Cowards & Fools

Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 7, 2012

Waiting for the 'outrage' from the same people who demanded apologies from anyone who dared criticize george w bush while he was President..Not holding my breath

President Obama-Labor Day Milwaukee, WI 9/5/10

The White House needs keep letting Obama give speeches like these.

Republican Hypocrisy- Marriage Equality

Republicans/conservatives steadfastly oppose Marriage Equality for LGBT Americans on the grounds that it "diminishes marriage".

Question:

Who was the gay man or lesbian woman who broke up the marriage(s) of:

• Rush Limbaugh- 3x Divorced
• Guiliani- 2x Divorced
• Gingrich- 2x Divorced
• Reagan- 1x Divorced
• Gramm- 1x Divorced
• McConnell- 1x Divorced
• Thompson- 1x Divorced
• McCain- 1x Divorced
• Linda Lingle- 2x Divorced
• Roger Ailes- 1x Divorced
• Glen Beck- 1x Divorced

This is a partial list. I'm sure there are more and I'll be adding to it.

"Nixonland" the prelude to "The American Taliban"

I've beef reading American Taliban by Markos Moulittas and listening to Nixonland by Richard Perlstein . American Taliban is about the radicalized natured of today's Republican Party, and Nixonland speaks of how that faction rose to power with Richard Nixon's encouragement.

Perlstein goes into great detail about the accomplishments of President Johnson from 1964-66. The Voting Rights Act, Medicare, aid to cities, education funding, housing reform, the Department of Health Education and Welfare and so much more.  

Perlstein writes of the press (naively) predicting race would no longer be a factor in national elections. The press at the time also predicted the Republican party would be a permanent party, unless it moved to the left.

And finally, he writes of the inability of Democratic leaders to show white middle class Americans that the programs they were enacting were as much for them as it was for "those people". 

Perlstein's Nixon seizes upon all these to claw his swayback to power.  Nixon knows how to use "Us v Them" politics.  He knows how to exploit white middle class fears and paranoia. He knows how to spin the gains in equality by minorities as losses by the white middle class, even though many of the Great Society programs will help far more whites than blacks.

Nixon also knows how to play the press. He accuses them of unfair negative reporting to maneuver them to give him favorable press. He tell blatant lies, knowing the press will either never discover them, or, if they do, will relegate them to the back page.

Think about those points; A President with great accomplishments, but unable to convince white middle class voters those programs will benefit them, not just minorities.  A press corps unable ( or unwilling)  to see the racial side of the opposition's arguments.  Oppositions politicians using middle class anger to cynically promote their political aspirations. Do any of them, or ALL of them seem familiar?

Granted there is currently no single Republican with the political instincts or abilities of Richard Nixon. But there are, in the Republican Party, a number of Nixon wannabes all nurtured and promoted by Fox News. 

(to be continued)