Truth be told
1 August 2007 by vastleft
The sultry days of summer can be a good time for taking stock, whether you’re lazing on a beach or rotting in prison like Scooter isn’t.
So settle in, why don’t you, with a tall lemonade and share your own list of essential truths of American politics today.
I’ll start with a few that seem to hover over most any political argument I find myself in:
- Today’s Republican party is 100% corrupt and valueless. What began in earnest with Nixon, Harding, or whatever your preferred starting point is has reached full flower today. It ain’t Manichean to say that — there are plenty of shades of gray outside of the GOP. At this point, continued allegiance to the Party of mindless war, fiscal and environmental rape, physical and psychological torture, and politicized prosecutions is no way to treat a really fine Constitution
- Not impeaching a 100% corrupt and valueless President, Vice President, and Attorney General is no way to treat a really fine Constitution
- Being too polite for “partisanship” or being too good for “lesser-of-two-evils” votes is no way to treat a really fine Constitution
- Creating a sectarian power vacuum in what used to be a hemmed-in secular dictatorship in the Middle East is a very strange way to combat “Islamofascism”
- The notion that the more a candidate believes in supernatural beings, the more electable he or she is should frighten the bejesus out of all of us
- Far too many Americans have failed to notice the unholy relationship between the mainstream media and the 100% corrupt, valueless authoritarian Right. In fact, the old “liberal media” meme purrs along despite piles of evidence and dead bodies to the contrary.
- Being lectured on morality by the Religious Right is like being lectured on some other topic by a hypocritical douchebag, except in this case the topic is morality
Please do join in with your own favorite plain truths, facts on the ground, etc. that you think define today’s political landscape.
1 August 2007, on 3:07 pm
Supporting the troops (or any other cause) is as simple as putting a colored ribbon on your car.
1 August 2007, on 3:08 pm
Sound pretty truthy to me, Bruce.
1 August 2007, on 3:12 pm
However true any of the above might be, the left is no better. Just remember that when you’re paying your carbon tax and brokerages are becoming more and more rich over carbon-trading schemes that ultimately do nothing to regulate climate.
And remember that both liberals and conservatives voted overwhelmingly to go to war, never mind that they were all looking at the same bad data. Questioning it after the fact is useless.
1 August 2007, on 3:34 pm
Oh yeah, I forgot, the ribbon is made in China.
1 August 2007, on 3:36 pm
^ True, Revenant; that’s why I’m taking the “stay vigilant” mantra to heart. Will I always escape duping by those who should know better that way? No, but at least I’m engaged now, and no longer that easy a sell.
I’m also not so willing to accept what any party says just on principle, including environmentalists, and I honestly have you to thank for it. That’s one of the benefits I’ve garnered from being involved here at GifS, interaction with my fellow mods and posters, and also you commenters. We may not always agree but we can still learn from each other.
In regards to vastleft’s list, I have not quite an addition but more of an update to his point about the “unholy relationship” between the Right and mainstream media: Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch has just bought The Wall Street Journal.
“Liberal media,” my ass…
More on Murdoch himself…
1 August 2007, on 4:48 pm
Revenant,
As of right now, the left hasn’t been proven to be near as bad as today’s right, which isn’t to say it couldn’t get there. It isn’t as monolithic or totalitarian (in fact much of the Dems’ leadership is maddeningly “centrist“), it surely wouldn’t have rushed us headlong into the Iraq war (especially after the new inspection regimes were successful), and last they controlled the White House, the Dems gave us a record surplus that has been squandered by a Repubican-only government into a record deficit.
Your position here is what I call “equivalation,” the assumption that both sides are always roughly equally bad (especially when the conservatives have been busted screwing up and/or cheating).
1 August 2007, on 4:56 pm
Amen, from a conservative perspective, the Republican Party, to put it lightly, is an embarassment…
1 August 2007, on 5:06 pm
>The notion that the more a candidate believes in supernatural beings, the more electable he or she is should frighten the bejesus out of all of us.
Though if by “electable” you just mean “likely to make it into office” and not “desirable,” it’s the *fact* that should be scaring us, and perhaps depressing us.
1 August 2007, on 5:08 pm
Patriotism doesn’t mean sitting on your ass and letting a corrupt government take your liberties, raise your taxes, bankrupt the country on a “whim” of a war, and enact (or veto) whatever laws they want. Those Founding Fathers (of whom the right is so fond) got off their asses, led a successful rebellion, and kicked the corrupt oppressors out.
With the rising prices of gas, food, and housing, the blatant corruption of the administration, the farce and tragedy that is the Iraq war — why the FUCK are you NOT REBELLING!
1 August 2007, on 5:21 pm
Both political parties suck. But, I have a special repulsion for Republicans because they use religion to divide Americans and to gain votes. In short, they exploit ignorance to bring out the worst in human behavior - fear and violence.
In any event, I hope to see the day when Barry Goldwater’s prediction comes true - when the GOP implodes under the weight of the reactionary religious whack-jobs it has chosen to chain to itself.
The immoral, calculating corporatist wing of the GOP will exploit the clueless religious gang as long as they provide net positive votes. But, the corporatists will just as soon turn on the Jesus-freaks when they become a drag to amassing power and wealth.
1 August 2007, on 5:25 pm
When it comes to the time need to rise-and-fall from power, the GOP corrupted itself in record time … 10 years. It tooks the Rats 40 years of single-party congressional rule to be as abusive of power.
1 August 2007, on 5:54 pm
Insight of politics today:
1) If you say it enough times, it is the truth whether it is factual or not (both parties).
2) There is no such thing as perfect security in today’s world (witness Britain that has years of terrorism fighting but still has terrorists), but no political leader will tell you that (neither party)
3) I would rather be mildly let down by a democrat, or somewhat misled by a republican, than get totally butt screwed by a neo-conservative.
4) It will take years if not decades to fix the mess Bush and Co. have made this country and other countries, and no one in ANY party will be able to do it in the next eight years.
5) Apart from the “war on terror”, the “Culture Wars”, the “War on drugs”, the Iraqi “war” and the War in Afghanistan, there is a more subtle war being fought between the two major parties. The general populace make up the collateral damage. Until this war is settled no other will even begin to be addressed.
6) The United States is basically a country of morons. There I said it. If it’s not the upper classes wallowing in complacent consumerism, or the lower classes bickering endlessly about their plight while doing nothing politically (yes, yes I know some get screwed in the election process, but seriously, do they really TRY to consolidate themselves into a voting block that address their NEEDS?), it’s the middle class raging about taxes, as if any world they leave their 2.1 children will be worth a damn without the funds to fix it.
7) Never assume Shi’ia’s will ever forgive Sunnis, or that Baathists will enjoy being thrown from power. By the same token never assume a politician will chose ideals and convictions over money.
1 August 2007, on 6:44 pm
1. Charisma alone can get the stupidest into office. An offense that both parties are guilty of.
2. People vote candidates into office for one issue and forget all of their other stances.
3. Religion is stupid but both parties pander to those asswipes.
4. The average voter is a moron that knows little or nothing about the issues. Too many fucktards vote the party line.
1 August 2007, on 7:24 pm
B80vin,
Damn straight on your #2.
As to your #5, what’s going on between Repubs and Dems isn’t a war. It’s more like the school bully vs. his nerdy victim.
1 August 2007, on 7:35 pm
I play for gatherings of the “ins” of both parties, political things, and I see the same faces at each in a lot of cases. These are the people who tell the politicians what to do. I hear them both speak of those lower on the economic food chain (if they do) in terms of contempt and dismissal.
The “Liberal Media”…Last election two of our local anchor women campaigned for their husbands (both republicans) with TV commercials in which they both demounced and ridiculed “The Media”. How “The Media” can’t be trusted, it’s “liberal bias”. And yet, there they are on the nightly news, looking and speaking into the camera with earnest gravity. I haven’t heard they refused a pay check or refused any duties.
1 August 2007, on 7:44 pm
Oh yeah, here’s another one:
Candidates should not be chosen based on “Who you would rather have a beer with.”
1 August 2007, on 10:25 pm
Bruce,
Yup, the “beer test” is a sad reflection on us.
2 August 2007, on 12:24 pm
I absolutely hate “equivalation.” No, the Democrats aren’t nearly as bad as the Republicans. No. And don’t try to come back with some sort of tin-foil-hat “Hillary is teh ebil wiCH One World UN Gubimt!” gobbledegook. That kookery doesn’t cut it in any sort of actual conversation.
2 August 2007, on 11:04 pm
The American government of today- in any hands, is rotten, unwieldy, and glacially paced. Though, once in power, it may come to nothing, at least the left honestly cares about the least amongst us, rather than trumpeting a corrupted and cynical version of an ideology- that, in it’s pure form, IS all about caring for others, while caring only for filling their pockets while either in power or once through the lucrative revolving door back into the private sector.
That said, while reality requires a vote for the lesser of two evils at the moment(and while working vigorously to change that reality to something of more substance and meritocratic), the evil that is today’s religious right/republican party flat out dwarves that of the imperfect left. Plus, the left is made up of so many different interests and ideologies that many more voices will be heard than ever can be with the lockstep-monolithic GOP.
Stewart/Colbert ‘08!
3 August 2007, on 1:09 pm
1) If the Democratic party now in power can’t do ANYTHING about the President (impeachment?), then they are as useless as tits on a bull.
2) Voting for the lesser of two evils only makes for a longer slide into hell.
I’ve had the growing feeling the “we the people” need to do something about our country. But what? If all we do is talk then the statements about us sliding from apathy to complacency are true, and we’re not far from dictatorship. (I’m referencing another post about politics here.)
So what do we do? That’s my conundrum, what can WE do?
Right now, I throw all my votes to third party candidates. If a third party candidate starts getting 33% of the vote, the major parties will either wake up or die. I don’t care which.
But since that’s not enough, what else?
3 August 2007, on 5:08 pm
Glintir, visit this post and tell me if you think there is any merit in its aims:
Power to the People
Maybe with a little tinkering, it could work. But, for instance, California’s property-tax proposition showed a flaw. However, South Dakota defeated a bad abortion law passed by their legislature…
3 August 2007, on 5:33 pm
Glintir,
If the breasted bull had enough votes to get cloture in the Senate, it might do a whole lot better.
Given the choice of delaying the descent into Hell, or saying “bring it on,” I’ll keep clawing away for the delay.
Third-party votes in 2000 did us a whole lot of good. Thanks for everything.
3 August 2007, on 9:26 pm
On another post, we got into a pretty good dust-up between consevatives, liberals and libertarians. Not to start it up again over here, I just wanted to add this:
4 August 2007, on 4:31 pm
Great points, Naomi.