tea-bagger"? That's awesome! Here are some other clever and original sayings I came up with. You should take notes!
1. Bush lied, people died.
See? It's funny because it rhymes!
2. No blood for oil.
All Republicans care about is money. Get it?
3. Nucular.
Oh, man. This never gets old!
To "A different anonymous"
when you say "Face it, conservatives in this country have historically been on the wrong side of history (i.e. slavery, civil rights, woman's rights, etc.) and continue to be so today."
Are you referring to republicans or democrats? If you are referring to republicans you might want to check your history.
One more thing. Economic policies usually take 1 to 2 years before you see the effects. When did the recession begin, maybe 2007 but mostly in 2008? Who took control of congress in 2006? Based on tha facts, your side of the aisle shares the responsibility equally for "the worst fiscal collapse in seventy years".
Haha..."A Different Anonymous" sounds suspiciously not like a different Anonymous at all but like the same Anonymous who posted earlier.
Some Dude made a good point that saying "no" is not necessarily obstructionist. It depends on whether the legislation is good or bad. And Reid is falsely claiming that the Republicans are against all health care reform, when they have put forward numerous ideas for health care reform that were not even permitted to be considered by the Democratic leadership in Congress.
That Guy also made a good point that economic cause and effect takes time. A Different Anonymous simplistically wants to blame Bush for the economic collapse of 2008, but like most big economic collapses this one was a long time in coming. The economic collapse was largely triggered by irreponsible lending practices by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two quasi-governmental organizations. For years, Congress had been putting pressure on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the home mortgage industry as a whole to give more and more loans to low-income and minority people to enable them to buy homes. The focus was on making politically-correct loans instead of financially-correct loans. Far from being a failure of "deregulation," the financial crisis was caused by irresponsible government involvement in the mortgage industry coupled with a lot of irresponsible behavior by individuals and lenders. Many members of Congress, including prominent Democrats like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, were up to their ears in this whole mess and far more responsible than Bush. President Bush, to his credit, did issue a warning about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their dangerous lending practices a couple of years before it all collapsed, but deserves blame for not taking decisive enough action to prevent it.
I also want to make a point about Bush being responsible for dividing the country. I am well aware that many many people in this country despise Bush and that a big reason for that is the War in Iraq. However, when Bush divided the country, he divided it because of taking an unpopular or controversial position that he believed was right and sticking to it despite criticism. Bush never divided the country by taking cheap shots at his political opponents or by making hyper-partisan comments. From the day Bush took office to the day he left office, Bush was the epitome of graciousness in his public statements. He never said anything negative about his predecessor, despite the vandalism of the White House, a flurry of last-minute controversial pardons, and a very mediocre economy that he inherited. He never lashed out at or demonized his opponents, despite facing extremely harsh criticism about his decisions as president, and he never tried to deflect the responsibility or blame for the War to anyone else other than himself. He gave a very gracious farewell speech, behaved very graciously to Obama during the transition phase, and has refused to publicly criticize Obama ever since. I challenge you to produce one quote that Bush ever made publicly about his political opponent that was hateful or inflammatory. Contrast this with the behavior of Clinton and Carter since leaving office, or with the public statements of people like Obama and Reid. Obama claimed he wanted to be a president who would heal the nation and bring it together, but in his inaugural speech he attacked Bush and ever since he has been blaming Bush in almost every speech. And don't even get me started on the inflammatory rhetoric Reid uses against his political opponents all the time. It is a contrast between grace and class on the one hand, and petty partisanship on the other.
The reason the country is divided is ultimately because people in this country have two very divergent views about how America should go in the future. Many people in this country want to make radical changes to America by increasing the power of government and decreasing personal freedom, and the rest want to stay true to our Constitution and our Founders' view of strictly limited government. But bottom-feeders like Harry Reid inflame people's passions and exacerbate the big partisan divide that already exists.
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