| jayeff |
05-12-2004 07:34 AM |
What puts me off the Republican party as much as its policies, is the attitude of so many of its supporters. Namely that you have to buy into the party line, every word, every letter. You must not think, question, or - unless it is to outdo the emotive rhetoric of the last Republican who spoke - give voice to any opinions of your own.
And of course, anyone who doesn't agree with you is a liberal.
But even the nickname GOP is a fraud because the Republican party is not the oldest. So it's no surprise that most of the public statements are frauds too. I'm not getting into Iraq which is specific to the present, but such things as the idea that reducing taxes is good for the economy.
The reality is that at least in the way they are applied, reduced taxes aren't good for anything except attracting votes. For the past 50-odd years, under Republican presidents, the economy has performed worse than under Democrats. Recovery has been slower and shorter lived. Declines longer and deeper. The economy does not respond to more money being put into the bank accounts of the better of, but to job creation which puts money into the hands of people who will spend it.
Which brings us to the biggest fraud perpetrated by the GOP. It is the party of the rich and the power elite but presents itself as the working man's champion. Of course it is no such thing, but we have the spectacle of many of the poorest areas of the country faithfully voting Republican in election after election.
This is because the only thing the GOP handle well is propaganda. Target people who are bitter about what life has doled out to them; figure on them carrying bigger chips on their shoulders than most; and feed their prejudices. Most will not be too well educated, so you wave the flag, beat the drum, tell them what they want to hear and sleep sound knowing they neither want to nor could question you.
All praise to a party which can convince working people, the economic group to which most welfare claimants belong, that welfare should be strangled. It's a hell of a trick persuading the largest group of people without medical insurance that universal health care is a bad thing. And even in towns like the one in which I live, with over 70% of the working population unemployed, working (multiple) part-time jobs or in full-time employment close to minimum pay, most people are still convinced that poor education is better than higher taxes. When you point out to someone that he pays little or no tax, there will be a "yes but...", a pause, and then he will start talking about the evils of big government.
Another nice myth that too isn't it? You carry around photo IDs. You need a license for just about any kind of business. Someone can tell you what percentage of your property you can build on and how tall your grass can grow. There are gravy trains in "cities" of a few thousand people and everywhere you turn, all the way up through state level to Washington. But we will only have big government if the Democrats are elected.
Of course you get to kill people, at least by proxy, if you put a Republican in the White House. Which also means great TV. We might have to talk to the kids if there wasn't mindless crap like JAG and Navy NCIS to keep us glued to the screens. Kinda sad when you have to go to Bubba's funeral, but hey, he died defending his country.
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