They Hate the American People
It is something that can no longer be denied: America's politicians who carry the banner of the Republican party must really hate the American people with a passion. That is the only conclusion one can draw given their behavior in recent weeks. Does that sound like an extreme statement? Just consider these nasty facts:While your average Right Wing extremist may not be the brightest bulb on the porch, they do have some knowledge of history. As was stated on this site a number of weeks ago, they know that the stimulus Franklin Delano Roosevelt put into motion three quarters of a century ago saved the American economy from certain destruction. Roosevelt did such a good job as president, the GOP would not control the executive branch for a full twenty years after 1933. By the time 1953 rolled around, it wasn't the domestic performance of the Democratic president (Harry Truman) that people were sick and tired of, it was American involvement in the Korean War. Truman offered no easy end to the stalemate and Dwight D. Eisenhower was promising to end it (as he did indeed) within the first six months of his administration. But for that conflict Herbert Hoover today might be remembered as the last Republican president in American history. I know that sounds far fetched but I can dream, can't I?
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With only two exceptions (Susan Collins and Olympia Snow - both of Maine) the current crop of Republican politicians on Capitol Hill have only one mission on their agenda - the complete and utter failure of the Obama Administration. The rescue of the people from this financial catastrophe that they are now suffering under means not a thing to these assholes. They want to make damn good and sure that President Obama fails. That is the only way they will be able to regain control of the Senate and the House in 2010 - the American people be damned. While it cannot be argued that that the Democrats are far from perfect (Harry Reid? Nancy Pelosi? Please) The Republicans (in their present incarnation anyway) are beyond redemption.
During the past week of the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial, it has been next-to-impossible not to imagine what the great emancipator (along with Theodore Roosevelt) might have felt about the corrupt and sorry state of their once-great party. Would they even recognize it? It started out one-hundred and fifty-three years ago with such great promise - and such noble intent: the freeing of human beings from bondage. Let's get real here, folks. The Democrats, for all their great and rich history, never had an issue half that good to rally around. What the hell happened to the Republican party?
And while we're on the subject, would someone please explain to me why they keep referring to it as the "party of Lincoln"? That's as crazy as calling the Democrats the "party of Strom Thurmond". Old Strom's influence on the Dems ended in 1948 when he bolted their national convention and ran as a Dixiecrat. Father Abraham's influence on the party of which he was one of the founding fathers ended at 7:22 on the morning of April 15, 1865 when he breathed his final breath. I am not presumptuous enough to state as a fact that if Mr. Lincoln were around today he would be a registered Democrat, but I can say the following with absolute certainty: He sure as hell wouldn't be running around calling himself a Republican; that's for damned sure! The man's standards were just too high for that sort of thing.
Were Abraham Lincoln to rise from the dead tonight, he would be mortified to even have his name associated with the train wreck that they still insist on calling the Grand Old Party.
They have already taken a first step in seeing to it that President Obama's stimulus plan fails. They have been able to water it down to such a degree that it is (in my humble opinion anyway) almost guaranteed to fail. Their solution to the problem? The same solution they've had for any and every problem for the last three decades: eliminate the capitol gains tax for rich people. Been there. Done that. Didn't work then. Won't work now. Next case....
The only thing that matters to these despicable bastards is their worship on the alter of the corporate dollar. You and I just don't matter to them. We never have. We never will. As the late Frank Zappa once eloquently intoned:
They're just lookin' out for number one
And number one ain't you
You ain't even number two....
We ain't even number five-hundred - wake up and smell the rotten eggs, boys and girls! That party has betrayed the American people. The sooner we understand it, the better off we'll all be. They say that the first step in overcoming a problem is admitting that you have one. The "party of George W. Bush" (that's more like it) has metastasized into a disease - a cancer - on our social and economic infrastructure, not to mention the soul of our very Constitution. Like any cancer, it needs to be removed. I'm not implying that we should become a one-party system - that would be disastrous. And let's face some serious facts here; the Democrats are in serious need of a complete overhaul.
During the past week of the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial, it has been next-to-impossible not to imagine what the great emancipator (along with Theodore Roosevelt) might have felt about the corrupt and sorry state of their once-great party. Would they even recognize it? It started out one-hundred and fifty-three years ago with such great promise - and such noble intent: the freeing of human beings from bondage. Let's get real here, folks. The Democrats, for all their great and rich history, never had an issue half that good to rally around. What the hell happened to the Republican party?
And while we're on the subject, would someone please explain to me why they keep referring to it as the "party of Lincoln"? That's as crazy as calling the Democrats the "party of Strom Thurmond". Old Strom's influence on the Dems ended in 1948 when he bolted their national convention and ran as a Dixiecrat. Father Abraham's influence on the party of which he was one of the founding fathers ended at 7:22 on the morning of April 15, 1865 when he breathed his final breath. I am not presumptuous enough to state as a fact that if Mr. Lincoln were around today he would be a registered Democrat, but I can say the following with absolute certainty: He sure as hell wouldn't be running around calling himself a Republican; that's for damned sure! The man's standards were just too high for that sort of thing.
Were Abraham Lincoln to rise from the dead tonight, he would be mortified to even have his name associated with the train wreck that they still insist on calling the Grand Old Party.
They have already taken a first step in seeing to it that President Obama's stimulus plan fails. They have been able to water it down to such a degree that it is (in my humble opinion anyway) almost guaranteed to fail. Their solution to the problem? The same solution they've had for any and every problem for the last three decades: eliminate the capitol gains tax for rich people. Been there. Done that. Didn't work then. Won't work now. Next case....
The only thing that matters to these despicable bastards is their worship on the alter of the corporate dollar. You and I just don't matter to them. We never have. We never will. As the late Frank Zappa once eloquently intoned:
They're just lookin' out for number one
And number one ain't you
You ain't even number two....
We ain't even number five-hundred - wake up and smell the rotten eggs, boys and girls! That party has betrayed the American people. The sooner we understand it, the better off we'll all be. They say that the first step in overcoming a problem is admitting that you have one. The "party of George W. Bush" (that's more like it) has metastasized into a disease - a cancer - on our social and economic infrastructure, not to mention the soul of our very Constitution. Like any cancer, it needs to be removed. I'm not implying that we should become a one-party system - that would be disastrous. And let's face some serious facts here; the Democrats are in serious need of a complete overhaul.
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What I'm saying is that the Republican party needs to be reformed from the bottom up. The time has come for all good Republicans (they do exist) to come to the aid of their party. My advice to them? Go back and search your party's founding principles. Take a good look at what you stood for once upon a time. How did you people stray from the grand mansion of 1856 to the one-room kitchenette of 2009? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Trust me; it's not a pretty picture.
We The People need to start to see through the smoke and mirrors. They were able to sucker a HUGE number of ignorant citizens into believing that they were the party of "moral values". That is the reason so many people consistently vote against their own economic interests. These knuckleheads are under the impression that the Republicans are the "Pro Life Party". Forget the hypocrisy of being the party in favor of the death penalty. Here's something you must consider: The votes on the court to overturn Roe vs. Wade have been there for for over two years. Why hasn't it been overturned? Because the RNC knows damned well that the overwhelming majority of the American people are (like it or not) pro choice. If the Supreme Court overturned that decision tomorrow, the Republican party would disappear overnight. You don't believe me? What have the Whigs been up to lately? I rest my case. Be careful what you wish for.
My hope is that the GOP's self-inflicted wound will ultimately prove to be mortal and that another, more centrist party will evolve from the carnage. Their ideals have been forever rendered worthless and self-defeating. The question that remains is whether or not the millions of good Americans who are registered Republicans will finally wake up and understand what their party has done to their country. Again, you can't blame me for dreaming.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
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We The People need to start to see through the smoke and mirrors. They were able to sucker a HUGE number of ignorant citizens into believing that they were the party of "moral values". That is the reason so many people consistently vote against their own economic interests. These knuckleheads are under the impression that the Republicans are the "Pro Life Party". Forget the hypocrisy of being the party in favor of the death penalty. Here's something you must consider: The votes on the court to overturn Roe vs. Wade have been there for for over two years. Why hasn't it been overturned? Because the RNC knows damned well that the overwhelming majority of the American people are (like it or not) pro choice. If the Supreme Court overturned that decision tomorrow, the Republican party would disappear overnight. You don't believe me? What have the Whigs been up to lately? I rest my case. Be careful what you wish for.
My hope is that the GOP's self-inflicted wound will ultimately prove to be mortal and that another, more centrist party will evolve from the carnage. Their ideals have been forever rendered worthless and self-defeating. The question that remains is whether or not the millions of good Americans who are registered Republicans will finally wake up and understand what their party has done to their country. Again, you can't blame me for dreaming.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
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SUGGESTED READING:
What's The Matter With Kansas?
by Thomas Franks
posted by Tom Degan @ 1:59 PM
23 comments
23 Comments:
Tom, they probably, down in the deep recesses of their psyche, hate themselves. Their masochistic tendencies, coupled with their sociopathic and narcissistic personalities, undoubtedly makes their sadistic behavior toward the American people very easy.
That, or they're playing the political version of some sort of scorched-earth policy.
Either way doesn't lessen the fear of the moment, does it?
Anyone got the spread on how many Republican Governors who campaigned for these idiots TAKE THE $TIMULU$ CA$H?.
Pawlenty is in. "Well, even if we didn't order the pizza and the toppings, doesn't mean we don't like pizza." rolling eyes. . .
Has anybody seen the latest documentary on HBO? It's a film titled: Right America: Feeling Wronged - Some Voices from the Campaign Trail (directed, produced and filmed by Alexandra Pelosi -- yes, the Speaker of the House's daughter). As if you don't know already, it'll give you a good clue as to the make-up of the electorate that the Republican obstructionists cater to (aside from the international banking cabal and other multinational corporate interests). Believe me, it'll have you squirming in your seat.
Not unlike the liberal and progressive segments of society, the majority felt that "something's wrong in America." I was mostly intrigued by one particular interviewee who expressed a fear that the youth who idolized and supported Obama during the campaign were comparable to the young people (i.e., "Brown Shirts"?) who supported Hitler during the early years of his rise to power in the 1930s. I was instantly amazed that we both saw fascism as a threat and a danger to American democratic values, but I was equally perplexed as to why this person didn't see the obscene corporatism of the conservative Republican faction as being more prevalent and dangerous; more aligned with traditional fascist beliefs and ideology. It's as though he unknowingly accepted the typical Republican creed as the only one being patriotic and symbolic of American freedom and democracy, and Obama the prelude to fascism in America. I was floored by his total misunderstanding of exactly what fascism is -- especially when the term was thrown around interchangeably with socialism.
Like I mentioned, the interviews will have you squirming and wondering how these people developed such "interesting" and different worldviews while growing-up and living in the same country. I'm still shaking my head.
J.G.
I would be interested to see that film. She made a great one in 2000 called Journeys With George in which she followed the former First Fool around on the campaign trail. He comes off as such an asshole, if the American people could have seen that footage prior to Election Day 2000, they never would have elected him.
All the best,
Tom Degan
Tom, Tom, Tom.....
The Repugs don't hate the American people - at least not during election years. Then they flatter us and tell us what great people we are - hardworking and patriotic. Once the election is over, they laugh at us gullible sheep and go to lunch with their corporate puppet masters.
The headlines of the AZ Republic today says that our state will receive $4.2 in stimulus funds. There have been many letters to the editor asking if Sens. McCain and Kyl are going to refuse to accept the cash since they opposed the stimulus package. Darn tootin' they'll accept it with sh!t eating grins on their faces. They get the bailout for their State, but if it turns sour, they can claim they voted against it. How sweet is that for them?
They may be evil at heart, but they are damn smart. We should never underestimate these cruel, greedy bastards. They have held their offices way too long, and they know how to play this game too well.
As Jim Hightower says, we need to push these old hogs off of the public trough before they gobble everything up.
Best to you!
Jo in AZ
Oops! That is $4.2 BILLION the State of Arizona will receive from the stimulus package. Sorry for the omission.
Jo
Tom, you wrote, "I'm not implying that we should become a one-party system - that would be disastrous."
I guess, than, the "disaster" has already occurred. In an interview last October 10th, Noam Chomsky responded to an interviewer's question: "Of course there are differences [between the Republican and the Democratic parties], but they are not fundamental. Nobody should have any illusions. The United States has essentially a one-party system and the ruling party is the business party."
In another interview three days later, while discussing the current financial crisis, he elaborates even further: "Remember that the political spectrum in the United States is quite narrow. The U.S. is a business-run society, somewhat more than Europe. Basically, it is a one-party state, with a business party that has two factions, Democrats and Republicans. The factions are somewhat different, and sometimes the differences are significant. But the spectrum is quite narrow. The Bush administration, however, was way off the end of the spectrum, extreme radical nationalists, extreme believers in state power, in violence overseas, in big government spending, so far off the spectrum that they were harshly criticized right within the mainstream from early on."
I think you're doing a disservice to your loyal readers and followers (not to mention yourself) when you imply that it's exclusively the Republican Party's fault. The Democratic Party is just as tied to the apron strings of its corporate overseers -- they just show it in different ways. Neither party is the party of real change, because real change would mean departing from the status quo. The status quo means "business as usual", and we all know neither party will pit themselves against that.
JG....
You're absolutely right about the Dems. As I've said before, they have a positive genius for taking a plate of fine caviar and turning it intodonkey shit. Thank you for those Chomsky quotes.
Cheers!
Tom
Republicans or Democrats - and there is plenty of blame to go around for all of them - it is simply incredible that with all of the major problems facing this country, personal power and wealth are more important to our elected assholes than getting this country back on the right track.
If this is,indeed a "Christian nation" then Christ must be crying.
Charles, I think Gandhi was right when he observed, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
Interesting.....what Chomsky calls " the business party " I call " the establishment ". It refers to the people who have gained control of our society and manipulate the populace in various ways through the propaganda machine of mainstream media and our schooling system. I find it ironic that Attorney General Holder said in effect that Amerikans segregate themselves outside the workplace environment and only hangout with their own race or nationality. I've been advocating unity for decades......that would be the establishment's worst nightmare !! Imagine ALL oppressed groups uniting and supporting one another !! This will only happen when we recognize our commonality and forgo our differences. One party of government will work fine then....so long as it is The Humane Party controlled by the people for the people and not by business for business.
Ellis, don't you think people have socialized almost exclusively with other people from their own nationality, race, socioeconomic group, or community of religious believers for as long as there has been a semblance of civilization? I can't think of too much co-mingling at any time in history. Can you? People have always segregated themselves within their own comfort zones. I think Attorney General Holder is way out in left field with his remark -- or he's as sly as a fox.
Now, given that, I'm certainly not discounting your ideas and proposal for unity among all repressed groups. It's an idea that came of age during the 1960s by, predominately, members of the Baby Boomer generation. Ironically, that same generation seemed to lose touch with those idealistic beginnings and swayed way to the other side of the spectrum, beginning with the Reagan years. I'm not quite sure what triggered this large-scale movement to the right, but I'll save my opinions for another discussion.
I believe there is a groundswell beginning right now. The young people, among the many diverse groups in America, seem to be crossing those boundaries and are interacting with each other unlike generations before. People are, at least, talking among themselves and sharing ideas and thoughts (e.g., on the The Rant, and AlterNet, etc.). There are literally thousands of grassroots organizations supporting or advocating change and sustainability. It's beginning, and more people will get on board as the weeks, and months, and years reveal our commonality. We're all in this together. I think people are understanding this -- at least on some sort of subconscious level. It's all in consciousness raising. Once it starts, it doesn't stop.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that change -- true and unyielding change -- will start from the bottom and migrate its way to the top. Our elected leaders will be the last to grasp the meaning and the urgency. Just as "trickle-down economics" has proven not to work, neither will "trickle-down wisdom". It's going to have to start with us.
Peace to all...
This comment has been removed by the author.
>I believe there is a groundswell beginning right now...
I hope you are right. Unfortunately, I'm afraid far more people are too preoccupied with the current episode of American Idol to participate.
It's not only these people who hate the american people, Tom.
Don't try to fool anybody about that reality.
If you read the last excellent article written by Paul Craig Roberts for exemple, you'll be convinced that no matter who is in charge, the goal of those who rule this country from a piece of land that is not part of the usa ( do your homework about that ) is the same. Only the facade looks different. The link to the article: http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22045.htm
For eight,long years, the Republicans in Congress and in the White House had complete control of the country. The Supreme Court was also deeply slanted to the Right. That kind of power and access to money is totally corrupting. The country, as a whole, did not really care until millions began to have their pocketbooks go empty. It HAD to get personal before they demanded change. During these eight,long years, the Democrats whined and puled but did little else. They kept voting for more money for Iraq; and enabled the Republican masters to grow the national debt into a gargantuan monster. In the end, this debt will sink the ship. We cannot keep pretending that tax breaks, war spending, stimulus spending and personal debt are compatible. There is too much debt. Period. At least, if we spend on infrastructure, we will create jobs, put some folks back on their feet, get more income tax dollars, and maybe keep the country afloat a while longer. But, Obama is listening to the wrong people. He should have Paul Krugman as his chief economic advisor. Krugman has been correct in his economic analysis everytime, since the housing bubble began brewing. Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner are not the best people to give advise in this crisis.
The Republicans are horrendous hypocrites. Where was their concern about debt when they began pouring billions down a rathole in Iraq; and giving the wealthy uneeded tax breaks? Now, they are nothing more than tinpot despotic obstructionists, so selfish they cannot see beyond their own arrogance.They are spoiled and diseased by the past eight years. They are toxic and destructive. But, the Democrats still bow to them in one way or another. Let the damned fools filibuster. It will show all but the True Believers what they really are: greedy, corrupt, narcissistic, assholes. They dont love this country. They love only themselves, wealth and power. Let that become even more apparent than it is. My only consolation in this mess is that if we do go over the cliff, even their offshore accounts wont save them. It is a global economy; and the destruction of it will affect everyone, even them.
John, that's why I said it's a "groundswell". There is consciousness-raising occurring. It's happening, but the transfixed American Idol crowd isn't necessarily included (yet). Give it time. Don't get me wrong. I'm not implying that it's going to be done by tomorrow, next month, or even next year. But that's not the point. All consciousness-raising is mostly imperceptible; happening in small steps, just as evolutionary change in almost all of the natural world is.
As Dr. Chomsky noted in one of the links I provided above (The interview titled, The United States Has Essentially a One-Party System), "The protest against the war in Iraq is far higher than against the war in Vietnam. When there were 4,000 American deaths in Vietnam and 150,000 troops deployed, nobody cared. When Kennedy invaded Vietnam in 1962, there was just a yawn." That certainly wasn't the case with the occupation of Iraq. That's a sign of enlightenment -- that's consciousness-raising!
Right now, I suppose you're going to come back at me and claim it's not happening fast enough; that change is going to have to occur much faster in order to correct the horrible economic, social, and political conditions we're experiencing right now.
As the Buddha may reply, "Maybe".
Frank,
There was a protest at the Republican Convention in NY in 2004. It was huge. One felt heady to be part of a massive group of people where the feeling was predominantly about ending the war. When I got home I expected to hear reports of the massive crowd. In every paper or news report I saw, it was reported (more or less as a footnote to rnc coverage) as tens of thousands of protesters. The media coverage had transformed the event to a yawn. This was done by the corporations that own and control the media - coincidentally many of the same entities that profit from the war.
This is one of the things that convinced me to quit watching tv. That is truly one of the best things I have done. I highly recommend it to all! (the net should possibly be thrown in here as well)
Anyway, I think everyone quitting the tube will have to precede any significant change in society. I'm afraid that we will have to run out of fossil fuel before that happens.
Frank, Thank you for the link. Chomsky is brilliant of course, but wasn't his name Emmanuel Goldstein?
Watch the movie Brazil directed by Terry Gilliam.
Brazil is at the Goshen library for you locals.
John, I'm not sure whether Noam Chomsky and Emmanuel Goldstein are one and the same. I believe Chomsky's been heard and seen. Don't think he's just a figment of our collective imagination.
But, one can never tell.
Agree, the lessening of our TV watching will precede enlightenment and consciousness-raising. From a passive perspective, I limit myself to Countdown, The Rachel Maddow Show, and occasionally Hardball for my political news addiction. For something lighter, I sometimes catch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, along with Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. Any network news is corporate-censored propaganda, not worthy of my time. I discover most news analysis and opinion on the Internet. It's less likely to be skewed and corporate sanitized.
I'll look for Brazil. My library system doesn't carry it, which doesn't surprise me.
Tom, you've always seemed like a good ole american dude. lets get with it then. we know who hates the american people...its the "never again" folks who have decided to cash us in, just like they did germany, only this time they have their own, nuclear-weaponized country, trillions of our money and a six million man army armed to the teeth with our weapons...what fools we have been.
Tom, I have read your suggested reading of Franks' What's The Matter With Kansas? His book does a good job of explaining how the working class electorate shifted allegiances from the mostly liberal Democratic base back in the 1950s/1960s to the conservative Republican social agenda of today. It's surprising how this shift created a whole strata of citizens who continuously, and flagrantly, vote against their own economic self-interests. It's not only surprising to me -- it's scary.
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