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It looks like the GOP is telling Tom DeLay to bend over and grab his ankles. But after dispensing with their unwanted baggage, then what? MandT over at the most excellent Adgita Diaries on the future of the Republican Party:
And perhaps you thought it stood for ‘Grand Old Party’? How about ‘Gassy Oily Patriarchy,’ ‘Greedy Old Predators’, or ‘Gross Omnipotent Pricks’? Little did we realize that a century and a half ago, the the Party of Lincoln meant gas guzzler. It also applies to the economy, whose fuel burning, gas guzzeling, deficit addicted legacy is soon to be bestowed by our GOP in power….It was Clinton, a Democrat, who overhauled the ‘welfare system’ in America, not the Republicans. The Bushies want to eliminate it completely and let your local Christian Church hand out food, shelter, and hope on condition of conversion. Well, that eliminates several hundred million who don’t want to be Christians. That is a large number of pissed-off, angry Americans.
Economic and social justice is expensive, but mandatory to a healthy society, because it ultimately insures a greater degree of stability. Jesus has nothing to do with it. What do Bush Republicans think is going to happen when the middle and working class start failing at a greater degree; when the credit bubble bursts; when pensions bcome nil; when social security benefits get so reduced that meaningful quality of life gets reduced; when ‘average’ Americans get ill and die without full government intervention as in the Shiavo case; when we lose homes, jobs and hope?
It will come to governmental instability and revolution. America will be no different from any other extended imperial power run by autocrats. It will face rebellion and violent reaction. It’s time for Congress to stand behind the real needs of this American nation and stop the Bush impirium or its members and vested interests will not be able to spend luxurious pensions and extended benefits in neighborhoods safe from reprisal. The heat is on. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Justice.
I often wonder what the GOP vision of the future is. I always come up with some really ugly science fiction dystopia with the poor forced to breathe toxic gasses and selling their organs for food, and then I think it’s time to lay off the Pepsi for a while. But how exactly does the GOP think the future is going to mold itself with no social security, no health care, and no middle class? What kind of a net is going to be there to keep us from falling into that kind of desperately economically stratified world? I always end up thinking that maybe they don’t look that far — that really they can’t see beyond their own self-interest in the moment and their craven lust for power. Which is ugly but not quite as cyincal as I often think they must be if they ever actually stop to consider the consequences of their plans.
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I was just about to start wondering why it is that the Patriot Act isn’t doing more to catch DeLay in his evil ways?
Then I remembered that old adage, do as I say not as I do. Oh and stock the ethics commite with your yes men.
The very thought of Tom DeLay bending over and grabing his ankles sounds like one of those evil conspiracies the former, now tainted , head of the American Boy Scout Association was so worried about –if not getting caught at. It is interesting to note that it was Internet surveillance allowed under the Patriot Act that nailed Mr. Smith’s taste for child porn. We would like to see as much devotion to the various DeLay cases. It seems that is happening. If Senator Bill Friest sees the video and declares DeLay totally wholesome and alive then we can be rest assured that democracy is finally brain dead in America. But Friest, who wants to president after Bush, is rapidly becoming one of the dung beetles on the manure pile anxiously trying to carve out his piece of the power.Tom DeLay is a tacky redoux of “I am not a crook.” It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. They say fish rots from the head down–the current Texas clique of surf and turf in D.C. is giving the nation ptomain poisioning.
mandT
Re: DeLay–It’s an unfortunate truism that Americans care not a whit about unethical behavior when said behavior is exhibited by those with whom they are ideologically aligned. As a result, conservatives have turned a blind eye to many DeLay actions which would’ve caused a sh*tstorm if perpetrated by a Democrat. This of course works both ways.
But I’m feeling rather hopeful now; DeLay’s recent grandstanding has many conservatives worried, as do his poll numbers. Nothing would be better for the left than for moderate conservatives to have to distance themselves from the extremists (even Frist is backing down now).
As for the “GOP vision of the future,” I also wonder if the opposition has one.
Excellent obsevations on the GOP and Bushenomics. As The Chemist said, “it’s a vicious cycle, but, I think it’s exactly what they want”. Keeps us all tettering on the edge.
It has always seemed to me that the Republicans were incapable of looking forward to the future, except as it relates to geopolitics. They are very good at trying to mold the world to fit their vision of what the world will need to be secure in the future; whether their vision is right or their methods moral is a matter of some debate.
But just look at things like their energy and environmental policies, a topic of discussion on my blog from time to time. The rejection of Kyoto and Cheney’s new energy policy are short-term measures designed to get our economy out of the hole into which George W has driven it; they give little or no regard to the long-term welfare of the planet.
Other good examples are those you bring up of welfare, social security and the erosion of the middle class. The Republicans are interested in keeping power now; in a few years when they’re in danger of slipping out of power they’ll make a couple more quick fixes and keep power a few more years. It’s a vicious cycle, but I think it’s exactly what they want.
I’ve got to stop thinking about these things so early in the day…how am I supposed to do research today when I’m this depressed now?
Here’s one vision that is credible — and disconcerting:
Kunstler
(And you and I have got to stop having the same thoughts at the same time, it’s also disconcerting.)