So here we are. Two dubious wars. One in Iraq that was questionably started using a doctrine that says if anyone looks askance at us, we have the right to take them out. The other in Afghanistan, which is incredibly complicated, and could easily lead to a Nixon following on Johnson in Vietnam.
Then, we have the results of market fundamentalism, which has allowed corporations to run around the economy like college freshmen in the dorm. Footloose and fancy free, we've finally wound up in the dean's office begging for another chance-- at survival.
And finally, the Republican tax ruse. Convince everyone taxes are totally evil and unacceptable so the rich can hang onto more while we wallow in an unending sea of debt. Yea, it all gave the Republicans power. Now, it's off to the woodshed with them.
Looking back on the course the U.S. has taken since the Reagan revolution, no one should be puzzled about how the Salem witch trials, the McCarthy era, or even the Holocaust could take place. The right swallowed a delusion about government and society while many on the left gagged on it, but nonetheless, powerlessly watched as our country has deteriorated into something akin to a banana republic with nukes.
If you study the Johnson and Nixon administrations, it isn't difficult to flash forward to how devastating the wars in Irag and Afghanistan can still become. Johnson, for instance, had a golden opportunity to pull us out of Vietnam after his landslide victory in 1964. He would have received tremendous flak, but civil unrest and his Great Society would have quickly made Vietnam but a footnote in history. Nixon could have ended the war post haste after his election as well. Now, soon to be president-elect Obama will face the same problem. Gawd, I hope he doesn't inadvertently pull another Nixon.
As at least Ariana Huffington has pointed out, Reagan is the origin of the great anti-government sentiment in the U.S. "Government is the problem," he said (proclaimed, pontificated). Not bad goverment is a problem or government gone off the track is a problem, but government itself, the very basis of what keeps the U.S. geographic mass functioning, is a bad thing. Reagan did a terrible disservice to this country with his facile pronouncement. It could easily take another generation to restore faith in government. The questions should have been and still are what kind of government? how much? what is its role? Not, de facto that the whole idea of government is bad. Spank Ronnie, spank the neocons and the horses they road in on.
And, in a similar fashion, it's disgusting how the Republicans have poisoned the well in regard to taxes. The Republicans say they should never be raised and the rich shouldn't have to pay taxes because they do so damn much for everyone else. In their minds, taxes shouldn't exist at all. Such delusional crap has put us over $10 trillion in debt and mounting. It's unconscionable and, again, will take many years to change.
Yes, the Republicans deserve to be spanked, spanked but good, and left in the woodshed. Or, at best, be sent out in the wilderness to wander with Sarah Palin for 40 years. I wonder if her $150K wardrobe will be threadbare by then?