They're filth. There.
I said it. They're filthy people. They cheat, they lie, they are ruthless, and they have zero integrity. Worse ...when they lie and cheat, they hide behind little old ladies while they do it. "They" are Republicans, and they are destroying our country. They are destroying something truly beautiful.
Today, up now on the frontpage, is a story about the Republicans using robocalls to make six, seven, eight calls in a row to voters. The robocalls are designed to sound -- at least, in the beginning -- as though Democrats are generating them. If the listener bothers to listen long enough, the robocall bashes Democrats. But if the listener hangs up too soon, the robocall just redials. It's harassing. It's maddening. It's infuriating to listeners who, naturally, blame the Democrats for the harassment. The NRCC, which is behind the robocalls, won't pull them. It's a dirty trick being played by filthy people. We've got to stop them. And we have to do it while not becoming them.
Remember those obnoxious Enron traders? The ones who were recorded having a telephone conversation in which they were laughing about ripping off old ladies in California? I'm not sure where to find the full transcripts of those conversations, but the flavor can be gleaned from
CBS News:
...Four years after California's disastrous experiment with energy deregulation, Enron energy traders can be heard - on audiotapes obtained by CBS News - gloating and praising each other as they helped bring on, and cash-in on, the Western power crisis.
"He just f---s California," says one Enron employee. "He steals money from California to the tune of about a million."
"Will you rephrase that?" asks a second employee.
"OK, he, um, he arbitrages the California market to the tune of a million bucks or two a day," replies the first.
[snip]
Officials with the Snohomish Public Utility District near Seattle received the tapes from the Justice Department....That utility, like many others, is trying to get its money back from Enron.
"They're f------g taking all the money back from you guys?" complains an Enron employee on the tapes. "All the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers in California?"
"Yeah, grandma Millie, man"
"Yeah, now she wants her f------g money back for all the power you've charged right up, jammed right up her a------ for f------g $250 a megawatt hour."
[snip]
Before the 2000 election, Enron employees pondered the possibilities of a Bush win.
"It'd be great. I'd love to see Ken Lay Secretary of Energy," says one Enron worker.
That didn't happen, but they were sure President Bush would fight any limits on sky-high energy prices.
"When this election comes Bush will f------g whack this s--t, man. He won't play this price-cap b------t."
Crude, but true.
"We will not take any action that makes California's problems worse and that's why I oppose price caps," said Mr. Bush on May 29, 2001.
The Enron sleazebags actually bragged about stealing from old ladies -- stealing money from "grandma Millie" -- like it was the coolest thing in the world, instead of the most reprehensible.
That's exactly what the NRCC is doing. It is the most reprehensible thing in the world to cheat and lie to the little old ladies who answer those robocalls. Those 'grandma Millies' and 'grandpa Phils' won't have a clue what's going on. They won't hear on the news that the Republicans are behind this loathsome tactic for clinging to power. They won't know they're being harassed by the very same corrupt people they're being enticed to vote for. They'll probably never know. I can't think of anything more cowardly than the Republicans hiding behind grandma Millie and grandpa Phil -- using them as shields for their filth. Grandma Millie and Grandpa Phil will vote Republican because they'll think the Democrats are awful people. And the result is that the people who really are awful will be -- will remain -- in power.
Oh, you bastards. You really are ruining this country. There is hope that any of our problems can be solved, just as long as our democracy itself is constituted with integrity. But once you've corrupted the building blocks of our democracy, none of this nation's other gifts or blessings matter. Because once you've corrupted the building blocks of our democracy, none of this great nation's other gifts and blessings can even be brought to bear. Competency will not matter because competency cannot get elected. Creativity will not matter because creativity cannot get elected. Honesty, intelligence, strength, selflessness, sacrifice, loyalty ...none of those gifts and graces will matter, because once the Republicans corrupt this system, none of those marvelous qualities of the American people can get elected.
The best qualities of our nation --.the grit of the our pioneers, the intelligence of our Native Americans, the competence of our former slaves, the selflessness of our immigrants, the loyalty of our soldiers, the strength of our women, the perseverance of our students, the boldness of our scientists, the ingeniousness of our farmers, the steady hand of our teachers -- .none of these gifts matter if they cannot be elected. And these are the qualities that make up the living body of America. When the Republicans corrupt the political process such that ordinary people cannot vote in a system of impeccable integrity, they take the body of America and imprison it.
President Bush and the Republicans are trying to strip this entire nation of the only form of habeas corpus that really means anything; they are trying to lock down the living spirit of our country. The Republicans are trying to haul America herself to Gitmo, and hold her there. Indefinitely. Bush enables the Republicans, just like he enabled the Enron scams; the Republicans gladly return the favor, enabling his every degradation of democratic tripartite government.
At the beginning of this rant, I said we have to stop them without becoming them. I know...I know. I've heard every argument about our bringing knives to this gunfight. Only ...this isn't a gunfight. The one thing everybody knows, is that if you've got a gun, you'd better be ready to shoot. If Democrats pretend this democracy of ours is a gunfight -- if we're ready to turn the public square into the O.K. Corral, then make no mistake about it; the wardens who imprison this great nation will have done nothing except to change the uniforms of the guards from red to blue. That's not good enough. That's just not good enough. I don't want a blue Gitmo, dammit. I want a Red, White, and Blue America.
I don't know how to do this except the old-fashioned way. Make relationships, get to know the voters, make phone calls, go door-to-door, tell people what's good about Democrats, and above all, don't become Republicans in name or deed. Because right now, at this point in the history of our nation, the kinds of Republicans who do those robocalls -- the NRCC and its ilk -- are not worthy to lead us. They are filth.
That's right. I said it.