As the transition continues, the American public continues to be bombarded with increasingly dire news on the economy, compounded by Republican obstructionism. In the days of the Roman Empire, there was a policy that was pursed in cases where the local populace succeeded repulsing their would-be conquerors - the Romans poisoned all the wells in the area. By dumping the carcasses of dead animals, feces and garbage into the wells, the Romans successfully made entire communities uninhabitable. Meet the transformed, new and improved Bush Republican Party 2.0 - what was old is new again! More after the flip...
From the Wall Street [Bush Crony Banker] bailout to the Detroit [Throw 'Em Under the Bus] non-bailout, to the systematic and unprecedented level of Bush Administration burrowing and last minute regulation, the New Bush Republican Party 2.0 TM is setting a new standard in scorched earth politics. Having been soundly rejected by the American electorate, they are falling back on time honored tactics - destroy everything they can't take with them.
The unions, led by the Teamsters and the UAW, are a problem? Let's destroy the companies and industries that are their strongholds through deregulation, trade agreements, and by refusing either the establishment or expansion of any social safety net. Let's make unionized business uncompetitive by throwing the cost of decent health care on the employer. Let's make 'em non-competitive by pandering to big oil with "limbo pole" CAFE standards and to foreign car manufacturers who don't have to pay for health care for their workforce.
Does anyone see a pattern here? There used to be people who called themselves Republican that I had a lot of respect for (and still do!). Supporters of smaller, less intrusive government, frugality in government spending, and just plain smarter governing seem to have vanished from the New Bush Republican Party 2.0 TM. This junkyard dog in the manger attitude is, I believe, fundamentally un-American. Americans are a generous, kind, and decent people at heart - where are these virtues represented in the current iteration of this formerly great political party? Instead, we have a mad dog in our midst, attacking and destroying everything and everybody in the time it has left before someone puts it down.
The current desolation and rubble of our economy and the American dream stand as testament to the New Bush Republican Party 2.0 TM - the Party of the Rich (and Self-Deluded), for the Rich (exploiting the Self-Deluded), and by the Rich ( and the bought-and-paid-for Self-Deluded). The Romans couldn't have done it better!
P.S. IGTNT - well, yesterday: I will be among the hundreds of thousands filing for unemployment next week. I'm in decent shape for the short term, but I thought a little rant about my BFF's in the Bush Administration and the New Bush Republican Party 2.0 TM was warranted. How long until these assholes are history? Even better, how long until they are all rotting in prison?
Keep your chin up and spit in their eye! Bless you all from the DancinMan.