Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Obama Wins Re-election: Eat It, Citizens United

By MARC McDONALD

I'm not sure how on earth President Obama prevailed over the array of powerful and sinister forces arrayed against him. But he did---and he's now going to be our president for the next four years.

It's quite an impressive accomplishment. Consider all the obstacles Obama faced:

1. "Citizens United" which pretty much handed over to rich & powerful corporations the right to buy elections in America. Obama somehow overcame the vast sums of money that the likes of ExxonMobil and Walmart and the Koch brothers were able to throw into Romney's campaign. I'm not sure how Obama prevailed. And I'm certain that, despite this victory, the threat to American democracy that Citizens United poses remains very real and ongoing. "Citizens United" will continue to threaten American democracy until it is repealed.

2. The vast GOP propaganda apparatus of Fox "News," Drudge, Limbaugh and the rest of hatewing radio. Despite their vicious and relentless attacks on Obama, somehow the truth prevailed.

3. Romney's constant flipflops and outrageous lies. Romney is the biggest liar to ever pursue the office of president. Considering that the mainstream media rarely even bothered to counter his lies, it's astonishing that more people weren't deluded into supporting him.

4. Various GOP dirty tricks. From the shenanigans involving voting machines in Ohio to the GOP's suppression of the voting rights of minorities, things turned out infinitely better than what a lot of us progressives had dared to hope for.

Congratulations to President Obama. Here's to another four years.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:55 PM

    One other thing Obama had to overcome in his quest for winning the election: various CEOs who informed their workers that if they didn't vote GOP, they lose their jobs. Oh, and then there were the Catholic leaders who told their congregations to vote GOP---which led this agnostic to ask the question, "Why, exactly, are churches exempt from paying taxes?"
    BTW, it seems to me that the Catholic Church needs to get its own house in order before it goes around telling people how to vote. The church's own employees are responsible for raping thousands of children. And this is an organization that is going to lecture the rest of us on "moral values"?

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  2. This aspect really is cause for celebration. Not that the Kochs and the like-minded will stop, but it's an important win.

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  3. Hi, Batocchio, thanks for your comment.
    re: "Not that the Kochs and the like-minded will stop

    True. In fact, this time around, they'll take a lot of notes and know how to adjust and fine-tune things the next time around. One negative aspect of this election is that it gives the impression that maybe Citizens United isn't that big a threat to our democracy, after all. But what we've seen thus far is just the tip of the iceberg. It IS a very real threat and must be repealed.

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