Obama: GOP Drove The Country Into The Ditch 'Now They Want The Keys Back'

[spiritual_gunfighter]

Run time: 00:54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Lf8BTyjL8   Posted on YouTube: May 14, 2010 By YouTube Member: tpmtv Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: May 14, 2010 By DU Member: spiritual_gunfighter Views on DU: 5766

 
I wonder if he got this from Jim Cornette.

[florida08]

1. lol

pretty slick there slick

[Grassy Knoll]

2. " NO " , you can't drive....

:toast: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[TheEuclideanOne]

26. And the award to "Most Awesomest display of awesomeness" goes to.....

That was the best 1 minute that I have heard from Obama to date!!!

[66 dmhlt]

67. You just gotta love the driving analogy ...

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

69. Perfect !!!!

[liberal N proud]

3. The scary part is the bartender (voters) will likely give them the keys

[redqueen]

52. YEP! And it's all Obama's fault!

If only he was more of a lefty, we wouldn't have to do this to ourselves. :crazy:

[mlevans]

4. Well.....

There goes bipartisanship...right down the tubes...

[tekisui]

5. What bipartisanship?

The repugs don't reciprocate. Besides, bipartisanship is a fool's errand.

[CLANG]

9. You must have forgot the sarcasm tag. Please tell me you did!

[Patchuli]

17. We don't get bipartisanship from the GOP when we're nice

so why friggin' bother? I love hearing the TRUTH!!

[MindandSoul]

32. You may not have noticed. . .but the Republicans have REFUSED any bipartisanship. . .

even when Obama was extending his hand, and losing some of his base BECAUSE he was extending his hand!

So. . .There goes . . .NOTHING!

[stevenleser]

37. Your concern is noted...

:eyes:

[geckosfeet]

55. snicker snicker - the poster has no clothes

[HopeHoops]

6. DAMN! He's one of the best stand-up comedians ever - and he's SERIOUS!

Isn't it nice to have an intelligent president again?

[MindandSoul]

33. Yes! And he is good at so many things!. . .

He probably would have a much better time (and make more money) being a stand up comedian or a political commentator on one of the big three! (Can you imagine him at Fox News!!!. . .he would kick Glenn Beck and O'Brien's butt!)

[perdita9]

7. Republicans love their country...

...they just hate half the people living in it. (Bill Maher)

Truer words were never spoken.

[Qutzupalotl]

14. "Why do you hate Americans?"

:rofl:

[activa8tr]

8. Best words I have heard all week.

This will have to be the theme for the fall elections.

And WHAT a GREAT theme it will be!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GreenTea]

10. And the dumb, stupid, ignorant, uninformed teabaggers believe every lying word from the republicans

cheering against their own pocket books and best interest, all because the idiot, dumb as fucking post teabaggers hate a man who is half black that is president....All because they are such racist like ALL republicans, the tea bag heads go along with everything a republican tells them just like little robots.

These teabaggers are as dumb as sheep as I've ever seen....the republicans give them a line of horseshit, twisted, double talk, self-serving spin and these tea bag morons eat it up like there's no tomorrow....and then start they start screaming loudly like imbeciles, yet never knowing nor caring about finding out the real truth that they are being used and taken for a ride by the corporations and the republican party!

[digidigido]

43. but but but he's a socialist

[lamp_shade]

11. Kick.

[jgraz]

12. Nicely done, Mr. President.

Now please, follow through.

Oh, and if it's not too much trouble, could you fire Tim Geithner?

And Rahm?

[Shining Jack]

22. +1

Oh,what a great advice !

[ffr]

13. That's what I'm talking about!!!!

NO MORE REPUBLICANS! You can say it any clearer than Obama just did. MORE...MORE...MORE

[Qutzupalotl]

15. Then they complain about the cost of the tow truck!

At least, that's how I heard it.

[Pirate Smile]

18. That would be a great addition to the ditch talking point.

:)

[NewJeffCT]

45. Jim Cornette used that last year

and the rant was posted here on DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=5815470

[johnnyrocket]

57. Awesome analogy, gotta use that one.

[Billsmile]

16. Is Obama talking About....

Afghanistan and Iraq????

He CAN do something about those horrific ditches!!!

Obama....are you there?

[DemoTex]

19. I swear to God, here is how DemoTex called it in summer of 2001:

"George W. Bu$h is driving this country backward down a winding mountain road: one hand on the wheel, one hand on the Jack Daniels, one eye in the rear-view mirror, and one eye on the loot."

[underpants]

20. Guess who has the biggest megaphone now

Well the media does but when the President speaks people listen

the loot was the key- like a whole country full (Iraq)

[salguine]

21. If people are going to be even remotely honest with themselves, they're going to have to own up

to the fact that the steering wheel doesn't just have Republican fingerprints on it. Pretending that Democrats played no part in this disaster doesn't do anyone any good, and isn't going to help prevent it from happening again in the future. The only thing I can't stand even more than a Republican is a blinders-wearing hypocrite.

[Shining Jack]

23. Absolutely !

And right now the car is dangerously close to the right lane.

[texastoast]

25. Do let's name those specific Dems

So we don't go voting them in again.

[texastoast]

24. Hey Repug Trolls--This is what yer boy did--so now ye don't get the keys

Ye must go through rehab--all of ye! And ye got to quit tryin' ter vote in those dereg thugs. THEY STEAL YER FUKKIN' MONEY! Or ye won't be drivin' thar agin!

[ThoughtCriminal]

27. Republicans Borrow the Family Car

From 2008 ;-p

It was running really good when they took it in 2001. Here's what we're going to find when we get it back.

1. First, they cancelled the insurance - the premium money was spent on a big party for their cronies.
2. Then they went down to the "Instant Cash" place with the title and got a high interest loan in our name. The cash went to gifts for some of the closest cronies.
3. Next, they crashed it into another country's living room. We get sued for for damages.
4. Then they took it to a chop shop, traded it for cash and threw another big party for the cronies.

And finally, they blame the Democrats for all the above.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ThoughtCriminal/5

[Liberty Belle]

28. Where was he speaking and when?

[activa8tr]

72. NYC Fundraiser, this past Thursday night after visiting Buffalo

I'm pretty sure that's when he said it.

[johnlucas]

29. You BOTH drove the country into the ditch

I'm tired of these boogeyman games.
Ooooh the Big Bad Republican huffed & puffed & blew the house down.

If the Republicans drove the country into a ditch, then the Democrats sat in the passenger seat giving directions.

If the Democrats really stood with the progressive causes like they should have for the past some-odd decades, then the Republicans could have never gotten into the car to start driving.

They coulda been a contender in 1968 if LBJ didn't back that stupid war allowing Nixon to take over.
They coulda pre-empted the whole conservative strategy in 1972 & 1977 but they slapped the hippies & social justice fighters in the face.
They coulda shut down Reagan in the 1980s but were too mealymouthed & wimpy to pose any serious opposition.
They coulda got in line with the progressive agenda in 1993 but got scared & then the Republicans took over Congress.
They coulda stopped Bush in the 2000s but gave him a blank check to do whatever unopposed.
They coulda FINALLY AT LAST aligned themselves in the proper orientation in 2009 but they co-opted the Republicans instead watering down everything.

Nobody with any sense is buying this bullshit.
I'm 34 years old now. I've seen most of this happen during my life in real time.

It's easy as hell.
All you have to do is stand solid with the working class, fight for social justice, do it with reason & economic sense & the people will come.
Your policies must reflect this stance. For all the fools who oppose, many will see the light & switch allegiances simply because it benefits them.
The Democrats allowed the Republicans to brainwash the public into being poor stragglers who fight for the causes of the rich.
They didn't take command of the telling of the story. They didn't bring it home & stick to that fight.

It's easy. Make sense & stand for the right cause. There ain't no Red State or Blue State. There ain't no Middle America. There ain't no backwards Deep South. There are people & if you start making sense they're gonna have to reexamine their beliefs & allegiances. When what you propose starts working, then those who once opposed you may begin to believe you. They will also respect you BECAUSE you are right & you didn't water it down when under siege. You will then have a loyal passionate & dedicated voting block.

The Republicans of FDR's time opposed most of that New Deal stuff too but you don't see anybody REALLY wanting to give up Social Security. Not after what they went through in the Depression. I bet somebody opposed LBJ's Medicare too but try & renege on that promise with the people who depend on it.

Obama wimped out or was bought out or whatever the case may be. He had his chance & it's over now.
Save this mid-term election rhetoric for your mama because the opportunity presented itself to you & you bucked on it.

I don't know about the rest of these posters but I don't follow the Big Bad Republican Boogeyman game. You're just as responsible as they are.
It's worse on your part because you were supposed to be the ones to stop them.
John Lucas

[salguine]

30. johnlucas, did you ever know that you're my hero?

[johnlucas]

34. Just telling it like it is

What I put down above is the whole recent history of this political party & how they acted at every juncture.
Either they're incapable of resisting the opposition, unwilling to resist them, or in cooperation with that opposition dispelling any need to resist.

That's just logic. When somebody works to do something, you're either gonna see the end result or at least the materials in progress.
When you go to build a house of cards, you either have a house of cards already built, are in the process of building the house of cards, or are looking at the collapsed cards on the table rededicating yourself to rebuilding that house.

Even if you fail, you're gonna see SOMETHING for your efforts.
If the Democrats REALLY were fighting for these things, we would see the end result, the works-in-progress, or at the very least the ruins of past attempts.

So which is it? I have my take. What's yours?
John Lucas

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

42. So you call someone out on breaking DU rules

by breaking one of your own. FAIL

[stevenleser]

39. "You"? So you are not "One of us Democrats" is that what you are saying?

Thought so.

[johnlucas]

47. No, I am not a Democrat...anymore

I hate those incorrect inaccurate labels. Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Liberal, Left, Right, Center. Hate 'em.
If you put any label on me, the only one I may accept is Progressive. Because I want this society, this world for that matter, to progress & get better.

I voted for Clinton, Gore, Kerry, & Obama. And I wish I voted for somebody different than Gore & Kerry but I REALLY REALLY didn't want to let Bush Jr. in there either time so I got in party line. I have voted for Democrats & only Democrats all of my 16 year voting life in National, State, & Local elections. I can't stand the so-called conservative movement, distrust the Republicans & what they stand for.

So THAT'S where I'm coming from when I made those posts. The Republicans didn't do it alone. Without the Democrats' help the Republicans couldn't have done what they done. The Republican party shouldn't even exist now because the Democrats should have long locked up the vote by aligning themselves with Labor & Social Justice Fighters putting to law these kinds of causes.

You make the right stand & stick to it & your opposition will decay sooner or later. It's not hard at all.

You all complain about Fox News but how did Limbaugh, Beck & those other idiots get to have such a resonance with the public? Why are their ratings so high? It's because the Democrats allowed the Republicans to control the dialogue & brainwash the public. The Republicans have worked this Southern Strategy into cultural relevance. The very people who could most benefit from Progressive causes backed by Democrats fall hook, line, & sinker for all that Republican propaganda from Fox, Rush, Glenn, & all those other jackoffs. That's because the Democrats didn't make the right stand when it counted.

If the Democrats made the right stand, those knotheads would have existed on the fringe of American consciousness not the forefront.

Barack Obama had a golden opportunity laid in front of him in 2007-2008. It was his only opportunity to become President. He would come after the worst President in recent memory if not history & force those who normally not vote for him to either stand down or change sides.
He got voted in having a dark-skinned wife, a partially Arabic name, & a outspoken preacher called Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
None of that mattered to this still-racist country because Bush was THAT bad.

Hurricane Katrina woke some people up. Not enough but some of those in the Deep South, the Republican stronghold after the Dixiecrat switch of the 1960s. They took a chance on Obama & all he had to do, ALL he had to do was convert those who swallow up everything on Fox News. All he had to do was make sense pushing policies that truly benefit the working class. Policies that further social justice. Policies that do these things with financial sense.

If he did this & the people see it for themselves in their own lives, then it wouldn't matter what Rush, Beck, Fox say. They would lose power because reality is looking those people in the face. They would have reexamined their whole life philosophy & may have made a change. Not all of 'em at first but eventually all of 'em. All he had to do was make the right stand despite the opposition.

One of his biggest powers was the microphone. The bully pulpit. No matter what foolishness the Republicans & Democrats pull in Congress, all he had to do was make sense on the mic to the people directly. Make the stand for the proper legislation & the people would have put pressure on their Congress-peoples to get in line or lose office. A diehard Republican who's losing money & is on the verge of losing all he worked for will listen to good sense because his survival depends on it. He'll question fellow Republicans talking Obama down because sees at last how they don't seem to be on the same page as he is.

Obama backed down & played coy. Just like the Democrats do EVERYTIME they have a chance to change the course of this country. They may have hated him but when the effects of those plans show fruit, they can't help but to love him in time.

I didn't vote for Obama because he was a Democrat. I voted for Obama to reform the Democrats into the party they should have always been. The side effect of this effectively dismantling the Republican party & the whole conservative movement. From there it is a matter how progressive a direction this country would go. Smarter plans, smarter measures, smarter regulations, smarter reforms. No more discussion about gay marriage & gays in the military. No more discussion about the immigration situation. These easy situations would be taken care of overnight with sensible moves.

Gays are citizens like the rest & they should have the rights like the rest. End of story. Immigration is solved by punishing the business owners for circumventing the labor laws in the hopes of attaining cheap labor. Easy. Furthermore our international policy will be reformed so to take away the incentive for desperate people to want to leave their country like that in the first place. This government has a lot to do with why other nations are "third world". These are no-brainers.

It wasn't hard to do but as we see there's no motivation to act in this manner.
I long stopped calling myself a Democrat before I voted for even Kerry. And Obama in 2009 shows me once again why I made that decision.
John Lucas

[mysticalchick]

50. Good points ...

... it IS disappointing to see how much the Dems have been complicit in this mess. Probably every single person on this board would like to see them stand up and begin to work for the country's highest good. It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of hard work from all of us, fighting an uphill battle, to even get them to move a little.

(I try hard not to sink into the cynicism because then I just want to go sit in a closet and rock back and forth.)

FWIW, I agree with all your points.

[johnlucas]

68. Thank you, mysticalchick & the others

Thank you mysticalchick, BlancheSplanchnik, freebrew for your compliments.

I just had to put that down for the record. It's like an enthusiastic crowd waiting for a Whitney Houston concert & then Whitney seems unable to hit the notes. It's that level of frustration & disappointment I'm trying to convey.

People put their hearts into this only to see their efforts wasted time & time again. And at the end some silly rah-rah mess about the bad guys stopping all the progress. To me, that's a slap in my face. I know better than that boogeyman scenario.

You got the people ready, willing, & able to go. What's the holdup? Why aren't these elected officials putting the work in like the regular folk?
This is why people stop voting & participating in this process. When you believe the game to be rigged, you stop playing along.
Who are they waiting for? What are they waiting for? Put the plan into action & see the ruin of the Republican party & the conservative movement.
The nation would be on their side. It's the easiest thing in the world.

Render the opposition extinct. Make their views look like poison. Make their views look like the crackpot tinfoil crap that they are.
How in the hell is Michelle Bachmann an elected official, that fruitcake?
How in the hell did Sarah Palin, that dimbulb, become someone to discuss as a potential leader of this country?
How in the hell did a Republican take over Ted Kennedy's seat?
How in the hell did Michael Steele get taken seriously as a political figure with his token self?
How in the hell did the politicians from Arizona have the capability to pass such a bogus bullshit law? How did they get in there to be able to pull it off in the first place?

THESE are the guys who are so formidable that the Democrats can't present a challenge? MY ASS!
If you can't lay the smackdown on lightweights like these, you ain't worth the pressed suit you put on!

It's like putting someone from an amateur toughman contest against professional boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr...
...and Floyd struggles to put the amateur away!! Bullshit!!

I should have been seeing the demise of the Republican party before I was in the double digits! I was born in 1976! Before I was 10 years old I should have seen the demise of that party. And the reason behind that is because the things the Democrats fought for were so accepted & applauded by the populace that it left the opposition on the margins. They had been there so long that soon they faded out of existence.

If not by when I was 10 then when I was 20. And certainly when I was 30.

I don't see the future for pushing these causes as necessarily in the hands of the Democratic Party. Unless all of a sudden they get their act together, I say it's time for new ways to make this agenda official. No more carrots on a stick & dreamland wishes.
I gave it one last try & in 2009 they showed me exactly what they're made of.
John Lucas

[BlancheSplanchnik]

53. very on point posts, johnlucas

I put great hope in Obama's intelligence and dedication to what's right--I DO believe that is where he stands, and I love the guy....

and I also agree with what you're saying.

I also t hink there's more to him and what he's trying to do than what we get to see; and I think the poison of our conservative-corp owned $Media$ is a huge part in the mess.

I would only add to your post, no more discussion of Women's rights to their own lives and to economic parity, no more enabling the mind set that puts actual living women secondary to the romanticized, religious, fetus fetish. Our dignity is every bit as important as Gays' and Immigrants'.

[freebrew]

65. Yes, very good points.

Have been thinking that as well since Clinton.

The media gives voice to repub points. Not to the progressive cause.
The media needs to be changed. Odds would be more in favor of progressives if they were at least honest.

But, the Dems gave that away, too.

[Tarc]

62. Go back to the free republic, pls

[johnlucas]

66. Funny thing about that.

I wouldn't even know what Free Republic is without this site talking about 'em.
If you really came to the conclusion that I was a Republican from the posts I put up, then obviously this was your line of thinking:

"Criticize Democrat?...Bad!...Republican!...Boo!"

And thinking like that is not gonna do a damn thing to help that party be what it should be.
Not my concern anymore. I don't care about the label, I care about the purpose.
Who's gonna line up with the progressive agenda & push until these causes become the law of the land?

I don't care they call themselves the Häagen-Dazs Hellraisers. Just so long as they get the job done.
John Lucas

[Bryn]

71. Why would you think like that?

He made so many great points. A progressive one, too. I am a registered independent and consider myself Progressive, Independent & Socialist. I've been disappointed in democrats so many times. I am in Arkansas and our Senator Blanche Lincoln is going to lose her seat to a republican because she didn't act in people's best interests. She kept voting to support the corporations, taking their money and more against The People. She's a DEMOCRAT! I look at issues.

Please do re-read his posts. He would make a great leader. I like his Voice. It's the truth. It's needed here at DU.

[johnlucas]

74. Thank you, Bryn

I appreciate that.
Great point about Blanche Lincoln in your home state of Arkansas.
In 2010, the last thing Democratic voters should be thinking about is losing representation.
But because of the Democratic officials in office not doing what they should, they have to worry about the Republicans (& their ugly little brother the Tea Partiers) returning to power just 2 years after the epic failure of the Bush years.

They are now doing image makeover on Bush. Look at Laura & her daughters go on Oprah. This prepares Jeb Bush for 2012.
And the reality is the name "Bush" should be toxic poison to everyone right now.
But the Democrats dropped the ball like they always do & allowed that possibility.
John Lucas

[fascisthunter]

63. good on you

[midnight]

31. Spot on Mr. President. Now, I have one question... When the car was

recovered from the ditch, did you find the tarp money? Main street needs lots of repair from the damage of their reckless driving?

[happygoluckytoyou]

35. thanks obama.... ABOUT FUCKING TIME YOU SAID THIS.... now repeat it until the teabirthers explode

[GoCubsGo]

61. No kidding!!!

And, not just President Obama. Tim Kaine, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, and the rest of the Congressional Democrats, for that matter should have been saying it all along and frequently. It's beyond me how people seem to be forgetting it, but they are. Say it early, and say it often.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

36. and gee we're still in Iraq & Afghanistan and Banksters are robbing us blind

so Obama isn't doing much better.

[NYC_SKP]

38. I like it when he puts the smack down on them, on camera.

It's rationed, we'd like to see more but as seldom as he does it, it stings even more, I think.

Good on you, Obama.

:patriot:

[salguine]

54. Why are you so satisfied with a scolding, when nothing actually gets done?

[JDPriestly]

41. I'll believe Obama when we get a public option.

[Sherman A1]

44. Precisely

[byronius]

46. That's the way uh huh I like it.

It's a good analogy, one that will stick. A new cultural, verbal Americanism.

I intend to start using this.

[zanana1]

48. That's my man.

He has a way with words, yes he does.

[mysticalchick]

49. Favorite line and intonation ...

... "NO! ... You can't drive!"

This is one of my all time favorite clips from PBO. Love it. Makes me happy just to play it.

[spicegal]

51. Absolutely true, and if given the opportunity they'll do it again and again.....

Americans need to be reminded frequently of what the Republicans did. Please don't give the keys back to the GOP.

[johnnyrocket]

56. If GOP takes over this fall, we're all screwed...

...we'll have backsliding, gridlock...just as we're getting things in order.

I mean really, I guess I'm one of the very small percentage that thinks congress is finally getting things done along with the president. But the mood out there is poisonous, and it's certainly not based on rational thought.

[NewJeffCT]

58. And, you know they'll be looking for any straw to grasp at

in order to start impeachment proceedings.

[SlipperySlope]

59. He has a way with analogies - N/T

[Tommy_J]

60. That rocked

[BlancheSplanchnik]

64. very very good, he's past polite decorum

Time for blunt honesty now.

[and-justice-for-all]

70. Now that is the shit i like to hear!!

not just NO, but FUCK NO!

[activa8tr]

73. Glad this is getting about 100 recs. I think we help the Dems forge a better

campaign.

Let's make sure this message, short and simple, gets to sink in with the voters!

That's how most voters decide. Let's keep getting this message out there. Republicans screwed America over 8 years, and still want to drive us into the ditch, get them out of office.

[CHOCOLATMIMOSA]

75. Finally, some backbone

[GOTV]

76. Wants the keys back? With Geithner and Bernanke around don't they still have the keys?

Aren't they still driving the nation? Aren't we fairly certain to end up in the ditch again even if, this time, we've managed to pull out?

[demtenjeep]

77. I LOVE this

it is awesome every time I hear it