Marrow: Obama, Dems no better than GOP
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
See if you can guess who updated their Facebook status this way over the weekend.
“A year later is has become abundantly clear that Obama and the dems are no better than bush and his republican sleaze. They are all corporate wh@#es, liars and thieves. The only difference is that Obama actually has a brain (most medical experts agree that bush did not), but no spine, at least bush had a spine ..even if was cheney’s…”
No, though I have a number of hardcore Republican friends, it wasn’t one of them.
And no, it wasn’t me, centrist critic of the Obama administration that I am.
Would you believe, Greg Marrow, the Democratic Party House of Delegates nominee in the 25th District from last fall?
If you got to know Marrow at all last year, it wouldn’t necessarily seem that far out of play. Marrow played up on the campaign trail his onetime status as a Reagan Republican who switched parties when the GOP abandoned its grip with reality on its move to the far, far right.
Still, the Facebook comment has elicited reactions of surprise from people like Lowell Fulk, the chairman of the Rockingham County Democratic Committee, who helped recruit Marrow, a Rockingham County-based optometrist, to run for the House last year.
“We don’t often disagree my friend, but on this I’m afraid we do,” Fulk commented in the Facebook thread.
Marrow’s beefs include the continuation of unfettered access of K Street lobbyists to decisionmakers in Washington, the lack of transparency of the Obama administration on par with the lack of transparency of its predecessor Bush administration, the failure of Obama to this point to follow through with the campaign promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and the escalation of the war in Afghanistan.
And health-care reform, Obama’s “baby,” “a ‘pillar’ of his administration, and he didn’t have the cajones to stand up and lead when we needed it most,” Marrow Facebooked.
“Partially as a result, Massachusetts elected the first republican in decades which has now undermined any attempt and change in DC and has derailed ANY MEANINGFUL healthcare reform. If anything passes it will be a joke compared to what we could have achieved,” Marrow wrote.
Marrow, who received 27 percent of the vote in his bid in the 25th against Republican incumbent Steve Landes, said after the election that he was leaning toward making another run for the seat, which represents Waynesboro and portions of Albemarle, Augusta and Rockingham, in 2011.
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He’s just an unhappy camper with everybody. Would he feel better about national Democrats if he had won in November?
I disagree with Greg and the best way to say why is to let Rachel Maddow describe how successful Obama’s first year has been.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/34833567#34833567
Marrow is right, Obama is a policy wonk who let the congress run roughshod over him rather than use the bully pulpit to demand the change he promised. His attempt for bi-partisanship was just plain stupid because both players have to want it and it was clear that the Repubs NEVER planned on working with him. I am a progressive independent and lean toward Democrats, but there are only a few with a spine (Sherrod Brown comes to mind) and the rest have failed as a majority in getting one of the major Obama agenda items passed that would have a direct effect on jobs…healthcare. The recent Supreme Court ruling effectively destroyed any concept of us ever having an election that is not controlled by corporate America. We need to get rid of everyone of the current congressional members and start from scratch with the caveat…no lawyers allowed!
Greg’s criticism of Obama resonates with all of us who were looking for a change in leadership style and substance . . .not just political party change. Amid the heat, hype and hysteria of the campaign leading up to the Democratis primary, many of us didn’t really notice that Obama wasn’t as “progressive” as we thought he was. Unlike Hilary Clinton, who knew first hand that the neo-cons in the Republican party couldn’t be trusted to work in a bi-partisan fashion, and unlike John Edwards, who said that he would not include the health industry in conversations about health care reform, Obama’s stance was consistently less clear and decisive. He consistently said that he would “beef up” our involvement in Afghanistan, so we shouldn’t be surprised that he has. I’m beginning to think that Hilary would have made a better and more realistic choice for the Democratic party.
Love it when the Democrats eat their young, with the young bitting back until swallowed.
Looks like your “Hope” and “Change” has changed into “Hopeless” and “Only Change in your pocket.”
Do agree that Obama has more former lobbyists on this staff as czars and advisors than does K Street. ALso more lunatics (Mao is the communist-de-jour), more incompetents, pedophiles, the sky-is-falling scientists, and just power hungry Stalins -in-training than any other administration.
Let’s change “Hope” and “Change” to “Dope/Dupe” and “Clueless”. Enjoy your upcoming retroactive tax bill if Obie’s new plans go thru.
2010 is going to be a great year for the sane.
Think I’ll sit back and watch the little rats abandon the ship while the big rats continue to put holes in its haul.
Max, that is the difference between a progressive and a conservative, progressives actually think for themselves, which means it is okay to agree to disagree with leadership. Conservatives on the other hand are like sheep, they go where they are told, when they are told until they walk right off the cliff. Let’s set the record straight: supply side economics DOES NOT WORK, just look around at the infrastructure of our area, state and country…the conservatives have no proven way to pay for anything so the infrastructure starts to crumble and they still do not provide a way to fix the problem. No Jobs Bob talks initiatives but will not explain where all of this magic money is going to come from…Monopoly I guess. So the sane are actually running the asylum and we need to remember we are the MAJORITY and right the wrongs of Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush 2!
First of all Mr. Cheese, your are only the majority because of your parties control over media outlets. You don’t like alternative media because you can’t control them; so you got to attempt to discredit, defame and “try” to shut the down. Second, you don’t like it when you political opponents use your own play book against you; code pink = tea parties, Glen Beck = Al Franken and so on. To your side when there’s a no war march its freedom of speech, if there’s a no new tax march its “white, redneck, bigots”.
Third, if Attorney General Holder wants to indict Dick Chaney as well as members of the Bush Administration on “war crimes”, then he should indict public officials such as Al Gore on “RICO” statutes over the global warming hoax perpetrated on the citizens of the US.
If there is probable cause to indict ether of the former Vice Presidents then let’s have the LAW takes its course. I think that we could stand some honesty on doth sides.
§ 2441. War crimes
(a) Offense.— Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.
(b) Circumstances.— The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that the person committing such war crime or the victim of such war crime is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
(c) Definition.— As used in this section the term “war crime” means any conduct—
(1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party;
(2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, signed 18 October 1907;
(3) which constitutes a grave breach of common Article 3 (as defined in subsection (d)) when committed in the context of and in association with an armed conflict not of an international character; or
(4) of a person who, in relation to an armed conflict and contrary to the provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as amended at Geneva on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as amended on 3 May 1996), when the United States is a party to such Protocol, willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.
§ 1961. Definitions
(1) “racketeering activity” means (A) any act or threat involving murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), which is chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year; (B) any act which is indictable under any of the following provisions of title 18, United States Code: Section 201 (relating to bribery), section 224 (relating to sports bribery), sections 471, 472, and 473 (relating to counterfeiting), section 659 (relating to theft from interstate shipment) if the act indictable under section 659 is felonious, section 664 (relating to embezzlement from pension and welfare funds), sections 891–894 (relating to extortionate credit transactions), section 1028 (relating to fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents), section 1029 (relating to fraud and related activity in connection with access devices), section 1084 (relating to the transmission of gambling information), section 1341 (relating to mail fraud), section 1343 (relating to wire fraud), section 1344 (relating to financial institution fraud), section 1425 (relating to the procurement of citizenship or nationalization unlawfully), section 1426 (relating to the reproduction of naturalization or citizenship papers), section 1427 (relating to the sale of naturalization or citizenship papers), sections 1461–1465 (relating to obscene matter), section 1503 (relating to obstruction of justice), section 1510 (relating to obstruction of criminal investigations), section 1511 (relating to the obstruction of State or local law enforcement), section 1512 (relating to tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant), section 1513 (relating to retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant), section 1542 (relating to false statement in application and use of passport), section 1543 (relating to forgery or false use of passport), section 1544 (relating to misuse of passport), section 1546 (relating to fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents), sections 1581–1592 (relating to peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons).,[1] section 1951 (relating to interference with commerce, robbery, or extortion), section 1952 (relating to racketeering), section 1953 (relating to interstate transportation of wagering paraphernalia), section 1954 (relating to unlawful welfare fund payments), section 1955 (relating to the prohibition of illegal gambling businesses), section 1956 (relating to the laundering of monetary instruments), section 1957 (relating to engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity), section 1958 (relating to use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire), section 1960 (relating to illegal money transmitters), sections 2251, 2251A, 2252, and 2260 (relating to sexual exploitation of children), sections 2312 and 2313 (relating to interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles), sections 2314 and 2315 (relating to interstate transportation of stolen property), section 2318 (relating to trafficking in counterfeit labels for phonorecords, computer programs or computer program documentation or packaging and copies of motion pictures or other audiovisual works), section 2319 (relating to criminal infringement of a copyright), section 2319A (relating to unauthorized fixation of and trafficking in sound recordings and music videos of live musical performances), section 2320 (relating to trafficking in goods or services bearing counterfeit marks), section 2321 (relating to trafficking in certain motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts), sections 2341–2346 (relating to trafficking in contraband cigarettes), sections 2421–24 (relating to white slave traffic), sections 175–178 (relating to biological weapons), sections 229–229F (relating to chemical weapons), section 831 (relating to nuclear materials), (C) any act which is indictable under title 29, United States Code, section 186 (dealing with restrictions on payments and loans to labor organizations) or section 501 (c) (relating to embezzlement from union funds), (D) any offense involving fraud connected with a case under title 11 (except a case under section 157 of this title), fraud in the sale of securities, or the felonious manufacture, importation, receiving, concealment, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), punishable under any law of the United States, (E) any act which is indictable under the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, (F) any act which is indictable under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 274 (relating to bringing in and harboring certain aliens), section 277 (relating to aiding or assisting certain aliens to enter the United States), or section 278 (relating to importation of alien for immoral purpose) if the act indictable under such section of such Act was committed for the purpose of financial gain, or (G) any act that is indictable under any provision listed in section 2332b (g)(5)(B);
(2) “State” means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States, any political subdivision, or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof;
(3) “person” includes any individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property;
(4) “enterprise” includes any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity;
(5) “pattern of racketeering activity” requires at least two acts of racketeering activity, one of which occurred after the effective date of this chapter and the last of which occurred within ten years (excluding any period of imprisonment) after the commission of a prior act of racketeering activity;
(6) “unlawful debt” means a debt
(A) incurred or contracted in gambling activity which was in violation of the law of the United States, a State or political subdivision thereof, or which is unenforceable under State or Federal law in whole or in part as to principal or interest because of the laws relating to usury, and
(B) which was incurred in connection with the business of gambling in violation of the law of the United States, a State or political subdivision thereof, or the business of lending money or a thing of value at a rate usurious under State or Federal law, where the usurious rate is at least twice the enforceable rate;
(7) “racketeering investigator” means any attorney or investigator so designated by the Attorney General and charged with the duty of enforcing or carrying into effect this chapter;
(8) “racketeering investigation” means any inquiry conducted by any racketeering investigator for the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has been involved in any violation of this chapter or of any final order, judgment, or decree of any court of the United States, duly entered in any case or proceeding arising under this chapter;
(9) “documentary material” includes any book, paper, document, record, recording, or other material; and
(10) “Attorney General” includes the Attorney General of the United States, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, the Associate Attorney General of the United States, any Assistant Attorney General of the United States, or any employee of the Department of Justice or any employee of any department or agency of the United States so designated by the Attorney General to carry out the powers conferred on the Attorney General by this chapter. Any department or agency so designated may use in investigations authorized by this chapter either the investigative provisions of this chapter or the investigative power of such department or agency otherwise conferred by law.
CW Irvine: You did your homework. Love RICO. Worked on an organized crime task force using RICO for assets seizure until AG Janet Reno (via her bosses Bill Clinton and Hillary) quashed the over 200 indictments.
Don’t worry about Upchuck Cheese. Too many enzymes in his brain. The Democrats have spent their controlled cities and states into perpetual debt – DC, Phila., Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit and Dearborn, Massachusetts, NJ, etc.
The times they are achanging. Thanks to Joe the Plumber, Sara the Cudda, Sen. Elect Brown, Gov. McDonnell, and others for educating the public what the cost of unbridled liberalism/leftist/socialism is.
Gov. Tim Kaine – Mr. Spend and Spend. Now the top loser for the Democratic National Committee. I want to see him implode. Anything to get him out of Virginia.
As I stated, a bunch of no solutions crying tea bagger, fascist, anti-Americans who obviously can copy and paste but think for themselves…not so much. Do not get to excited and break out you blow up Glenn Beck doll yet, let’s put it in perspective…the tea bagger candidate lost in the NY 23rd (a republican seat for 150 years) and a pro-choice Democrat just won Cuckoo Cuccinelli’s senate seat and again we are the majority because okay I am talking REAL SLOW here, we got more votes than you did…git r dun!