On the sidebar some bloggers reveal that they're reading a book. Other bloggers have gone a step further: They not only reveal their reading du jour, but offer a review.For now, I'm going to break with a part of that tradition: I'm going to reveal the book I'm reading, but postpone a review for a later time. Instead, I'd like to excise a portion of it, and get your response.
Written by Manuel G. Gonzalez and Richard Delgado, the book explores how Bush-era Republicans used fear to win seats in congress and hold fast to the presidency. The book is titled, appropriately, The Politics of Fear: How Republicans Use Money, Race, and the Media to Win.
Copyrighted in 2006 by Paradigm Publishers the book is written with the insight, and uncommon examination of one published only yesterday.
What I'd like to bring to the fore is a statement made on the very last page of the book (the Conclusion chapter). The statement introduces a quote. Keep in mind that the quote predates the book's copyright date, and could very well have been published months, perhaps years, before.
"Every four years, Republicans present their party platform very openly and clearly before the electorate. Moreover, the GOP agenda, as we have seen, is one that has been articulated throughout the years by party strategists representing the various factions that collectively make up the New Right, and these operatives have been unusually forthright in some of their public declarations about their common vision: 'an America in which the rich will be taxed at the same rates as the poor [Be sure to watch the accompanying video], where capital is freed from government constraints [regulations], where government services are turned over to the free market [Watch the several videos highlighting the book, "The Shock Doctrine." Learn that Crises may be real, imagined or manufactured.], where the minimum wage is repealed [Some of the comments posted there are as inane as the proposal to replace adults with children and pay them less (less than minimum wage, that is)], unions are made irrelevant [I could have selected from thousands of articles with a similar focus.], and law-abiding citizens can pack handguns in every state and town.'57" [p. 132]
To show you just how far Republicans have come in realizing their vision for America, I have provided supportive articles that might be accessed within the previous statement by clicking on one, or all, of the highlighted links. The articles prove one thing: The persistence of the Republican Party, and its drive to establish One-Party Rule in this country.
57.Scherer, "Soul of the New Machine," 44.
3 comments:
BD,
Everything you say about the republicans is true. They are truly a distasteful and disgusting lot.
Sometimes when I sit back and look at the political scene, it seems like a play, but unfortunately all of this has real consequences and I think that the interplay between the republicans and the democrats is designed to lead us somewhere that's pre-destined. I have nothing factual to offer to back up that statement. It's just something that I feel.
Why does it seem that we have a bad cop/good cop scenario all of the time? Why does it always seem that the republicans are the meanest cruelest bunch of people while the democrats seem so defenseless and hapless at times in response? It reminds me of the staged wrestling matches I used to watch as a kid. The bad guy always had a set of brass knuckles that the referee never saw, but we in the audience saw it and tried to get the ref's attention so he to reign in the bad guy. We never could get his attention.
I think we're already at the pre-destined point where there already is one party rule even though we still see democrats and republicans. The thing is set up where neither side is going to achieve an outright "win" or get too far ahead of the other. They have to keep the rest of us enthralled by the fight so I think the battle is destined to continue with emotions running high and gridlock continuing. That doesn't mean that decisions aren't being made. I just think they're occurring outside of the political system; a case in point being the actions of the Fed here over the past few months.
I'm sorry to say, but I've come to the point where I've absolutely no faith nor trust in the nation's political system. I think there are a number of people who've arrived at the same point. That's not a good thing because in a way, apathy or a rejection of the system is precisely what the powers that be want. They very much want to shrink the electorate and lessen participation as a means of ensuing the current set up continues.
@Greg L: "[I]t seems like a play, but unfortunately all of this has real consequences...."
Shutting down the government--which the Tea Party has advocated on more than one occasion ("Cut it, or shut it!" being their battle cry, hoping to blame the Left for it)--is one of those real-world "consequences" of which you speak.
And as usual it's the little guy and gal, those with very little political power and clout, that will suffer "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."
"[T]he interplay between the republicans and the democrats is designed to lead us somewhere that's pre-destined."
I think Republicans are hell-bent on destroying this country. It may be unconscious on their part, but it's their intention nevertheless.
Bush almost succeeded. He and his administration lied (Going so far as to exploit Colin Powell's sterling reputation to sell the Iraq war.) to involve up in a war in the Middle East.
The Bush Doctrine was a joke.
I say it's their intention for one reason: Wherever Republicans exercise power--city government, state government, the courts, all the way to the Supreme Court--they have one goal, to replace our democracy with a corpocracy, and to concentrate power and money into the hands of a few.
"Why does it always seem that the republicans are the meanest cruelest bunch of people while the democrats seem so defenseless and hapless at times in response?"
People gravitate toward those institutions that reflect their ideals and their values. Republicans don't make people "mean" and "cruel." Mean and cruel people are attracted to the party. Using the power of the party (pooling resources--people, money, and a kindred ideology [a hatred of the poor and the weak], they can then re-create the world in their own image.
"I think we're already at the pre-destined point where there already is one party rule even though we still see democrats and republicans."
In terms of who's financing this political charade, I agree. Both parties are bought and bossed by the same cadre of folk. Yet, Democrats represent our last hope against this powerful bastion of money erected by the billionaires and millionaires who're strategizing to wield the power in this country--to manipulate the peoples' democracy against them, while using it to further their own agenda.
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"They have to keep the rest of us enthralled by the fight so I think the battle is destined to continue with emotions running high and gridlock continuing."
True. The battle to cut the budget, or face a government shutdown is one of those "battles" being used to "enthralled."
In the scope of things, congress is battling over pennies. Cutting a hundred billion or so from the current budget will do little to resolve the financial crisis that Republicans created (yes, created, by waging two wars not paid for, neither of which was necessary, and giving tax cuts to the wealthiest among us).
The whole idea is to create "shock" and then to exploit it, allowing those in power to engineer the political, social, and economic changes they prefer.
The strategy is simple. Create a crisis--for one, a financial crisis, give money away to corporation in the form of tax cuts, or, for two, create an existential enemy (Muslims both within and outside this country), and then you have the political power to defeat enemies close to home, unions, for one, and Democrats in general, because they're too soft on the war on terror, and are lavish spenders of tax dollar, although we know that Republicans are the real big spenders.
"They very much want to shrink the electorate and lessen participation as a means of ensuing the current set up continues."
The challenge will be to keep our eyes on the prize and not allow ourselves to be distracted, or misguided by the wrangling that takes place to keep us believing that the several branches of government are on the side of people, when in fact they're on the side of the real power within this country--the power of the purse
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