I cast my first vote in a presidential election for Michael Dukakis. Undeterred by that debacle, I cast my next presidential vote for Bill Clinton. I remember thinking at the time that the nation had dodged a potentially lethal bullet by avoiding a second Bush the First presidency. How sad, then, is it now that I find myself looking back longingly at the elder Bush as a model of decorum and decency--a paragon the likes of which I fear we will never see again in the Republican party?
The GOP likes to call itself the party of Lincoln. Obviously, that is no longer the case. But the Republicans are no longer even the party of Teddy Roosevelt or Eisenhower. I don't even think they can be considered the party of Nixon! Granted, I was lacking in political awareness during the Nixon years; as a toddler, my chief political concerns revolved around whether a parental filibuster would deny me pudding. But from everything I've read about him, I conclude that Nixon, were he alive to run for office today, would probably have to run as a Democrat. If not a Green.
In my life, I have lived in New York and California--along with a brief childhood residency in Massachusetts. I am, in other words, a Blue State citizen, through and through. And despite my ever-deepening despair at the political direction this country is taking, I have always clung to a certain faith that people who disagree with me politically are, on the whole, decent human beings. It is this faith that allowed me to maintain sanity during the George W. years and that has allowed me to ponder the prospect of a Romney presidency without succumbing to abject terror: A belief that, if a large proportion of my fellow citizens were willing to take a flyer on these people, I should at least give them the benefit of the doubt. I can't feel that way anymore.
With the remarks of Rep. Todd "legitimate rape" Akin, some line has finally been crossed. Not so much that he said it--that could just be chalked up to utter ignorance and/or personal misogyny. But the fact that ANY Republican is supporting him, is apologizing for him--presumably only because he is a Republican--casts the entire party as a den of anti-intellectual, uncaring, and hateful barbarians. (And if you say that all politicians would rush to such partisan defense, you're wrong: If Obama had said the same things Akin said, Nancy Pelosi would be screaming for his head.)
The Republican Party is dangerous and evil. If elected, they will drag this country down to third-world status. I struggle to cling to hope.
The Democrats under Obama are doing just fine dragging this country down to third world status. They don't need any help. All this, of course, has been at the direction of the money people, the owners of the Federal Reserve and Wall Street and also the monied Globalists and the UN, and the world's oil magnates. This country has been on a fast decline since the "election" of George W. Bush in 2000, courtesy of those really in control mentioned above.....It's VERY important for a President to have the country's best interest at heart and also to be able to manage UP.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the GOP is grotesque and unfit for office, but the Democrats are not one bit better. They are just unfit for office in overlapping but slightly different ways. First, as Oz wrote above, they are both the same party. They both serve the Federal Reserve, first and foremost, because the Reserve bankers get them elected.
ReplyDeleteSecond, there's no difference in the GOP and DP on any issue I care about. They are both drug and gun prohibitionists. They are both supporters of the mass-murdering FDA that denies us what would be eternal life by this point. They both want eternal war, and voting for Obama and his campaign promises didn't change that. Obama voted for the NDAA, and Romney said he would have as well.
In short, they both want to rule over an enslaved populace of rightless serfs.
I'll be voting Libertarian this election, for Gary Johnson. He's not perfect, but he's better than the other two.