In my inaugural diary, I join you as a fellow citizen starved for truth and eager for change. Is this something the Democratic party can offer in November? I believe so.
I believe in Senators Obama & Biden. I believe in their message. I am ready, willing & eager to give them the chance to change the course this country is on.
I am an Independent and I know, as do many of you, that there are several things which are fundamentally wrong with the Republican party and the right in this country. A greater example of "preaching to the choir", there may not be - but with no further ado here are three problems I have with Republicans.
1. Republicans tend to be "War Guys".
McCain's a war guy. We see it in his speeches, his positions and his attempts at humor. I was thinking about this characterization of McCain and concluded that I could take it one step further, McCain and others in the GOP like him are not merely "War Guys" but they are at their foundation "Business Guys". The wars are not the ends in and of themselves, the wars they foster and support become means of generating revenue. Revenue for a chosen few who more often than not, run in common exclusive circles with our hawkish Republican leaders.
Ronald Reagan was a war guy. He's been deified by Republicans & the right. People paint a portrait of Reagan greater than that of the leader he actually was, lauding him for ending the Cold War but disregarding his failed economic policies and anti-communist zealotry. Yet, a hero for modern Republicans he has become.
One of my favorite quotes of Reagan's comes from this 1982 news conference (about halfway down the page, under "US Foreign Covert Operations"). President Reagan responds to a question with his rendition of the events leading up to the Vietnam War. Anyone familiar with or who has studied the history of Vietnam knows, not a sentence of it is true and serves as a prime example of GOP pathos as it pertains to warmongering.
2. Republicans operate and thrive via lies, hypocrisy and flawed arguments.
I believe most, if not all, politicians lie. It's an unfortunate part of politics, much like it is in business. However, some lies are worse than others. To raise the accusation of "liar" within politics is not enough in and of itself. What they lie about matters.
If you claim you were for or against something and your record clearly shows the opposite to be true, that's a problem.
If you accuse someone of doing something they did not do or being something they are not, that's a problem.
If you justify the invasion of a sovereign nation by telling your country they have WMDs, when you know they don't, that's a problem.
If people die as a result of your lies, that's a problem.
The types of lies the Republicans tell cost lives and show a blatant disrespect for the American people. They will put a spin on darn near anything to sell us their agenda and that agenda, more often than not, does not benefit you, I, our country or the world in any way, shape or form. Quite the contrary.
The speeches from McCain/Palin last week are examples of outright lies as Rachel Maddow pointed out Friday night. They are accusing Obama of doing or not doing things he either did not do or did, respectively. These are the types of lies where the Republicans think they can create their own reality. They think they can demonize those that oppose them using falsehoods - so they can retain power - so they can continue to perpetuate lies - so they can pursue more of their own selfish objectives.
They tell us that we need protection from terrorists, and that only the GOP can protect us adequately from those terrorists. Another lie, overstating the threat to keep us afraid and thus - compliant. The terrorism angle is two-fold: not only is it fear-based by over emphasizing the threat, it is hatred-based by tapping into the intolerance of racist America.
McCain's selection of a running mate and his contention that he feels she is the best for the job are lies. This choice wasn't about progressive thinking, Sarah Palin or women at all - it was about the GOP and getting McCain elected. If Hillary Clinton did not have such a large pool of loyal followers in "political purgatory", Sarah Palin would not be a candidate for VP.
Being of the opinion that his pick was purely political (and I'm hardly alone), I believe such irresponsibility should be enough to cost him the election. McCain says he would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war, but it also seems that he would rather put an unqualified person a breath away from the Presidency than lose a political campaign. Does positioning Mrs. Palin as successor to highest office in the land not put us at risk Senator? Does your choice of running mate not potentially put our country in jeopardy, the country you fought and suffered for?
Put all of this in the context of what we have been enduring for the past eight years. We know that GWB lied to us about Iraq. It is no longer conjecture. Misinformation was disseminated, lies were told, an unjust war is raging as a result and families on all sides suffer. Senator McCain and the Republicans are serving up even more.
Look at the recent reaction to media coverage of Gov. Palin. According to Republicans, the press is out of line asking the questions they do. This sort of information is irrelevant or off limits. Why is it that these sorts of things are only denounced when it is a Republican who is on the receiving end?
If we can't discuss Gov. Palin's family, why then all the furor over Reverend Wright? What bearing did he have on Barack Obama and his ability to lead? I would submit to you that if anything, having a pregnant teenage daughter has a more direct influence on a person than statements made by a member of the clergy at their place of worship!
Why was it okay to purport that Obama was a Muslim?
Why did McCain complain that Obama didn't visit Iraq, then criticize his tour after he did?
Why did McCain attack Obama for "appearing presidential" during that same tour then assume the same posture when addressing the conflict in Georgia?
Then there are the illogical arguments. The first that comes to mind is the classic, "If you oppose the war, you don't support the troops" argument. They send troops to fight and die when and where they shouldn't then charge dissenters of the military action as being against the troops.
Let's get this straight, the people who do not want our troops to die in vain are against them? You know how this one goes.
My greatest pet peeves have to be the arguments invoking "The Surge". The term itself is insulting. During Vietnam the term "Search & Destroy" was discontinued because it had acquired a negative connotation. This is our contemporary version of similar PR word play. "The Surge" is nothing more than a military escalation, I refuse to refer to it by any insipid phrase which attempts to disguise what it really is.
Why do they cling to the escalation with such tenacity? Many Republicans and right-wing mouthpieces in the media hold this issue as the be all-end all of all political debate regarding Iraq. In doing so, this only serves to demonstrate their short-sightedness and it quickly became McCain's answer for everything.
We hear things like:
"McCain supported the escalation"
"McCain was right about the escalation"
"Obama was wrong about the escalation!"
"Obama can't admit he was wrong about the escalation."
If we are divided in our beliefs that the Iraq war either should or should not have been fought at all, why is the question of escalation of said war so central? It just follows logically that if you never supported invading Iraq you would not support an escalation of the war in Iraq. How can someone be right or wrong about an escalation of a war he would have never engaged in in the first place?
An oversimplification: if you serve me a hamburger with mustard on it and I don't like mustard, the recommended solution should not then be - to add more mustard.
(Besides, does it not remain to be seen whether anything related to Iraq has "worked" or been "successful"? Last I heard, the war wasn't over yet.)
To our esteemed Republicans we must ask, why are we in Iraq in the first place?!?!
3. The Republican Party is a repository for "antiquated ideas".
Republicans aren't known for embracing change or new attitudes & beliefs. Many Republicans are comfortable with things the way things are and have been. They prefer a society rooted in tradition, morality, religion and family values - typically from the perspective of WASP males of European ancestry.
I don't have a problem with tradition, morality, religion or family values. I don't think many people do. The danger in the rigidity of "status quo thinking" is that it easily lends itself to ideas like racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and can be an obstacle to substantive discourse or progress on important social issues. This is true especially when given our country's checkered history. As this relates to this current Presidential race we have the two biggies of course, racism & abortion. Many within the Republican Party would turn back the clock on both issues.
They want Roe v. Wade overturned, there's no gray area there.
Is the prospect of a black President all the motivation some Republicans need to work hard for a McCain victory? Sure.
Their sentiments, however, are not confined to solely these two issues, the subtitle to this section could be "The Right Wing is a Bastion of Hatred" because far too often you will find hatred at the root of their arguments.
It can be anger over immigrants being in our country. Here's an example.
It can be hate-filled homophobic rants like the ones highlighted here.
This recent diary was rather eye-opening as well.
People on the right have made careers out of articulating their hatred. They write books, host radio programs or political shows on cable. We all know who they are. They all vote Republican. They often laugh at the notions of fairness or compassion. They often scoff at facts. Their hatred is often veiled under the guise that they are somehow promoting "good values" or "defending America" and often under the supposition that anyone who opposes them is responsible for our country's downfall. The hatred is there. They rarely try to contain it or conceal it.
Conclusion
How did the voting public of our country allow the Republicans to stay in office? The red flags were up in 2004, the war in Iraq was under way, the warning signs were all there - but Bush was re-elected anyway. How can people be granted the privilege of governing this great nation with outright lies and hypocrisy? How can people who care so little about the many play any role in our political landscape?
As the title suggests, I am an Independent. However if "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" then I have found friends in Obama/Biden. We can take the privilege of governing away from the Republicans. I will do my part.
I hope and pray all Independents everywhere do the same.