Excerpt: "It's not just women, seniors, budget hawks, the poor, Latinos, and gays who are catching on to the Republicans' extremism. Americans who don't fall into one of these categories are becoming alarmed, too - as they should."
Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)
The Fanatical GOP
23 August 12
e're witnessing the capture by fanatics of what was once a great and important American political party.
The Republican Party platform committee now includes a provision calling for a constitutional amendment banning all abortions, without an exception for rape or incest. This is basically Missouri senatorial candidate Todd Akin's position. (At least the GOP platform doesn't assert that women's bodies automatically reject "legitimate" rapists' sperm.)
Paul Ryan, Romney's selection for vice president, has co-sponsored 38 anti-abortion measures while in the House of Representatives, including several containing no exception for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
But the GOP's fanaticism goes far beyond its growing absolutism about abortion.
Ryan's proposed budget, approved by almost all House Republicans, is also an exercise in fanaticism. It replaces Medicare with vouchers that won't possibly keep up with rising healthcare costs - thereby shifting costs directly on to the elderly.
That budget also harms the poor and rewards the rich, but does little or nothing to reduce the federal budget deficit. Over 60 percent of its spending cuts come out of programs for lower-income Americans. Its tax cuts for the rich reduce revenues by $4.6 trillion over the decade while saving the typical millionaire hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
The GOP's looniness doesn't even stop there. Republicans remain unwaivering in their support of state laws allowing or encouraging the profiling of Latinos. And unrelenting in their war against gay rights.
It's not just women, seniors, budget hawks, the poor, Latinos, and gays who are catching on to the Republicans' extremism. Americans who don't fall into one of these categories are becoming alarmed, too - as they should.
Although the GOP lurch to the right-wing margin of America may bode well for Democrats this coming Election Day, it bodes ill for America. The capture of one of our great parties by fanatics is nothing to celebrate. A democracy needs at least two sane political parties.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including "Locked in the Cabinet," "Reason," "Supercapitalism," "Aftershock," and his latest e-book, "Beyond Outrage." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
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Democrat's too might take a look back on their parties liberal ideology and stay true to it !
When Democrat politicians started calling themselves Progressives I knew there would be a shift in the Democratic platform and not necessarily for the better . IMO the Democratic party has distanced itself from its liberal base and moved further right !
Democrat's if you want your base to support your party then you need to stay true to what it used to mean to be a Democrat ! This is not the party I loved under John Kennedy !
The problem that I have with that statement is that doing away with the party itself will not solve the problem. The problem is greed, selfishness, and just plain evil run amok. Its current "incarnation" may be the Republican party--but it's everywhere, not just in the Republican party, not just in the United States. What we need is a better way of eradicating evil. We can start by not rewarding these self-righteous [self-edited here] to Congress where they get paid obscene amounts of money as a "salary" (which they get to vote on with no input from the American taxpayer who has to fork it over) and then take even more in the way of bribes and pay-offs not to mention insider trading while systematically perverting the Constitution in the name of "preserving" it; pandering to special interest groups who give themselves names like "Americans for Prosperity" while bilking the American consumer and cheating on their taxes/wives/cou ntry/pets/favor ite lackey/ and buying Supreme Court "justices" oh dear I seem to be ranting sorry I'll stop now. Anyway, hopefully I've made a valid point that actually makes sense: Eradicating the Republican party will not stop the evil. It'll just make the [insert your favorite epithet here] go infiltrate some other group, not that that isn't happening now . . .
Normal people voting Republicans do in fact vote against their best interests! The 0.001% (which only includes highly wealthy) cares about ONE thing only: themselves. Not the country, not their businesses, neighbors, etc. THEMSELVES!
See my post further down the page. You are certainly among those that see reality through a prism that distorts reality. Lets talk when you drop the fantasy that people on the left worship the President. When you realize that the President is the passable compared to Romney's bad (this is policy not personal) then I will know that you occasionally take off your carnival glasses.
Once again, all noise and no content. I wouldn't doubt that there are wealthy individuals giving to charity of course,includin g those who happen to be Left/Progressiv e. However, the clear ideological gap is there between those who perhaps put on a more or less "humnane" mask, but are more neck-deep in financial corruption, outright white collar crime, etc. a la disaster capitalism; and those, despite their wealth, being sincere about real, ideological change. Real change, not charity (it's been beneficial, but it perpetuates the poor as dependents, victims, where poverty will always exist. It's a big "band aid".) The few have too much, the many have too little; then inevitble consequences leading into more class/imperial wars. You think that the wealthy should be exempt from paying their fair share of taxes, they being "forced" by "bigger gov." This is an old cliche that has to be dropped. It definately serves the wealthy, acting as "victim, which is transparently pathetic, and not the common classes. You continue to be an Akin, were intelligence isn't prioritized. And, yeah, there have been disaster presidencies, the worst being the Bush regime. You actually think that Romney, or any other Repub, is actually better than Obama (I'm not a big fan.),and given that Akin has proved that a major requirement for political office is stupidity, you can't handle the truth.
That is one question that is never asked of him.
Romney like all good Mormons give it to their church and little any where else.
They have MORE ideas:
WAR WITH IRAN
END SOCIAL SECURITY
END MEDICARE
TAR SANDS PIPELINE
MORE OFFSHORE DRILLING
MORE FRACKING
MORE ACTIVE WAR WITH SYRIA
MORE SURVEILLANCE & LESS PRIVACY
MORE TORTURE
Things WILL get worse.
The people who think a 3rd party won't further empower the nazi right scare me more than anyone else in politics.
If you want to avoid further austerity and more wars, you must NOT VOTE for either of these two parties. There are other candidates on the ballot...."
I would suggest that this is a good stradegy at the local level at this point in time.
Any other "party" or individual at the national level would not have any power to change things because they have no caucus (or power) in the US Congress. Even Bernie Sanders caucuses with the D's, as most Independents, Socialists, Greens,... do; even at the state or county level.
Taking control of local government is how the R's have slowly taken over a big chunk the political machine in the US. They have been getting their candidates in place for thirty some years by getting their "true believers" elected at the local level. They then appoint ideologues to positions of power in local government agencies.
It starts from the ground up and we are decades behind. One thing we might concentrate on is eliminating outside funding, ie. influence, of local elections.
Representative government is not perfect, but it is all we have. The extremely wealthy of this country and world have too much representation in our governence. It is unbalanced and needs a correction.
Because I am a double Libra, I am astrally predestined to try to be fair. Mitch McConnell has no choice but to stonewall. The Republicans in the 90's did not pull out all the stops to prevent Clinton from putting in a more liberal tax structure. Their failure to prevent its passing led to Clinton's 2nd term. They have been hell-bent on preventing Obama from doing the same. It's about power first, not about America. You can be sure that I am correct since that is what the Republicans accuse the Democrats of doing.
Me too, Barb, but your Rising Sign (the sign that was in the ascendent on the day of your birth) determines your Rising sign. Mine is Libra, hence my never-ending battle for JUSTICE! You need to get an Ephemeris so you can calculate what your Rising sign is, you MIGHT be able to do it on line if you know the Time of your birth. Good Luck. I used to have a lot of fun with Astrology, not so much any more, but I DO think some things are just TOO real to be folly or coincidence.
The rising sign is the same as your sun sign around sunrise. So, if you know your time of birth you can make a guess as to what it is.
My wife is a Pisces, she has incredible instincts regarding many things. And it is true about Libra's belief in justice and balance. It drives my wife nuts since she just knows and I get all caught up in being fair and just. We make a great team!
If you don't believe this, just go back and luck at judicial nominations since Reagan was elected and you will clearly see that Republican obstructionism was in full force as long ago as then and had really begun even earlier. It was and is all part of their plan to take over all 3 branches of government and they have been enormously successful, especially with the judicial branch. The Democrats missed the chance to change Senate rules to modify the filibuster and eliminate the Republicans ability to stifle any and all attempts by the Democrats to enact any meaningful legislation when President Obama first took office and the had a super majority. This was an unforgivable error on their part, if it was indeed an error. Sometimes, you have to really wonder whether or not the Democrats deliberately left the filibuster the way it is!?
Repeal of Glass-Steagall, the original Patriot Act, a quieter war in Iraq. In many ways Obama is an improvement over Clinton, but you gotta admit Bill can sell you a car with no steering wheel by convincing you its not really needed.
I think your post is excellent but I disagree as to when things began to change. I believe it was with Newt Gingrich, GOPAC and the "Contract with America".
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6757.html
And this longer discourse:
http://www.civilpolitics.org/content/fight-club-politics-and-how-partisanship-poisoning-house-representatives
(Aquarian sun with a Scorpio moon)
They don't believe in government. What kind of wing is that?
They don't believe in science, and they don't accept fact as the basis of assertion. On what wing of what spectrum is that?
Discussing the Republicans as a wing of something does a grave disservice to the serious matter of psychosis.
This world of theirs ignores the rules of arithmetic and denies cause and effect. To discuss anything with them is to engage in a discussion with people incapable of even rhetorically explaining their viewpoint, let alone using appropriate debate tools such as historical precedence, true facts, accurate arithmetic, appropriate math models, and context. Instead they rely on a stream of unconnected statements which is intended to overwhelm the listener into a defacto hypnotic state where the appearance of connectedness becomes connected inside the mind, which of course is always trying to create a coherent comprehensible picture of the information.
Independents of course, believing that there are two sides to every story, are the most vulnerable to this onslaught of nonsense. Thus a majority of Independents vote Republican.
To put a finer point on my argument, Independents that usually vote Republican and/or are minimally informed on the issues. I think that would probably exclude you.
These extremist radicals are the biggest threat to America today. Not the Muslim terrorists as their leadership has been effectively crippled by President Obama's use of singling out the leadership & eliminating them wherever they are. Agree or disagree with the way this war is being waged, fewer boots on the ground mean far fewer American deaths & a tremendous financial saving. This is just one of the ways President Obama is keeping this country safer. The man is the only sane choice with the GOP Flat Earthers throwing themselves over the crazy cliff.
Never, ever, ever vote for any Republican candidate & the Blue Dog Democrats can take a dive along with the Republican party.
So - religious fanatics and financial fanatics have joined forces to create an America run by and for their own form of fanaticism. They have fooled and dumbed down enough citizens / voters to have a reasonable chance of taking over the reigns of power in what was once the greatest democracy on earth. There just might be enough fanatics, greedy and ignorant voters to turn America into a wasteland. Let's hope these people are soundly defeated in November.
That would be GREAT were in not for Citizens United that allows the folks Beck shills for (corporatists and plutocrats) to pay as much as they want for ads that repeat lies over and over and over until gullible and politically un-involved folks start to believe the Tea Party/Romney/Ry an/Beck lies.
Fanatics are surely just the shock troops of oligarchy. Mere tools.
Should we not be more concerned with the strategists who stand behind the fanatics and the armies of lobbyists?
With the not-so-shadowy plutocrats and corporations, whose agenda goes far beyond subjecting America to the witchhunts and purges of the (supposedly) religious Right?
With those who aim to replace democracy by oligarchy and a permanent one-party State?
With those spineless, unresisting Democrats, who're more concerned for their seats than for their country?
With the supine, brainwashed masses who let this all happen?
As Adam Smith, one of GOP's Patron Saints, so aptly put it:
"The disposition to admire and almost worship the rich and the powerful is the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments."
A best-case scenario would be for the Red States to ask to secede and we let them do it in an orderly fashion.
I sometimes wonder whether having a Republican party be so extreme risks allowing the Democrats to do things we would not normally let them get away with because there is no real alternative. Stronger other parties will remind the Democrats that we DO have an alternative to them as well.
DO YOU WANT THAT?
Do you want to END MEDICARE?
THEY DO.
Right now, Democrats are THE ONLY THING standing in their way.
Vote for 3rd parties and fullfill their wildest fantasies by allowing them a free reign over Social Security, Medicare and the coming WAR WITH IRAN.
THINGS WILL GET WORSE.
OK, I get the thought here, but Germans did not deserve having Nazi Germany happen to their country and neither did any of the other countries and the rest of the world. If you think anyone deserved to be turned into a soldier, or forced to a concentration camp, worked to death and murdered you are really not thinking too straight.
When human beings start to go down that escalating road of greed and violence to never ends well, and so far I cannot think of a country or civilization that has escaped it.
The Republicans cannot seem to help themselves, and the Democrats do not know what to do in a system that seems to think they are just as bad for the most part.
What's ironic is that most Europeans learned their lessons about fascism, after we Americans saved them from their own folly in WW II. A party like the US Republicans could never become a MAJOR party in today's W. Europe -- just a nut-fringe party. The GOP now deserves to be seen for what it is, here in the US: a dangerous movement of psychologically ill elitists and extremists, not even worthy of "fringe" status.
... and if you're a veteran, they'll keep coming back again and again until they've taken all of your VA benefits.
The truth is, the most socialist countries in the world right now are places like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and perhaps Canada. All have democratically- elected governments, a happier population, better-educated citizens, a better standard of living, and better health care than the USA. For that matter, most of what you like about the USA was damned as "socialist" when liberals first proposed it.
Tell us, which of these are you willing to give up because they're "socialist"? Free paved roads, free public schools, police and fire protection, free public parks, clean and safe water food, and medicines, regulated workplace safety, mandated overtime pay, social security, medicare, child labor laws, and anything else where everyone contributes to for the benefit of all? An example would be sports stadiums. They are often partially paid for by tax money even though only about 15% of any nearby population will ever enter them even though 100% help pay for them. Socialist!
Again, which of these will you gladly give up?
Because Faux News only gives them slams against the other side to avoid telling them whats really going on...so they are virtually clueless except for Fox news lies and the bashing.
I agree wholeheartedly w/Barbara K (I look forward to reading your posts!) and I go further to include the lack of an informed nation being reason why these Rethuglicans get away with what they do. It's mind-boggling to try & understand how people vote against their better interest; how ignorant smart people can be. I think of the German citizens that didn't do what they could to help the Jews. Yeah, fear plays a part but I just cannot fathom how the smell of burning flesh in tiny European towns that housed Hitler's concentration camps, didn't nauseate them enough to rise above fear.
Joe the Plumber, Larry the Cable Guy, all card-carrying members of NASCAR- the majority believe Rethugs when they spew their lies, which only robs them blind. But if just ONE member of FOX, et al, actually stood up and said: "Enough!" all those patriotic thumping citizens of propaganda might actually wake up.
When they scare brainwashed audiences to fear "socialists" who want to "raise our taxes," they have no clue that by giving the rich all the tax breaks, it's at our expense- which can only be by raising taxes ON US. Why doesn't the Common Man who votes Rethug, realize this?????
A very nice vision and I fervently hope you are right. I won't be living here then but for the sake of the Planet, it's a worthy vision and aspiration.
But remember that Hitler, when the Russian tanks were within blocks of his Berlin bunker, turned around and blamed the German people for "Letting him down and not doing enough for the Fatherland", -before doing himself and Eva Braun's to death, after which his his propagandist press secretary Goebbel's killed his wife and children then himself in blind and final tribute to their "Uncle Adolf".
These far-out-right people have that same "Everybody's wrong but me, even if you prove otherwise!" mentality and getting rid of them will entail much "collateral" damage to the planet and it's people.
And for anybody who thinks that the bulk of the rich who pay reluctantly, if at all, any taxes for the common good but give to "selective" charities for altruistic reasons -I've got some flood-seasonal lakefront property-----! Remove their carefully-calcu lated tax breaks and they'd be as mute and inactive as any extinct species.
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/2012/08/beck-is-ecstatic-over-romneys-choice.html
If the Fourth Estate doesn't do what it was created for then democracy, and a workable society - in any useful form - is not attainable.
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