The Civil War Within the Republicans

[FreeThinker]

An article on the web site of The New Republic describes the civil war that has brewed in the Republican Party between the establishment Republicans--the grown-ups in the party who know the consequences of their actions- and what the author calls The New Radicals, the old Southern segregationists and their descendants who have united with the anti-Wall Street, anti-union, anti-immigrant forces who supported Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan in the nineties. He describes how an anti-tax movement organized by some establishment Republicans such as Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed (the "Christian" lobbyist who was taking kick-backs from both sides of several lobbying issues in the nineties) as grown out of their control, financed, ironically, by some of the very people the grass-roots members hate--i.e millionaires and billionaires) forces who tried to use the Tea Party members for their own purposes but are now losing control of them.

He says that the big money that has always run the Republican Party is beginning to realize that the primary fuel of the Tea Party movement--anger and hatred-- is damaging the party as a whole. They use an analogy what the Democratic Party experienced after the sixties, in which the New Left base took the party over with the nomination of George McGovern and was unable to win national elections until the party grew out of that radicalism. They argue that it may take just as long, now, for the Republicans to do the same thing, grow out of their radical right-wing base, before they can recover from the damage being done by the radicals who have cowed their leaders, such as Boehner.

I take issue with some of what he says. I was a libertarian Republican--to my embarrassment and shame-- when I was young. But, after I saw from inside the companies for whom I worked and the Republican campaigns in which I participated, just what happens when business people run unfettered by regulations and how lying and corrupt many Republican politicians are, I moved to the left as I grew older and wiser. I have profound respect for McGovern now and many of the goals of the old New Left and I see what happens when you allow a few billionaires to control the fund-raising in a party-- as we see now in the Republican Party. Its one thing to be idealistic libertarians. Its another to see what people with unfettered money and power do when they have no checks on their power. The Tea Party is motivated by unwavering hatred of anyone who doesn't conform to their narrow views one hundred percent and they turn on their own with even greater venom than they do to the black man in the White House whom they despise so viciously. I pray that the Republican Party goes into the wilderness for a while because the radicalism of the Tea Party is too great for the vast majority of Americans.

This article explains how and why it may happen.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115134/gop-death-watch-final-days-republican-party

By the way, President Obama should say to the Tea Party: The United States does not negotiate with terrorists. We do not negotiate with a gun to our head. We don't allow Al Quada to hold a gun to our head--we sure as Hell won't let the Republicans, either." Of course, though, our weak-spined President has caved again to the GOP and negotiated, after he said he wouldn't. The reason the GOP has such contempt for him is that he has no backbone. He has caved to the Republicans repeatedly and he's doing so again.

[Cole Parker]

I do wish the man would stand a little taller, exhibit a bit more backbone, and fight a little harder for what is right, for what he says he stands for. Perhaps had he done that from the beginning, he'd have been more successful during his term in office. But he was never than kind of fighter.

C

[Cole Parker]

I don't think it's because he's black. There are all kinds of black men, just like all other races. I think he acted as he did because he wanted people to like him, and respect him, and he misread the American people by thinking that could be accomplished by being a great compromiser. And he was attempting compromise with people who had no compromise in them. I think that was a flaw, perhaps having a larger need for admiration that many of our other president have had, but not a black flaw. Simply a flaw, one any of us could have. I think if he had it to do over again, knowing how entrenched the hatred of his opponents was and is, he'd do it much differently. But maybe not, too. Perhaps this is just his personality and there's no way around it.

[Chris James]

How easily we forget that President Obama is half white and half black. Well not really black, half African. There is a difference because most Africans don't like American blacks but they do like Obama.

We get the images of Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz touting their support for the veterans protest in front of the White House. Neither of them were in the military so this is nothing but political lip service. And then some damn fool tea party protestor waves a Confederate Flag, yells racist comments and wants Obama to go back to Kenya. Lovely images of America to share around the world.

Seeing Cruz there reminds me that he is also half and half. His mother from Delaware so he gets citizenship while his father was an ex-Cuban communist living in Canada. You'd think the tea party folks would have a hard time with that.

But I'm all for Cruz and Palin in 2016 as president and vice-presidential candidates. You think old moose jaw momma will let him wear the pants in the White House? A silly question, I know, they'll never get through the gates.

We had to have a black president at some point, although I though a woman would get there first. Obama was a good choice that was run off the road by his detractors, sounds almost Clintonesque. Obama is a smart man who will serve out his final term and laugh all the way out the door. He was warned that his presidency would be difficult because of all the closeted racists in government.

Like most liberal presidents he wants to do too much good. Little things like feed the poor, educate the kids, extract us from the Bushy wars. Lyndon Johnson had sleepless nights worrying about China taking over Vietnam and prayed to God for a way to bring the troops home. But American business interests were making too much money off that war to allow it to shut down. Capitalism's finest hour killed almost 60,000 American kids in a foreign land for profit. (go read Johnson's bio)

Am I cynical about our government...you bet. The system sucks on every side, there will be no winners this year or next. The GOP claims Obama has no backbone when what they really mean is that he is the wrong color. Look at the people of color they choose to speak for them...lunatics one and all.

I still think we should outsource our government to India. At least we will get what we pay for, and I do love a good curry. Better than eating Chinese every night which we may end up doing once they own us. Capitalism has sold us out, folks, and it doesn't look like we will be getting our government back any time soon. Is it time to seek a King? The Brits have a few royals to spare, they all can't have the job over there. Maybe they will rent us one.

[The Pecman]

I do wish the man would stand a little taller, exhibit a bit more backbone, and fight a little harder for what is right, for what he says he stands for. Perhaps had he done that from the beginning, he'd have been more successful during his term in office.

Well-said, Cole! I feel exactly the same way.

[FreeThinker]

I voted for President Obama, donated money to his campaigns, and walked my precinct for him. I would still vote for him and I still consider him better than McCain and Romney. My disappointment is that he doesn't understand the nature of the opposition to him. Perhaps he is naive. Frontline has found there was a meeting on the night he was first inaugurated, a meeting attended by Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist, Karl Rove, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and others in which it was decided that the Republican strategy would be to oppose and block absolutely everything the President proposed. This involved filibustering everything, refusing to ever approve his budgets, refusing to pass debt ceiling extensions without concessions, etc., and they have done just that. Knowing that, Obama still tried to reason with implacable opposition, still tried to compromise and negotiate with unwavering hatred. He has ignored the advice of elders in his own party that he needs to stand up to the Republicans more. Perhaps he is idealistic. I don't know, but he has disappointed me and many others who worked for his election and re-election by not fighting his opposition harder. Despite the fantasies pushed by the right-wing media that he is the most devious, socialistic, corrupt President in American history, he has simply been Neville Chamberlain without the spine.

[JamesSavik]

Which just goes to show that when you try to please everybody, they'll probably all be pissed off.

[Cole Parker]

Yeah, that doesn't work well. He was elected to promulgate his ideas, facilitate them and bring them to fruition, not cozy up to everyone.

C

[JamesSavik]

I have a rather cynical view of the two party system.

We are ruled by two coalitions of billionaires and millionaires. George Soros, et al. on the left and the Koch Brothers and partners on the right.

They both try to claim the mantle of "party of the people" but it doesn't work because the people aren't billionaires, old money trust fund fuckups that go into politics as a hobby, or powerful attorneys, or industrialists or bankers or Wall Street flunkies.

The people aren't showered by gifts of money and graft by PACs and lobbyists.

The people don't have celebu-tards falling all over themselves to ingratiate themselves with one side or the other.

The people can't even count on the whored out media to tell them the truth or entertain without propaganda.

Both parties are so alienated and divorced from the people that we don't even know what either one of them stands for anymore.

In fact, both parties look almost exactly the same when you examine their policies. Patriot Act? Check. Gitmo? Still open. Drone Assassinations in foreign countries without consultation? Still in business. Foreign Wars with dubious results? +1 and who knows what is being done covertly in Syria. Iran policy, North Korea policy, Saudi Arabia policy- all the same.

The essential difference in the parties? Apparently contempt for the constitution since both of them treat it like an inconvenience.

The people are absolutely disgusted with both of them.

They are very, very lucky that there isn't a none of the above choice on the ballot.