As we know, "the will of the people" is a sacred concept to the GOP/Tea Party. While Dems clamor about social justice, we can always count on Republicans to self-righteously remind us that politicians are supposed to respond to The People's wishes, not "cram through" legislation for "special interests" that The People have said they don't want!
But what to do when The People are misguided?
Fortunately the GOP is always eager and able to tell us the difference between what The People want, and what is merely the result of ugly "politics."
Case in point: Don't Ask Don't Tell.
As Sam Stein reports, Lindsey Graham is the latest Republican leader to explain the difference between "the will of the people" and mere "politics."
Assuring us that Congress will NOT repeal DADT this year, Graham explained on Fox News that "there is no groundswell of opposition" to the policy --suggesting that all the clamor started simply because President Obama made a campaign promise. In other words, any movement behind repeal is just coming from crass political manipulation, rather than any genuine need or widespread desire for change.
Now, you might have thought that when Obama was elected (by a very healthy margin) he was given a mandate by voters for his policy positions. In other words, you might have thought The People expressed support for health care reform, DADT repeal, etc.
But you'd be wrong, according to Graham.
Never mind that a big majority of voters (whether Dem, Republican, or independent) STILL agree that gays should be allowed to serve in the military. Never mind that the majority of the military is fine with repeal, or that the military has been suffering from the loss of thousands of qualified service men and women ousted under DADT. Lindsey Graham is always eager to tell us the difference between politics and "the will of the people."
Setting aside the notion that we elect our leaders to sometimes actually lead (even when their decisions are temporarily unpopular), the GOP enjoys positioning itself as the party that's always most receptive to "the will of the people." And when the polls don't support their goals, a little semantic adjustment allows them to stay swaddled in their self-righteousness. Fortunately we have Graham, McCain, Boehner, and McConnell to help us discriminate between cynical, manipulative "politics" and pure, small-D democratic "will of the people."
All of which is more evidence supporting Seneca Doane's excellent analysis of current GOP strategy. Having been generously rewarded for total obstructionism, the party is doubling down on its bold philosophy that places their path to power above the welfare of the country. As Seneca Doane points out, this just seems too preposterous to be true to average media consumers and producers. It seems almost slanderous to say it -- yet all the facts consistently tell us that's exactly what's going on.
Republicans want our country to fail.
They even want our military to fail.
This is the truth. It needs to be stated over and over again -- with supporting facts -- so that the media and voters call them out for it. If we allow bastards like Graham to frame an issue like DADT as just another opportunity to block an Obama campaign promise, anemic swing votes like Murkowski, Snowe, and Ensign will have no choice but to stick to the party line.
UPDATE: Richard Klass provides a nice rundown of some of the most current issues the GOP is using to try to defeat Obama -- to the detriment of the country. START treaty, DADT, taxes, job creation...