decay # 37 ~ the agents of death and the perveyors of fear

Mouldy bread and gourds • click to embiggenNow that the good 'ole US of A has started down the road to healthcare reform, it's worth noting one of the more idiotic statements from the Party of NO! (No Social Security, No Medicare, No Civil Rights, No Financial Market Regulation, No new taxes - we don't need no stinking bridges). Here’s what Newt Gingrich, the Republican former speaker of the House — a man celebrated by many in his party as an intellectual leader — had to say:

If Democrats pass health reform, “They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years” by passing civil rights legislation. - from this PAUL KRUGMAN commentary

That may be a statement of fact, inasmuch as the Democratic Party pretty much lost the south as a result of passing that legislation - a situation that the Party of the Purveyors of Fear cynically exploited much to their political advantage. However, what is implicit in Gingrich the Newt*'s statement is another fine and clearly stated example of the Party of NO!'s crass and callous political cynicism.

Who in their right mind would use the occasion of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act as an example of what not to do?

Answer: Cynical and crass politicians who put their interest (getting re-elected) ahead of that of the people and, as is becoming more and more apparent - a fair number of racist/bigoted teabaggers (AKA, scumbaggers)

And while we're on the topic of "the people", I sat through many hours of yesterday's congressional run up to the vote on healthcare (on CSPAN) and, if heard it once, I heard it a 1,000 times from the Party of NO! - "We're not listening to/ignoring the voice/will of the people."

These Party of NO! morons seem to have forgotten that we live in a representative republic. "The people" do not make legislation or laws. "The people"'s representatives make legislation and laws. And those representatives, elected by "the people", become members of deliberative bodies of government (at all levels) where they are suppose to deliberate, debate, and decide upon (as opposed to just saying, "NO!") what is the right thing to do.

They are our representatives, not our running-dog lackeys. The good 'ole US of A is not run by referendum like, say, the state of California - hey, California, how's that referendum thing workin' out for ya?

Fortunately, there have been a number of times in the history of America's deliberative bodies when, the majority did the right thing even if it was contrary to the will of "the people". Doing so undoubtedly cost them votes and even seats in deliberative bodies of government. Doing so undoubtedly left them vulnerable to those who enflame the basest passions of "the people".

However, doing so has, much more often than not, resulted in the greatest good for the greatest number of "the people".

* from the Austin Lounge Lizard's song, Gingrich the Newt:

Gingrich the Newt's a disgrace to the name
When true newts see him they feel so ashamed
He's the black sheep of the newt family
The one rotten fruit on the newt family tree
Newts don't prey on other newts; in that they don't believe
And you will never catch a newt with something up his sleeve
They're tolerant to different environments and so
They don't send little newties to the orphanage to grow
What kind of newt wears a suit and a tie
And frightens small children as he rushes by?
But we admit that his suit suits him good
Much more discreet than a sheet and a hood
A newt may be cold-blooded but he won't go to extremes
And you can trust a newt to be exactly what he seems
Newts are sorry if you're sad; they're happy if you're gay
But Gingrich is perverse, and worse
He's proud to be that way
Gingrich the Newt is puffed up like a toad
So full of himself that he's bound to explode
And then we'll raise up our tails in salute
A fitting tribute
To that horse's patoot
Gingrich the Newt

BTW, when you follow the link to the Lizard's site be sure to click on LISTEN/WATCH and listen to/watch the video Too Big To Fail. And, if you've got the time, also listen to Shallow End of the Gene Pool, which may go a long way to understanding Gingrich the Newt.

Comments

[stephen]

But, think of this achievement of the New Republicans - they're actually making Richard Nixon look good! O.K., sacrificing an entire political party just to rehabilitate the image of one crook might seem a little excessive, but...

[Jimmi Nuffin]

Right on brother!