The current crisis in the Catholic church is no different now that it is threatening the Pope than it ever has been… Let me put it to you this way…
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Mark 10:25
Do you know who will have even a harder time getting into the kingdom of God? Priests that fuck children and the rat bastards that let them get away with it. Paine 3:30
The President has proven to be centrist, a fact that irritates the left and drives the right completely mad. The GOP in general and McCain/Palin in particular ran against this guy as if he was a radical liberal, somewhere just to the left of Karl Marx, their problem is that he’s not, not now, not then, never was. As the rhetoric built the GOP became invested in proving Barack Obama dangerously left of their own position, and as has remained strictly centrist they were forced to veer ever rightward to convey the appearance of vast ideological divide.
Lindsey Graham made a point of saying twice “people thought they elected a centrist president and found him governing from the left ditch”, it’s a cute line but clearly not factual if one were to look at actual positions and actual legislation. To hear the GOP tell it mainstream attitudes are the screaming idiots with a gun strapped to their side and a misspelled sign in their clenched white fist.
President Barack Obama is a centrist. The left is irritated at him for not being more progressive but he never was. The right is irritated at him for not being more progressive as well, everything that they have been recorded saying about him for the last two years is proving wrong and it leaves them very little opportunity to crawl away from the edge of the cliff.
It’s about reality, if you insist on seeing the President as something he is not it is likely to piss you off. The fact is that the media and politics are right of center and far right of the country, the president is a centrist, deny it at risk of your credibility and sense of balance.
The teaparty movement is supposed to be taken as a serious phenomenon because their anger is genuine, but what is genuine about their anger if it isn’t based in fact?
I hear news report after news report about the populist anger of this movement, frequently the reporters will even bother to ask the participants why they are upset and the reporter gravely nods while they regurgitate some crap they heard Glenn Beck spew in one of his deluded rants about fascism or Marxism or socialism or communism acting like the words actually were interchangeable. The real insult is that after interviewing the protesters for their views, the media doesn’t even bother to weigh in on the veracity of their statements. What the hell? Is everyone supposed to go to factcheck.org to check it out on their own?
I am angry.
I am angry at the media.
I am angry that teabaggers get press and I get to rant alone with facts.
I am angry that a farce like Sarah Palin can still claim credulity and air time from the press after demonstrably false claims over and over again.
I am angry that the media is more interested in scoring the political game than informing the public.
But mostly I am angry that the lack of exposure by the media to the absolute vacuum of truth coming out of the teaparty movement has encouraged the entire Republican Party to swing into nonsense land where they see voter enthusiasm and virtually no fear of reprisal.
The danger of course is that to play in nonsense land you first must cede reality to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill Kristol, Michelle Malkin and Sarah Palin. In nonsense land things that Americans should be proud of and those which should be shamed are flipped around in a twisted nationalism of symbols over substance.
Pulling yourself up by your boot straps is laudable to these people but educating yourself is not? Being strong is an asset but being smart is elitist? Wielding a gun is a right but legislating as a democratically elected majority is tyranny? Torturing prisoners is not only necessary, but it preserves our freedom even though the United States was instrumental in crafting the international prohibitions on the use of torture? Using the filibuster at a rate that has never been seen in the history of the country is their patriotic duty but spending a painful year to pass legislation that was promised in the campaigns they won is somehow the legislative equivalent of rape?
At what point does fact and truth have any bearing at all in the process? Is the game of politics more important than the policies with which we as a nation govern ourselves?
Sarah Palin wants to browbeat the media for reporting on very real threats to law makers, threats from people who are angry, people who are angry about things that frequently aren’t even true? Let me be clear Sarah, if you have to explain that “taking up arms” doesn’t mean literally “taking up arms” but rather going to vote, then how much more could YOUR message be misunderstood by angry people?
Rush, Beck and Palin are like the idiots in Southern California with matches when the Santa Ana winds blow, fascinated with starting something up, completely enamored with their power to incite and with absolutely no responsibility to the heartbreak and devastation that might erupt from their callous handling of fire. If the media is going to give these idiots matches to play with the least they could do is correct the more incendiary statements so that the American people don’t get burned.
“When anger rises, think of the consequences” – Confucius
The Republican Party has been hijacked. It was not intentional, there was no plan, there was no malice, no forethought, specifically, tragically, no forethought.
John McCain facing a tough election threw caution to the wind and chose an exciting yet irresponsibly under qualified Sarah Palin to revive his flailing candidacy. I am positive that the intent was to raise Sarah Palin to the level of Republican national politician but truly the effect was to lower Republican national politics to the level of Sarah Palin. That one selfish act by a bitter old man may have killed thoughtful conservatism in the United States for the foreseeable future.
Justifying Sarah Palin as a Vice Presidential candidate was quite literally not possible so the campaign focused strictly on damaging Obama, biggest celebrity, paling around with terrorists, the secret Muslim and the birther movements were all born out of the necessity to portray Barack Hussein Obama as dangerous, elitist or other. Matters of serious policy and issues were largely buried because they were completely outside the realm of serious discussion with the farcical vice presidential candidate. The further the campaign strayed from their stated principal of “Country First” the less credible John McCain became as a presidential contender and the more popular Sarah Palin became in the ranks of the gullible bigots that would become the fodder for the tea party movement.
The campaign was a disaster and Barack Obama won the presidency with more popular votes than any other president ever…
Of course historic presidential elections command more attention from the populace than governance and governance in the face of financial collapse and severe recession is tough. Tougher if those who professed “Country First” in the election absolutely refuse to assist in the painful decisions necessary to shore up the economy and avoid more carnage. The GOP wasn’t satisfied to merely let the Democrats do all the heavy lifting alone, oh no they took every opportunity to play to the populist anger of those who already desperately wanted to believe that the government wasn’t even legitimate to begin with. The financial collapse, became the health care debate, became the closing Gitmo debate, became the underwear bomber, became Dick Cheney insisting Obama was endangering our safety, became Liz Cheney channeling McCarthy, became hateful angry bigots screaming at our democratically elected officials and feeling justified in doing so, after all the GOP told them that the majority party was doing unspeakable things to them, not for them, to them…
This weekend Sarah Palin was once again on the stump with John McCain, it was the final capitulation of the once proud Senator to the dark side that is tea party politics. I don’t feel sorry for McCain, he made his political bed and deserves his fate, it is the loss of a serious core of honest conservative politics at the heart of the Republican Party that should be mourned. The base of the right doesn’t hold serious conservative principles, the base of the right centers around beliefs like;
That the President holds Socialist views and wants to destroy America
That the President is secretly a Muslim
That the President might not be the legitimate leader of the country
That the Democratic Party violated the constitution to force health care reform
That legislation of the elected majority IS in fact tyranny.
If you want to energize a base like that, be prepared to check your principles at the door. So far it appears that there is no shortage of Republicans willing to jump down that rabbit hole (insert Mad Hater and “shoot off their heads from a helicopter” analogies here).
Ultimately the problem is that the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln as they are proud to point out, have finally, fatefully, fearfully embraced the hate, the vitriol, and the idiotic rhetoric of Sarah Palin and the mindless minions that still consider her relevant. A sad day for America, a sad day for the world and a sad day for thinking people across the political spectrum.
The fall from here will either be the Republican Party or the United States of America the choice is crystal clear and the stakes could not be higher, so here it is America, what will it be, a constitutional scholar of color or a small town bigot who happens to be white?
I await your answer with fascination and horror, in that order.
Sincerely,
credit for the “hatriot” term to it’s creator @Shoq
Well boys and girls it is time to crack out a new analogy to keep you warm for the weekend… Actually the analogy is that of global warming or in this political context, the warming of the Republican Party.
The elected representatives of the GOP seem to me like polar bears trying to stay out of the water of irrelevance by clinging to a ever shrinking base of far right sea ice… They keep scrambling to a base that gets smaller by the day, desperately seeking footing while drifting further and further from the mainland…
Actually the analogy is too sweet to expound upon further, take it where you will.
Newt Gingrich has stepped up to defend government of, by and for the people from, well the people… kinda, well, not so much, well, uh…
“I would condemn any kind of activity that involves that kind of personal threat.
“But look, I think there’s something very disingenuous about the Democratic leaders who attacked the tea party movement, who refused to hold town hall meetings, who refused to go back home, who kept the Congress locked up in Washington, and are now shocked that people are angry.
“I think the Democratic leadership has to take some moral responsibility for having behaved with such arrogance, in such a hostile way, that the American people are deeply upset. So let’s be honest with this. This is a game that they’re playing.
“People should not engage in personal threats. I’m happy to condemn any effort to engage in personal threats. But I think the Democratic leadership has to take some real responsibility for having run a machine that used corrupt tactics, that bought votes, that bullied people, and as a result has enraged much of the American people.”
What “corrupt tactics” exactly do you refer to Newt? Being a majority? Delivering on campaign promises? Refusing to cave to ridiculous hyperbole about the processes of health care reform when the individual elements of the legislation were extremely popular?
I heard your “statements” on NPR while I was driving home this afternoon and I literally started screaming at my radio… And then I took a deep breath and thought “how horrifically irresponsible for Newt to be justifying the actions of the fringe which the GOP helped to inflame with their fantastic claims” and then I took another breath and thought “does Newt really think that people are so stupid to buy this crap?” and then I took another, very deep breath and I realized… Newt Gingrich hasn’t truly been relevant for a decade. Newt Gingrich will say ANYTHING to be relevant or to feel relevant again. Newt Gingrich is a small man, with a small view, who desperately wants people to believe that he is bigger than he is… sorry Newt I still find you irrelevant.
It’s not like everyone hasn’t already seen this…
I just want to have easy access so I can watch it frequently (it’s really that good).
Enough.
Enough wild rhetoric.
Enough with the hate.
Enough with the fear mongering.
Enough veiled threats about Socialist agendas.
Enough un-veiled threats about Socialist agendas.
Enough with the nod and wink when people spew hate.
Enough with claims that the President’s policies are reparations.
Enough with acting like upholding our laws is a dangerous thing.
Enough with the insinuations that our President is a foreign agent.
Enough with the “death panels” and “pulling the plug” distortions.
Enough with the claims that the government is trying to enslave people.
Enough with the maps that have rifle scope symbols to target Democrats.
Enough with turning a blind eye to bigotry and racism for political advantage.
Enough with the mild rebuttal, the rebuke should be delivered with equal vehemence to the vitriolic distortion or YOUR culpability is not diminished.
At the end of the day the Republican Party is responsible for stirring up the fringe of the society that don’t seem to realize that they:
Don’t REALLY mean that the President is foreign.
Don’t REALLY mean that health care reform is Socialism.
Don’t REALLY mean that there will be death panels.
Don’t REALLY mean that the government will take over health care.
Don’t REALLY mean that health care reform is tantamount to enslavement.
Don’t REALLY mean all the rest of the wild bullshit that they have been pushing going all the way back to the Presidential election after all politics ain’t softball right?
Wrong, words matter, it is time to own your words or own the consequences of those words. If the GOP doesn’t back the fuck off on the hate, someone is going to get hurt, I mean really hurt and we will hold those who stirred it up responsible.
I promise.
The United States has had one of it’s toughest years in a generation.
We are engaged in two wars. We live daily with the threat of global terrorism, a belligerent Iran, a fragile Iraq, a defiant North Korea, a precarious Afghanistan and oh yes the worst financial crisis since the great depression…
This year we have faced challenges that may be less dramatic but ultimately just as devastating as the tragedy in the fall of 2001. At that time I might remind everyone the nation came together to face our challenges despite ideological differences. Coming together then required the left to put aside differences from a contentious election for the unity of the country and that is exactly what happened, at least for a time. The Democrats were willing to work with the GOP for the good of the country, hell they were willing to go along with the asinine invasion of Iraq based on manufactured evidence that never exceeded incredulity at least in the eyes of this observer.
But I digress, we were talking about unity… Where has the right been this last year in the face of our enormous challenges? Checked out, whipping up the base, opposing everything that moves all in the name of political gamesmanship. I might also remind the GOP that George W. Bush presided over both the crashing of the planes and the crashing of the economy and even if they despise the idea of Barack Obama their responsibility is to the governance of the country and the problems they were so culpable in creating.
Not that I was present but on a smaller scale it feels like the secessionist movement, a man of color has achieved a status that cannot be processed by an admitted minority of the country and they are ready to stop all functions of the country… even rip the country apart before acknowledging the legitimate leader of the United States of America and work with him in the honest business of the country and it’s people.
Meanwhile Democrats in the face of this hateful rhetoric and fearful hyperbole have passed health care reform without any Republican votes only to have the GOP claim that the Democrats have poisoned the well and they are unlikely to cooperate in the future… are you freaking kidding me? The GOP is threatening not to cooperate? I wonder if “country first” ever meant anything to the GOP and so I can’t resist asking “does it anymore”? The very least the GOP owes this country is a good faith effort at honest debate so let’s start with this. The people didn’t send your sorry asses to Washington so that you could act like petulant children. This is a government of the people by the people and for the people. You work for the people so get off your asses and get to it, step up or step off, secession from the responsible engagement in our government won’t work any better than the south trying to leave to retain attitudes that the country was ready to abandon. If you insist on making yourself useless, the American people would be happy to relegate you to the position permanently, and I for one will help them.
By the time that I publish this post the house will have passed the Senate version of health care reform.
Wow, this has been an incredible process that seems almost more sweet for the extreme hyperbole from the opposing and even occasionally theoretical allied voices. At the end of the day there is still a lot of work to do but certain victories must not be overlooked:
Insurance companies will no longer be able to exclude people for pre-existing conditions.
Insurance companies will no longer be able to rescind your insurance policy when you get sick.
Insurance companies will no longer be able to kick you to the curb to literally die when the cost of your life exceeds a “cap” that they have set beyond which your life is worthless.
The most disingenuous part of the Republican arguments is the ascertain that we are losing freedoms by requiring that the insurance companies can’t throw us on the heap of dead and dying for the health of their bottom lines. We have suffered under the current system for far too long to fall for such hateful and deceitful rhetoric and tonight, finally the United States congress has taken the first step in the greater goal of providing basic health care to the citizens of the United States.
This is far from the last battle in the ongoing war to perfect our union. The healthcare system will still include huge injustices that must be rectified and yet this step changes the dynamic of health care in this country. This will not be the last battle about health care but it is perhaps the most transformational in the history of this country.
Surely this is not the final step.
Surely we have to make the system even more inclusive and comprehensive.
Surely we must stop treating women and their body parts as wedge issues with respect to health care or any other matter of governance.
Surely we must do more…
But just as surely this is a sweet victory and a major step in the perfection of our union.
Yes we did!
