Republican Hypocrites

When I hear people like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich accuse Judge Sotomayor of “reverse racism”, why do I think they mean “racism” other than the way they want it?

When I hear “Right to Life” people celebrating the murder of a doctor in his church, why do I think they mean the right to take someone else’s life?

When I hear Republicans talk about a “Big Tent”, why do I think they mean the tent they want middle-class families to live in after losing their homes to foreclosures?

When I hear Republicans use the term “National Security”, why do I anticipate hearing something about why we should be afraid?

When I hear Republicans talk about “Judicial Activists”, why do I think of the “Bush v. Gore” Supreme Court decision?

When I hear Republicans talk about gay marriage as a threat to the “institution” of marriage, why do I think about Republicans voting against medical insurance for children and getting arrested in a public restroom soliciting gay sex?

Sure, I’m picking on Republicans – its fun to insult the falsely self-righteous, religious “Conservatives” who “hate their next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace”. But the Dems have their greatest hits too. The Dems have their own particular strain of hypocrisy. It is not usually dressed in religious rhetoric. It’s usually related to being cowardly and compliant in the face of GOP nonsense. Take the Torture issue and Truth Commission as examples… or the Patriot Act or the FISA Act as others…

…Dick Cheney allegedly supports gay marriage (saying that everyone should experience “enhanced relationship techniques”). Yeah, right.

What Does It Mean for Obama to Fail?

When Rush Limbaugh says he wants President Obama to fail, what does it mean? If the President fails to accomplish his goals then it means:

1. The collapse of the US economy and full scale depression with unemployment exceeding 25%, and millions of Americans losing their life savings and their homes.
2. The social safety net for Americans will disappear: no unemployment insurance, no Medicare and the end of guaranteed Social Security benefits.
3. The end of the US auto industry and what is left of our manufacturing capacity, the end of unions. The end of living wages – most American workers will be paid third world wages.
4. Increasing dependence on foreign oil with higher fuel prices for every American.
5. Less access to or no medical treatment at all for most Americans who will have no insurance.
6. Most Americans will not be able to afford a college education and the Public School System will be underfunded and even less effective. Most Americans will get their High School diploma from a private school or not at all.
7. Taxes will be increased on most Americans to expand the welfare system for multi-national corporations.
8. 99% of all wealth will be redistributed to less than 1% of the richest Americans.
9. The government’s control over our lives will increase: they will have the right to spy on every American without a warrant, arrest and detain any American without a court hearing, and any access to the Courts to sue a corporation for damages will end.

That is what Limbaugh Conservatives mean when they say they want President Obama to fail. That is the Conservative agenda for America. Conservatives hate what America stands for.

CPAC

The Conservative Political Action Committee held its conference over the weekend and it was interesting to listen to some of the speeches which included Rush Limbaugh and a teenager who authored a book explaining the principles of Conservatism. I think that Limbaugh Conservatism is markedly different from the Conservatism of Buckley era. The Limbaugh Conservatism is decidedly NOT libertarian and advocates for restricting individual liberties based on religious, not political, principles. Thus in terms of social policy, the Limbaugh Conservatives are a marked disconnect from the libertarian, or at least tolerant, tradition of the Buckley era. The same disconnect appears with regard to foreign policy. American Conservatism historically tended to be isolationist in contrast to the activism of the neo-cons. Now that the neo-cons have been so thoroughly repudiated by reality, it will be interesting to see what direction their foreign policy will take. Speaking of reality, what do we make of their economic policies now that their cornerstone policy of an unregulated free market has precipitated a second depression? Limbaugh Conservatism produces interesting sound bites, but it lacks coherence and the reality of how miserably they have failed over the last 8 years makes it obvious why the intellectual backbone of their movement are novel writing teenagers (or Bobby Jindal).

Ain’t that America

Here are a few post-Inauguration Day thoughts…

Is anyone really surprised that Bush’s reactionary appointee to the Supreme Court could not read the U.S. Constitution correctly?

Some pundits were criticizing the people who were disrespectful to Bush and Cheney as they were leaving. Maybe if they had respected us and our rights they would get some respect back. I am one of many who believe that they should be investigated for the apparent way they broke many laws while in office. If we truly want to break with the past, we should hold office-holders who break the law accountable. Maybe it would be a disincentive for future office-holders. The problem is that so many in Congress, including many powerful Democrats, were complicit in breaking laws such as warrant-less spying and torture. As much as I hate to say it, maybe Obama is right to leave it as he did in the Inaugural speech – reject what they did as ineffective and wrong.

Whenever I see people like Congressman Boehner talk about how “Conservatives” want to lessen the role of government and restore fiscal responsibility, I can’t decide between laughing my rear off or strangling them. Do they have any idea what a joke they have become after the last 8 years?

If anyone doubts what the true nature of American “Conservatives” are, listen to the hate spewing from people like Rush Limbaugh. He made news the other day by expressing his hope that Obama will fail as President. Cultural “Conservatives” like Rush have a thinly disguised hatred of our Country. They are no different than the Taliban, who justify destroying everything to create a society based on their religious delusions. People who are religious like them can barely contain the hatred they defend against psychologically with their religions. We should confront people who listen to Rush about why they hate our Country so much.

So many Americans of so many races, religions and ages celebrating together on the National Mall and not one arrest. To quote Mellencamp “Ain’t that America? Something to see…Ain’t that America? Home of the free…” Freedom is not a narrow road. It is a broad highway.

It’s good to be American again.