October 6, 2010
By Louis Avallone
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Blame It On The Rain
Milli Vanilli Only Scratched The Surface
Perhaps not since 1989, when the number one song that year was Milli Vanilli’s “Blame it on the Rain,” has there been a more grand fraud, perpetrated upon the American people, than the incessant, obsessive, and child-like reasoning of blaming George W. Bush this election season, for everything from our economic challenges, to him being responsible for the BP oil spill in the Gulf, earlier this year.
More on the specifics of all that in a moment. For now, it’s important to first understand the emotional distress that liberals are experiencing today. One of the mechanisms of denial is blaming others for our problems. So, faced with a growing majority of the electorate that is both informed on the issues and mostly diametrically opposed to the Democrat’s socialist policy initiatives, liberals are in full denial and, as a result, are blaming anyone, and anything, for their problems (other than themselves).
You’ve heard Obama say repeatedly, “…it took nearly a decade to dig the hole that we’re in — and that it would take longer than any of us would like to climb our way out.” You’ve heard him blame the rising unemployment rate on Bush, saying that Bush left “an economy that was teetering on the brink of collapse.” You have also heard from Nancy Pelosi, who is likewise in denial. She’s blaming Bush for years of lax oversight from the federal government for offshore drilling, and suggesting that this contributed to the explosion and subsequent Gulf oil spill earlier in the year.
She has also excused the nearly 10% unemployment rate, during the Obama administration, by saying that it is, at least, a “sharp turnaround from the 700,000 jobs per month lost under President Bush” (actually, this 700,000 jobs statistic was collected in November 2008, following the election of the current administration and Democrat controlled Congress). Still, nearly four million jobs were lost were lost the following year, the worst year for job losses since World War II.
But wait, there’s more. Bush, apparently, has even been blamed for personal lapses in honesty. Rep. Maxine Waters blamed the Bush administration for her own ethics investigation, explaining that she had to use the power of her Congressional office to intervene with the Treasury Department so that federal bailout funds could be disbursed to a bank, owned in part, by her own husband (okay, and the dog ate my homework).
Not to be outdone by the Waters’ revelation, media reports now reveal that Bush ultimately caused the break-up of the marriage between Al and Tipper Gore because of Bush’s winning of the Presidential election in 2000. As reported by CBS news, “Gore winning the popular vote for president but losing the electoral vote may have done the marriage irreparable harm.”
The blaming of Bush, over and over again, for so many of their own shortcomings, reveals that liberals are simply behaving as an alcoholic, before deciding to get help. Like the alcoholic, before treatment, liberals are avoiding taking responsibility for their own actions, and pointing the finger at Bush (or at anyone or anything else). This helps them feel better about themselves. For the alcoholic, for example, blaming enables them to deny that their relationship with alcohol is the real cause of their problems. For example, if my job were not so stressful, I wouldn’t drink so much.
The same is true for liberals. By blaming Bush, this helps them feel better about the unemployment rate that peaked around 10 percent in late 2009 and is now around 9.6 percent. It helps them feel better that one in every 381 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing last month, while home seizure rates reached a record level, for the third time in five months. And by blaming, they avoid honest communication and accountability for their own actions.
So, it’s not real complicated, really. Pelosi told us herself what is going on. She explained that Democrats would only stop blaming Bush for the nation’s economic troubles “when the problems go away.” She gets credit for her honesty here, at least.
However, if we’re still being honest, consider this: Since she became Speaker in 2007, the Congress passed a $700 billion financial bailout of the banks, over $1 trillion in economic stimulus, a $1.5 trillion health care expansion, a $447 billion omnibus spending bill, and a $15 billion Medicaid bailout. Discretionary spending has risen 25%. Despite this all, the unemployment rate continues to hover near 10%, nearly 1.1 million Americans have given up looking for work and our federal debt that is expected to rise to $20 trillion, by the end of this decade.
It seems, however, that Americans are in the midst of conducting their own intervention, for the sake of liberals, and the future of our country. These Americans, regardless of party affiliation, are taking a stand that evading personal accountability, or avoiding honest communication, or otherwise blaming others, for one’s own irresponsible actions, will not be tolerated. As evidence, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that a growing number of likely voters are not going along with this administration’s “blame Bush” ruse.
Milli Vanilli advised us to blame it on the rain. Liberals suggest blaming it on Bush. But I’m with the 19th century novelist Tolstoy, who once remarked, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” That makes sense. Enough is enough. This election season, how about a little more introspection first?