memo falls on deaf ears

i have been reading and listening to pundits lately- i know, i know but i can’t help myself.  it’s like rubbernecking at an accident scene.  i would love to gloat and feel outright glee at the rethuglican’s demise- but i know better.  these folks are not grounded in reality- they live in their own- and they firmly believe that they should be the ruling class to rule as THEY see fit- because they know better doncha know.  and they don’t listen to anyone else.

now, i am not a fan of chris matthews- he talks waaayyyy too much on hardball- but damn it- he has been doing his darnedest to convince the rethugs on his show that it wasn’t the economy or mis steps in the campaigns that cost them the election- it was their entire message.  and they want to reinvent the republican brand- whatever the hell that means.  they don’t understand that they actually have to stand for something of substance and mean it.  the hollow ring of ‘family values’ and ‘fiscal conservatism’ just isn’t resonating with folks in reality.  besides, it is evident that the sex and corruption scandal ridden gop doesn’t even believe in its own message.  folks can only take so much hypocrisy- even on the right. (unless you are a sarah palinista)

so, here’s my memo to the rethuglican party- change your platform and people might consider voting for you.  oh, and a few fyis-

americans are americans- you have not cornered the market on ‘family values’.  i, for example, live in suburbia, am a white, hetero, married woman who has deliberately decided not to procreate (and hubby is on board with that) and loves the constitution.  gay folks will not impact your life in any meaningful way- and they would live their own lives quite happily if you butted out and minded your own business.

this is not a christian nation- it is secular.  if you want a christian nation, get one of the southern states- or alaska- to secede and start your own.  americans are so not interested in your bullshit with creationism, prejudiced behavior against lgbt folks, misogyny, and all around attempts to force your hatred and biases on the public at large.  and the race baiting and fear mongering went out with bush’s first term.

you may want to try not being corrupt and lying, cheating, stealing, and fucking your way into ‘winning’ elections.  just a thought.  people are more than tired of you standing up and praying to god on stage and then going backstage and getting a blow job from a hooker.  fyi.  and the voter suppression, voter intimidation, voter misinformation, vote challenges in court, flip flopping diebold machines- yeah- the rest of us are on to you.  if you can’t win fair and square on platform- you don’t deserve to win the election.  that’s life.  if you can’t win by number of votes cast for you- hey, i don’t know what to tell ya.

i know, reality is a harsh mistress but if you are going to attempt to resurrect the gop- you may want to go totally all out and actually visit her once in awhile.  because the reality is- people don’t want the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer.  they don’t want the largest portion of wealth in this country to be in the hands of 1% of the population.  they want to be able to have a job that fulfills them- and the means to take care of their families.  unbridled capitalism ain’t doing it- and people are not interested in the cold war words you are attempting to fear monger with.  overall- even rank and file republicans want to feel safe and pursue happiness.  when you run on a platform of ugly fear- you aren’t going to get many takers.

except the bigoted, ignorant swath of palinistas who string up nooses and attempt to kill the president.  and i know that these people are not going to crawl back into the woodwork.  they are going to plan and plot and claw their way back into power.  they don’t just go away- they get recycled.  we must be ever vigilant because we have so very much more to lose this time.

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Palin ~ A Bridge to Nowhere

What is it that bothers me so about Palin?

First, it’s the doublespeak. While touting anti abortion, & abstinence, we are asked to respect the family’s privacy on this personal matter, while at the same time Republicans are making laws and stacking the courts with judges who would deny us our ability to make equally personal choices of our own.

Then it’s the double standard. Without making a personal judgement on teen pregnancy, it is a program of the Bush administration- the abstinence program that has the teen pregnancy rate up for the first time in 14 years.

This is a failed policy. Not only has it led to more teen pregnancies, it is a double whammy- it is coupled with the idea that funding teen parent support programs, sex education & healthcare, are considered “pork barrel spending”.

Where’s the Substance? We’ve heard Hockey Mom, PTA, and Mayor. We’ve heard about the family pregnancy issue.
We’ve not heard about Foreign policy. Where she stands on the Iraq War, Gitmo, Iran, Afghansitan. The US economy, the mortgage crisis, global warming, funding education.

We have heard she fired the Wasilla Alaska librarian for not banning books, and she fired anyone who did not agree with her agenda.
Palin did run a small Alaska suburb as Mayor. A population under 7000. She handled such matters as should they pave dirt roads, and putting a financially unfruitful sports complex project ahead of installing sewers. Although the Mayoral position of Wasilla is non partisan, she made it partisan.

Just read an excellent editorial by Ellen Goodman:

“The Straight Talk Express twisted itself into a pretzel trying to defend her qualifications to be commander in chief. More to the point, the mother of five had a personal story meant to capture the imagination of the American people, whose minds were beginning to wander ominously to such non-entertaining narratives as the Iraq war and the economy.

*snip*

Then along came the news that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. Immediately, the “family values” folks who have fashioned a political wedge out of moral judgments began insisting that anyone who remarked on this baby bump was an insensitive invader of privacy.
But let’s not forget that it’s the right wing that made social issues into a political issue. The right wing decided that pregnancy was not a matter of private decision-making but a harsh and unrelenting political battle.

Palin opposes sex education programs that go beyond abstinence only.

*snip*

John McCain, an unrelenting opponent of abortion, was once asked whether the government should provide contraception and replied, “You’ve stumped me.” The Republican platform is not similarly stumped with its implacable opposition to every abortion and its renewed “call for replacing ‘family planning’ programs for teens with increased funding for abstinence education, which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and expected standard of behavior.”

Pregnancy is indeed private. Decisions are to be discussed and determined in a family. But the party meeting in St. Paul, Minn., would put decisions about pregnancy in the hands of the government and replace sex information with disinformation. No, you don’t have to pass judgment on a 17-year-old to pass judgment on these unrelenting policymakers.

Sarah Palin? So far, she looks like a Bridge to Nowhere.”

My commentary on Palin’s RNC Speech:

I found her speech to have very little substance. Her lengthy introduction to her large family, including 5 children, and parents took up a whole lot of time that should have been used to tell us about her platform specifics.
I don’t care that her husband is a champion snow mobile racer~ I honestly don’t. I sincerely believe the people whose mortgages are about to foreclose, or who must file for bankruptcy because they do not have health care coverage really did not tune in to get the extensive low down on her family tree.

I think Palin showed just how desperate she was– she discounted Obama’s entire resume by playing loose and sloppy with facts– he’s “just a community organizer”.

8 years in the Illinois Legislature
Harvard Law School Grad
2 years of teaching Constitutional law @ the College level
4 years as a US Senator

He also did community organizing & practiced as a Civil Rights Attorney.

So for her, and her podunk Hockey Mom, PTA, Mayor of a tiny suberb “governmental experience”, discounting Obama’s accomplishments was just pure bullshit.

If you don’t have much to tout about yourself, then you are reduced to attacking the person you are running against. If that is in fact the case– this tough talking lady is really running scared, and she should be.
For her to proclaim on National TV that she herself has more experience than Obama & Biden combined was ludicrous.

Biden himself has served in the US Senate since 1973. Thirty five years of experience.on the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee. That means Biden has been dealing with Federal Foreign Affairs since Palin was 9 years old.

As one pundit put it– it is one thing to read a prepared speech in front of an adoring crowd… quite another to answer real questions in a debate setting on complex foreign affair issues.

I hope anyone who has the wherewithall to listen to what the RNC is serving up, it would be helpful to have an interpretive guide to terminology:

• Energy Independence = Drill for Oil
• Lower Taxes = For the Rich
• Alternate Energy = Nuclear Power Plants & a National Nuclear Waste Dump
• Clean Coal = Delusion
• Lower Fuel costs = Sacrifice Arctic Natl. Wildlife Refuge/Kiss Polar Bears Goodbye
• Attack Obama = Easier to talk about than actual issues
• Hockey Mom, PTA = I have no Foreign Affairs knowledge whatsoever

It is hard to imagine a McCaine regime could be even more oppressive and mismanaged, than the Bush adminstration- but I believe that would be the case.

The more I learn of Palin’s political resume, I am convinced her path is abuse of power, with limited knowledge ~ a dangerous combination.

The American Gothic image the republicans would like to portray.

The surreal likeness of something a little more close to reality.

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