Intro: "The US Republican race is dominated by ignorance, lies and scandals. The current crop of candidates have shown such a basic lack of knowledge that they make George W. Bush look like Einstein. The Grand Old Party is ruining the entire country's reputation. Africa is a country. In Libya, the Taliban reigns. Muslims are terrorists; most immigrants are criminal; all Occupy protesters are dirty. And women who feel sexually harassed - well, they shouldn't make such a big deal about it."
The 2012 Republican presidential candidates. (photo: Reuters)
A Club of Liars, Demagogues and Ignoramuses
02 December 11
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frica is a country. In Libya, the Taliban reigns. Muslims are terrorists; most immigrants are criminal; all Occupy protesters are dirty. And women who feel sexually harassed - well, they shouldn't make such a big deal about it.
Welcome to the wonderful world of the US Republicans. Or rather, to the twisted world of what they call their presidential campaigns. For months now, they've been traipsing around the country with their traveling circus, from one debate to the next, one scandal to another, putting themselves forward for what's still the most powerful job in the world.
As it turns out, there are no limits to how far they will stoop.
It's true that on the road to the White House all sorts of things can happen, and usually do. No campaign can avoid its share of slip-ups, blunders and embarrassments. Yet this time around, it's just not that funny anymore. In fact, it's utterly horrifying.
It's horrifying because these eight so-called, would-be candidates are eagerly ruining not only their own reputations and that of their party, the party of Lincoln lore. Worse: They're ruining the reputation of the United States.
'Freakshow'
They lie. They cheat. They exaggerate. They bluster. They say one idiotic, ignorant, outrageous thing after another. They've shown such stark lack of knowledge - political, economic, geographic, historical - that they make George W. Bush look like Einstein and even cause their fellow Republicans to cringe.
"When did the GOP lose touch with reality?" wonders Bush's former speechwriter David Frum in New York Magazine. In the New York Times, Kenneth Duberstein, Ronald Reagan's former chief-of-staff, called this campaign season a "reality show," while Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan confidante Peggy Noonan even spoke of a "freakshow."
That may be the most appropriate description.
Tough times demand tough and smart minds. But all these dopes have to offer are ramblings that insult the intelligence of all Americans - no matter if they are Democrats, Republicans or neither of the above. Yet just like any freakshow, this one would be unthinkable without a stage (in this case, the media, strangling itself with all its misunderstood "political correctness" and "objectivity") and an audience (the party base, which this year seems to have suffered a political lobotomy).
Factually Challenged
And so the farce continues. The more mind-boggling its incarnations, the happier the US media are to cheer first one clown and then the next, elevating and then eliminating "frontrunners" in reliable news cycles of about 45 days.
Take Herman Cain, "businessman." He sat out the first wave of sexual harassment claims against him by offering a peculiar argument: Most ladies he had encountered in his life, he said, had not complained.
In the most recent twist, a woman accused Cain of having carried on a 13-year affair with her. That, too, he tried to casually wave off, but now, under pressure, he says he wants to "reassess" his campaign.
If Cain indeed drops out, the campaign would lose its biggest caricature: He has been the most factually challenged of all these jesters.
As CEO of the "Godfather's" pizza chain, Cain killed jobs - but now poses as the job-creator-in-chief. Meanwhile, he seems to lack basic economic know-how, let alone a rudimentary grasp of politics or geography. Libya confounds him. He does not believe that China is a nuclear power. And all other, slightly more complicated questions get a stock answer: "Nine-nine-nine!" Remember? That's Cain's tax reduction plan that would actually raise taxes for 84 percent of Americans.
Has any of that disrupted Cain's popularity in the media or with his fan base? Far from it. Since Oct. 1, he has collected more than $9 million in campaign donations. Enough to plow through another onslaught of denouements.
No Shortage of Chutzpah
Then there's Newt Gingrich, the current favorite. He's a political dinosaur, dishonored and discredited. Or so we thought. Yet just because he studied history and speaks in more complex sentences than his rivals, the US media now reflexively hails him as a "Man of Ideas" (The Washington Post) - even though most of these ideas are lousy if not downright offensive, such as firing unionized school janitors, so poor children could do their jobs.
Pompous and blustering, Gingrich gets away with this humdinger as well as with selling himself as a Washington outsider - despite having made millions of dollars as a lobbyist in Washington. At least the man's got chutzpah.
The hypocrisy doesn't end here. Gingrich claims moral authority on issues such as the "sanctity of marriage," yet he's been divorced twice. He sprang the divorce on his first wife while she was sick with cancer. (His supporters' excuse: It's been 31 years, and she's still alive.) He cheated on his second wife just as he was pressing ahead with Bill Clinton's impeachment during the Monica Lewinsky affair, unaware of the irony. The woman he cheated with, by the way, was one of his House aides and 23 years his junior - and is now his perpetually smiling third wife.
Americans have a short memory. They forget, too, that Gingrich was driven out of Congress in disgrace, the first speaker of the house to be disciplined for ethical wrongdoing. Or that he consistently flirts with racism when he speaks of Barack Obama. Or that he enjoyed a $500,000 credit line at Tiffany's just as his campaign was financially in the toilet and he ranted about the national debt. Chutzpah, indeed.
Yet the US media rewards him with a daily kowtow. And the Republicans reward him too, by having put him on top in the latest polls. Mr. Hypocrisy, the bearer of his party's hope.
"I think he's doing well just because he's thinking," former President Clinton told the conservative online magazine NewsMax. "People are hungry for ideas that make some sense." Sense? Apparently it's not just the Republicans who have lost their minds here.
The Eternal Runner-Up
And what about the other candidates? Rick Perry's blunders are legendary. His "oops" moment in suburban Detroit. His frequently slurred speech, as if he was drunk. His TV commercials putting words in Obama's mouth that he didn't say (such as, "Americans are 'lazy'"). His preposterous claim that as governor of Texas he created 1 million jobs, when the total was really just about 100,000. But what's one digit? Elsewhere, Perry would have long ago been disqualified. But not here in the US.
Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann has fallen off the wagon, although she's still tolerated as if she's a serious contender. Ron Paul's fan club gets the more excited, the more puzzling his comments get. Jon Huntsman, the only one who occasionally makes some sort of sense, has been relegated to the poll doldrums ever since he showed sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators.
Which leaves Mitt Romney, the eternal flip-flopper and runner-up, who by now is almost guaranteed to clinch the nomination, even though no one in his party seems to like or want him. He stiffly delivers his talking points, which may or may not contradict his previous positions. After all, he's been practicing this since 2008, when he failed to snag the nomination from John McCain. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
As an investor, Romney once raked in millions and, like Cain, killed jobs along the way. So now he says he's the economy's savior. To prove that, he has presented an economic plan that the usually quite conservative business magazine Forbes has labeled "dangerous," asking incredulously, "About Mitt Romney, the Republicans can't be serious." Apparently they're not, but he is, running TV spots against Obama already, teeming with falsehoods.
Good for Ratings
What a nice club that is. A club of liars, cheaters, adulterers, exaggerators, hypocrites and ignoramuses. "A starting point for a chronicle of American decline," was how David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker, described the current Republican race.
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Look at the GOP candidates -- supported by the Supremes' "person hood" decision - I only have evil thoughts for the future of Scalia/Thomas - the biggest crooks/mafia pigs that do NOT belong in the high court.
We're a nation gone stupid.
Vote DEM/ Vote Obama -- and VOTE in 2012. Get all Dems and non GOP/TP in your areas OUT TO VOTE.
If your rep/Senator votes for anything that takes our rights away - vote him/her OUT.
NEVER EVER vote TP/GOP (Unless the TP/GOP rig the election - there is really no way they can win the W.H. - but the Koch Brothers etc could buy their way in)
Little is said about China's investment in health, medicine, education and superstructure in a region that not so many years ago was a brutal theocracy, where the people spent their time doing little more than spinning prayer wheels.
The Dalai Lama is a puppet owned and operated by outside influences and he is no friend of the Tibetan people. Underlying everything to do with Tibet, do not underestimate the extent of American activity to create unrest in the region as another front to divert China.
Tibet is very remote and for many years the vast majority of its people had no contact with the outside world.The Church saw to it that those few who were educated, were taught a very narrow and religious based doctrine. Unfortunately, it is possible that some of these very sincere and dedicated people can be easily swayed by skilled, manipulative operatives to show defiance - sometimes extreme - against China.
If the US CIA were to stay out of this, I'm sure that the Chinese and Buddhists would resolve the problems quite well. After all, Buddhism is a major religion in China -- it is not the same as Tibetan Buddahism but they are sister faiths.
There are actually a lot of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners in China, mostly among the more educated class.
China claims sovereignty over Tibet dating back to about 1300 - seven hundred years ago. America has become interested in Tibet more recently, to foment trouble to distract China, and because of their interest in recently discovered Tibetan resources. The CIA's role cannot be dismissed so lightly. In this instance and many others, it is intent on exploiting and perverting hints of nationalism or discontent around the world to further America's national interests - resources and global domination. America's real interest in the Tibetan people (or any other people other than American) is zero.
We don't just disagree, Richard. As someone else points out in this conversation, this sort of propaganda is tantamount to holocaust denial. I consider it truly foul. If you intend to continue spreading this sort of disinformation and were honestly offended by my bland response, I can only suggest you grow a thicker skin.
People who discuss human rights abuses should often look in their own backyard. In America, for example, they still have capital punishment, which has been known to quite markedly detract from some people's human rights. Then there's the over two million people incarcerated - more than China - and almost the entire population of Tibet!. The discrimination against black people is just an integral part of life in the USA.
Keep up the good work for human rights, John. I'd start closer to home if I were you.
Chinas 1959 invasion of Tibet caused the deaths of thousands of monks and nuns. My friend lost 10 familly members, including children killed durring the invasion. 600 monasteries containing ancients work of art and literature destroyed.
If you met the Dalai Lama and witness his care for the orphans of Tibet, rather then being influenced by third person conspiracy theorists you would know his sincerity.
Tibet was poor in science and technology but rich in art, philosophy and spirituality. Wether you agree with other s priorities is irellevent, peoples basic rights are trampled. I don't believe the CIA is forcing people to self immolate.
People are amazingly and perhaps wilfully unaware of the fact that most Tibetans were illiterate serfs prior to modern government by the Chinese, and were among other things subject to torture.
And it is a matter of public record that the Dalai Lama has received CIA funding, especially in the early years (google it---there are NYT articles about it).
This doesn't mean the Chinese or the Chinese Communist Party are perfect but many solutions will put Tibet in a much worse position (e.g., with a huge US base in them --- then we'll see how much attention Hollywood pays).
As earlymusicus writes, "Corporations don't give a rip about human rights...", which is the new governing mantra. Freedom and democracy are evaporating into history, as so many past concepts.
I have known personally many Tibetan people, both monks and laity. To suggest that they are engaging in violence in order to return to the 19th century is laughable. You may try to rewrite history, and misrepresent the Tibetans all you like, but the information is out there and available. This is not China yet, and we still have access to the truth.
No one had a lavish lifestyle in Tibet. Some lived better then others.Like everywhere. Monkhood has very strict rules.
Vows of poverty and chastity are taken seriously to this day.
You say monks caused unrest. Who invaded who? Tibetans of all classes only want the "Feudal Theocracy"reins talled, could it have been that harsh and unfair? Tibetans are spiritually oriented. At one time 75% of Tibetans were monks. This caused many material problems for Tibet.
$186,000 a year is chicken feed for International Aid. Get some perspective.
Wether the conditions in Tibet are manufactured or not there has been a massive amount of cultural destruction, much as happened in the Bush2 invasion of Iraq. The US let the museums and Universities be looted because to destroy a culture is to destroy its identity.
On the flip side of the argument, chins need only look at conditions regarding religious intrusion into Gov't to justify their actions. Like it or not the house cleaning must happen in each Gov't's house and not in the coercion of some other other country.
Be clear that China is not an ally of the US or much of the West and their incursion into Asia will not stop at Tibet.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/127184.htm
And the CIA has supposedly only ever acted most honourably when it interferes with the functions of sovereign countries around the world, killing millions of people in coups and other covert actions over recent years and putting their economies into eternal debt to the IMF and others (e.g Indonesia). Don't people know and understand the CIA's agenda?
Meanwhile others who contribute to this site are being accused of parroting Chinese propaganda or members of some anonymous "party" for holding a different view.
The fact is, America's activities and propaganda are subject to increasing scrutiny these days by people in the rest of the world, and what we see is lies and deceit on every front. Wikileaks, anyone?
What is wrong with allowing Tibetans to determine what type of government they want and if the choose a theocracy, so be it, it will have been their choice. Let's not be hypocritical and point the finger at the US for invading Iraq etc to "foster democracy" and then say that it's ok for China to occupy Tibet, since they brought progress to the region. Can we at least be internally consistent?
The truth in Tibet's case is probably neither what China says nor what the Dalai Lama says, but probably somewhere in between. Regardless, I think at this point the Dalai Lama has reached the higher ground: he has never denounced or attacked the Chinese, which cannot be said of the Chinese government.
Sixty years ago the Tibetans lived under a theocracy. Over 90% of people lived with no access to modern medicine, hospitals, schools or electricity, although they were well-versed in spinning prayer wheels. Over the last sixty years, Tibet has changed from a serfdom to a modern and even prosperous society. Life expectancy has changed from thirty years to seventy.
Tibetan "discontent" has been fanned by the American Government and its agencies, with an actively complicit church. It is the Dalai Lama, the monks and exiled Tibetans who promote what is largely the myth of an unhappy and oppressed Tibetan people.
Of course there has been friction as Tibet has been introduced to more Chinese people and modern-day China and the world at large. China spent $2.4 billion on the railway to Lhasa, and current plans involve a $50 billion expenditure on infrastructure. The old establishment of Tibetan monks don't want to see their power base stripped away.
Another myth suggests that there is no religious tolerance in China. There are 100 million adherents to Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, some 85,000 places of worship and 300,000 clergy.
Finally if 1,000 years doesn't give any country the right to occupy, can the Indians have their land back, please?
Wow. Talk about propaganda, you've got it covered. If you're not actually a card-carrying member of the C IA you should be granted honorary status by them for happily buying into the dreck they peddle.
Bod Gyalo!