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 extremists may not be the brightest bulbs on the porch, they do have some knowledge of history. 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 20 years after 1933. By the time 1953 rolled around, it wasn't the domestic performance of 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?
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 a**holes. 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 the Democrats are far from perfect (Harry Reid? Nancy Pelosi? Please) The Republicans (in their present incarnation anyway) are beyond redemption.
During the week of the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial, it was 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 153 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 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 nitwits 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:
During the week of the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial, it was 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 153 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 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 nitwits 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 500 -- 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 far from perfect. 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 to consider: The votes on the court to overturn Roe vs. Wade have been there for more than 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
www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
'
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 to consider: The votes on the court to overturn Roe vs. Wade have been there for more than 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
www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
'
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