ROCKABILLY RULES

ROCKABILLY RULES
The Rockin Johnny B

Friday, September 30, 2011

Animal Cruelty People


Arsonists don’t reflect most animal lovers
   On Sept. 27, an “animal rights group” apparently set fire to a local fur sales and trapping equipment business outside of Caldwell. Ouch.
   Do I wish this local business engaged in an activity other than one that has currently outgrown the “legal historical value” of trapping for human provision and monetary gain? Yes.
   Does my heart agree with the argument versus the cruel and unnecessary taking of animal life? Yes.
   Do I agree with the actions of this extreme NAAL Arson Unit group? No.
   Currently there are several organizations and individuals in our area working through legal and educational channels to protect the life situation of our wildlife and other animals. The public will hopefully distinguish these from the extremist groups.
   Animal rights and welfare adherents take a variety of forms. 
There are many ways to work for the humane treatment of animals based on nonviolent methods.
   Two wrongs do not equal one right. Not a single lost animal life is restored by violent and illegal protest. Actions such as this are both ineffective and harmful to the true animal welfare movement.
   Sara Lee, Caldwell




October good time to consider farm animals
   October is turning into “food” month, beginning with World Vegetarian Day and World Farm Animals Day on Oct. 1 and 2, continuing with World Food Day on Oct. 16 and culminating with Food Day on Oct. 24.
   World Farm Animals Day (www. WFAD.org) is perhaps the most dramatic of these observances. It celebrates the lives, exposes the abuses and mourns the slaughter of billions of sentient animals 
raised for food. Recent undercover investigations showed male baby chicks suffocated in plastic garbage bags or ground to death, pigs clobbered with metal pipes, and cows skinned and dismembered while still conscious.
   Numerous studies have linked consumption of animal products with elevated risk of chronic killer diseases. Animal agriculture accounts for more water pollution than any other human activities. A 2007 United Nations report blamed it for 18 percent of greenhouse gases.
   No humane welfare reform proposed thus far has alleviated the suffering of a single animal. Improvements in medical and environmental technology cannot possibly keep pace with the devastating impacts of meat consumption.
   The good news is that dropping animals from our menus works beautifully on all these counts. Lots of recipes and helpful hints are at www.tryveg.com  .
   Gil Nieter, Boise



Boy, some folks go absolutely crazy when it comes to animals.  They burned down a fireworks business cause these folks were curing and buying animal hides and such.  These people hate hunters too.  They think they are cowards and that the poor little deers and elks and mooses and bears and cougars and bobcats simply do not have a chance once we enter the forest.  "Run Bambi, run."  Hunters are painted with a terrible brush that says we are nothing short of criminals.


So, let's take hunters for example.  I am one.  I love to hunt.  I love getting out there before dawn and seeking to down an elk or deer.  I eat what I shoot and so do most hunters and if they do not, most of us leave the meat with groups who need the food.


Hunters are conservationists.  At the beginning of the 20th century, the big game animal count was horribly tiny.  We farmers, ranchers, miners and pioneers killed off most of the big game animals in the lower 48.  Hunters did not do this, neither did trappers.  Hunters and trappers were just as horrified by this devastation as everyone else and that's when groups like the Boone and Crockett Club was started.  Today, there are many of these hunting/fishing groups throughout America.  They are dedicated to the preservation of all big game animals and sport fishing, and upland game bird conservation.  They actually buy habitat and leave it fallow just for animals and birds so they will be available for hunting and fishing later.  Without these groups, there probably would be no animals at all.


Then there is the fees hunters pay and trappers pay to go hunting and trapping.  These fees go to the Fish and Game state organizations to manage game and fish in your respective states.  Without these fees, there would be no management and there would be no game/fish in your respective states.  Ordinary people who have no interest in fishing and hunting simply will not lay out cash to support wildlife.  Not to the extent that hunters and trappers do every year so that Fish and Game can manage the game and fish.


I doubt very much a hunter or trapper is a coward.  Keep in mind, they are armed!  I wouldn't call 'em cowards to their faces.


Now let's talk about slaughter houses that process farm animals for consumption.  In order for us to have that rib-eye steak, something had to die, preferably a steer.  When we go to Wendy's for a burger, something had to die to make that hamburger.  When we go to Kentucky Fried Chicken, a chicken had to die to provide that succulent drumstick for you.


The upsetting thought for the Cruelty Folks is the way in which these animals die.  Let me say this, if an animal is cruelly killed, the meat will be no good.  Fear creates the glands to produce powerful drugs that are not conducive to good meat on the table.  It makes no sense to torture animals, and I would say few slaughter houses do that.  If they do, they are not going to be in business long because meat buyers for large groceries will not buy meat that is not tender because their consumers will not buy their product either and that's bad for business.


I buy my meat from a small butcher/slaughter business that buy its beefs from farmers and they personally slaughter and cut and package that animal themselves and they do it with love and caring.  They do not torture the animal prior to their deaths and the meat is always tender and I will always buy from them even though they are not 'handy' for me to get to.  If more folks did what I do, there would be no terrible slaughter businesses out there.


It is unfortunate that there are businesses that torture animals, but there are sadists everywhere who demean the smallest and the most unassuming of us.  I hate 'em too.
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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Gerrymandering


Idaho’s redistricting budget at $100K
   BOISE (AP) — The state’s new redistricting commission has been advised $100,000 remains budgeted for the redrawing of Idaho’s political maps.
   The Spokesman-Review reports the Idaho Legislature set aside $424,000 for redistricting this year, but most of that money has been spent during a previous redistricting effort, in which members failed to reach an agreement after 
90 days of meetings.
   Idaho’s new redistricting panel started meeting Wednesday.
   The newly formed commission has been cautioned that if they also deliberate for three months, the cost of technical and administrative support alone could eat up 
more than half of the remaining $100,000 in Idaho’s redistricting budget.
   Legislative Services Director Jeff Youtz says the money should be enough to get the job done, but if necessary, his office can request more spending authority.



Every time I see something like this, I think of my Political Science class at BSU.  Gerrymandering was the subject and here's what it is basically:



In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts. The resulting district is known as a gerrymander; however, that word can also refer to the process.
Gerrymandering may be used to achieve desired electoral results for a particular party, or may be used to help or hinder a particular demographic, such as a political, racial, linguistic, religious or class group.
When used to allege that a given party is gaining disproportionate power, the term gerrymandering has negative connotations. However, a gerrymander may also be used for purposes that some perceive as positive, such as in US federal voting district boundaries that produce a majority of constituents representative of African-American or other racial minorities (these are thus called "minority-majority districts").
The benefits of gerrymandering are obvious.  If you are a republican, you want to draw lines that will incorporate more Republicans into a voting block.  If you are Democrat...ditto.  I never trust anyone who wants to 'change' and redraw political maps and neither should you.
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Stuff Again


Congress dodges one crisis, now on to the next
By DONNA CASSATA
   The Associated Press
   WASHINGTON — One crisis averted, on to the next. The day after Congress managed to avoid a government shutdown — again — Republicans and Democrats stared ahead Tuesday at major fights over spending that underscore a deep divide that’s sure to define the fast-approaching national elections.
   Monday night, lawmakers had postponed their dispute over whether billions for disaster aid must be paid for with cuts elsewhere in the budget, finessing a pact to keep the government operating.
   But tea party-driven Republicans are still insisting on significant spending cuts this fall, with some arguing that a hard-fought congressional agreement this summer to fund the government at $1.043 trillion in 2012 was too generous. Democrats, many of whom complained of too many concessions and reductions in this year’s showdowns, are furiously trying to protect government programs.
   The next skirmish will be over how and where to spend the new year’s budget, with a Nov. 18 deadline for that legislation. President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs 
proposal that would cut payroll taxes and increase spending on school construction and other infrastructure has already divided the parties. But the next really big deal is the special 12-member bipartisan supercommittee and whether it can come up with a plan to slash $1.5 trillion over 10 years by Nov. 23 — the day before Thanksgiving.
   These fights will unfold against the backdrop of a feeble economy that Obama is desperate to jump-start as he pushes for a second term, and an exasperated electorate that looks at Washington and dislikes what it sees.
   “The heat will be on, the heat from the American people,” said former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, who believes Americans struggling economically will be asking, “Why stretch us out like this?”

These Republicans are slitting their own throats even though they don't realize it.  Their obstucturism will do them in at the ballot box next year.  The are known the 'Do Nothing' congress and it's a apt expression of their stubbornism.  They simply cannot stand a black man in the White House.  Their bigotry and small mindedness will ruin them in the end.
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WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK THE MONEY COMES FROM TO RUN THE GOVERNMENT!.  Every time I see some dumb item like this I wanna puke.  Of course we taxpayers pay for what ever the government does.  That's simply a given!  Why do people see the government as a money sucking pig when it has to garner funds from the people.  Without us paying for government, we wouldn't have an interstate highway, an army, Social Security, Medicare and on, and on.  Somebody has to pay for the money...don't they?  Come on people, wake the hell up.  Now lemme tell you how we could solve most of our problems.  Give nobody a refund at the end of the year.  The government spends that money on spec.  It sees it has so much money coming from the taxes it charges, so it spends that amount of money, but when they have to give people a refund because they 'over-paid' their tax burden, well, that adds to the deficit.  Everyone, including me, should stop using the government as a savings account.  We need to add exemptions until we are owed no money at the end of the year.  You gonna do it?  No?  Then stop bitching about the deficit.
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Bujak’s interest in running outrageous
   Jeers, jeers, jeers to John Bujak. How dare he talk about running for office! He has been accused of taking money from the county, and from what I’ve heard, I believe that proves him to be a thief.
   I am losing my desire to vote for anyone running for any office. Shame on you, Mr. Bujak.
   n Carol Ligas, Nampa

Hehehehe.  Carol, Carol, Carol.  Are you that naive?  The Congress and Senate are full of crooks.  Bujak is small potatoes compared to those aholes.  I actually know John, and he would make a good politician.  At least we would KNOW who we are voting for.
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If I hear another Pol call Social Security a Ponzi Scheme, I'M GONNA SCREAM!  It is most DEFINITELY not a Ponzi Scheme.  Stop calling it that name...you low-lives.  You are making me SICK!
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Monday, September 26, 2011

Poor Obama


Obama says GOP would ‘cripple’ U.S.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
   SEATTLE — President Barack Obama took his newly combative message to the liberal West Coast on Sunday, aiming to re-energize faithful Democratic voters who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him.
   The three-day trip, ending Tuesday in Denver, comes as Obama has shifted from seeking compromise with Republicans in Congress to calling out House Speaker John Boehner and others by name. The president has criticized them as obstructionists and demanded their help in passing his $447 billion jobs bill.
   This approach is a relief to Democratic activists fed up by what they viewed as the president’s ceding of ground to the Republicans on tax cuts and other issues when the economy has stalled and unemployment is stuck 
above 9 percent.
   Obama’s three-day trip offers him the chance to try to reassure some of his most liberal and deep-pocketed supporters with his aggressive new message as the 2012 campaign revs up.
   At his first fundraiser in Seattle, Obama mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up.
   “From the moment I took office what we’ve seen is a constant ideological pushback against any kind of sensible reforms that would make our economy work better and give people more opportunity,” the president said at an intimate brunch fundraiser at the Medina, Wash., home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley.
   About 65 guests were paying 
$35,800 per couple to listen to Obama at the first of seven fundraisers he was holding from Seattle to Hollywood to San Diego on Sunday and Monday.
   Obama said 2012 would be an especially tough election because people are discouraged and disillusioned with government, but he also said he was determined because so much is at stake.
   The Republican alternative, Obama said, is “an approach to government that will fundamentally cripple America in meeting the challenges of the 21st century.”
   Obama got a friendly welcome from invited guests at his first stop. But elsewhere liberal activists were making plans to greet the president with demonstrations criticizing his policies or reminding him they want him to do more.

Let's face it, this congress has done almost nothing in three years.  I cannot, in my lifetime, remember a time when fewer laws were passed.  These obstructionists have ruined our country.  It isn't Obama, no, no, no, it's not the President's fault.  It's guys like Boener who is a bonafied asshole.  He and his minions have tried their best to make Obama a one-time president.  Unfortunately for them, they have made themselves into nutballs who could care less about their country and what's good for it.  I say let's use the voting booth to show them what we think of 'em.
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Obama says GOP would ‘cripple’ U.S.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
   SEATTLE — President Barack Obama took his newly combative message to the liberal West Coast on Sunday, aiming to re-energize faithful Democratic voters who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him.
   The three-day trip, ending Tuesday in Denver, comes as Obama has shifted from seeking compromise with Republicans in Congress to calling out House Speaker John Boehner and others by name. The president has criticized them as obstructionists and demanded their help in passing his $447 billion jobs bill.
   This approach is a relief to Democratic activists fed up by what they viewed as the president’s ceding of ground to the Republicans on tax cuts and other issues when the economy has stalled and unemployment is stuck 
above 9 percent.
   Obama’s three-day trip offers him the chance to try to reassure some of his most liberal and deep-pocketed supporters with his aggressive new message as the 2012 campaign revs up.
   At his first fundraiser in Seattle, Obama mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up.
   “From the moment I took office what we’ve seen is a constant ideological pushback against any kind of sensible reforms that would make our economy work better and give people more opportunity,” the president said at an intimate brunch fundraiser at the Medina, Wash., home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley.
   About 65 guests were paying 
$35,800 per couple to listen to Obama at the first of seven fundraisers he was holding from Seattle to Hollywood to San Diego on Sunday and Monday.
   Obama said 2012 would be an especially tough election because people are discouraged and disillusioned with government, but he also said he was determined because so much is at stake.
   The Republican alternative, Obama said, is “an approach to government that will fundamentally cripple America in meeting the challenges of the 21st century.”
   Obama got a friendly welcome from invited guests at his first stop. But elsewhere liberal activists were making plans to greet the president with demonstrations criticizing his policies or reminding him they want him to do more.

Let's face it, this congress has done almost nothing in three years.  I cannot, in my lifetime, remember a time when fewer laws were passed.  These obstructionists have ruined our country.  It isn't Obama, no, no, no, it's not the President's fault.  It's guys like Boener who is a bonafied asshole.  He and his minions have tried their best to make Obama a one-time president.  Unfortunately for them, they have made themselves into nutballs who could care less about their country and what's good for it.  I say let's use the voting booth to show them what we think of 'em.
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Friday, September 23, 2011

My stuff


Nobody believes Job Act will be fully paid for
   Delmar Stone’s column on Sept. 19 left a question in my mind — “Where in the world is the money coming from to pay for Obama’s continuing socialistic boondoggles?”
   Stone uses over 13 column inches to tell all of us the urgent need for Obama’s “American Jobs Act,” just a new name for another stimulus which is doomed to failure, and what wonders it will do to fix unemployment and improve our sick economy.
   Briefly, Stone states that:
   1. 40,000 Idaho small businesses will receive at least a 3.1 percent payroll tax cut.
   2. Idaho, rebuilding infrastructure, will receive at least $190, 200,000 and create 2,500 local jobs.
   3. Idaho will receive $159,000,000 to pay for 2,500 new jobs for teachers, police and firefighters (probably in that order).
   4. $93,600,000 to Idaho for modernization of schools, etc., $20,000,000 to revitalize local communities, and $11,200,000 to community colleges.
   5. Reformed unemployment insurance system (no dollar amount assigned to this element, but go figure).
   6. Approximately $1,460 tax cut for every household in Idaho with a median income of $47,000.
   7. “Pathways Back to Work” touted to put 22,600 workers in Idaho back to work (at what cost?)
   These are the numbers “little old Idaho” reaps from Obama’s generosity, according to the article. One can only imagine the numbers for states like, Illinois, New York, California, etc!
   After approximately 13 column inches promoting this plan, Stone states, “This act will be fully paid for as a part of a long-term deficit reduction plan!”
   Oh really? Perhaps, just maybe, hard-working, honest taxpaying Americans are not as naive or gullible as some folks seem to think! We know the government has no money until they steal it from us first!
   n Covey E. Ruyle, Eagle

Okay Covey, let's just answer your question:  "Who's gonna pay for the money?"  Who do you think?  Us.  The American taxpayer is gonna pay for the money...in the beginning.  However, if people go back to work, they will pay taxes, buy cars, refrigerators, etc., and that will stimulate the economy and that will pay back the economy.  Don't be such a Republican, Covey.  Use your head.  Trickle Down economics have not worked since Reagan started it.  Trickle UP economics do.  Give the money to the poor and the money will trickle up to the Rich and thereby stimulate the economy.


We are neither naive or gullible liberals.  Most of us are educated and very smart.  We know what makes the world go round, probably better than the idiot Tea Partiers who are getting Social Security and yelling at how Socialistic Obama is.  My God, Covey, don't you know that our country is a combination of Socialism and Capitalism and that's why it works?  We are a money oriented country, but we are also a caring country and that's why we believe in The People and help them where ever and when ever we can.


It is not Socialism that Obama is conveying, it's putting people back to work, forgodsake!  Lay off the critiques until you see if it works.  Stop worrying about the money.  You didn't worry when the Republicans got us into this mess and it'll take us Democrats to get us out of it.  I'm tired of your whining.
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We need to know real facts in McGee case
   I want to know the real facts about what went on with Mr. McGee. I read in the paper that he claimed someone else was driving the pickup/trailer. If this is true, why wasn’t that person arrested and charged with grand theft? If not true, Mr. McGee lied and was driving. Why wasn’t he charged with grand theft?
   Commit a crime, you are supposed to be held accountable and face the 
consequences. Doesn’t this apply to public servants?
   The paper says he apologized. I don’t believe he has. He apologized to the people he stole from and crashed their vehicle. He apologized to his party. He didn’t apologize to the people of Canyon County, people who elected him and trusted him to do his job with dignity and honesty.
   I have a couple more questions. I have heard a DUI becomes a felony if there is an accident involved. Also, I have never heard of anyone being able to walk away from a felony (remember the grand theft and the wreck?) because they were able to pay the victims off. I thought you went to court and faced the consequences for criminal actions and you could settle out of court or they could take you to civil court to be compensated. Oh wish that it were true.  Surely you don't believe justice is blind, do you?  No, no, Jim m'friend, money is a big leveler when justice is involved.  That and political pressure.  Mr. McGee is a Republican in a Red State and rue the day that the 'party' is denigrated.
   I read about a woman who went into a store and stole a can of beer that cost $1.24. The paper said she could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and I believe a $1,000 fine because there was evidence it was premeditated. I think Mr. McGee’s crime was also premeditated. He didn’t accidentally fall into that pickup and the key magically appeared. He looked for it. When he found it, the vehicle didn’t accidentally start itself and drive away.
   I’m sure the woman who stole the beer would be willing to pay the store and apologize.
   What a world it would be if no one were held accountable.
   n Jim Self, Caldwell



I admire you Jim.  You ask hard questions.  However, there will probably never be answers.
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[a letter to Mr. Business owner]


Dear Mr. Factory Owner,


Thank you for building your factory in my country, U.S.A.  Now, I want you to pay your way to stay.

  1. You use my road to transport and receive goods and services.
  2. You are protected by my Police.
  3. You are aided by my Fire Department.
  4. Your employees pay for all this: roads, police, fire service and many other taxed services.
Now, Mr. Factory Owner, we want you to pay your fair share.  We want you to pay the same percentage of personal income tax that your employees do.

Can you do this Mr. Factory Owner?  Can you pay your fair share?

John Belville.
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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Good Stuff



To those of you who have not read anything by Mr. Butterfield, you are very lucky.  He is just shy of a John Bircher.  When he writes something, it is always arch-conservative in nature and is usually steeped in opinion and very light in facts.  He is a homophobe "Christian".

Founding Fathers intended secular nation
   I’m writing partly in response to Mr. Butterfield’s letter Sept. 15 stating that liberals are always talking about the separation of church and state, while conservatives fully understand the concept.
   Please note that conservative politicians frequently assert that the United States is a Christian nation, is founded on Christian principles and/or that the Founding Fathers were Christian men.
   Actually, they weren’t. The Founding Fathers were primarily deists, Freemasons and Unitarians (contrasted with Trinitarians or Christians.) They came from a tradition where the King of England was also the titular head of the Church of England.
   Before the birth of our country, many kings ruled from a tradition of divine right, meaning their power and authority to govern or rule was said to come from God. When Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “the power of the government is derived from the 
governed,” that was specifically in contrast to the tradition of the divine right of kings, specifically stating that the United States is a secular country, not a religious one.
   In the Constitution, Article 6, Section 3 states “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” It’s an affirmation that the head of our government isn’t the head of any particular sect or religion.
   Government and religion are separate. These were secular men writing a secular Constitution for a secular country.
   The Treaty of Tripoli (1796) says “the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion...” I think liberals keep talking about separation of church and state, and separating religion and government, because so many people forget or aren’t aware of the truth about the country’s founding.
   We’re different from many other countries, and this secular nature is only one of our many differences.
   n Linda Morgan, Caldwell

Linda has it exactly right.  We Liberals are Secular when it comes to governance.  We firmly believe in separation of church and state.  Republicans, on the other hand, really don't realize just how religious based their beliefs are...or maybe they do, hence The Tea Party.
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Left’s anger at Obama puzzling
   For generations, Democrats longed for a president who could enact national health care. Barack Obama did it.
   For years, Democrats longed for a president who could massively increase federal spending, impose broad new regulations and fight for 
higher taxes. Barack Obama did it.
   For much of the past decade, Democrats longed for a president who could pull American forces out of Iraq and redirect U.S. security policy toward al-Qaida. Barack Obama did it — and killed Osama bin Laden, to boot.
   Obama did all that and more. And now many Democrats are afraid to be seen with him. Some gratitude.
   Democratic grumbling about the president has reached an all-time high. On a recent conference call of party strategists, disaffected Democrats reportedly threw around words like “betrayed,” “disappointed,” “furious” and “disgusted,” with some blaming Obama for the stunning Democratic loss in New York’s 9th Congressional District. Surveying the political landscape of Democratic disaffection with the president, longtime strategist James Carville could come up with just one word of advice: “Panic!”
   Meanwhile, the president’s approval ratings are hitting new lows, with his job approval rating bouncing around the high 30s to the 
low 40s in recent Gallup polls. The numbers are even worse — about 70 percent disapproval — for Obama’s handling of the economy. Independent voters, the key to the president’s election in 2008, have abandoned him right and left.
   Given all that, it’s no surprise that many Democrats are running 
away from Obama. But here’s the problem: He did what Democrats wanted him to do. Health care, stimulus, taxes, you name it — Obama did what his party wanted. Not what the public at large wanted, but what many Democrats wanted. And now, as the negative electoral consequences of their own priorities stare them in the face, those Democrats are blaming the president.
   And, by the way, the Democrats who are most unhappy with Obama are the ones who wanted him to do more of the things that have made him unpopular.
   “It’s ingratitude,” says a Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous. “People are saying to (Obama), ‘You didn’t do everything you told me you were going to do.’ If you’re a member of a union, you didn’t get everything you wanted. If you’re an environmentalist, you didn’t get everything you wanted. But the Left wants to go beyond what’s possible.”
   A lot of today’s whining and fretting is the normal stuff of politics. 
The polls are ugly, members of Congress up for re-election in 2012 are nervous, and activists are frustrated. But Obama also set himself up for today’s dissatisfaction by his choice of campaign platform in 2008.
   “He ran on hope, and hope is really attractive and appealing, but it’s not very concrete,” the strategist says. “So what it meant to everyone was slightly different.”
   Democrats who wanted to see their personal agendas enacted were inevitably disappointed.
   But look at what they got. It’s not just historic measures like Obamacare, financial regulation and the 
stimulus. Obama has presided over lots of other accomplishments, big and small, that should warm the hearts of liberal Democrats. He has used his regulatory powers to shore up the nation’s fading unions; could organized labor have a better friend than the man whose appointees are trying to stop Boeing from building a non-union plant in South Carolina? He pushed repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” through Congress. He nominated and won confirmation of two solidly liberal members of the U.S. Supreme Court. He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act aimed at guaranteeing women equal pay.
   This is a serious question: If you’re a Democrat, what’s not to like? What kind of unreasonable standard would make a Democrat unhappy with a president who accomplished those things? And yet many Democrats are beside themselves with frustration and anxiety.
   Obviously, the economy is the source of much of that unhappiness. If it doesn’t improve, Obama’s re-election prospects are dim. But in 2 1/2 years in office, Obama has dealt with the economic downturn in precisely the way most conventional Democrats would have dealt with it. He didn’t come up with the stimulus on his own. Just the opposite: He went along as Hill Democrats packed the bill with wish-list spending. And now people who larded up the stimulus with their own pet projects are unhappy with Obama for doing what they wanted? And critical of his new stimulus proposal? It doesn’t make sense.
   Yes, Obama is in trouble. But look at what he’s done for Democrats. Shouldn’t they think twice before bashing him?
   n Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.
Byron York
I agree with Mr. York.  Dems need to watch out when it comes to Obama support in 2012.  Stay the course you wimps.  Don't run away from the person who took you to the party.
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