Like the bony finger of death, the GOP, backed by the Tea Party, has put its mark on every single piece of MEAN SPIRITED, SHORT-SIGHTED , WTF?! moments that I have either witnessed or read about in recent weeks. Now, before you Tea Baggers go off and claim hyperbole, let me give you the empirical evidence. They are not in any particular order:
1. GOP candidate and front runner for his party's nomination for President, Mitt Romney, in an interview says "I'm not interested in the very poor". He eventually backed off, stating, "I misspoke". Coming from a man reportedly worth $400 million, this is a surprise?!
2. GOP candidate and contender for his party's nomination for President, Newt Gingrich, WORKED (making millions) for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two organizations that he now vehemently condemns. Creating further conflict, on a 1998 trip to promote those organizations in Ireland, Gingrich falsely claimed that he was invited by Habitat for Humanity*. He is obviously a serial liar (just ask his former wife).
3. The GOP led (its founder and VP of Public Policy are BIG PLAYERS in GOP circles) Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, the nation's pre-eminent breast cancer advocacy group, denied funding for Planned Parenthood (which provides breast cancer screening for low-income women in addition to abortion services) on some trumped up internal policy. Komen's leaders were influenced by anti-abortion groups, led by a REPUBLICAN, TEA PARTY backed legislative hack from Florida. Eventually, the public outcry was so intensely anti-Komen that the organization backed off and restored the funding to Planned Parenthood.
4. The GOP, backed by the Tea Party, is exerting disproportionate pressure on all sorts of local and state efforts to control sprawl and conserve energy.* They claim that by improving public transportation and preserving open space, the US is kowtowing to a United Nations conspiracy to reduce energy consumption, deny property rights, stifle small business, and steer people towards living in large cities. The Tea Party sees this as a vast conspiracy to create larger governments and deny individual freedoms. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence, they do not believe in man-made global warming. So, they have blocked things like water quality improvements, high speed trains, road improvements to eliminate congestion, and environmental initiatives like reducing carbon emissions. Obviously, these are things that will destroy our country.
WTF?! You've got to be kidding me!!!!!!
I think that I'm starting to get it. The Tea Party GOP would have the country led by either a wealthy wonk who has no desire to even SEE the poor, much less help them, or a serial liar who was discarded once before by his own party. We would breath stagnant air and drink filthy water. We would sit for hours in our cars, further polluting our air, waiting to commute from all that empty space back into the cities where the jobs are. Women would die by the tens of thousands because funding would not be available for breast cancer screening. And the rich would survive by eating the poor. But, according to the Tea Party, at least we would be FREE!
If this is your vision of America's future then vote for a Tea Party candidate. Go ahead - I dare you. But you better eat and drink what you have now. And you'd better get screened for cancer. Because if you do vote TEA, you may not have those things for very much longer. But you will be FREE.
* As reported in the NY Times
Yep right on Frank. I would like to further Romney’s quote about the poor “they have ample safety nets", a man really out of touch. Then you have Ron Paul who is all over the board. When asked a question about someone who gets sick without insurance he insinuated that it was his decision and if he got sick he should die with no help only what he could get as charity from charitable organizations. Further the audience who was apparently fully Tea party supported gave him a standing ovation.
ReplyDeleteTake a deep breath and walk away from the computer...
ReplyDeleteI really do my best to maintain some degree of neutrality on the blog. I really do. But this shit is so OBVIOUS and so MALICIOUS in nature that it just can't be ignored. In good conscience, I cannot stand idly by and allow these people to hijack my country. Ain't gonna' happen- not on my watch. If I can add my voice to those in opposition of REAL freedom - for ALL Americans - then I will scream it from the mountain tops!! How can these people speak of loving America while spewing so much hate through fear, loathing and misinformation? It is so obvious to me that it leaves me wondering why others are so blind.
ReplyDeletePS: It's so typically GOP to politicize a health issue like Breast Cancer!! For Chris' sake, Republican woman get cancer, too! Shame on them. I'll never look at Komen the same way again. Pity, but they made their bed and now must sleep in it.
ReplyDeleteKomen sold out to the far right and the power of pink handguns and pink trash bins long ago. Thank goodness their PR department was too stupid to realize their funding being tied to the GOP would be exposed for what it is ... another salvo in the war on women the GOP has been waging since Reagan was in the Oval Office. The pinkwashing they have engaged in, the bullying of other cancer research organizations, and their agenda is shameful.
ReplyDeleteRon Paul and the republicans think sick people should beg for care? I think Ron Paul and the rest of his ilk, whether they call themselves libertarians or republicans, should hang their heads in disgrace. They clearly have no idea what it is like for the average American beholden to the whims of their, employers, lawmakers, and states.
What really gets me is their imaginary safety net. I'm currently in a battle with breast cancer and can't fathom what it would be like to be facing it without insurance. I count myself among the exceptionally lucky I have good insurance and won't need to go around begging for $40,000 or more in order to survive. In the few weeks since my diagnosis, I've already incurred bills in the area of $10,000. With the affordable care act, I know that I will be able always receive appropriate and perhaps, life-saving treatment. Without it, I fear I could be denied insurance because of what is happening in my life today.
I shutter to think what would happen should the tea party get power over our great nation. Now, we no longer allow those without to go without healthcare; that would all change and women would be begging for care in order to live. I've been there, done that in the past. I speak from experience on both sides of the the divide, it's not a nice place to be and I don't ever want to go back there nor see our nation go back there.
Komen would never receive any thanks or support from me. You won't see me in a pink t-shirt running or carrying a sign for them. It's likely it would never have happened but now, it's set in stone. Once I am better and hopefully cancer free, I'll find an appropriate organization to thank should I be able to afford it and one thing is certain, it will not be any organization that attempts to politicize my boobs in any way.
I've been reading some books on pre-Great Depression history and have come to a Great Realization. They're not Republicans. They are Fascists. They are bent on eliminating democracy and rule by law. We are in a battle a battle of the common citizen vs the Fascists.
ReplyDeleteI think that we are in a state of RIGHTEOUS RAGE! Rage on, you crazy diamonds!!
ReplyDelete