I get so sick and tired of hearing Republican politicians, Republican talk radio personalities, and Republican voters in general complaining about Obama, and how horrible he is.
Now, you know I am not an Obama fan by any means, so why would I say such a thing? That's a wonderful question. Let's take a look...
The Republican Party has no one to blame but itself for the fact that Obama is in the White House. They have no one to blame for the erosion of our rights over the last eight years, or the fact that most Americans would have probably voted for Satan himself if he'd promised to get us out of Iraq. They have no one to blame for the general ineptness of their party, or the mistakes the fact that their last winning candidate was the antithesis of everything their platform claims they stand for.
So yes, I am sick and tired of hearing them stand up now and cry like little babies about how horrible the world is, and how it is all the fault of the evil Democrats. Because you see, they are wrong. It isn't the Democratic Party's fault, it is their own.
Sure, it's popular now to scream about gun rights - but where were the Republicans when Bush signed the Patriot Act that is now being used as the basis for denial of such? Sure, it's popular now to scream about continuation of torture tactics - but where were the Republicans when their President instituted them to begin with? Sure, it's popular now to whine about schools, and health care, and parents' rights, and property rights, and taxes, and pollution, and a half dozen other common whining points - but where were the whiners for the last eight years?
I'll tell you where they were. The Republicans back then were too busy poking fun at those of us who actually did dare to speak out. They called us unpatriotic, even terrorists. They called us loony and kooky and conspiracy theorists. They laughed at us and marginalized us and did everything in their power to silence us.
And now that we were proven right, and it's too late to do anything about it because their childish games already cost them the election, they're saying the exact same thing we were saying all along. It seems the Republicans have as bad a case of selective memory as the Democrats.
Are you as sick of two-faced hypocrites in politics as I am?
p.s. i'm an equal-opportunity bash-er - the democrats had their day, the others will too
Comments (21)
Very true!
I think what you were really being told by most, was that you could work to get the best you could get, as Ron Paul has done his entire political career (in a party that is not so perfect). Or you can feel really good about your political purity, as you lose every political battle and your nation goes to shit.
There is line you need to draw, beyound which you will not cross. But if you draw that line all the way into a corner, a corner is where you will stay
@trunthepaige - Like the one the Republican Party has voluntarily backed itself into, where no one trusts them because what they do when they get elected doesn't even begin to match their platform? Interesting theory.
Wendi, I am with you on this 100%. I don't like where we are as a country, but I know that our party failed to uphold the Constitution when it looked best to compromise it. We are the ones responsible for Obama's election, and there seems no way out, now.
I do ask what we could possibly have done differently 8 years ago, when 9/11 took place, and our President took us into the present war. I think we had to respond, and we did. But, was the Patriot Act necessary? Was the torture tactics necessary? And speaking of that: what is our source of information about how bad it got? I think you know: it was the left-leaning news media that trumpeted it. And it was the exception, and not the rule. And, where we became aware of it, we stopped it. We got intel, but could we have possibly have gotten it in another way? I think looking back will not help us; only looking forward, and doing whatever we can to redirect Mr. Obama's enthusiasm to less dangerous targets would be wise.
@radicalramblings - Yeah in my state where the libertarians became oh so pure they have accomplished nothing at all, though their numbers are not small. They pride themselves on being the cause of our state having one of the worst of governors and two of the worst senators in the nation.
What I said is not a thoery, it is a repeatably proven fact. Libertarians stay pure and lose every fight while socialists have always compromised and are slowly winning.
@trunthepaige - I guess I am confused at how this has turned into a discussion of Libertarians and their values. The point is that the Republicans (a) are saying now exactly what the "kooks" were saying two years ago and (b) they love to talk when they're not in power but when they are they sing a different tune. Let's stick to them, okay. The Democrats had their turn yesterday, and I'm not through yet, the other parties will get their day for bashing as well
For me, my biggest beef against the GOP is that they're always busy trying to be the Not-The-Democrats. They're identity seems now to simply be a state of being against whatever the Democrats stand for at the moment. And to base an identity solely on not being someone else is, well...dumb. So often I hear how horrible the latest Democrat scheme is, but I hear no actual counter-solution from the Republicans.
Health care is a great example. The Democrats are bringing us into socialist health care!! So, Republicans, then what's your solution? Oooooh, you don't have one. Yeah, thanks for that (Which is odd, seeing as there should be a whole table full of possibilities to consider laid in front of us.) McCain, for that matter, seemed to have his campaign solely on him not being Obama. (Not that Obama's was much better, seeing as how was was not being Bush.)
In short, Republicans are too busy trying to one-up the other side that they don't have time to actually try to fix any issues.
Now radio talk show hosts for me are a mixed bag...Some drive me nuts: Sean Hannity, Mike Galligher (sp?)...They're so angry and irate all the time, and go on and on and on and on with these tirades...and that's about it. But there are others I really like. Rush, for one. I disagree with him on some things, sure, but I have to hand it to him -- It's obvious he's having fun. He rarely seems actually angry about anything. He just pokes his fun jabs and is overall entertaining. Mark Levin is another I enjoy. He gets angrier and harsher than I'd prefer at times, but the man's smart as a nail, so I'll hand him that.
Dennis Praeger is by far my fave though. He's cool-tempered, tries to see all sides of an issue, and has the best habit of all in my opinion: He LISTENS to people. I think simple, quiet listening is at the heart of solving a multitude of issues.
So, like I said, mixed bag. But in the end, I don't think things are going to get better until we start learning to truly listen to each other, no matter how much we disagree at times, and learn to focus on fixing issues, not just yelling down the ideas we disapprove of.
You got to love circular dancing
"The Republican Party has no one to blame but itself for the fact that Obama is in the White House."
Do you view the Democrats as enemies of the Republicans?
@trunthepaige - Because I want to stick to the topic of the Republican party, and what's wrong with it, in this post instead of talking about other groups and what is wrong with them? Okay. Whatever you say.
@TheGreatBout - They are mutual "frienemies," that is they love to hate one another but without either one the other would have very little reason for existence.
You just gained like eleventy billion awesomeness points for this post. It's refreshing to see someone mention that both major parties are whiny hypocrites.
Argh. Politics is a messy, contentious, slippery thing and I don't think anyone who enters into political power, no matter where they came from, can exit with entirely clean hands.
"McCain, for that matter, seemed to have his
campaign solely on him not being Obama. (Not that Obama's was much
better, seeing as how was was not being Bush.)"
Really? I thought Obama just ran on "I'm black, which automatically makes me superior - just ask MTV".
For the topic at hand, these days most Republicans are barely distinguishable from Democrats. Both of them want to rob us of our rights, they just disagree sometimes on what the best way to do that is.
Obama is cuter than Bush in my opinion, and he likes the White Sox, which is my daughter's boyfriends favorite team. Ron Paul is kind of goofy looking and McCain is NOT attractive. I never thought bill Clinton was THAt good looking due to his nose but then he had that whole bad boy thing goin on, so you see my point. Wait! What?
I think the Republicans are being given a lesson in practical politics, Namely: Sow the seeds of discord and you may reap the whirlwind.
Pretty obviously they badly misunderstood the temper of the country and those left in Congress are only those with so radical a bunch of supporters that they, if not themselves as radical, feel they must cater to in order to maintain their political lives. Bluntly: I think many of them let the color of Obama's skin color their judgment of his intellect - and got badly bitten.This is a smart guy - read his books if you don't believe that; and he is the color of things to come.I think Texas now is one of those states where the "White majority" is now a political minority, along with an increasing number of other states.@tychecat - Obama is only smart in the "knows how to manipulate people to get what he wants" way. When it comes to things like science, economics, ethics, basic reasoning, etc, he's really not too bright.
If he was as smart as the media claims he is, he would realize that the absolute last thing you want to do during a recession is implement a cap and trade policy (no matter how much you may WANT a cap and trade policy - and I'm not even going to go into how idiotic a cap and trade policy is) that, by Obama's own admission in an interview, would "cause energy prices to skyrocket".
I'm a fairly bright person with training in recognizing other bright people - and teaching them (not as easy as you might think sometimes). As we authorities often say "Trust me, Obama is a very bright person" - among the brightest presidents we've had - not that that's any particular compliment
I suppose the idea is that we drop back into basic industrial competition with the Indians and Chinese and pollute ourselves out of recession?A self-proclaimed "bright person" who "has a talent for recognizing other bright people" translates into "he agrees with my views, therefore he is highly intelligent".
This isn't about stroking anyone's ego or personal preferences. His plans are bad and WILL have a very negative effect on our economy and society if he gets them passed.
The US isn't any good when it comes to manufacturing - not because we lack the knowledge or ability, but because American's entitlement mentality has caused them to think that a high school dropout doing unskilled factory work should be paid the same as say a computer programmer, economist, teacher, or doctor. Factory work isn't a middle class job, it never was and never will be. However, it IS better than things like working in a restaurant. Only when Americans learn to understand that doing factory work isn't going to give you a fantastic life can America begin having a strong manufacturing industry again.
As for pollution, first off Obama's claim for putting the cap and trade policy in is to stop global warming (which there's little to no evidence that humans have had any impact on the environment). Secondly, who benefits from cap and trade? Not normal people - businesses and politicians do. Politicians benefit because they'll be given large amounts of money in exchange for setting the regulations where companies like, then companies simply sell the "right" to pollute to each other (since every company gets X number of credits). It is a ludicrous idea that does nothing to stop pollution, all it does is increase the cost to consumers and benefits people in slightly lower polluting industries (it has no negative effect on those who pollute a lot since they pass the costs on to consumers) and policitians.
"I suppose the idea is that we drop back into
basic industrial competition with the Indians and Chinese and pollute
ourselves out of recession?"
I never said anything about us competing in manufacturing against them (read my paragraph above as to why). However, your idea that it's better to be in a recession than to pollute as much as we do (since we wouldn't be adding any more, just staying where we are) shows exactly what I was talking about when I said Obama lacks any understanding of things like economics and basic reasoning.
@tychecat - Interesting that breathing (exhaling CO2) has been redefined as "polluting". Whoever can redefine the words has the power.