GOP Psychosis Not Flying.....

With anyone but those who are psychotic or bordering on it. This is not good news for the GOP.

For a long time anyone who opposed foreign-policy decisions, e.g. the war in Viet Nam, was called un-American and accused of disrespecting the troops - - 38,000 of them - - who fought and died there. And questioning defense appropriations was considered tantamount to giving aid and comfort to our enemies. The national-security gambit was used repeatedly by Republicans to great advantage. On last Sunday’s This Week, when David Plouffe alluded to the ill-timed “Mission Accomplished” banner hung aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln for the Bush visit, Karl Rove charged him with dishonoring the service of the ship’s crew - - the same outrageous sort of tactic he found so effective in manipulating the electorate during the Bush years..


According to conservatives government should keep taxes low, create war materiel, uphold states rights, support market-based endeavors and return to a simpler version of itself. But the “good old days” weren’t good for everyone; a Darwinian survival-of -the-fittest paradigm defined our social construct. It wasn’t until news footage of fire hoses and dogs being used on protesters in the south that it began to dawn on the rest of the country that violent suppression of basic human rights was occurring. Still it was generally understood that voting rights didn’t necessarily accrue to all citizens and the existence of “colored” water fountains, schools, and bathrooms didn’t seem all that remarkable. That’s just the way it was, back then.


Civil Rights advocates fought the bloody battles of the period and won in the court of public opinion and the federal courts as well. In time equality of purpose and opportunity emerged as national goals. It wasn’t quite so simple but doors opened and progress, however halting, was made. The high point of the country’s evolving social awareness and acceptance of diversity appeared to culminate with the election of Barack Obama.


Not so fast we have been forced to acknowledge. No matter how hard Tea Baggers and other administration foes try to paint themselves as grass roots activists supporting basic, albeit Republican tending, American values, their ranks swell with angry white people engaged not just in philosophical arguments but in unprecedented ad-hominem attacks on the president. A recent poll indicated large numbers of Republicans believe him to be a Muslim, a socialist, not native born and for 24% of respondents the “anti-Christ.”


The Republican Party denies that racist angst invigorates much of its base, but, obscured by verbiage about taxes and freedom, there runs an ugly undercurrent of bigotry. That and religious fanaticism animate Republican rhetoric in ways both subtle and overt and recall struggles mistakenly thought to be a thing of the past. However Republicans may live to regret their continued reliance on a “southern strategy” that appeals to the baser elements of society. The sight of congressional figures like Michele Bachman waving from a House balcony to a fractious crowd during the health-care debate may not resonate positively among the majority of Americans, no matter how they feel about the bill itself. Sadly, some legislators spend too much time sharpening their gamesmanship skills and pursuing narrow personal agendas instead of addressing critical national concerns.


It is undemocratic if not downright un-American for Republicans to choose the path John McCain has charted for the remainder of this congressional session, which is not to cooperate with Democrats on anything although, since his party has been obstructing and delaying everything on the president’s to-do list all along, this may not be the shocker it seemed when this silly man who wanted to be president made his churlish remarks. But can even party loyalists take pride in their leaders’ use of arcane Senate rules to bring all Senate business to a standstill?


That not one Republican chose to work in a constructive manner on health care legislation speaks to a leadership that has a poorly developed sense of duty - - a venal and ideologically driven clan that preaches principles but behaves in a manner that defies standards of decency and good government. The party would do well to focus less on self-righteous grandstanding and concentrate instead on conduct more in keeping with the democratic ideals most Americans embrace.

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FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Let The Sun Shine In......