Every once in awhile, it’s a good idea to take a survey of where we’re at, politically, as a country. So much is said and repeated and spun and edited by the news rooms, pundits, and political machines in our nation (in the case of Fox news, a combination of all three), it’s hard for the many Americans to make sense of it all. Basic questions such as, “who is telling the truth? Who is lying? What are the facts?” and more complex questions like, “what should we do to turn the economy around? How do we really reduce the deficit? How do we improve education in this country while streamlining the efficiency with which it’s delivered?” All are good questions, and I’m here to make it a little easier to understand the answers—but rather than bore you with facts, numbers, and logic (though all will make their relevant appearances), I think it is best to make comparisons; to put things in simple language that is fun to read, and easy to understand.
To borrow from the format of those horrible Geico commercials: “Do Republicans politicians tell the truth? (downturn of face to showoff the greasy hair, then look up and turn stupid face to the side) Does Satan like Girl Scout cookies?” (Pause for dramatic effect, followed by the Lord of Darkness burning down a church) Of course not—Girl scout cookies are wholesome, support a good cause, and they are downright delicious—divinely delicious in fact.
Anyway, take the union issue in Wisconsin, where Republicans just pushed through a bill to strip collective bargaining rights from public employees. Up to this point, they’d been claiming that their efforts in this endeavor were merely budgetary. Well, it appears that it must not have been, since in order pass their erroneous bill, they had to strip all the budgetary language from it to skirt around the law in Wisconsin requiring a quorum (at least 20 Senators must be present to vote on any bill pertaining to the budget). They also held this vote in about 15 minutes, and violated the rule that any bill must be announced to the citizens of Wisconsin 24 hours prior to a vote being held.
It’s a play taken right out of Senator Palpatine’s playbook, and we all know what happens to Mace Windu, longtime Union advocate, when he confronts him: betrayal. In fact, the embodiment of the Republican party might be best captured when Anakin is battling Obi Wan, on a planet closely resembling hell, a longtime conservative stronghold, when he angrily screams, red eyed, “I hate you!” Can you feel the hate? Don’t be too surprised if you here that as the rallying cry at the 2012 Republican convention.
Who is lying? As usual, Fox News. During “The O’Reilly Factor” (also known as “A Crotchety Old Man Lies His Ass Off”), they displayed footage of a union rally that got out of hand, supposedly in Wisconsin. The only problem was that there were palm trees in the back ground…pretty sure those don’t grow in places that far North. Who watches that stuff anyway and remains an intelligent, thinking person…it’s like Gollum when he sees the ring: I can picture it now, Fox viewers in wheel chairs and retirement homes, crusty investment bankers, and racists everywhere, huddling around their televisions, chanting, “yes, precious, tax cuts for precious, we hates those unions and teachers, yes precious…and women, precious, women are tricksy and false, gollum!”
The facts? The facts are these: Bush and his Republican congress turned a budget surplus into a massive deficit by cutting taxes for the very rich (not only income—more important were the cuts to capitol gains), starting two completely unnecessary wars, and passing all kinds of bills that created loopholes and welfare for large, multinational corporations. And now after these actions have bankrupted our country, your 2010 Republican house has proposed to make 100 billion dollars in cuts to pay down the deficit. But have they chosen to cut funding for the largest programs like the military, social security, or Medicare? No. They’ve chosen both to cut out every possible government program that supports the poor or creates jobs, as well as any agency that enforces corporate regulations or provides information (ala NPR). So in a nutshell, the Republican party stole money from the government to give to their political donors and benefactors and now they want people in the lower and middle class to pay for the ensuing financial disaster of their malfeasance.
The facts? Every Republican has six fingers on their right hand. The Republican party rubs Survivor Russell’s bald head and round belly for good luck. The Republican party was glad that Crystal Bowersox lost American Idol. The Republican party doesn’t have a dream where their children are judged by the content of their character—they have a nightmare where all children are enslaved to serve the needs of rich, which men. Charlie Sheen is probably a Republican.
I just wish people would get the point I’m trying to make, and that is so abundantly clear to anyone who is willing to open their eyes and think: the Republican party does not want to serve America or Americans—it exists only to serve itself. Their political platform is: cut taxes at all costs—especially for the rich, oppress people of color and the female gender, deny education to anyone who can’t afford private school, end all restrictions on the power of corporations, deny and obfuscate science and reason, and fix the court systems and political rules to get our way. And their one overarching rule: do and say anything to get re-elected.
If Americans have any sense of purpose, and actually want to keep the democracy and freedoms we value so much, we've got to vote these guys out of office in 2012. And in the meantime, you have to confront your Republican friends, and decry them publicly. Supporting the Republican party should be an embarrassment at this point.
If you want, make a slap bet with a friend. Every time you can prove the Republican Party is doing something heinous, or their pundits lie, you get to slap the shit out of their face. And they get to slap you when the Democrats lie.
I'll take this challenge up publicly--anyone want to take me on. Provable lie by Democrats equals a slap for me...provable lie for Republicans equals a slap for you.
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