Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Thursday, June 30, 2011

FROM THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA: TRUTHS ABOUT THE SORRY STATE OF THE GOP

From the heartland of America, and the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

"EIGHT MYTHS TO CHILL AN OLD SCHOOL REPUBLICAN SOUL:


When Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., quit the (no longer) bipartisan deficit-reduction talks last week, it was not exactly a "Profiles in Courage" moment.


Serious deficit reduction can't be — and shouldn't be —accomplished without tax increases and broad elimination of tax expenditures, which would have the effect of raising taxes. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform last year acknowledged that.

But tax increases, in whatever guise, fail the current Republican purity laws. Mr. Cantor, who will be running for reelection next year, understands that very well. So does Mr. Kyl, who won't seek reelection in 2012 — though he's generously offered himself as a vice presidential nominee.

It's sad to see what has happened to the Party of Lincoln, and for that matter, the party of lesser mortals like George H.W. Bush of Texas, Bob Dole of Kansas and Jack Danforth of Missouri. No one ever would mistake them for liberals, but they were statesmen who put country before party.

Today we have the spectacle of smart, patriotic men and women putting their brains and integrity on ice to please a party dominated by anti-intellectual social Darwinists and the plutocrats who finance and mislead them.

Consider the mythology that makes up GOP orthodoxy today. Imagine the contortions that cramp the brains and souls of men and women of intelligence and compassion who seek state and national office under the Republican banner.

• They must believe, despite the evidence of the 2008 financial collapse, that unregulated — or at most, lightly regulated —financial markets are good for America and the world.

• They must believe in the brilliantly cast conceit known as the "pro-growth agenda," in which economic growth can be attained only by reducing corporate and individual tax rates, especially among the investor class, and by freeing business from environmental rules that have cleaned up America's air and water and labor regulations that helped create America's middle class.

• Though rising health care costs are pillaging the economy, and even though health care in America is now a matter of what you can afford, Republican candidates for office must deny that health care is a basic right and resist a real attempt to change and improve the system.

• GOP candidates must scoff at scientific consensus about global warming. Blame it on human activity? Bad. Cite Noah's Ark as evidence? Good. They must express at least some doubt about the science of evolution.

• They must insist, statistics and evidence to the contrary, that most of the nation's energy needs can be met safely with more domestic oil drilling, "clean-coal" technology and greater reliance on perfectly safe nuclear power plants.

• They must believe that all 11.2 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States can be rounded up, detained, tried, repatriated and kept from returning at a reasonable cost.

• Even though there are more than four unemployed persons for every available job, GOP candidates should at least hint that unemployment benefits keep people from seeking jobs.

• They must believe that the Founding Fathers wanted to guarantee individuals the absolute right to own high-capacity, rapid-fire weapons that did not exist in the late 18th century.

By no means is this list complete. It almost makes you feel sorry for the people who pretend to believe this stuff.

Almost."

13 comments:

Radical Redneck said...

I like to come to liberal blogs and make a compete and utterly moronic jackass of myself. And I can't stop myself from doing it.

Someone...anyone...please stop me!!!!

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dear RR,

I just did.

Now go throw your poo around in your own sandbox.

Thanks.

JEP said...

...speaking of hypocrisy, how many times has Halpyerself joined in on the "Obama's a wimp" dogpile?

That surprised me as much as the term itself, I thought everyone was just foaming at the mouth to see Obama be "a dick."

But then the moment he does, they castigate him for it, after they spent months castigating him for being passive.

Just more proof the print media poundits simply don't have 4th Estate credibility any more, they are just cheap provocateurs of the lowest order.

At least FOX stopped pretending when they hired Bleck.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Comment moderation is on again because some sad little troll (RR) can't stop itself from flinging his poo around my comment section.

I suggest RR try some Imodium Advanced for its sad and uncontrolable condition.

Anonymous said...

Dear God! Did Halperin call Obama a dick, as in Big Dick Cheney?!

The bastard.

Oh the hackery of it all!

How long before FOX hires him?

Shaw Kenawe said...

JEP,

Good point. But conservative pundits, like Halperin, don't seem to know the difference between a "dick" and a "prick."

Anon,

Very funny.

This is funnier. From Alex Pareen of Slate:


"It seems wrong, to me, that in a conversation involving Joe Scarborough and Mark Halperin, a third party was somehow called a "dick,"...."

LOL!

Anonymous said...

I bet they all know he's a dick but as shown with Halperin they want to keep their jobs.

Shaw Kenawe said...

@Anon 2:48,

Obviously, Halperin says what he's thinking. And his thinking is conservative--disrespect for the Office of the POTUS.

Who's the dick here?

Sue said...

RR gets deleted immediately on my blog. Sounds like a lot of lisas hanging around!

I'm so enraged by the sick MF 'ers known as the Republiscum Party. What they are doing to our country is NOT something we should laugh about, and when Pres. Obama goes to town halls or some speaking engagement and makes fun of those thugs by pointing out the hypocrisy, but then laughs as the audience laughs... well I'm just tired of it. I want to see some force behind his words, this is serious shit going on and I don't like the lightness he is showing. Ya Know??
I hate feeling uneasy about Obamas stance on the important issues. I want to believe he will do the right thing for us and not fuckin cave. I hate that we never know til the last minute with him...

Anonymous said...

Republicans would parade around in pink tutus if it meant getting re elected....

What a bunch of pansies....and then you got McCain who is going around flappy his short little arms and saying weird things....

He was the best they could do in 2008 and he is still the best they can do in 2012 considering that crazy bunch!

Herman Cain got a book deal today...that's the real reason he is running, he wants to cash in!

dmarks said...

"a third party was somehow called a "dick,"...."

Third party and insults makes me think of Rotten Ralph. I dislike spoilers on principle, regardless of the fact that he ran in campaigns as if Karl Rove were secretly paying him to help Bush... which is what he did.

I wonder if he will run next year and try to spoil Obama's chances/

Leslie Parsley said...

Back to the statesmen who put country before party. Where have they all gone? I guess they've been intimidated into keeping their mouths shut. Not a good sign.

dmarks said...

"• They must believe that the Founding Fathers wanted to guarantee individuals the absolute right to own high-capacity, rapid-fire weapons that did not exist in the late 18th century."

I don't own any of these nor am I likely to, but I don't give a damn about any law-abiding person around me who does. It's not my business.