The Great Divide Just Gets"Divider"

“There's nothing wrong with Republicans deciding to play the role of the obstructionist opposition, and in the unlikely event that this stimulus bill does not get the economy going and additional economic recovery legislation is not passed through Congress, they may stand to benefit politically.”

I lifted this from this article:

Letting Republicans Bury Themselves
by Jed Lewison
Tue Feb 17, 2009 at 09:15:03 AM PST

Posted on
http://www.dailykos.com/

I replied to my fellow e-mailers, like this:

The writer may be correct about Obama's "covert" strategy, but I think the truth is that the less Obama fought back, the deeper the Republicans dug themselves in, trying to attract attention to themselves: they have an ad on TV already, claiming credit for portions of the very bill they voted against. They have become increasingly delusionary in recent days. When Lindsey Graham recommends nationalizing the banks, Newt vows to stop "the administration in its tracks" and Cantor leads the fight to disavow the very housing aid portion of the stimulus that he and his colleagues called for as pre-eminently necessary just days ago, they have clearly lost their way and look more ridiculous every day.

The excerpt I pulled out (above) is just plain wrong thinking. In these times, it is VERY WRONG for the Republicans to be obstructionist "just because". That they "may stand to benefit politically",whether the plan succeeds or fails is a lousy way to lead and protect the people who elected them. I am sick to death of making excuses for politicians who are more concerned about re-election than earning the checks and benefits they draw. You are supposed to enter politics to display and exercise maturity and wisdom, not become a professional grand-stander and master of double-speak.

On the whole, I found the article a bit Polyanna-like.

I may have been over-reacting to the fact that I expect pieces in KOS to have more meat on their bones, but I have been noticing for days now, as the hot-air balloon-like debate over the stimulus became increasingly hysterical, that Republicans are acting more and more disconnected and without any real sense of immediacy. As our needs become more dire, the less they seem willing to put their shoulder to wheel and help get something done.

Only recently did we manage to get the “uniter” out of office (of course we all know that that the only thing he united was a movement of people who worked hard, together, to remove him). Bush was, of course, a divider, creating anxiety, and angst and sorrow and regret, along with injustice, constitutional abuse and internal terror across the land. The United States became a land divided and one which ultimately placed great hope in the vision and energy of Barack Obama. It appeared to many that the halting and stumbling pattern of our socio-economic situation might become changed for the better.

But many in the government, Republicans by name, mostly, decided to be, almost overnight, obstructionist, both just because they could and because their self-righteous indignation over having been “hammered” in the last election seemed to give them the self-appointed right to smear, handicap and hobble the new administration. They seemed to adopt a uniform blanket of a complete lack of self-awareness about the new reality. It has been an amazing fait accompli.

Alas, the harder they seem to work at this, the more ridiculous and obscure and (nearly) obscene their claims and objections become, the more completely out of synch with the national mood they become, as well. Instead of working to close the great divide of the last years, they have made it worse…or at least tried to. They speak less and less to the subjects at hands, avoid confronting the real priorities and make every attempt to perfect histrionics, drama and sensational language. Meanwhile, Americans lose their homes and their jobs and drown in debt, bankers and hedge fund managers worry over losing their third home on the seashore, take home enormous bonuses and spend weekends on yachts in the Caymans where they have hidden bank accounts. We are also in the midst of giving out more “bail-out” money to beleaguered and inept auto manufacturers (and their suppliers) and are waiting for the next wave of organizations to mobilize for hand-outs and rescue plans, because they have over-extended, over- indebted themselves and engaged in sloppy business practices. I am waiting for us all to learn how to spell the word g-r-e-e-d.

It is impossible for me to know what the hell John Boehner is thinking when he throws an 111 hundred+ page document on the floor of the Senate chamber, feigning disgust. It may be a great display of theatre, but it does not tell me that he understands anything about its import. I don’t know what Lindsey Graham( as I said above) is thinking (a professed fiscal conservative, anti-facist, anti-socialist), when he announces it is time to nationalize the banks. It may be dramatic but it doesn’t tell me he knows anything about which he pontificates. I don’t know, when Rep. Cantor vows to be obstructionist about the housing provisions he supposedly fought for earlier, what has happened to his brain. And the obscene language being used in Republican TV commercials against AFSCME, or the Republican ads, somehow claiming credit for portions of the very bill they fought to defeat (or just would not vote for) are supposed to move the country forward, when they blatantly and stubbornly shout “No!” in the face of everything.

The divide can only become wider if the American people are supposed to ignore the complete lack of energy being put forth by the RNC to rectify our deficiencies, while touting useless tax cut programs and wasted time and energy for “abstinence only” sex education programs (even Bristol Palin says they don’t work) and simultaneously railing against family planning funding…do I need to go on? I don’t think so.

The behavioral displays of the Republicans are erratic, essentially dysfunctional and downright disturbing. There may some order in chaos theory, but there is no theory in the Republican chaos of being completely illogical and maintaining a determination to repeat the same old procedures that never work. I am astounded that they simply cannot discern the difference between forward and backwards.

I heard a commentary the other day that said that the financial crisis will not end until the bankers are happy, and the bankers will not be happy until we back large trucks, full of money, up to the doors of the banks and unload it with “NSA” , as it often says in the personals. It looks to me like the Republicans are all trying to join the Teamsters Union and get licenses to drive 18-heelers. They seem to think they don’t need to make any sense, listen to anyone or do anything else in order to get re-elected. It may have worked that way in the past, but if they persist in that attitude, the great divide will only get “divider”.

I would like to believe that this Republican act is just that: an act. But somehow I think they may really be that stupid.