Midterm elections are fast approaching. The average poll is showing that Republicans will probably be taking back a number of seats (based on the mood of the country). As a liberal leaning guy, I find that news unfortunate but certainly not surprising being that the country’s economy is not recovering very fast. Historically, whichever party is in charge during tough economic times is typically punished on election day. Assuming this is what happens in November, Republicans will likely take control of Congress. (and with fear being shoved down the throats of so many people getting most of their information from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, Democrats could lose big).
Now, I’m a reasonable guy. I’m perfectly fine with another political party coming into power as long as it has the best interest of America at heart. What worries me, though, is that I’ve yet to hear any alternate solutions to our economic troubles from the Republican party - other than helping the rich with continued tax breaks and continued deregulation of the financial industry - the latter helping us into this mess to begin with. There also continues to be a flourishing lobbying industry happily giving millions of dollars to our politicians. It seems obvious to me that our politicians care more about helping the companies who give them money than helping lower and middle class Americans. This has been going on for many years with no end in sight. Nothing like stating the obvious…duh. Yet here we sit with this problem.
Worse still and even more problematic in my opinion are certain elements on the extreme right-wing fringe of the Republican party. An element that has become louder and getting a lot of media attention during the past year - brought to the forefront during last summer’s town hall meetings. Right-wing media continues to fuel these people’s fears of an evil socialist government that was hell bent on taking away their guns, forcing them to believe in science, and starting some kind of socialist health care system that would likely kill their grandma. No Muslim president who was really born in Kenya was going to take away their right to have expensive insurance that refuses to cover them when they have a pre-existing condition.
Now, if more Republicans would speak out against these fringe elements, I might be able to respect them a bit more. So far, though, most of them seem to encourage the behavior. Why? Is it really so important to have the votes of these dumb-ass rednecks? It probably is. Here are a couple of examples of Republicans who actually spoke out against this behavior and the backlash it caused:
http://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2010/08/its-getting-to-be-embarrassing-to-be-a-conservative.html
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/bob-inglis-tea-party-casualty
The future looks quite scary when you look at it this way. Is the collapse of our Federal Government near? You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people all the time. It seams equal rights means equal suffering.
ReplyDeleteThe republican party is in disarray. People like Michelle Bachman, Sarah Angle, Sarah Palin, Rand Paul etc. are garnering a lot of attention. I have to believe that at least some mainstream Republicans are finding the Tea Party agenda too bizarre to take seriously. I think they will pander to these folks in order to get elected but I don't think they will fully embrace the agenda if they are actually elected. We shall see. And, if Republicans do get elected, their constituents are going to expect them to fix the myriad of problems the country faces. So far, I've not seen them offer anything that would be viable. It's one thing to get elected. It's another thing to actually fix the problems.
ReplyDeleteBelow is a comment from Eric:
ReplyDeleteGotta go with Barb here, and I actually agree with some of what you blather, Keith. I think, as you said, regardless of what party is in charge, the opposing party awaits the inevitable backlash and beating.
The real problem with interpreting the mood of the country, is that whichever media you watch, you are not getting full-truths. You can argue for CNN or FOX, but the reality is that they ALL are edited by 1 person, who owes his/her job to the owner of the business. Nothing gets broadcast except for the OPINION and INTERPRETATION of that person/owner. It has become such a convoluted spin-game that if you want the whole truth (if such exists) you probably should watch both CNN and FOX and extract the truthful elements of each.
I believe that the majority of the American people are fairly silent (to a point). I do fear though, that revolution is brewing. To what extent is still unknown. The rantings of either extreme just happen to self-promoting as "the voice of the people." They aren't.
I agree with Limbaugh on some issues, and I agree with some moderate Dems such as Lieberman on some issues. Is Palin the answer? No, but she's fun to watch and generally confuses the left! The TEA PARTY (IMHO) had a good idea but has since shown itself to be too redneck to appeal to most Republicans. The Democratic party is just as badly disoriented and without leadership as any other party. Obama has successfully alienated everyone to some degree and the polls will bear this out.
I hope someone steps in that can reunite and lead a clearly divided America. Stop the posturing, stop the blaming, stop draining the middle class backbone, stop kissing the ass of the rich, stop bailing out unworthy and corrupt businesses and for God's sake, start getting tough with the immigration laws and quit policing the whole damn world! Start doing what's best for America and screw the special interest groups! It is impossible to please everyone.
Add to the list Ted Olson as a voice of sanity from the right. Both for the Gay marriage issue and now the Mosque issue.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVhwgMfuwU4&feature=player_embedded
That being said, while I believe there are intelligent/sincere republicans, I just don't see them in positions of leadership of the republican party.
As to Obama's performance to date, I'm at a loss for remembering a legitimate argument of substance that came from the right. I've heard plenty of rational arguments against the position/choices the president has made. But those arguments have come from the left. All I hear from the right are silly bumper sticker slogans and unhinged rants.
Rich Pflughoeft
Note to Eric on his comment "Is Palin the answer? No. But she's fun to watch and generally confuses the left."
ReplyDeleteEric, I think you have that backwards.
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/outrage-over-plans-to-build-library-next-to-sarah-palin-201008193017/
ReplyDeleteToo Funny,
Rich Pflughoeft
I only worked 14 hours today (Sunday) - 15 with the transit - so I had some time to check out your blog. I read the post on the Republican party and I have to agree. I used to consider myself a Republican - I no longer can. I am against religion, pro gay rights, and dislike all the right wing spin from Limbaugh, Beck, etc. The right wing lunatics (birthers, etc.) are truly embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteI believe in regulating most markets, but desire that regulation to be light and at the bare minimum to strike a fair balance for all; big business and people. I generally think that the left is too quick to regulate and that they regulate too heavily with total lack of understanding for the secondary and tertiary unintended consequences.
Sadly, there is no party for me.
Chad Brown