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While I certainly concur that those elected as ‘Republican(s)’ are well deserving of criticism, I think it is MORE important to recognize and act upon what is driving and influencing these people.
Simply stated, -and one can apply this to a whole lot of issues besides ‘healthcare’- it is an absolute fear "that any government solution to the common personal crises that are happening every day in America—and a lot of them are related to healthcare problems—will mean the death of the empire of James Dobson and his allies."
Here’s another example that is happening all across the country:
Sacramento-area students can ditch Obama TV talk
It is that mentality of NOT wanting it to be shown that government DOES have a place to contribute answers to people’s ‘common personal crises’ that the ‘pushback’ against ‘healthcare’ is coming from.
Add to that the absolute failure of the Obama Admin to bring the perpetuators of the fraud that has lead to the financial ruination of millions of citizens (and the attendant perception that -again- government doesn’t provide a solution to ‘common personal crises’) and it is no wonder that something so basic to both the welfare of individuals and small businesses (the REAL engine of job growth) is met with such idiotic resistance.
"Out of power, the Republican Party relies on its grassroots. It has no leadership. It also has—and so—and we’re seeing that at town halls. We’re seeing the Republican Party with, you know, no brakes, completely out of control, relying on the movement that controls it. And, you know, it’s a very ugly spectacle" is a quote from here
As is this: "In a 1959 letter to a World War II veteran, Eisenhower wrote, quote, “Many prominent officials, possessing no standing or expertness as they themselves claim it, attempt to further their own ideas or interests by resorting to statements more distinguished by stridency than by accuracy.”
Half a century later, in a summer of town hall disruptions and birth certificate controversies, what Eisenhower had warned against has come true: that the Republican Party has been captured by its extremist wing."
I urge everyone to read/watch this interview and stop the sado-masochistic drivel that government does not have a place to contribute answers to people’s ‘common personal crises’. Medicare IS a huge success only spoiled by legislators unwillingness to stand up to pHarma and AHIP (e.g. the amendment that keeps the government from negotiating drug prices like the VA healthcare system does). Think about the guy whose finger was bitten off(and that guy is lucky it wasn’t me he attacked).
Despite all the problems with ‘public education’ it has been successful until the last few decades (which coincidently saw the rise of the ‘two earner family’).
There ARE numerous examples of how government HAS addressed ‘people’s ‘common personal crises’ and that is the message we ‘liberals,progressives,populists’ need to be speaking out qbout and getting the MSM to recognize.
Oh and BTW:
What is a ‘liberal’ ?
What is a ‘progressive’ (but given the msm’s use of the word liberal, what do you think is going on? strictly rhetorical as I know the answer)
Me, I’m a ‘populist’.
9 Comments
I make a distinction between Republican pols and Republican voters. IMO, the birthers, the deathers and the tea-baggers don’t represent the party. The Republican Party’s real agenda is to prevent the government from imposing any hardship on their corporate sponsors, which has been the case for a very long time. They engage in shameless demagoguery and fan the flames of resentment in the low-information voters who comprise their base but that is simply due to crass political calculation, a Machiavellian bid to regain majority status by any means necessary.
Yes. the real republicans arent the pathetic dupes out there with guns and racist slurs. In fact, dick armey and others like him have nothing but loathing for those people. As the middle class goes bye bye and the working class is forced back down into wage slavery, the alliance between the monopoly class and the middle class becomes pretty weak. Maybe we can really get a majority for “change” of the usable kind. They will get more violent and more blantantly criminal before that happens. The senate is a stinking swamp of patronage and corruption that needs to be drained.
Thanks for the heads up on Democracy Now interview.
Great current and historical information on the roots of and the real agenda of the Christian/Republican movement.
I dont doubt it for a second.
Ratfood, Solerso I will accept your opinions BUT the author of Republican Gommorah did his home work over many years.
“the pathetic dupes out there with guns and racist slurs” and “the birthers, the deathers and the tea-baggers” ARE the ‘base’ of the party (”It has no leadership. It also has—and so—and we’re seeing that at town halls. We’re seeing the Republican Party with, you know, no brakes, completely out of control, relying on the movement that controls it.”)
And whether we agree about the ‘Republican Party’, it is quite evident that the Democratic Party can’t seem to shakes its fear of these pathetic dupes,etc.
And so “There ARE numerous examples of how government HAS addressed ‘people’s ‘common personal crises’ and that is the message we ‘liberals,progressives,populists’ need to be speaking out about and getting the MSM to recognize.” is what is needed, not further castigation.
Sorry, ubetchaiam — and other posters here . . . you all got it wrong.
The weepublican Party is following the sermon preached at their C Street “church”/brothel in DC . . . the one laid out back in 1935 (!) by Francis Schaeffer that states the old Christianity taught by Jesus is dead — no more of this love-thy-neighbor crap — that’s for weenie liberals!
The “plan” is to have a small, select group of people — in this case, weepublicans “chosen by god!” — rule over the rest of us and THEY will decide who deserves the charity which is granted (or not) to them. It will be modeled, somewhat, on Mexico, where the infamous 200 families control everything, from natural resources to what jobs are available (sound familiar?), only it will be the Fortune 500, or whatever Dick Cheney chooses.
The US will become a fascist authoriarian theocracy . . . and, with much “help” from their media mouthpiece organs — Foxsnooze and reichwing radio — they seem to be well on their way to achieving their goals . . .
Especially since the MSM has decided their only role in all this is to be “impartial” observers . . . just like they were when the Nazis were coming to power in Germany after WWI.
“Sorry, ubetchaiam — and other posters here . . . you all got it wrong.” ; it is my perspective that it is YOU who have it wrong and that you didn’t bother to read the interview with the author of ‘Republican Gomorrah’.
It was Francis Schaeffer who gave R.J. Rushdooney (is this where the name ‘Rush’ came from?) the tactics -e.g.abortion- to have RUSHDOONEY’S idea of a theocratic society become the edifice of the Republican base.
I trust the author’s “six years I’ve covered the radical right. I’ve gone to their conventions. I’ve interviewed their leaders. I’ve gone to their houses of worship. And I’ve gotten a sense of what conservatism has become, how radical it’s become, and the extent to which the Christian right has taken over the Republican Party.” much more than I do a poster’s opinion that doesn’t have cites to back up their perspective.
Ubetcha … I am a populist. thanks for doing that homework.
You nail it in this.
A small thing ..you are saying that Repbs dont want government interference in private lives. But as I see it, they by, say, Deregulating Banks, etc..are actually imposing their philosophy on the banks and all of the population. By abnegating their responsibility to oversee such corporations, they are giving them free reign. The same with Gun control, or lack of it. By their active neglect, they impose their agenda. Neglect implies assent. No?
No; what I -and the author of Republican Gomorrah are saying- is that the Republican base and ‘Party’ are adamantly opposed to the idea that government CAN provide solutions to citizen’s ‘common personal crises’ ; it is phrased as ‘government interference’ but that is just code words for the REAL issue which is their fear that if it is shown how government CAN assist in citizen’s ‘common personal crises’ their ‘raison d’etre’ ceases to exist.
Unfortunately, the Dem Party can’t seem to elucidate the public on what solutions the government has ALREADY done for citizen’s ‘common personal crises’. One would suspect that an orator of Obama’s skill level would be able to do such but he appears to have been bought and sold by those who finance the most monies in political campaigns.