Of course the candidates remain silent. This is the new Republican party. This is the GOP that shirks its responsibility to the people of the United States and allows itself to be run by a blow hard with a radio mic.
Does anyone else remember the old Republican Party? Can you possibly imagine this type of behavior allowed at a GWB campaign event or debate? Participants are always screened for attire, weapons and attitudes.
Cheering death, be it quickly by execution or painfully slowly by disease, and now booing the heroic troops currently serving in a war zone: this is the new GOP. People, enemies created by the Bush Administration, are trying to kill the man they booed last night while he is trying to defend them.
No way do I believe this is unplanned behavior by a few boors in the debate audience. This is the Republican Party. They have the absolute best PR that money can buy, they do not leave anything unplanned in their propaganda efforts. This is the same machine that redefined the words liberal, entitlements, job creators. They leave absolutely nothing to chance. They want people to behave this way. They see only gain.
Rather like the elected Republicans who will do anything to deny us our honestly fought and hard won gains of 2008 even if it means trashing our economy and creating hellish misery for the American people. They really don’t care about the rules of decent behavior. For them it is all about winning.
They allow idiots to scream at the debates because they are counting on the votes of the haters. they are counting on the anger of the unemployed and the hurting to carry them to victory. They are counting on the majority of Americans to be as greedy and venal as they are.
Okay. Let them appeal to the basest among us. It is still our job as Democrats, liberal Democrats to bring the conversation back to our common humanity. It is our job to talk about how important it is to put people back to work, fixing our bridges and highways, our schools and our post offices. It is our job to talk about how important it is to have a fair tax code where the wealthy, like Warren Buffet pay more than 17.6% in taxes while the rest of us pay twice that rate. Hard work and fair pay and a just tax system.
The contrast needs to be drawn between our wish to rebuild our society while the GOP wants it to go down in flames. We should highlight our desire to treat all Americans equally, to insure that everyone gets a fair opportunity while they boo the very Americans they sent to fight a war we didn’t want.
We should talk about the need to look again at the precious life of every individual, and make sure that before we take it away, if indeed we must take it away, that the we have just cause. And we should talk about how we treat the least among us and the sickest.
We should talk about the very principles that guide us as liberals. We should talk about them proudly and loudly and often. Let us stop allowing the thugs to set the agenda of our national discourse. Read and re-read JFK’s definition of a liberal. Internalize the message and then go spread it proudly.
And let them have the death and the hate crowd. There are a lot more Americans who recognize that hate only destroys but can't build and who want to find a better way forward. It is time to set aside our differences with President Obama and start praising his efforts to build bridges and tax those who have done so well on our labor. We should be writing to our local papers, talking at the office, at church and while in line at the grocery store.
And when anyone tells you that the cheers were only reflective of a few poorly behaved people in a crowd, ask why none of the candidates were bothered by that behavior. Ask why the party allows the behavior to be repeated at each debate.
I would love to see an ad with the words “today’s Republican party” and then video of the disgraceful behavior that we have seen at these debates. With the question: are these the people who should be running our country?
2:30 PM PT: Just found this video on You Tube which is pretty close.