At what point do human priorities take precedence over popularity polls?
Yesterday I received an e-mail from Becky Spilde in Madison, Wisconsin asking me why I didn't answer my own question.
I was thinking about this all morning and then I got a call from a peace activist friend who lives near Hancock, Michigan--- Mike Salmi. He asked me the same thing.
Here in the United States human priorities will never take precedence over popularity polls until people are fighting for the things they require to live and make life better and these battles become so overbearing, no one, including the politicians and the media, can ignore the issues and the problems.
Its that old saying: The wheel squeaking the loudest gets the grease.
This is very sad, especially given the fact Barack Obama has taken people suffering and hurting the worst for granted and played people for fools and suckers with all of his talk about "hope" and "change" knowing full well what people hurting and suffering would take those words to mean.
Obama is not just a flim-flam man and opportunist; he is worse. Obama is just plain mean and rotten.
I had a lot of e-mail yesterday after being on Mitch Berg's radio program. Democrats got really riled up because I told Mitch Berg that I couldn't care less if conservatives forced Obama from office or limited him to one term... my statement was something like, "I hope you get Obama out; he is no darn good."
I meant just what I said. Let Obama and the Democrats and Republicans fight among themselves; what do I care, none of them are any darn good. All of them read the popularity polls... as long as the numbers in these polls favor them they couldn't care less if people die in wars or go to school hungry or go without access to health care.
A kid going to school hungry means absolutely nothing to any Democrats or Republicans--- unless people start getting fed up and start becoming very vocal in insisting kids receive a good breakfast and lunch in school for free. When politicians don't respond, their numbers in popularity polls begin to drop, and then they are forced to act if they want to remain in office.
Most of the problems people are experiencing could be solved relatively easily if these politicians really cared.
As I have repeatedly pointed out: Polls don't die in wars; people do.
Caring politicians would say the heck with polls, stop the wars.
To the corrupt politicians in the Democratic and Republican parties they don't care about people dying in their dirty imperialist wars as long as their numbers are high in the popularity polls. The only time they will care about people dying in wars is when their numbers start to drop in the popularity polls... this is the kind of sick capitalist society we are living in.
After voicing my views on Mitch Berg's conservative radio program, a DFL state representative called me all irate and fuming... she said, "How dare you lump us together with the Republicans and tell this right-wing talk show host you hope he and his friends drive Barack Obama from office after everything we do for people."
I asked her, "What exactly have you done for people? What have you done for Minnesota's 40,000 casino workers you are forcing to work in smoke-filled casinos at poverty..." And before I could continue with saying "wages," she slammed down the phone and hung up.
This state representative was angered because I asked her to state what the MNDFL was doing for people. She knew the answer was "nothing."
When I see people making statements like this:
"Labor and its allies now have a friend, a people's advocate" in the White House. ... it is obvious that the Obama administration represents a qualitative break with rightwing extremism and free-market fundamentalism. Not to see this, not to acknowledge this, not to welcome this, no matter whether you live in or outside U.S. borders, is to act like the ostrich that sticks its head in the sand and misses what is happening on the ground. "
It makes me sick.
The jerk who said this has his head up some dumb donkey's ass.
Ask a parent who is forced to send their kid to school hungry what kind of "friend" they have in Barack Obama.
Ask someone losing their home to foreclosure how good a "friend" they have in Barack Obama.
Ask the family of some GI returning "home" stuffed in a body-bag before being placed in a flag-draped coffin to be buried what kind of "friend" they have in Barack Obama.
Ask the thousands of autoworkers losing their jobs and being forced to have their contracts shredded what kind of "friend" they have in Barack Obama.
Ask people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan whose loved ones are being killed everyday what kind of "friend" they have in Barack Obama.
I wonder why none of the pollsters ever take a poll of just the people hurt and suffering to find out how popular politicians are with them?
As long as Barack Obama is popular in the polls he isn't going to lift a finger to help working people. Why should he? He is Wall Street's friend... working people have never had any friends on Wall Street.
Like I told Mitch Berg... Barack Obama is no better than George Bush.
Something to think about.
Alan L. Maki
