Thursday, July 21, 2011

Lazy days of Summer

Ahh, those lazy summer days . . . when one drifts, half awake, as in a canoe, drifting downstream gently. In our case, i.e., the good old US of A, we are drifting downstream, somewhat lazily , but we seem to be headed downstream in the direction of Niagara Falls. You can sort of hear the Falls from here, but the roar is not yet deafening.  By that time, of course, it is too late, and we will plunge over.  The Falls represent, to me, any of the several catastrophic landings, after the Fall.

The Nation has already undergone a dramatic change since 2008. The republican party was captured by extreme right wing forces, a combination of religious fascists, borderline criminal commercialists (i.e., the Koch’s and Rupert), and old fashioned racists. Those groups represent the core of the republican party at this stage.  One can tell both from the leadership and their proposed policies, such as:
1.       The anti-Gay & Lesbian, and anti-abortion stand;
2.       The anti-regulatory stand, ignoring the growing evidence of man-made global warming, and the specific demonstrated harmful practices and effects of their own leadership, e.g., the Koch bothers industrial pollution practices;
3.       The anti-tax stand;
4.       Continued attacks on the middle class;  and let us not forget,
5.       The stated policy of the leadership that will oppose anything President Obama does or proposes to assure that he will be a one-term President.
They effectively have no other policies. That their own party brought us to this point of near economic insolvency, through their inane tax and regulatory policies, is dismissed as mere rhetoric. All current problems are labeled “Obama problems.” Their willingness to allow the country to go into default rather than to negotiate in good faith suggests that they have crossed over into some new territory that at least borders on Anti-American (at least as we understand America).  It is hard to forget things such as Governor Perry’s suggestion that his state should secede, and Sarah Barbie’s husband arguing the same case for Alaska. Does this make them proud Americans?? I think not.
So, as we approach our economic Niagara Falls moment, I will be watching, along with many millions of people, to see both how the republicans react at this end-game stage, and how our President negotiates an end to the crisis. I am less than positive about any outcomes. The President has shown himself too willing to cave under pressure to republican extremist dictates. Perhaps he really does believe in compromise always and under all conditions. That he has caved early on in such negotiations does not bode well for the current demand set from our republican black knights, who operate under strict orders from their dukes—the Murdoch’s and Koch’s of the land.  It’s really a shame that republicans forgot that they are Americans first and Murdoch-republicans second.

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