I thought I would break into my normal series of diaries to propose a game. It is called "You Must be a Republican", and it is played like this:
You begin with the statement "You must be a Republican if you believe that" and complete it by juxtaposing two of their more untenable and inconsistent positions on the issues producing a conundrum. For example:
"You must be a Rebublican if you believe that, a terrorist should not be read his Miranda Rights, but his Second Amendment right to carry a concealed assault weapon must be protected".
I can assure you that in this game there is no way any potential Republican political candidate can respond to these conundrums without self defeating confusion. We cannot, as a nation, continue to allow the corporate Republican noise machine a free ride on their misuse of the language of freedom and liberty.
Take our example, if our potential public official responds "No I believe the right to bear arms and the right to counsel are two of the fundamental rights protected by our Constitution", you will know immediately he is not a Republican but is probably an Independent doomed to defeat at the polls by a Tea Party candidate.
Here are some of my suggested initial efforts in beginning the game. If any reader has others to add, I will be happy to post them in a later diary.
YOU MUST BE A REPUBLICAN IF YOU BELIEVE THAT:
public schools are an unnecessary government expense but prisons are not.
a minimum wage is a governmental intrusion in the private market but the oil depletion allowance for corporations to drill for oil off our coast is not.
warrantless wiretapping of American citizens is constitutional, but a women's right to choose is not.
races exist but racism does not.
torture is necessary for the defense of American freedom but the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures is not.
providing affordable healthcare for children and all Americans is a governmental interference with the private market but subsidies to defense contractors are not.
environmental regulation diminishes our freedom, but racial profiling does not.
the earned income tax credit that assists the lowest wage earners in the nation is an unwarranted redistribution of income, but lowering the capital gains credit on unearned investment income is not.
the illegal alien who risked everything to better himself economically by coming to America is a criminal, but the bankers and investors on Wall Street that gambled away your pension funds and put your jobs at risk are not.
your ancestors who arrived in America before exclusionary immigration laws were passed were welcome contributors to the American nation, but those arriving after those laws were passed are not.
the Constitution of the United States created a Christian Nation but the first amendment was a mistake.
God wrote Leviticus but Jesus did not preach the Sermon on the Mount.
the Second Amendment is the most important right in the Bill of Rights and cannot be abridged or modified, but the Fifth Amendment is not important and can be abridged to protect against perceived threats to public order.
bullies are manly but peacemakers are not.
commentators like Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Glen Beck are intelligent observers of American life and …everyone else is wrong.
I am sure you can add many more….