Three, Three, Three Blogs in One!

I’ve been pretty quiet of late but in view of the health care cluster fuck and it’s eventual passing I feel a good venting is in order. What the hell is it going to take for the Republican party to see how self destructive they have become? I have said before that the Republicans, as we know them, are dead. I base this on their behavior, their tactics, and the extremely large percentage of their membership base that believes Obama wasn’t born in the USA, that the new health plan will kill off their aging relatives, and that Sarah Palin is actually qualified to run this country (or, as I prefer to call them… morons).

I gleefully read three articles recently that were extremely supportive of my position. One from a blogger named Russell King who, like me, used to actually BE a Republican (did you know that about me?...). A quick word about that. When I think of myself as I was back then, it is very easy to place myself in the selfish category (as opposed to the misguided or ignorant category). If I didn’t know you AND like you I basically didn’t give a shit about you. I hated paying taxes (MY MONEY). I thought people who needed assistance were totally at fault for their plight (some are… but most aren’t). Basically, I was an arrogant prick. Sound familiar? But back to the blogger!

It’s a lengthy piece but well worth the read. He chastises the party for a myriad of faults and links his accusations to proof that he’s right! Now, I didn’t click on every link…. But I clicked on enough to validate the dude. He’s done his homework. He breaks down their transgressions into four basic categories. These are hypocrisy, hyperbole, historical inaccuracy, and hatred. Then he proceeds to tee off on their sorry asses in a way that just made me feel warm all over. I wish I’d done it. He fucking skewers them. You can read it for yourself here.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/americandad/2010/03/an-open-letter-to-conservative.php

If you are a Democrat you are going to love it. Trust me. If you are a Republican, read it and weep. And I don’t want to hear your whining, juvenile, baseless, responses. For once in your pathetic, right dwelling, low life existences, shut the fuck up and take your medicine. You deserve it. You’ve been acting like third graders for far too long and it’s time you faced the music.

The second piece is written by a liberal named Bob Herbert. You’ve probably heard of him. He does an Op-Ed column for the NY Times. Has also had a lot of face time on local NY TV and national news as well. He goes after what he calls an “absence of class” in the GOP. He makes his case by citing multiple examples (all easily verified) including the recent protesters that first mocked, then threw dollar bills at a guy with Parkinson’s. If you haven’t seen the video, Google it. One would hope this incident would turn many right thinking Americans away from the party but there’s more. He speaks to the protesters that hurled out vitriolic and hateful slurs and one that actually spit on a black Congressman. This is the “Grand Old Party”? And the truly disgusting reality is that prior to being slapped around in the media, the GOP didn’t say dick about it. I’m convinced that deep down, maybe even the good ones (if there are any left… Colin Powell comes to mind) are willing to tolerate it because it riles up the morons and garners votes. It’s pretty sick shit. You can read Bob’s column here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/opinion/23herbert.html

Lefties might not be as “amused” by this one because the behavior covered is nothing less than disgusting. My mind becomes flooded with fantasies when I read it. And they aren’t pretty. I’m thinking huge mob that attacks and beats beats these assholes to within an inch of their pathetic, ignorant lives. But I immediately realize that like behavior isn’t the answer. The answer is a continued ass kicking at the polling places.

The third article is my favorite. I mean Russell and Bob make great points. And there really is no rational argument that can dispute those points. I think I’ve mentioned my conservative “friend” from college. You know, the one who ultimately “DE-friended” me on Facebook? He actually argued that Russell was irrelevant and Bob was a “libtard” so their positions are meaningless. I love it when he or others on the right use that term. As I pointed out to him, in trying to discount me he actually validates my position when he employs a term that you could consider denigrating to both liberals (tolerable) and those that suffer a handicap (not tolerable). I refer to GW as THE MORON (yes, I capitalize it) but that’s because he is one. I do NOT liken him to the disadvantaged. But I’m off point….

The third article is written by a conservative. In fact,he’s a prominent conservative. David Frum is a former speech writer for THE MORON. My “de-friended” friend discounts him because he hails from Canada. I guess people from Canada aren’t allowed to have opinions. I believe his rationale on this one was that Frum’s mind had become fallow, basting in the socialism that is the Canadian Government. Wow… some really sound arguments don’t you think? He’s made me realize that not only is there a large percentage of morons in the Republican Party, but that being a member can actually turn you into a moron! I mean this guy used to be quite intelligent. What the fuck happened? It’s one thing to have an opinion. But it certainly gives one pause when that opinion is argued by taking a page from the playbook of the village idiot (and my heartfelt apologies to all the village idiots out there…. No offense intended). But AGAIN I’m off point….

SO, David just lambastes the shit out of the party. Wow is it ever fun to read. He says it with vigor (that was for you PJ)! He speaks to the health care passage as the Republican’s “most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.” He says it’s “hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster” (I love that). He states the GOP’s position as one of no compromise, and no negotiating and then states they went for “all the marbles and got NOTHING” (I love that too). He then goes on (and I commend him for it… apparently one of the few honest Republicans left) to explain that what was passed was not very different from the Republican proposals when Clinton pushed health care. Read that again…. Not much difference between what we have and what was proposed by the right. And there’s more…. He points out that attempts to repeal this thing are pipe dreams. It ain’t going to happen. And MORE… he explains how following the most radical voices in the party led them all to this crushing slaughter. This is beautiful stuff made even more so because it’s a conservative saying it.

Then, he states that there were those in the party that might have been willing to make a deal. That, however, was rendered impossible by the nut jobs on FOX and their ilk. Read the last two paragraphs of the piece and giggle like a school girl (if you're a Democrat... if you're a Republican you won't have anything resembling an urge to giggle). Boy does he ever nail it. A huge defeat for the party… but a big win for those that make their living preying on those aforementioned morons. Read it here…

http://www.frumforum.com/waterloo

I took the time this week to call my Congressman (they probably have a file on me by now) who is a Republican and who I voted for (just couldn’t bring myself to vote for the Democrat in this one. No experience and a little too “eager”. Like I said, I’m really a left leaning centrist and this guy seemed to have potential to lead and not follow. Back in the day he was the Sheriff/lead detective in the Green River Serial Killer case). I politely explained that I was incredibly disappointed in his vote. I pointed out that I found it very hard to believe that not one… again, NOT ONE single Republican found the bill worthy of a yea. I asked his aide if he or the Congressman didn’t see how that might be considered partisan politics. After all, not every single Democrat voted yea. Some voted nay. How is it possible that every single Republican was truly against this bill. I mean there must be some, somewhere, hiding maybe, but there, that supported it. Or at least saw some merit. But every single Republican voted nay. Anyway, I explained to the aide that I would not be voting for the Congressman again. I will vote for the Green River Killer if he runs against him as a Democrat. I’m done with this spineless shithead. Fuck him.

Now I joke around a lot but here’s the tragedy of this. Like it or not, we are a two party system. Yeah, the occasional free spirit gets elected but for the most part, this country is run by Republicans and Democrats. When one of those parties becomes as fucked up as the GOP is right now, we can get lopsided. There’s no balance. As a left leaning centrist this concerns me almost as much as a strong GOP (not AS much mind you). The next year or two could prove to be very interesting. Will the Republican Party wake up and throw all the bottom feeders they’ve been collecting overboard? Will they move towards the center? Or will they come up with a new strategy that accumulates a new set of “intellectually challenged” dolts that vote in direct opposition to their own best interest. Will the Democrats kick MAJOR ass over the next few years and force the right to examine what has become of them? I don’t think we will see any major failures of the new health care system born of this landmark legislation. Sure, there will be positives and negatives. But when the American people see benefits, one would think that undercurrent of rage and distrust would disseminate or be rejected out of hand by the right’s less radical thinkers. One would think this would be fertile ground for change. But when the more vocal elements of your party include “birthers”, folks that believe in “death panels”, and Sarah Palin, I’m not sure change is possible. Time will tell.

Peace,

Common Sense

Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

I’ve been absent for awhile but this was too good to ignore. The RNC put together a fund raising presentation that, as stated by Steve Pendlebury of AOL News, “lays out a strategy to fan fears that President Barack Obama is moving the country towards socialism”. Now, this really isn’t a surprise. I’ve been ranting and raving about the use of fear mongering and misinformation on the part of the Republican Party for a long, long time. What this does however, is confirm that I’m right. And it’s not a third party confirmation. It’s confirmation by none other than the perpetrators of these actions. It’s really too good to be true. Except of course that the right leaning target audience will remain too stupid to understand what’s happening so little will likely change. But it’s a start.

They split the donor base into two main categories. One is major donors, further defined by “calculated giving”. Among these are “ego driven”, “peer to peer pressure”, “networking opportunities”, “wall of fame”. What does it all mean? Sounds to me like a bunch of rich guys with egos sitting around in a perverse contest of sorts to see who’s the biggest, baddest, republican in town. Could these be those selfish rich folks I’ve been talking about that make up the controlling segment of the party? There are probably some of the misguided ones as well who think they are with the right team. But this isn’t the good part….

The good part is the segment under Direct Marketing. This is further defined by “visceral giving”. Keep in mind that these are contributions based on instinctive “feelings” or reactions. This is not in any way tied to intellect. And the party knows it. They labeled it visceral. Included under visceral giving is “fear”, “extreme negative feeling towards existing administration”, “reactionary”, “issue/circumstantially oriented”. In other words… morons. OK, maybe I’m overstating and oversimplifying. So to be fair, you define them (but I’m sticking with morons).

Now, that’s not all. There’s a great slide that portrays the “Evil Empire”. It’s headed by two of the artistically interpreted (blue and red) photos of Obama that became so famous, one with hope, the other with progress emblazoned below the photo. Surrounding these are; the now infamous shot of Obama as the Joker (Batman) emblazoned with socialism, Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” (which we, as a society, seem to have a lot of fun playing around with) with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s faces photo shopped in, a caricature portraying Pelosi as Cruella DeVille (their spelling, not mine), and then Harry Reid as none other than Scooby Doo. Have I not likened the ravings of the Republican Party to what you might hear in an elementary school yard? Scooby Doo? Really? Scooby Doo?

So there you have it. The Republican Party has now gone on record that they are very willing to exploit fear, prey on lack of intellect, turn fundraising into an egomaniacal art form, and best of all, actually use the name Scooby Doo in an official fundraising presentation. Scooby Doo? I’m still a dizzy from laughing so hard. Scooby Doo? There’s a bumper sticker I’m fond of. It says “What would Scooby Doo?” Well, it begs the question… “Just what WOULD Scooby Doo if he could vote?” You tell me…..

Peace,

Common Sense