I’m sure many Republicans feel all enthusiastic about their chances this Fall. I’ll bet they think that Americans are rejecting the policies of Obama and the Democrats. I’m sure they think that their party has found it’s new direction and that it’s going to be 1994 all over again. However if there is one thing I’ve known to be a constant in Republican thinking, it’s that they are always wrong.
They were wrong about cutting taxes helping the economy, wrong about Iraq, wrong about deregulation, wrong about security, wrong about Medicare Part D, wrong about Afghanistan and the list goes on and on.
Besides this, as mentioned in the previous article, there are alarming signs for Republicans that I just know they are too blinded by overconfidence to notice.
The most troubling sign for the GOP is that they have no direction, no cause, no platform and no ideas. They simply don’t have anything to offer the American people but fear, panic and more hate. There is no plan to fix health insurance, they simply want the status quo (oh and tort reform which would, according to the CBO, have almost no impact on health care spending). There is no plan to fix the economy, just more tax cuts, which would cripple essential government services like police, schools and fire-firefighters. Even their pride and joy, the oppressive and expensive prison system would collapse. There is no plan to create jobs, not a single plan, just talk.
That’s all they have, is talk. Talk about socialism and Marxism and fascism, sprinkled with crazy talk about taxes and divisive rhetoric about us and them, blah blah blah. It gets so tiring.
Now I know the American independent voter tends to be pretty stupid. They have no memory and are ill-informed by rumors and mis-directions (usually from the Republicans and Fox News). They constantly vote against their own interest. For instance, tax cuts for the rich that have left the states broke, translating into police, teacher and firemen layoffs. Or decreased regulation that has resulted in higher utility rates, higher insurance and a system that is on the verge of collapse. They voted for a system that exported their jobs over seas and even cut the taxes of the people that did it. They even voted for the same people that almost destroyed the economic system of America. Does this mean that they will fall for Republican lies this time?
Well yes and no. They may very well be deceived by the GOP in the fall. I don’t think the Dems will lose the majority but it will be a big slap at Obama. However, much like the Dems victory in 1982 against Reagan, a huge crushing blow that shifted control of the Senate, the Gipper triumphed when the economy turned around, enabling him to claim credit. Since all signs do point to an eventual economic recovery, the Republicans could face a huge wipeout in 2012, and the entire pulse of the nation will realign for the next 30 years. 2012 is a long ways away, yet if the economy doesn’t recover by 2012, then the U.S. will be in an very dire position and likely be facing more drastic threats to the system than the horrible punishment of another Republican. In fact it could face a purge of the two party system all together or even a revolution. Hell, if wackos like Glen Beck can get away with using the R word, than scary times are ahead.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| CPAC 2010 – Rage Within the Machine | ||||
|
||||
That brings me to the next GOP problem: the radicalization of the party. The GOP is facing a paradox. They can win in states like Massachusetts, if they vote for moderate Republicans. This contradicts with the neo-fascist radicals that are trying to purify the party of moderate scum. This already cost them an election in November in a very conservative NY district.
Brown today announced he would vote with the Democrats on Obama’s Job Bill, which is a huge slap at the conservative base. Will they tolerate guys like Brown to win elections? Or will they stick to their guns and move even further to the right, even further away from the views of independent voters?
The amount of Americans that consider themselves Republican is still very low. More voters consider themselves Independents by far. These numbers are swelled with angry Republicans, so even if it shifts, they are merely making up lost ground.
As witnessed in the CPAC (a radical conservative agenda conferance), which most Americans don’t know even exists (uhm who’s genuis idea was it to schedule an even during the height of the Olympics?), they are becoming a party of angry radicals. The opposite of what they need to do to win independents. In 1994, they ran to the center. Will they do that this time? Maybe. Not likely though. The climate in the base has changed. They seem possessed by some sort of evil spirit that wants to do the opposite of what the country needs. It’s weird!
If Republicans think they can simply ride a tide of anger at incumbents, they may find that victory to be short lived. A few of their incumbents will be taken out as well. It hasn’t quite been long enough for Republicans to ignore the fact they spent the country into ruin with two wars, irresponsible tax cuts and a wasteful prescription drug program that literally gave 4 billion dollars to the Pharmaceutical industry just to comply! Now they talk about government spending!
The Republicans want to destroy the government. The super-rich elite who own the Republican party want to destroy government services like Medicare so they don’t have to pay for them. They want less corporate regulation so they can make more money. They want to create laws that allow monopoly, so you can be forced to buy their products. It all comes down to money, not morality, and the Republicans are just chess pieces in an elaborate game of power. It is sad how a little phony populism can save a rich man a million dollars!
To summarize, the Republicans are, in fact a party of radicals with a terrible track record and no direction. Sure they claim they have ideas, yet none of those ideas are realistic. It’s all empty promises of fixing things by cutting taxes, which hasn’t worked in the past. They contradict themselves in a single sentence (as witnessed in the Daily Show clips). You can’t be against government spending and government funded health care and be for Medicare, it makes no sense! You can’t be for libraries, as Glen Beck admitted he learned all his knowledge from, and be against taxes. Reps gain and retain power by dividing the nation to win elections with hate, fear and meaningless ramble that is becoming further from mainstream America. Their only hope is to ride a wave of anger that will be short lived.
The sad fact is that the only thing that is letting Republicans score such cheap political points is the weakness of the Democrats. A call for unity is a necessity if they wish to hold the losses in November to a minimum.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Rage Within the Machine – Progressivism | ||||
|
||||
A narrative is beginning to develop about radical right-wing Republicans: They are too far to the Right, too divisive, none of their ideas work (even on paper) and we have 8 years of Bush and a huge deficit to prove it. It took Bush 8 years to screw this country up. Obama cannot fix it in 1.
If the so-called Left (which is mostly moderates, there is no Left in this country), continues to battle itself over specific issues, rather than stick together, the Republicans may manage to cause irreperable harm to this golden opportunity to put the final nail in the coffin of Reagan’s failing city on the hill.