CommentsLEANING RIGHT--From all the attention focused on "special elections" in Georgia, South Carolina, Montana, and elsewhere, one would think that we've got nothing better to do than focus on politics in other states, particularly "Red States". One would also think that our finances and policies are going swimmingly well in California, a "Blue State" which is bleeding its middle class out of existence.
So ... all right, already! Republican Karen Handel finally won in Georgia and replaced Tom Price, in the most expensive House election in history.
So ... all right, already! The Democratic Party, funded by all sorts of nebulous out-of-state groups while complaining about Citizens United, is 0-4 in converting "Red State" races to "Blue" victories despite all sorts of Big Hollywood faces and funding. And Nancy Pelosi is still empowered in the House. Ya THINK it's time for a change? Ya think?
So ... all right, already! Yes, Putin and Russia and those creepazoids tried to hack into the election last November. And we're supposed to believe that Trump or Clinton had something to do with, or gain from, all that ... when they both have business dealing with Russia and every other major world power?
So ... all right, already! Former Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson states that the "victim" Democratic National Committee ignored warnings of Russian hacking, leading prosecutorial House Rep. Trey Gowdy to suspect the DNC had lots to hide on its own servers. The President who could have raised the issue with Barack Obama at that time, and somehow Donald Trump, still newly-elected, is to blame?
So ... all right, already! The Democratic Party is pushing "Resistance", but Resistance against WHO? Against WHAT? The Republicans, Conservatives and Independents who excoriate Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell as much as they do Big Hollywood and the "enlightened" high-tech giants and Chambers of Commerce hiring non-Americans (both legally and illegally) and sending them straight in debt-ridden, financial and stress-related hell?
So ... all right, already! The same Democratic "leaders" who passed The "Affordable Care Act" without a single Republican vote are angry that the highly-secret Senate GOP health plan is under wraps without their input?
So ... all right, already! Both the GOP and Democratic Party have virtually no doctors or nurses weighing in on health care reform, and virtually no economists explaining that the more people are "covered", the fewer market pressures there are to promote "affordability", which itself leads to better and more accessible coverage?
So ... all right, already! We're focusing on the Handel vs. Ossoff election in Georgia while we should be focusing on Medicaid and the horrific opioid epidemic disrupting the lives of so many Americans.
So ... all right, already! Trump has said a few great things, but not yet done a lot of great things, about exploding drug prices while the FDA is tacklng how drug companies game the system against generic drugs and we're supposed to talk about ... Russia and Putin and the November 2016 elections?
So ... all right, already! President Trump is the horrible racist, while the Congressional Black Caucus refuses to even meet with the President? Again ... impeachment? Russia? Resistance
But let's finish on a high note. Blue Dog Democrats DID just meet with the President on tax reform. You know, those Blue Dog Democrats who got Republicans, Independents and Democrats to vote Democratic in the Clinton/Bush era?
Tax reform. The economy. Health care reform. Higher wages and job opportunities, and higher qualities of life for Americans. Yup--that's what Americans want their political leaders to talk about and work on.
But the political circus that was 2016 is OVER. Those wishing to keep that circus show as the main event will increasingly discover that it's now just a circus side show. And a stupid, irrelevant, and lousy side show at that.
Back to the Main Event! All right, already!
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D. is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud father and husband to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He is also a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He was co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chaired the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us . The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
-cw
