Republicans undiscover fire

[Scuba]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/12/1063989/-Republicans-undiscover-fire?via=blog_1

The economy didn't just crash under a Republican president, it crashed under Republican policies. It crashed with low taxes. It crashed with deregulated markets. It crashed with huge restrictions on union activity. It crashed with massive cuts in environmental regulations. It crashed with lowered trade barriers. It crashed with big fat Pentagon spending.

They got what they wanted. They got CEOs with no limits on their wealth. They got banks with no limits on their "creativity." They got trade agreements that guaranteed manufacturing could be moved to the dirtiest, cheapest, most desperate source available. They got massive cuts in capital gains taxes and equally large boosts in the wealth they could pass along in estates. They got everything they said would make us all wealthy. They got record oil and gas drilling. They got record giveaways of public land. They got everything they said would create jobs. They got the middle class to shoulder more, more, more of the burden so that those beautiful job creators would be free to work their magic.

They can't say the economy crashed because taxes went up, because they didn't. They can't say that the economy crashed because there was a raft of new regulation, because there wasn't. They can't blame it on "union thugs" or Saul Alinsky or the guy who writes Happy Holidays cards at Hallmark. They can't blame it on a president who was elected when the world was already in free fall. Only, of course they do. They say it because they have no choice.

...

The truth is that the Republicans have nothing to offer. Not even anything that looks like a governing philosophy. Conservatism has moved out of the ranks of political theories and simply become a cult; one that requires that certain phrases be mouthed, that certain hatreds be nourished, and that purity be maintained regardless of cost. That schism with reality is increasingly large and increasingly obvious. They try to paper over that gap by dismissing little things like science, reason, history. Real science fails to support their contentions, so they have to write it off. Reason doesn't work for them, so any question must be met with red-faced indignity — every question a gotcha question. Real history is full of warts, quirks, and unfortunate truths that don't fit their ritualized beliefs. So they have to try to rewrite history, giving us rewrite Reagan who never raised a tax or increased a debt, rewrite FDR who created the issues he actually solved, rewrite Lincoln who championed the Confederate cause, rewrite founding fathers who never owned slaves, never supported government regulation of the economy, never wavered in their ardent love for a form of religiosity that didn't yet exist. Tricorner hats are the new tinfoil.

[pinto]

1. "Tricorner hats are the new tinfoil"

Great turn of phrase and right on point.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. And they continue to ignore the 8 years of W. n/t

[HughBeaumont]

15. "Who is this 'dubya' character you speak of? Doesn't ring a bell . . . "

" . . . now if you'll excuse me, Squawk Box is on."

[coalition_unwilling]

3. The sentences that precede your snippet are themselves well worth the read:

"It's not even that what's now coming from the right consists of 100% emotional, fear-based appeals without a factual basis. In 2012, a campaign of suggestive fear-mongering seems almost quaint.

It's that the Republicans have staked out a position that requires that they lie, 24/7, 365. Not shade the facts their way. Not put their own spin on the situation. Lie. Big, sloppy, and constantly.

The lies go beyond instantly dismissible claims like President Obama being the "food stamp president" (why you have to go back one whole administration to discover that more people joined the food stamp ranks under Bush than Obama, but then the Republicans don't seem to remember Bush in any case). The blatant lies extend through every aspect of the Republican platform, such as it is. The simple reason is that the Republicans have no ideas left, at least no ideas that have not been tested and proven to be failures again, and again, and again."

Thanks for posting this well-argued thread from DKos.

[Scuba]

4. It was hard to choose just four paragraphs. Thanks for adding.

[coalition_unwilling]

6. This may be the crux of my disagreement with (and

disappointment in) Obama. To wit, political reality may compel Obama to negotiate with liars and compromise with their lies. But doing so does not make them any less the liars or convert their lies into truth.

What's constantly amazing to me is that even with the insane running the party of lies, roughly 40% will still vote for lies and liars when logic says that only 1-2$ at most should be voting for the party of plutocracy.

[Scuba]

7. Interesting point about negotiating with liars doesn't make their lies into truth....

... as for the electorate, remember that half don't vote at all. I believe that a CIC who was a little more aggressive about exposing the lies and bringing a populist message could inspire a nice chunk of them to go vote.

[lunatica]

14. That's like saying that if Obama had opposed them rather than try to work with them

Last edited Tue Feb 14, 2012, 06:56 PM - Edit history (1)

why they would have just all fallen nicely into line and we'd all be so much better off. What in the world makes you think antagonizing them would have worked? Isn't it obvious that no matter what he did or didn't do they would act exactly as they're acting now? This article tells it like it is. They don't care what the truth is. They just make up whatever they need, including whatever emotion fits the circumstances to achieve their pre-determined goal.

And if any of us think he could have done better by becoming a de facto king or dictator then we're deluding ourselves.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

16. you're so right, lunatica

As much as I wish the Pres would give them the ass kicking they so richly deserve, something loud and unforgettable that would shock and awe the CONservative zombies, it would not have worked. They own the media too, remember, and the specific media they own is what the dumbass public rely on for their world view.

Diplomacy is something I don't do well AT ALL, but then, that's one reason I'm not in any leadership position!!

In the long term, speaking softly while taking action behind the scenes towards a longer term goal is the wisest thing.

[coalition_unwilling]

17. Well, we have only recent history to go on I guess. But when

Obama stuck it to them in December over the payroll tax cut extension and extended UI benefits extension, they folded like the pack of cheap suits they are. So antagonizing them in the interests of the 99% can and does work.

Still, I take your point. Obama is not a dictator (a point I have to make constantly to my further left-leaning friends) and can't simply compel correct behavior, not if we wish to maintain government under a constitution.

[chowder66]

5. Hilarious Title! eom

[geckosfeet]

8. And boeHner and mcConnel fight economic reform at every opportunity.

Their story is and has been that taxes stifle economic recovery (even though all empirical evidence says otherwise) and they are sticking to it - all the way down.

reaGAn did raise taxes - on the poor and middle class. He cut taxes for the wealthy and on investment income and that is all they really care about, so in their 'minds' reAGAn did not raise taxes.

[midnight]

9. K&R!

[opihimoimoi]

10. KnR :o)

[Johonny]

11. They claim it crashed cause liberals force banks to loan money to lazy poor people

the same banks and loan programs Romney made money on in the market, Gingrich lobbied for and the previous administration did nothing but encourage. But hey it's their story and they have to stick to it because the Republican fantasy land can never be disbelieved. This is because once you disbelieve it, you suddenly discover you no longer have a desire to be a Republican.

[lunatica]

12. Wow! Smack dab right in your face truth!

This is great reading

[MadHound]

13. One quibble, this wasn't just the GOP

Clinton deregulated the financial sector more than any other president, and the abolishment of the Glass-Steagall act opened the flood gates that allowed this huge speculative bubble to inflate in the their first place.