Yesterday, I wrote America's Problem has a name-- the REPUBLIC Party. Republics don't have to be democratic. They don't even have to be democracies based on a loyal opposition working with the party in power. Apparently, the ever-thoughtful Anthony Weiner agrees.
Here's the best part: he said that in February 2007! This is why I love this guy. The more you look, the more you like. Experts agree, there is no "can" in the Republic Party.
If you doubt it, ask Republic Party leaders Eric Cantor or Tom Coburn where you can get help if you are sick and uninsured. They will tell you to pray and to depend on the kindness of strangers. As far as they are concerned, government can't help you. Only God can help you, because when it comes to helping the average American, there is no "can" in the Republic Party.
The Republic Party brought you ketchup as a vegetable. The Republic Party turned America into a debtor nation. The Republic Party looted the treasury and left us with the bill. The Republic Party wants to drown government in the bathtub. It is not content repealing Great Society legislation like Head Start, Medicare and Medicaid. It's note even content repealing the New Deal. The Republic Party tried to repeal parts of the Magna Carta. Former Republican Arlen Specter felt compelled to make that point when the Republic Party went nuts and forced the Military Commissions Act down our throats.
No matter what you think of Arlen Spector, you have to agree he makes sense on that point. Of course, making sense is not a virtue among the Republic Party faithful. The only thing that matters is power. The more concentrated, the better. In a very fundamental way, they are anti-democratic. That is not something they even try to hide. The Republic Party loves to point out we don't live in a democracy, we live in a republic. From there, it's a hop, skip and jump to Unitary Executives, USAPATRIOT Acts, warrantless wiretaps, and the end of habeas corpus.
We aren't talking night and day here. We're talking same planet different worlds. Frankly, the air in their world is toxic to people who live in ours. So is the water and a lot of the food. Even if you could survive in that world, the question remains -- would you want to?
Until they can reach across the aisle and mend the bipartisan bridge they dynamited, there is no "can" in the Republic Party.
Until they can stop treating politics like the latest episode of Seinfeld, there is no "can" in the Republic Party.
Until they can apply the same rules of conduct to their own members that they insist be applied to everyone else, there is no "can" in the Republic Party.
Until they can pull their heads out of the plutocract's asses, there is no "can" in the Republic Party.
It is clear the rich have a party. It's called the Republic Party. Behind closed doors they refer to themselves as The Corrupt Bastards Club. It's an exclusive club. And you ain't in it. In fact, less than 5% of America is in it and most are waking up to the fact that they will never get in.
Despite their best efforts, we still have the votes and actually got to use them in 2006 and again in 2008. The result is the Republic Party is rapidly looking more and more like the new No! Nothing! Party. That is why, as Anthony Weiner so aptly noted in his closing comments:
That's why the Democratic Party is in charge, and not the Republic Party.