They Refuse to "Get It"!
February 13, 2009
Republicans are like the
school bully, they do not really care whether or not someone else gets
hurt. They will punch you in the nose just because it is in their
nature to do just that. You can extend your hand in an offer of friendship
to a bully and even if they appear to agree to be friends by shaking it,
later they will still punch you in the face.
Why do they do that?
Simply because they believe they can do it devoid of any recrimination,
they see themselves as the biggest kid on the block, and in their mind,
might makes right! All you have to do is look at the legacy of George
Bush and the “Neocons” to see that. We obviously had the capability
to invade Iraq, but we certainly did not have the right.
In this country we just
experienced a realigning election that was huge. The only survivors
were those members of Congress that represent very conservative enclaves.
They seem to believe that they are totally safe from being knocked off
their lofty perch. The “overwhelming” favorability they enjoy bestowed
by the voters in their districts has given them clear majorities in a plethora
of elections. They have been victorious enough times to give
them the bravado equivalent to the neighborhood bully of our childhoods.
President Obama has exhibited
great patience in his commitment to a bipartisanship in Washington.
He has reached out more than any prior chief executive has in my memory.
Yet what has been his reward? Those bully Republicans continue their
same old agenda of placing political ideology ahead of the needs of the
country.
I mentioned in a prior
entry that 2008 was the year that I broke ranks with the war-mongering,
big spending, (oh, I’m sorry they were tax cuts) and hypocritical party
that the Republican Party has become. For years I was content with
my political view of fiscal conservatism bounded by social liberalism.
However, a continuing arrogance and callous disregard for anyone that was
not of means forced me to finally register as a Democrat.
At my disillusionment
grew I thought perhaps that the “R’s” didn’t get it. I pondered the
idea that they just didn’t understand that given the chance the greedy
among us would try to rip off everyone. The shenanigans of Enron,
Tyco, and Arthur Anderson et al surely should have been a wake up call,
but they still never considered the idea of providing increased scrutiny
of our financial system. It isn’t that they don’t get it, they refuse
to get it. They have operated with impunity for long enough that
they believe there is simply nothing wrong with their modus operandi.
As my thoughts for this
rant began to jell, I wondered what kind of photo would illustrate my thinking.
The more I thought about it an elephant with its head in the sand seemed
totally appropriate. If you can’t see anything then it means
you are invisible. If you can’t see that your ideology is no longer
defensible then you will assume it to be correct and as it should be.
If you think you’re always right then bipartisanship is the casualty!
