Republican-The Partay that Just Don't Care
Posted by Sharon at September 23, 2007 07:54 AMIt may be unpopular to mention this, and it may be impolite, but as long as we are on the subject of robotic, pod people, we should not forget the large portions of the American public who were and are essential to the success of the Bush/Cheney Junta and the right-wing Republicans. And I am not just talking about the 30% who will always believe in the One True Faith.
I am talking about Americans who were willing to giggle and gossip for hours at the War on Gore but unwilling to spend the half hour of thinking it would have taken to understand that Bush was and always had been a fraud.
I am talking about the Americans who sat like drugged chimps while the right-wing declared that counting the votes was wrong.
I am talking about the Americans who cheered on the invasion of Iraq with flags on the cars and shouts of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" because wholesale destruction and death entertains them and confirms their belief that theirs is the best damn country on earth, ever.
I am talking about Americans who are happy to see their bigotry and ignorance validated by campaigns against gays and lesbians, people of color and poor people generally.
I am talking about Americans who are not revolted by the murder of uncounted innocent people by Our Brave Troops.
It wasn't the Republicans and it wasn't the 30% who made this American nightmare. Even if all the claims of vote suppression and election fraud are true, roughly one half of the electorate supported Bush/Cheney, twice.
America the vehicle has been wrecked by a drunk driver, people died in the crash and the car is almost beyond repair. And half of America served Bush/Cheney the liquor and gave them the keys.
And don't even get me started on the Democrats; the police who looked the other way.
Posted by James E. Powell at September 23, 2007 08:16 AMI have long noted that our chief problem is the creation of millions upon millions of these "conservative", poisoned-brained white yahoos. Can a "democracy" survive once such a class of vicious, emotionally driven citizens has been created?
The conservative movement was basically created and financed by plutocrats and corporatists as a way to obscenely enrich themselves. They used the various wedge-hatred issues, trumpeted by a bought and in the back pocket MSM, in order to demonize the Left and create the current Frankenstein monster.
Their enrichment now essentially complete, and with their "policies" everywhere a failure and a disaster for the republic, can the plutocrats change course and lead the cretinous white yahoo conservatives to support necessary reforms? Or will the dull-witted, hate-filled monster turn on Dr Frankestein and look to another, even more authoritarian "leader" to save us?
And as james powell astutely notes, the "Repubs" aren't the only problem here. An electorate that shits out the 2004 result is clearly a failed electorate and hoping for something better is probably very wishful thinking.
Posted by euzoius at September 23, 2007 08:51 AMI always enjoy the musing of both James Powell and euzoius. Please allow me to pile on. The poblem I perceive is not just a stupid electorate, although the Gods know, we do have that. For the past 30 years, there has been a deliberate policy of capturing the propaganda paraphanalia of an unwitting, fat assed and complacent society by a relatively small clique of over-endowed billionaire heirs and think tank reptiles.
From EVERY stinking FOX cartoon series, (including the Simpsons, which I like) which make it "cool" to be stupid and selfish, to the tabloid standards of journalism which has captured the "newsrooms" of the infotainment industry, the American populace has been lied to, bamboozled, distracted and blind-sided by a complicit Fourth Estate, "industry".
Democracy is absolutely dependent on an informed electorate. What the Goebels-inspired propagandists of the extreme reich wing have understood for a long time is that when you control the flow of information, you control the society. Let's start targeting the true enemy, the weird travesty of what used to be the bulwark of democracy, journalism. Until the Russerts, Limbaughs and Coulters are understood to be what they are, then utter nimrods like David Gregory, "serious journalist of the Washington Post", will continue to boogie down with MC Rove and his co-conspirators.
How can we destroy the death grip the Dark Side has on the "infotainment" industry must be the burning question. Until that happens, nothing else will.
Posted by DeminNewJ at September 23, 2007 09:36 AMEveryone is so hard on Condi. According to staffer Tim, she's a good fuck, and plays 'Moonlight Sonata' on piano afterwards!
Posted by tempus at September 23, 2007 10:05 AMThe modern conservative movement is trying its hardest to pin a Darwin award on the whole human race. We cannot survive their influence.
Posted by at September 23, 2007 10:36 AMOh yes we can. Just wait until they piss the Martians off sufficiently with their exploits. They'll fix their little red wagon (or truck, as the case may be).
Posted by tempus at September 23, 2007 11:05 AMA government and population that exists to support a military-industrial complex is destined for decadence, apathy, corruption, and moral bankruptcy.
Hillary and her DLC cohorts support the continuation of such.
Posted by Tampa Student at September 23, 2007 06:07 PMJames E. Powell is right (and so is DeminNewJ about the korporate media).
"...How did this happen? Whose to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, if the truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty you need only look into a mirror.
I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense.
Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to...[President Bush]. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent obedient consent...."
V for Vendetta
Can a modern democracy survive such robotic, pod people destructive creatures?
Um, I vote "no".
Posted by bartcopfan at September 25, 2007 11:11 AMI think another potentially-useful issue for discussion along these lines is the large minority (30-40+ percent of the American public?) that believes The Rapture will occur in their lifetime.
To paraphrase Ronald St. Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, why worry about preserving the environment when it'll all be destroyed soon, anyway?
I'd suggest that's a relevant question ("Do you believe that the Rapture will occur in the next 50 years?") for both D and R presidential debates, except the Rs would know how crazy it sounds to admit and lie (IOKIYAR) to deny it--with complicit permission from their dog-whistle base.
Posted by bartcopfan at September 25, 2007 11:20 AM