More random thoughts on the government shutdown and what is going on in Washington.
So basically these Republicans, who claim to be the true protectors of the country and the Constitution, don't understand anything about democracy or the U.S. Constitution. More accurately some of them probably do, but don't care.
Let's recap. The Republican standard bearer in 2012 ran against the Affordable Care Act, aka ACA aka Obamacare. He stated he would repeal it "day one". His party supported him in this proposal. They lost. He lost by about 5 million votes. His party lost two seats in the Senate allowing the Democrats to keep control of that chamber even though they had twice as many incumbents and open seats up for grabs as the GOP did. The GOP lost 10 seats in the House. They lost the overall national popular vote for the House. They maintained control of the House only through severe gerrymandering in many states. This is only about the 5th or 6th time in American history where the party that won the popular vote did not end up being the majority party in the House.
Despite all this they refuse to yield to the voters will. They use their only leverage, control of the House, to bring the government to its knees, unless the policies they ran and lost on, are enacted. This is unprecedented. To my knowledge it was only tried once before - in 1995 by the GOP again.
So basically the modern GOP, if it can't win at the polls, decides to use political extortion, beyond the methods laid out in the Constitution, to get its way. All the time proclaiming to be working for "what the people want".
So basically these Republicans, who claim to be the true protectors of the country and the Constitution, don't understand anything about democracy or the U.S. Constitution. More accurately some of them probably do, but don't care.
Let's recap. The Republican standard bearer in 2012 ran against the Affordable Care Act, aka ACA aka Obamacare. He stated he would repeal it "day one". His party supported him in this proposal. They lost. He lost by about 5 million votes. His party lost two seats in the Senate allowing the Democrats to keep control of that chamber even though they had twice as many incumbents and open seats up for grabs as the GOP did. The GOP lost 10 seats in the House. They lost the overall national popular vote for the House. They maintained control of the House only through severe gerrymandering in many states. This is only about the 5th or 6th time in American history where the party that won the popular vote did not end up being the majority party in the House.
Despite all this they refuse to yield to the voters will. They use their only leverage, control of the House, to bring the government to its knees, unless the policies they ran and lost on, are enacted. This is unprecedented. To my knowledge it was only tried once before - in 1995 by the GOP again.
So basically the modern GOP, if it can't win at the polls, decides to use political extortion, beyond the methods laid out in the Constitution, to get its way. All the time proclaiming to be working for "what the people want".
And some "reasonable" people believe the President and the Democrats in the Senate should negotiate with them and compromise to get "something done". That would be a tragedy. Really it would be the end of democracy and representative government. Why hold elections if a committed band of nihilists can threaten to hold the country hostage (or destroy the full faith and credit of the United States when we get to the debt limit "crisis") when they don't win at the polls. This insurrection must be broken now for the good of the country. It is bigger than one issue or whether or not Obamacare is implemented or delayed or defunded. A true conservative would understand that. But the modern GOP are not true conserv
Based on their current behavior, I believe the modern Republicans do not love the Constitution, despite their claims to the contrary. Heck at this point I'm not even sure they really love America. They love their ideology, their vision, and are willing to shove it down everyone's throat if need be. It reminds me of the insanity that was the war in Vietnam. The GOP is willing to burn the village to save it.
Based on their current behavior, I believe the modern Republicans do not love the Constitution, despite their claims to the contrary. Heck at this point I'm not even sure they really love America. They love their ideology, their vision, and are willing to shove it down everyone's throat if need be. It reminds me of the insanity that was the war in Vietnam. The GOP is willing to burn the village to save it.
RSS Feed