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As someone who actually did grow up
in inner city Flint, it's hard for me to take someone who grew
up in an all-white nearby farm town, yet claims himself a Flint
native all that seriously. It's akin to claiming Compton roots
when you actually grew up in Simi Valley. But one thing I agree
with Michael Moore on is that AOL is where mainstream America
connects to the Internet and that it pays to pay attention.
All the time, my friends, my
brothers and people who write me care of my e-mail address on
Counterpunch articles take me to task for my poor choice of Internet
providers. Of course they have a point: as I write this, AOL
has mysteriously blocked my access to a Counterpunch list. But
like MMFlint, I keep AOL just so I can see what this segment
of the populace is up to. And if Karl Rove is also paying attention,
he's probably seeking out Jeff Gannon for solace.
One of the things AOL has is
an interactive poll called The Daily Pulse. As recently as a
year ago, AOL users were some of the Bush administration's most
fervent supporters. The Daily Pulse showed pro-Bush, pro-war
sentiment usually in the 70% range.
Now, the poll has shifted 180
degrees. Recent results rating Bush's (non)performance on some
current issues are:
Iraq
Poor 71%; Good 13%
Health Care Poor 74%; Good 10%
Immigration Poor 73%; Fair 13%; Good 8%
Economy Poor 64%; Excellent 17%
National Security Poor 54%; Fair 18%; Excellent 17%
North Korea Poor 66%; Good 12%
Asked which party Bush helps
most in the mid-term election, AOL users voted:
Democrat
71%
Republican 29%
The Daily Pulse naturally also
has a Blog. Here's a sampling:
"We, who voted for him,
have only ourselves to blame. I accept the blame."
"George Bush is the most
disgusting president we have ever had the misfortune to have
in office. His spin on the truth has led the country into a hole
in the ground. I can't think of anything he has done to further
this country."
"I know I am biased against
Bush--as a long-standing Republican, I did not vote for him the
first time--he acts rashly and without following proper rules.
Molly Ivins has him pegged and has from Day 1."
"Let's give Bush credit
where credit is due. He did what he set out to do; he brought
regime change to Iraq for the benefit of his Big Oil patrons.
Big Oil got $60 crude and record
breaking profits. Iraq got civil war & chaos in the streets.
America got 2700 dead soldiers, thousands of cripples and giant
deficits."
"I am ashamed that America
was so easily fooled into supporting the war in Iraq by cowards
wrapped in the flag playing the 9/11 fear card. These SOBs should
Impeached, tarred & feathered and tried for war crimes."
If this is any indication,
then even Diebold can't save the Republicans this time. Then
there is the view of Counterpunch editor Jeffery St. Clair, who
thinks that Bush has to be rooting for the Ds to gain
the House, but not the Senate. After all, it's pretty lame when
one has to reach back and dredge up Bill Clinton when looking
to deflect accountability for all that has gone wrong the past
six years.
It wasn't on Bubba's watch
that those Saudis took down the Towers and hit the Pentagon.
Nor was it under Bubba that we invaded Iraq and triggered the
hideous civil war, leading to some 600,000-plus violent deaths.
Under Clinton we had a budgetary surplus, not the huge deficits
Bush has saddled us with. Bubba has his own criomes to answer
to, but use of Clinton as foil was already threadbare even before
Bubba threw his hissy-fit and rightly savaged Faux News' Chris
Wallace for continuing the ABC/GOP lie that Bill did nothing
about Osama. (Not that his weird bombing of an African aspirin
factory was much more than an attempt to change the "all
Monica, all the time" subject.)
But, St. Clair's point is well
taken. The GOP needs another whipping boy, or in this case girl.
The vilification they've used on Clinton every time the hounds
got close the last six years will pale compared to the pummeling
they'll give a hapless Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
If the AOL poll is any indication,
St. Clair will be proven correct; maybe they'll even take the
Senate. And if past performance is any indication, then Pelosi
et al. will quickly verify the views of this post to the AOL
blog:
"The usual delusional
crowd on AOL continues the stupidity of thinking that a change
of the party controlling Congress or, for that matter, the administration,
will affect the foreign policy related to Iraq and the war on
terror.....message to all you fools....the Patriot Act will not
be rescinded, the NSA surveillance program will not be terminated,
Guantanamo will not be closed, nor will any of those anti-terror
programs instituted by the present administration be eliminated......and
the reason is that they are effective......your party bosses
know that, they just want power back and they know you are dumb
enough to believe their bull$hit.....when, and if , they return
to power you'll be bombarded with statements like "we are
doing it better".....right.... what a bunch of idiots...."
MICHAEL DONNELLY also has no illusions that some sort
of Renaissance will occur should the Democrats regain either
branch of Congress, which he now thinks they will. You can still
reach him at pahtoo@aol.com
Now
Available
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By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
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