What gall these traitors have

Every election in a democracy like ours is important, but this November voters will decide whether to defend our precious experiment in self-government or deliver the final blow that kills it. Otherwise good and honest people like Larry O'Neill of Kirkwood ("Thin skinned politician, July 21) have been convinced by clever and well-funded slogan campaigns that President Obama is at fault for all our country's woes. I give Mr. O'Neill the benefit of the doubt because his criticisms of our President are almost word-for-word from Republican websites and television ads. One of the many corporate-funded anti-Obama groups is aptly named Now or Never. That says it all. The handful of powerful families and corporations out to destroy what's left of our "one man, one vote" society know this election is their last chance for total control. On the night of President Obama's inauguration, a cabal of schemers and plotters met to lay out their plan to overthrow the duly elected government that "we, the people" had chosen. Their plan was simple - obstruct, thwart, criticize and ridicule every attempt by President Obama and the Democrats in Congress to pull the country back from the total collapse that was imminent in spring of 2009. Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spelled out the Republican plan that spring: Make Barack Obama a one-term president regardless of the cost in pain and suffering to the American people. "Starve the beast" of public funding for anything that helps individuals directly and repeat ad nauseum the lie that prosperity trickles down when the wealthy have more money than they know what to do with. What is amazing to me is that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have been able to accomplish all that they have, including the so-called "failed stimulus." Ask any of the teachers, police officers and firefighters who were able to keep their jobs because of the Reconstruction and Recovery Act if the stimulus failed. Look at all the highway and road construction going on and ask yourself where the money came from for those good-paying jobs. Half of the Recovery Act was for a tax cut for all of us so we would have a few extra bucks to keep some of our neighbors working. But keeping our jobs and helping our neighbors doesn't fit into the Republican plan to bankrupt us so we'll be thankful for whatever crumbs they throw us. They know our civic spirit is the only thing left standing in their way. The American auto companies have paid back, with interest, all or most of the money we lent them to save as many jobs as possible. Ask the auto workers and millions of families that benefited from the ripple effect of that money in the economy if President Obama is too "thin skinned." I'd say he's handled himself admirably despite the traitorous attacks on him personally and professionally. Instead of blaming the President for not creating more jobs, we should be asking why corporations are sitting on $2 trillion in cash waiting for November's election. The "job creators" have had extra money to burn for over a decade now, so what are they waiting for? That's the question voters must answer.