The nation’s economy is stagnant and many think it may tank again. The official high unemployment masks the even higher “unofficial” one most Americans see. The President appears to be out-of-touch with reality and continues to act as a tool of Wall Street. There is low voter approval for the Incumbent and most Democratic policies. With all this news, Republicans should be making plans to take over Washington DC in January 2013. Instead, they are wallowing in self-pity that their current crop of Presidential candidates may be woefully weak and unelectable. To some of the party faithful, it appears they have conceded defeat even before the 2012 elections.
U.S. history shows that during the primaries that choose Presidential candidates, Republicans tack to the right to keep their base happy and involved. Contrarily, Democrats tack to the left to keep their base happy and involved. Then the nominees of both parties tack to the center during the general fall election to appeal to “swing” Independents. Even if the candidates are not what each political fringe wants completely, those on the extreme Right or Left generally vote en masse for their party’s nominee because voting for the opposition is simply unthinkable. At worse, a small number of disappointed extremists in both parties just don’t vote.
In this nation’s current climate of rigid ideologies and extreme partisanship, any compromise is unthinkable even within parties. These tendencies are far more evident among Republicans, expanding rapidly over the last two decades. Contrarily, Democrats have become more flexible; they have moved rightward in many policy areas; and they are frequently incapable of articulating any particular viewpoints. At worst, liberals and Democrats sold themselves out to the status quo.
The Republican Party and a plurality of the U.S. population have moved towards extreme, far Right ideology. Some partisans might argue this is just a natural defense of individual liberties and freedoms, and an embrace of small, inactive government. Some non-partisan objective observers might counter-argue this shift is really an embrace of corporatism, crony capitalism, and a central government that favors large monopolistic business cartels over the general public and smaller enterprises in a competitive, open, regulated and transparent market.
Too many in both parties promptly abandon long-established Constitutional protections of individual liberties and personal autonomy when bogus claims of “national security” and “the war on terrorism” are raised. Republicans think “Big Government” is fine when associated with uncontrolled defense and security spending, or when extending massive tax expenditures for wealthy individuals and large corporations, both reliably large campaign contributors to the two mainstream political parties.
Overall, the Republican move rightward has been aided by an electorate that is complacent, ignorant, distracted by cheap 24/7 entertainment, fearful, and angry. The Fox News echo-chamber of conservative propaganda has also been a valuable tool for creating a particular mindset among its large viewership. What would have been mainstream conservative thought just a few decades ago is now viewed as left-leaning apostasy among those who determine Republican ideology and policy today. Most former Republican Presidents would have a very difficult time getting nominated by their party in 2012.
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, and the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
Any person caught making these two statements today as a Republican Presidential Candidate would be drummed out of the party. These wise statements were made by President Dwight Eisenhower. Even President Ronald “The Gipper” Reagan raised taxes several times during his 8 years in office to close some of the budget shortfalls his excessive initial tax cuts created. President Richard Nixon originally proposed a more liberal version of “Obamacare” that was blocked by Senator Ted Kennedy. And the great Emancipator and defender of the Central Government over “States’ Rights” President Abraham Lincoln would not be considered a “real” Republican today.
There are a number of viable middle-of-the-road Republicans running for President today. They include Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Tim Pawlenty, even though all of them are pretty boring and lack any measurable charisma. But to appease the extreme Tea Party members that dominate Republican politics today, they must retract a number of their past, sane policy positions and now make asinine statements to please the extremists to win the nomination. Fortunately in the U.S. of Amnesia, many voters might not remember the many policy changes of all candidates by November 2012.
Why a Mormon cannot become President among some religious Republican circles is beyond reasonableness. Some of those anti-ecumenical bigoted groups want to pursue a born-again fundamentalist evangelical Christian Theocracy for the U.S. Naturally Jews, Moslems, Roman Catholic Christians, atheists and agnostics might not be welcomed in that Theocracy. Long-excluded Blacks, Hispanics and Gays also are excluded from the itsy-bitsy all-white Republican “tent.” It is no wonder Republicans cannot come up with a viable alternative to President Obama that also can please their base.
Republicans may have a hard time challenging the President on many fronts. Complaining he is a Wall Street tool would be hypocritical as they are even more in the pockets of big finance and corrupt business cartels. Their proposals for more tax cuts for the wealthy have been wholly disproven because there have not been any “trickle-down” jobs created over the past 12 years. They are collectively bereft of any viable economic proposals to restart our domestic economy or make the U.S. globally competitive with China, Inc. and other major nations using mixed, command and mercantilist economic systems. Thus Republicans are left with hoping that the trajectory of bi-partisan national economic and political mismanagement over the past three decades will finally result in a major collapse before November 2012.
If Republicans can completely tank the economy by November 2012, then perhaps any nut-job they nominate (including Sarah Palin) may be able to beat President Obama. Many are prepared to see what happens if they refuse any increase in the Federal debt limit unless massive spending cuts are approved.
A political standoff by August would result in the Federal government systematically cutting off all payments to outside contractors, military personnel, social security recipients, and Medicare providers; laying off several million Federal workers without pay; and stopping most domestic federal programs including the FDA, FBI, EPA, NSA, CHIP, IRS, SEC, all Federal Departments, all Federal Courts, and other “useless and wasteful” government spending.
A federal government shutdown in August would probably damage global confidence in U.S. Treasury Securities and the U.S. Dollar; put stock markets around the globe in a tailspin; boost the prices of gold, oil and many food commodities; and eliminate any residual international trust in our political and economic systems.
This national surrender to Republican fantasy might quickly result in massive U.S. private sector job losses and a really big global Depression the likes of which we have not seen in Centuries. All those fears of uncertainty by Republican-leaving businessmen might finally come to fruition. Naturally Republicans would blame President Obama for the debacle they created. Perhaps enough gullible, ignorant, frightened, angry and completely freaked-out people would vote Republican in 2012.
I predicted President Obama would be a one-term President in a TMV post on 11/8/10 and I’m sticking to that prediction. With the large number of complete lunatics and crazies now holding many key Congressional seats, almost anything is possible over the next 15 months. Back during the Vietnam War, some in the U.S. Military believed that “we had to destroy the village in order to save it.” Today some Republicans believe that “we have to destroy the Nation in order to save it.” May God have mercy on all of us.
Submitted 6/8/11 by Marc Pascal, happily ranting from Phoenix, Arizona.