Saturday, August 09, 2008

Republicans, Party of What Ideas?

My pal Nothstine has an article up over at P3 regarding this question. I don't read Nothstine because we agree, though we generally do, I read him because he's a good writer with a 'voice' I enjoy. You'll enjoy his take on where The Party of Ideas has gone.

Republicans will take the most simple minded, in fact stupid, approach to darn near any issue in their appeal to voters. Gen Wesley Clark had the temerity to suggest that there is nothing involved in getting shot down in a fighter bomber over N Vietnam that is a recommendation for the Presidency. The Republican response was to scream that John McCain's service had been attacked. Anybody paying any attention at all would find that this means that every POW ought to run because they've got the Right Stuff. I don't propose that crashing airplanes disqualifies McCain and I don't propose that he didn't behave bravely, I'm just not impressed with either regarding the Presidency. He was a crappy student, a crappy pilot, a crappy Senator, and he's a crappy potential President. It is a stupid argument, it is meaningless, it appeals to nothing other than some kind of militaristic pride.

Trickle down economics were proposed as something new by St Ronnie Reagan and has proven to be a disaster every time it's been tried, by him and since. The appeal to stupidity is two fold, one is that wealth needs help being wealthy - it just isn't historically or contemporaneously accurate. The other piece is that there is something new in the idea, somehow the era of The Robber Barons has escaped notice in this equation and no one seems to notice that the unbridled acquisition of wealth did not tickle down to anyone. The nation came very close to coming apart as a result of the economics of the Robber Baron period. People actually believe that Republican crap. Hey, laborer, those rich folks will spend lots of money on stuff you make - like hell they will. They don't buy that stuff unless you make yachts or private jets, and not many do.

You will find some of the most astonishingly stupid ideas bruited about as something to do with any damn thing that will stand up to reason. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that running very expensive wars "on the cuff" will create problems with money in government and the people who bought into Republican fiscal conservatism bought in hook, line, and sinker.

Gays are a bigger threat to this nation than a broke, broken government that uses the Constitution as toilet paper - honestly. Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears mean what? People who take that seriously could have their heads opened and used as spittoons and be fuller of sense.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good writing, Chuck, hope you do more of this.
The Tears of agony Reagan and his deciples have caused need to be brought out into the open.
Clinton has just as much to answer for, also.