I use Robin Williams in the Fisherking here rather than a true homeless schizophrenic because while I believe my point is valid it is dehumanizing. That isn't my intent but it is a byproduct. Hence a fictional portrayal to make my point.
The GOP is officially schizophrenic. They have become that archetypal homeless man on the streets of a northeastern city, shuffling and mutter to itself, occasionally shouting out obscenities and the occasionally nonsensical word.
Benghazi! IRS! Secret Muslim!
I use this example not to denigrate the seriously mentally ill, or to trivialize their plight. Rather, I use it to point out how serious the devolution of the GOP has become and what the consequences; ultimately will be for their party.
They are gone; lost in the morass of half-truths, the wilderness of mirrors that is the Right Wing Talk Machine -- the Limbaughs, the Becks, and the Hannitys. The GOP can't remember what it used to believe before Obama was elected. They can't remain consistent to any belief if the President is for it as well. The joke making the rounds on Twitter was, "President Obama cures cancer, GOP denounces him for putting oncologists out of work." That's how seriously idiotic and petty they have become.
More, they have fallen prey to the truly talented liars, the neocons, with their, never too hyperbolic, monotone speech, as they seek to reassure and convince that their lies are true. These are the "serious men" of the Party, chickenhawks, rageaholics, and fools, who haven't been right about a foreign policy decision in 30+ years. But that doesn't stop them from attacking everything the President does.
The GOP is living in an alternative universe. They live in an echo chamber or reinforced delusion and then are shocked when the rest of the world, not just the rest of the country, not just the opposition party, but also the entirety of the world rejects their vision.
They created the Iraq war out of whole cloth, this type of delusion, and groupthink run amok. They have no memory of that, of course. If they did, how could they possibly have the balls to go on Morning Joe and pontificate about President Obama?
They are shameless and idiotic, and dangerously unhinged. Think of the wars we would be fighting if McCain had won instead of Obama: Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Ukraine. Those are just a few of the place McCain has called for ground troops.
The GOP is gone. The Wisemen – the Jim Bakers, the George H. W. Bushs – have been replaced by the clown car of Five Deferment Dick, his absurdist daughter Liz the Anti-Cassandra (remember the Greek myth? Cassandra was cursed with the ability to predict the future but cursed never to be believed. Liz is believed often and never ever been right about Obama), Bill Kristol, and Rummy. We find ourselves truly through the looking glass here.
That brings us to this week's meltdown. The Bergdahl prisoner exchange:
There are five lies currently being circulated by the GOP, championed by their sycophants, and bought wholesale by Dems with faint hearts – yes, I'm talking to you Chris Mathews.
1. The Taliban is a terrorist Organization
2. The Congress was never consulted
3. The Taliban we released are a danger to the US
4. President Obama has overstepped his authority
5. That the objection of the Right is based on principle not Obamahate
Let me explain what is happening with #Bergdahl prisoner exchange. Wars end. When this entire controversy began on Monday, I tweeted out -- "Wars End," and thought that would be enough. When wars end, prisoners are exchanged. It isn't shocking. It isn't complicated. It is how every war ends.
Artist Rendering of a Prisoner Exchange as Civil War comes to an end.
RAF Prisoners of War exchanged for during WWII
John McCain returning home after his captivity as a Prisoner of War. What a difference 40 years makes
I have watched in fascination as the GOP spent the week eating its own face. An awful image I know, but they are destroying themselves and I can't think of a more apt one. The Taliban isn't a terrorist organization. They are the enemy in a war begun on September 11, 2001. When Al Qaeda attacked us, the United States contacted the government of Afghanistan. Not AQ, the Government that harbored them. We requested of that government, help. Give us Osama Bin Ladin and help us dismantle AQ.
You do not call a terrorist organization and ask it for help. You contact a government. You treat with a government. The Taliban refused. Afghanistan's elected government refused. Therefore, we invaded.
That is what happened. And that means, 13 years later, as the President of the United States announced an end to the War begun by George Bush as a response to 9-11, you exchange prisoners and go home. That is how wars are fought. The Taliban aren't terrorists, they are prisoners of war.
Next: The President consulted with Congress even though he didn't have to. The law demanding the President Obama give Congress 30 days' notice before releasing anyone from GITMO, ostensibly a prisoner of war camp, is unconstitutional on its face and I applaud the White House for ignoring it. The President should continue to do so until GITMO is empty.
However, even if you believe the law is constitutional, something I expect the D.C. Circuit or the Supremes to rule on eventually, it isn't designed to stop what just happened.
What I mean is the President told every relevant person that he planned to do this two years ago. That seems like more than 30 days. For those saying he wasn't sufficiently specific in that he was really going to do it, I say A) Quibble B) the law doesn't say how far in advance is too far just that it must be before 30 days.
The President indicated he was going to make a trade. Two years later he did. The time to raise an objection to the trade is not now that it is over, rather it was two years ago when proposed. No one did.
The notice was designed to prevent the President from closing Gitmo. It wasn't designed to prevent the return of a dangerously ill prisoner of war. Shame on the GOP for acting as though it was. As we have all discovered this week, or rather rediscovered, the GOP is shameless.
This week the GOP undermined every principle of fairness and decency they professed. They reversed themselves on every issue they purport to believe in, proving they believe in nothing.
The best quote on the Bergdahl situation I've heard was from a Rear Admiral who said, "When a sailor goes over the side of a ship, it doesn't matter whether he jumped, was pushed, or fell because of his own negligence. You turn the ship around and get him."
The Rear Admiral nails it. We bring prisoners home. The GOP talking point I first heard from Mike Rodgers was, "but not at any cost." He is right; there are limits to the cost you pay. However, that call, like all others in this bailiwick are the provenance of the Executive. They are Obama's call.
The GOP is upset because the President is the President. He won two landslide elections. He actually gets to be President no matter how much that infuriates the GOP. Obama IS President, and the President gets to fight the war the way he wants. Congress can cut off funding. That is their role. They hold the Purse; the President prosecutes wars. No matter how much it infuriates Lindsey Graham and John McCain that Obama is President, he actually fing is.
What you are seeing from the right isn't a principled objection to the swap. This is all just more Obama hate speech from the right.
Remember the image I painted earlier. The homeless paranoid schizophrenic wandering the streets shouting out non-sequitors… "Benghazi! Bergdahl! IRS! Secret Muslim! Kenya! Impeachment!" The GOP is delusional, dangerous, and as dead as disco.
Peace,
J. Christian Watts
Follow me on Twitter @JCWPolitics