Being a Republican used to mean you were in favor of lower taxes and less government. However, today’s Republicans have decided that they should also tell Americans who they should love, what religion they should be, and how they should deal with a woman’s pregnancy. They also are against programs that help children, the elderly, veterans, and the poor. Their decisions do not seem to be based on logic. It’s not what is best for America, but what is good for the Koch’s and the other greedy one percent. They accomplish this by lying and distorting the truth, using voter suppression, ignoring science, and using their unholy alliance with the Christian evangelicals. It is my belief this has turned into a culture war. A war on Americans where the last line of defense is the liberal thinkers of this country. I am convinced there is currently a fight for the soul of our country and Liberals are the one’s who are leading the fight.
Bill Clinton once said when people are educated they vote for Democrats. However, Republicans think education is of little value. They have tried charter schools instead of public schools. In Columbus, there were 17 failures of charter schools in one year. Since 1997, 29% of all charter schools have failed. Yet Republicans still chortle that charter schools are going to save public education. It begs the question, when? Republicans also have shown disdain for college students. Several days ago a bill to help reduce college debt became stalled in the Senate. Republicans were the dissenters. “The proposal before the Senate is not a serious proposal,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. Tell that to the thousands of college graduates working two jobs to pay off their student debt. The fact is, Republicans do not want a more intelligent population.The Republicans would rather have children who have been indoctrinated with their perverted ideology, like intelligent design instead of evolution and the teaching of climate change as fantasy.
One of the tactics successfully used by the GOP is labeling theory. The idea that if you call someone or something a new term long enough, it tends to become the truth. For instance one part of the Affordable Care Act became called death panels by Republicans. They asserted the government would decide whether the elderly or disabled were worthy of health care. Of course this wasn’t true and the lie was selected as Politifact’s lie of the year in 2009. However, the term death panels still remains. When Republicans would talk about the ACA they would call it a bill even though it was a law. Hell, even the name Obamacare is another example of labeling theory. It’s the Affordable Care Act, not Obamacare.
The Republicans seek to lower voter turnout, especially in those areas that vote for Democrats. Their stated reason is they want to protect the voting process. This despite numerous research studies that have found voter fraud to be almost non-existent. Yet the efforts to root out voting irregularities recall the horrid Jim Crow era of voter suppression laws. The former “party of Lincoln” has been overtly active in this fraudulent crusade. It seeks to prevent people of color, college students, and older folks from voting. Could it be that these voters would largely vote for Democrats? After the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act numerous Republican controlled states passed new voter registration laws that made it more difficult to cast a ballot.
Republicans have convinced many that the Republican party is somehow more religious than the Democrats. The religious right became involved in Republican policies because they seek the same goal. Dominion over all things. The idea comes from the Bible, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (King James Version).
This has lead to what has become called the dominion theory. Pat Robertson often uses it’s language and Rod Parsley of Columbus Ohio believes in a total theocracy.
This is from the website, Rise of the Religious Right.”
Twenty-five years ago, dominionists targeted the Republican Party as the vehicle through which they could advance their agenda. At the same time, a small group of Republican strategists targeted fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches to expand the base of the Republican Party. This web site is not about traditional Republicans or conservative Christians. It is about the manipulation of people of a certain faith for political power. It is about the rise of dominionists in the U.S. federal government.
Today’s hard right seeks total dominion. It’s packing the courts and rigging the rules. The target is not the Democrats but democracy itself.
Republicans lie at an astounding rate. I’m not saying Democrats don’t lie, but the balance sheet isn’t even close. Just this week Dick Cheney lied about issues that were previously recorded on video. The entire Bush inner circle lied and now we have a 3 trillion dollar debt, a large deficit, two wars, and 4,500 Americans dead.
Some of their statements are just bizarre, here are some of my favorites from The Definitive List Of 60 Stupid Republican Quotes.
I believe that some Republican politicians are in favor of destroying America. Michele Bachmann believes Obamacare is a sign that the “end of times” is at hand. Just yesterday Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said there are people ready for a hostile takeover of the nations capital. These are words of doom and fear, not words hope. They follow a familiar Republican script, scare the shit out of Americans so they will irrationally vote for us.
Two more points I think should be made. One it is important to remember the Tea Party has no clue what they want and are filled with racists. I saved pictures of 20 placards from a Tea Party rally that were overtly racist. It took me 45 seconds to find them on google. If your not a racist but belong to the tea party, you will be known by the company you keep.
Lastly, is a group made up of conspiracy theorists, survivalists, and gun nuts. They deny factual events despite clear evidence to the contrary. Survivalists, this isn’t the Civil War, the government can kick your ass. Conspiracy theorists, stop listening to Alex Jones. He is a crazy stupid man who makes you believe conspiracies the rest of us laugh at. And gun nuts, you don’t need an AK-47 to order a burger or shoot a deer.
The Republicans have numerous members who are from crazytown. If you believe in them you’re from crazytown too. This is no longer a party that wants smaller government and less taxes, they want to be rulers instead of public servants.
So, I do believe there is a fight for the soul of our country. If the current crop of maladjusted morons become the status-quot, our country will be torn apart along lines of the haves and have not’s. And if you don’t follow the narrative of the haves your very existence may be in danger. The problem is the fight must be fought on several fronts, against the ultra rich, religious certitude, and lying politicians. The current Liberal position seems to be ignore them and indeed this may work as they seem to implode often. However, if their tactics begin to bring results, Liberals are the last beacon of hope for the American values that most of us grew up with. I caution the Liberal movement to be ever vigil.
Sources:
http://www.theocracywatch.org
http://www.reviewjournal.com/...
http://www.dispatch.com/...
http://www.politifact.com/...
http://www.forbes.com/...
http://www.liberalamerica.org/...