The Party that Cried "No"

Family moves rather than give
Up “Strawberry,” 300 lb pet pig
considered “family member.”

You all know the story of the boy who cried wolf too many times so that when a real wolf arrived no one would believe him. We have an interesting example of a similar problem stemming from the Republican Party announcing they will work to bring down the Obama Presidency by being the Party of “No.”They have been living up to this vow religiously. No on the stimulus, no on health care, no on closing Guantanamo, no on leaving Iraq, no on leaving Afghanistan, no on diplomacy with Iran, no on choice, no on unions, no on helping the automobile industry, no on cap and trade, no on trying the terrorists in the U.S., no on investigating Bush/Cheney, no on investigating 9/11, no on global warming, and now no on the President engaging in ordinary protocol, just no, no, no, no, no.

As this is their publicly announced strategy, and as they faithfully vote no on everything, we can rightfully assume they have no claim to credibility of any kind. No on everything Obama wants or needs to do also means no input. No input means we cannot expect them to offer anything in the way of positive suggestions or help no matter what the issue. What it also means is they have declared themselves completely irrelevant as their automatically saying no to everything is both predictable and of no help whatsoever. Thus as they have opted out of participation in our political life they have no right to claim they are not being consulted about anything. They have, in short, become non-participants in our community life. If it were up to me I would take away their right to vote (what is the point of having a minority group of people who have already announced they would vote no, no matter what). If and when they decide to rejoin the rest of us and try to act responsibly I would reconsider, but until then they are simply out of the picture. We must pass health care without them, and anything else that needs doing. As far as I know, no Party in history has ever before simply refused entirely to participate in governing. Usually a losing Party at least attempts to have some kind of input and cooperates on things of national interest. These tactics of no are infantile in the extreme. It’s as if they are having tantrums and refusing to eat their mush.

Knowing they do not have enough no votes to get their way, they have decided to delay on health care. They assume the longer they can delay any action the more chance the Insurance and Pharmaceutical giants will be able to influence more Congresspersons to kill the bill. I hope everyone realizes what this involves. A minority of Republicans, acting out of nothing but naked greed, are going to try to deny health care to millions of their fellow citizens. No matter that this health care reform is desperately needed, no matter that we are the only so-called “civilized” country in the world that does not provide universal health care, no matter that some 40 plus thousand die every year for lack of health care, no matter that we spend billions upon billions killing people but cannot afford health care for our own, no matter this has been an issue for such a long time and is now on the threshold of becoming a reality, they fatten their wallets and campaign funds, sit back in their plush offices, enjoy their own marvelous health care, and just say no to those less fortunate. They are, to be generous, disgusting.

The Palin book is to be released tomorrow, although quite a few people have it already. I fear it is going to be a he-said, she-said fiasco, with the McCain staffers she criticizes insisting she lies and she denying it. In any case we will have to put up with Silly Sarah for quite a while. It is a sad commentary indeed that some 30% of Americans apparently think she is qualified to be President of the U.S., when in fact she has no real qualifications whatsoever, is ignorant as can be about most everything, speaks like a hillbilly, and displays all the sophistication of a nanny goat. She is, I believe, the personification of what is wrong with the United States. I guess it is fitting that she seems to be the one bright star in the Republican firmament: ignorant, greedy, shameless, without an idea in her head except to get rich speaking to people even less well informed than she is, enjoying her few moments of undeserved fame. I seriously doubt anyone will remember her in just a few short years. But I do hope she gets the Republican nomination.

LKBIQ:
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
Douglas Adams

TILT:
The lynx is the national animal of Romania.