The REAL STORY behind the failed Republican Congress, and why we need to kick the bums out

[civildisoBDence]

Ever since Reagan, Republicans have operated under a mindset that government is the problem, not the solution.

In the Gipper's own words:

"Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."
"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."

A party that has no faith in government, once in power, would be expected to shrink the size and scope of government. That would be perfectly logical.

When they took Congress in 1994, the followers of Reagan and Newt Gingrich had exactly that in mind.

But with the ascendency of cynical, self-serving Republicans like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Tom Delay, Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, and Jack Abramoff, the Republican Party increasingly attracted candidates who spun Reagan's philosophy in a truly evil direction.

Instead of doing their self-perceived civic duty and trying to shrink government, they went into politics in order to subvert, manipulate, and otherwise pervert the democratic process for their own gain.

In order to maximize that gain, these Republicans were more than happy to grow the size and scope of government. That's why under George W. Bush, the size of the federal government has grown by nearly 50%. At the same time, the number of lobbyists has more than doubled.

What an odd way to solve the "problem" of government--make it bigger and more intrusive! Empower a whole new class of parasites who represent special interests!

That may work for a bully like Tom Delay, or a bully like George Bush, but for the rest of the country and the rest of the world, it doesn't work at all.

Between the corruption, croneyism, and cynicism that animate this perverse brand of Republicanism, we've seen a series of catastrophes unprecedented in American governance:

Iraq.
Katrina.
The trade deficit.
The national debt.
The federal deficit.
Empowerment of new enemies.
Alienation of traditional allies.
Subversion of the electoral process.
Perversion of the legislative process.
Undermining of the separation of powers.
Undermining of the theory of checks and balances.
Pre-emptive war. Torture. Rendition. Detainee abuse.
Signing statements that undermine laws even as they're signed into law.

This crop of Republicans

DOESN'T BELIEVE IN GOVERNANCE.

They DON'T BELIEVE IN GOVERNING!!!

So how the hell do we expect them to GOVERN???

Our democracy, or republic, has been hijacked by cynical, self-serving would-be tyrants.

They deserve to be swept out of power, held to account, and punished for what they've done to this country.

Today will be a good start...but the work is just beginning if we hope to restore the rule of law, our moral authority, and the principles on which our government was founded.


Satire as thick as a president's skull

Newsprism