It Looks Like Self Destruction
By Clyde
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Anyone who believes that the Democrats actually want Tom Delay to step down need to wake up and smell the coffee, Tom Delay is far too precious as a commodity right where he is. He has single handedly been able to do more damage to his own Party than any Democrat has been able to do in the last five years. From the Terri Schiavo debacle to the judiciary he has shown the American people exactly what the Republican Party stands for.
For years we heard the right wing mantra about how the Republican Party is the Party for smaller government, tax breaks, fiscal restraint and personal responsibility but that song is no longer playing well with the middle class. Since 2000, the government has grown to be the largest employer in the country, the tax breaks did not help anyone that has to work for a living, the deficit has grown to the largest it has ever been and Tom Delay is still Tom Delay.
People are beginning to see that the only values that the Republican Party is concerned with have absolutely nothing to do with making their lives better and the backlash is slowly beginning to gain momentum. The fact is that most Americans are now worse off than they ever were under Clinton and some are now starting to regret that they were naïve enough to vote against their own best interest. High gas prices and rising inflation is slowly turning the tide towards a progressive agenda and you can tell that the neo-cons are now beginning to get nervous.
Whenever a Republican begins to cite religion in their argument, you know that they are scared of the direction that the political compass is pointing. The fact of the matter is that Republicans cannot be elected on their socioeconomic agenda because it favors corporations and the ultra-rich over the mainstream. And after the lies about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, the right wing is losing its grip on the national defense issue, so the only political weapon they have left in their arsenal is the wedge issue. They will search high and low for the issue that will incite their base and will exploit it like there is no tomorrow, yet when they do get the power they seek they do not do anything about it.
During the Reagan years the wedge issue was the "welfare queens" but it took Bill Clinton to actually bring more people off welfare than the previous twelve years of Reagan/Bush. The answer to why would someone who campaigned on an issue and then do nothing about it when they could is very simple, they wanted to keep that issue alive to use another day. When Clinton took the welfare argument off the table the neo-cons needed a new wedge to garner votes. By muddying the water with enough innuendo and supposition about a popular and successful President the wedge became "transparent government" and "restoring honor and dignity to the White House." With the realization that that argument would not work after the first four years of George Dubya and the total secrecy and lack of accountability for the lies and distortions, the wedge became "gay marriage" in order to excite their base enough to remain in power. But because this congress has not addressed this attack on the sanctity of marriage and that the veil was being pulled back revealing the lying and corruption of top members of their Party, the Republican leadership needs a new wedge in which to set up the campaign for 2006.
The neo-cons mistakenly thought they had been given a gift from God when the Terri Schiavo case was beginning to gain momentum. Here was an issue that they thought would work well with the pro-life movement and set up the coming attack on the judiciary. Unfortunately for them this did not work well with the American people. Citizens across the country felt that this was a private family matter instead of a cruel judicially sanctioned execution that the Republicans wished it to be. There was only one avenue left to the Republicans after the "culture of life" issue tanked and they needed to take a different tack in order to accomplish the packing of the judicial branch of government with hard right wing judges, religion.
All religions have three things in common, they all believe they are the one true religion, they oppose change and they wish to control those who do not believe as they do. This is the perfect vehicle to accomplish the goals of the neo-conservative agenda and that is why we now have members of the Republican leaderships laughing with the sinners behind closed doors but crying with the saints on television. The new mantra of the "attack on people of faith" works well with the hard right wing religious zealots, but it is not playing well with mainstream America. Most people see this for the ruse that it is and are not buying it.
The self destruction of the Republican Party has begun and I for one do not wish it disturbed. I want Tom Delay and Bill Frist right where they are and I want them to stay on the same course that they have been taking since last November. The Democrats should not force the issue so much that Delay is taken down from his leadership position too soon. It is enough at this time to keep on the offensive and score field goals instead of touchdowns. Democrats need to follow Harry Reid's example and let Bill Frist hang himself with the nuclear option. We want Bush on the road touting Social Security Privatization and defending his far right wing nominations to the courts and top diplomatic spots in the administration because it will only lead to a Democratic majority.
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