The Republican Party has spent 30 years careering ever more deeply into ideological extremism, but one of the novel developments of the Obama years is its embrace of procedural extremism. The Republican fringe has evolved from being politically shrewd proponents of radical policy changes to a gang of saboteurs who would rather stop government from functioning at all. In this sense, their historical precedents are not so much the Gingrich revolutionaries, or even their tea-party selves of a few years ago; the movement is more like the radical left of the sixties, had it occupied a position of power in Congress. And so the terms we traditionally use to scold bad Congresses—partisanship, obstruction, gridlock—don’t come close to describing this situation. The hard right’s extremism has bent back upon itself, leaving an inscrutable void of paranoia and formless rage and twisting the Republican Party into a band of anarchists.
And the worst is not behind us.
I, and of course others, have been pointing out this political terrorism for a few years now. And yes it has only gotten worse as more of the Teabaggers have been elected and planted like IED's within the House and the Senate determined to blow up any chance for compromise or actual progress by the government.
The Right Wing has long stated that government cannot solve our problems and they are damned and determined to prove that point. As long as they continue to metastasize within the Republican party there is nothing that the President or his party can do to solve the big problems facing our country nor meet the needs of its citizens.
They say that elections have consequences, but it has been some time since they were quite so dire.
We, as progressive, need to get our shit together like never before and start working to select strong candidates that can take some of these seats away from the obstructionists while also holding the ground that we have taken in the past.
And yes that means, despite my misgivings, that I will definitely be casting my vote for Mark Begich in 2014. Because even a sorry excuse for a Democrat beats today's Republican any day of the week.
Not only selecting and working for strong candidates, but working to make sure that every person eligible to vote for these candidates can do so!
ReplyDeleteWith the civil rights act gutted, the republicans are pulling out all the stops to prevent eligible people from voting because it is the only way they can "win" elections.
Times 330 million!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGryphen and Nefer... YES to you both and NO to regressives' sabotage!
ReplyDeleteThe republicans are a contentious group with one purpose in mind...to cripple President Obama's ability to pass legislation. This heinous group does not care about the people or their needs. Their coffers are filled because they are bought and paid for.
ReplyDeleteAlaska need a strong voice to oppose Obama
ReplyDeleteSenator Palin
A friend just sent me this and I think it is an important read and why we need to vote for Senator Mark Begich...and others, even if we don't like all they do.
ReplyDelete--------
Though her family were arch-conservative John Birchers, Claire found her conscience and became a progressive. In her book, she tells the sordid history of the John Birch society, and the evil Koch Brothers and just how far-reaching their slimy tentacles really are.
Watch Claire expose the Evil Tea Party and their ties to the Koch Brothers and the John Birch Society in this video uploaded to YouTube:
http://aattp.org/watch-daughter-of-john-birch-society-cult-members-destroy-the-tea-party/
I just saw some statistics regarding minimum wage, in various places in America.
ReplyDeleteStaggering.
Yet what is even MORE obscene, is how so many MILLIONS of people who are struggling to live on ridiculously low wages, do not even KNOW that Republicans recently killed an attempt to raise the minimum wage...and will go out and vote for the same swine who are working hard to make sure they NEVER get a chance at the American Dream.