At Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall just published a message from a reader who notes that the combatants in the latest GOP mini-civil war -- Karl Rove and the tea party -- were actually allies not long ago, united in their support for just about everything the Bush/Cheney administration did.
Andrew Sullivan agrees, and wonders when someone in the GOP will repudiate the Bush presidency:
Someone in the GOP needs to take Bush-Cheney apart, to show how they created the debt crisis we are in, by throwing away a surplus on unaffordable tax cuts, launching two unfunded wars, and one new unfunded entitlement. They need to take on the war crimes that has deeply undermined the soul of the United States. They need to note the catastrophic negligence that gave us the worst national security lapse since Pearl Harbor (9/11) despite being warned explicitly in advance, accept weak and false intelligence to launch a war they were too incompetent to fight or win, sat back as one of the worst hurricanes all but took out a major city, and was so negligent in bank regulation that we ended up with Lehman and all that subsequently took place.But why would any Republican do this? They can argue that most of these policies have been resounding successes.
Yes, the tax cuts are unsustainable, but they're now sacrosanct -- Republicans wanted to make them all permanent, while Democrats have insisted on locking them in for everyone but the rich. Government-sanctioned torture, once unthinkable, is now celebrated in movies and on TV, and much of what's worst about America's post-9/11 foreign policy -- Gitmo, rendition, indefinite detention -- is still in place. In fact, Republicans are talking about Chuck Hagel as if the neocons were right about Al Qaeda and Iraq, and are right about Iran right now -- and they're getting away with it, because not enough Americans have learned to feel disgust for them.
Financial regulation? Both parties agree with the Bush-era principle that banks and bankers can't be seriously punished, while Too Big to Fail can't be dismantled and Wall Street transaction taxes can't be imposed, nor can special tax treatment of hedge-fund income be ended.
Katrina? Hey, displacement plus the demonization of the Democratic mayor of New Orleans helped make a somewhat purple state much redder. What's for Republicans to dislike?
And meanwhile, Republicans control a majority of states, which gives them the wherewithal to gerrymander, disenfranchise, bust unions, make taxation regressive, and severely restrict reproductive rights.
Why on earth would Republicans think they're failing? Things are looking pretty damn good for them.
Well, that cheered me right up. The truth does hurt.
ReplyDeleteIts true. And these guys are like a pitbull attached to your leg. They are not letting go of whatever power they have left
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised Karl Rove is never going to repudiate the Bush/Cheney what ever it was ...because it was his "greatest" moment! The reality is he unleashed the monster. he was behind powering up the extreme emotional rump of the GOP.
ReplyDeleteWhat his myopia (standard operating procedure for GOP voters)didn't learn from history the aftermath of the French revolution, The Civil War or literature Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" or R.L. Stevenson's "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde". When you encourage/release the dark side of human nature it's not always that easy to control from going too far, ... lynch mob mentality (facts and reason don't matter) .
Sadly the United States Constitution reflect the founding fathers' prejudices and base attitudes of self interest over the whole point of society i.e. a common wealth.
The rump having been inculcated with the faux reasoning of ' excess/good(s)= wealth= power= good' has evolved into 'greed is productive (sic) therefore good', now believe they are on a mission from God.
In short the powers that are are now trying to control the beast they have unleashed as their foot soldiers.
What these powers didn't understand is that the foot soldiers now want the wealth and power (spoils of war) for themselves. And like in the French revolution they'll discover they are unequipped to run a society. What will follow is they'll turn on each other blaming the others for the failure until a charismatic/ dictator emerges to form order from the chaos. See what happened to the 'liberals' in all of these examples: ancient Roman republic then emperors , Genghis Kahn to his grandson Emperor of China. French Revolution then Napoleon, Russian Revolution then Stalin. Germany before Hitler, Afghanistan after the Russians to the Taliban.
The reality of life is that we want/ need order, predictability both are based in the principles of society. Part of that is the NEED to limit the dark side of human nature. The rump of society don't recognise the the importance of NEED over WANT. The more they get the more they want apparently to their own destruction.
i.e. endless wars over dominance (want for more), excessive/ profligate (unsustainable ) consumption (profit generated consumerism). The end result of which is violence (unnecessary) against each other , competition over 'gods', toxic pollution, destruction for arable land in favor Mcmansions, cash crops, pollution of potable water , Anthropomorphic Climate Change et al.
Sad really it doesn't have to be that way.
I'd think that Sully would know, that to today's Conservatives, "denial," IS just a river in Egypt.
ReplyDeleteThey try to deny W's existence every day.
And watch as they try to keep denying that George W. Bush was ever their President, and political and spiritual leader - the rightful heir to Ronald "Maximus" Reagan.
No, they'll say, he was just some painter they once knew.
And yes, the Republican Party is doing just fine in too many states, and far too many districts - but they want it ALL!
Sure, it's fun to be a Cardinal, but who wouldn't rather be The Pope?
Still, they're having the Civil War, and I'm kind of enjoying watching it.
I can't tell a Republican Hatfield from a Republican McCoy, but I sure do love that they're fueding - as long as they keep firing at one another, and not at the rest of us, like they've been doing for over 40 years.
"Government-sanctioned torture, once unthinkable, is now celebrated in movies and on TV[.]"
ReplyDeletePshaw. Merely un-thought of, surely?
While history may indeed mark George W Bush "The Worst Presdency Ever", make no mistake, mark no error, The Cheney Administration accomplished everything it set out to. I agree, the Egg-Sucking Dog Party is enjoying a high degree of success.
ReplyDeleteThere is only one cure for an egg-sucking dog.
No fear...