Guest blogged by GrassrootsLobbyist:
I appreciate Mike Huckabee. Gov. Huckabee is the kind of politician America needs more of.
Now, don't get me wrong. I disagree with about 99% of Huckabee's positions and think he knows about as much about effective fiscal policy as Sean Hannity knows about honesty and integrity. However, he has proven to mostly be a man who offers an opinion but will respect the opinion of others and give voice to worthy causes regardless of which side of the aisle they come from. He also, for the most part, truly appears to espouse his beliefs and not just use them as a moral code for others.
The sad thing is, I wanted to give a few other nationally recognizable examples of GOP political figures who I could say the same about....and came up completely empty. They just don't exist, and what's more, they just don't exist pretty much at any level of the Republican Party, not just on the national figurehead level - at least not among those who are actively voicing opinion and participating in the political process.
At least the leadership is getting paid. The rank and file "sheep" that comprise the current voice of the party literally have stopped thinking for themselves. Case and point: the company that I work for recently was featured as a part of an online poll on a prominent Progressive website. Our company's main intranet page included a message from our CEO encouraging employees to cast their vote and support our company in this poll. Any posting on our intranet page allows for comments from the readers, who are all accessing the site from company computers and therefore identified by their first and last names automatically.
Of the 11 internal comments on this story, three of them were heavily opinionated, sarcastic condemnations of the Progressive website, two of which expressed disappointment with the company's senior leadership for even suggesting they go to the website, and two of which were clearly insulting to anyone who may agree with the Progressive viewpoint of this site. (Since this is a private corporate intranet site, I will not post the actual comments).
What's amazing is that we've actually reached a point where the far right movement has whipped up so much anti-Democrat, anti-Obama sentiment that frontline employees will actually challenge their employer's executive leadership and mock their coworkers if they see anything that suggests that everyone else doesn't outright shun anyone willing to accept an opposing viewpoint. Fear of retaliation probably wasn't - and shouldn't have been - a determining factor, but broadcasting to tens of thousands of people your unprofessionalism and intolerance of others just to prove a point shows just how out of hand this is.
The most astounding part about all of this Tea Party hate speech is how much it is personally counterproductive to many of those who seem most adamant about it. I don't know precisely what any of these three individuals are paid, but as someone who is a part of the same salary hierarchy, I know full well that each of them has benefited from Obama administration tax policies and will not be taxed more heavily should the healthcare reform legislation pass. Given our company's performance in 2009, it is also clear that Obama administration policies have not drastically negatively affected their livelihood and/or quality of life (you may argue, that as a consumer goods industry leader, that stimulus dollars HELPED our company performance and helped ensure continued employment for many of us).
It's a firsthand case study where I am closely involved enough to see individuals make potentially seriously detrimental career decisions for no other reason except to parrot a right wing talking point, with absolutely no other personal benefit involved in the process. But, with Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck as the most recognizable members of the Republican Party, what else should be expected?
If most people are asked to name the first 3 Democrats that cross their mind, major political figures are most likely to be the names that come up: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, etc. The first 3 Republicans that come up? The names noted above would be my guess. Respondents to the Democrat question probably get through 5 or 6 politicians before they get to a pundit...with the GOP; it's highly likely to be #1.
Which brings us to the problem: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, etc. are extremely well compensated to hate Democrats and "prove" that the conservative viewpoint is the only possible intelligent viewpoint. In their individual cases, the success of the Obama administration really does equal a negative economic impact. Quite honestly, they are not paid to find the positives with the government, but to stir up anger with anything not conservative by any means possible. When this is the dominant voice of your political movement, it's no wonder that we have a Congress full of Republicans who would rather obstruct than participate, who cater to their base even at the expense of what is right for the country (yes, Sen. Bunning, I'm talking to you), and who refuse to find common ground with any Democratic ideas, even when those ideas are neutral or even favorable to Republican ideals.
When Mike Huckabee hosts the First Lady of the United States on his show to discuss child obesity and how we can collectively work to reduce the epidemic, he is soundly chastised by members of the right for not attacking her. This can only be construed one of two ways: either the right opposes reducing child obesity, or the right is much more concerned with attacking the First Lady than finding common ground.
So, while I appreciate you, Mr. Huckabee, as long as there aren't any others like you, it's time to stop caring what Republicans think on the major issues and just move forward. The point has been proven: nobody on the right wants to be a part of the solution - their idea of compromise is that Dems should throw out their own ideas and adopt 100% conservative principles. We tried those principles under the last President and Republican congress. They failed. If Democrats don't push on and fix what needs to be fixed (economy, healthcare), they're going to get voted out over the next two election cycles with nothing to show for it.
Even if 2010 is a bloodbath and 2012 results in the election of a GOP President, at least this way Democrats can make a difference with their time in office. Most of all, if they don't, America will hold them accountable for not doing it anyway, and the GOP strategy will have worked. If that happens, that may be the biggest travesty of all.
I too like Huckabee. After seeing the Karl Rove book I now think the conservative movement lacks two important characteristics:
1. Competence/Knowledge
2. Shame
I've seen the competence and knowledge part talked about a ton (by me no less), but the shame hasn't really been talked about. Ironically, I think GWB has got this and has come out looking better because of it. When you run the country into the ground, break the law, and set back jurisprudence a few centuries, something inside should tell you to shut the fuck up. I don't know, call it shame, call it common sense.
It's like I always say with G. Gordon Liddy. He should be forced to preface every asinine thing that comes out of his mouth with, "Hi, I'm G. Gordon Liddy and I was a convicted felon." Karl Rove should say, "I'm Karl Rove, I'm scum of the earth. There is nothing I wouldn't do to win an election or discredit an opponent. Now, let me tell you my opinion about....."
People use to know when not to show their face in public again. I guess not anymore.
Carguy, you amuse me. Daily. Thanks.
Don't know if anyone has seen this but here is a link to a facebook page to see if a poodle wearing a tin foil hat can get more followers than Glenn Beck. It's obvious which of the two is smarter and has more to offer.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Can-this-poodle-wearing-a-tinfoil-hat-get-more-fans-than-Glenn-Beck/334162806080
Still a few hundred thousand behind, especially after facebook "publish blocked" the page, but my money is on the poodle for the win. Spread the word.
Boy, ain't THAT the truth.
In the past we had what was called "The Loyal Opposition" to indicate that the non-governing parties may oppose the actions of the majority – typically comprising parliamentarians from the party with the most seats in the elected legislative chamber – while maintaining loyalty to the source of the government's power. The concept thus permits the dissent necessary for a functioning democracy. The Republicans are no longer in agreement with that type of policy they have turned rabid on any suggestion the Democrats might have any good ideas. They have now become dead set against anything the dems propose. As a result we no longer have a functioning democracy, all we have is a bunch of over paid, underworked, bickering Congress Critters who have forgotten they are hired by the citizenry to do their work and who think there opinions are the only ones that count.
A cute anecdote ifyou will.
Dewey Compton used to be a rather famous local celebrity on KTRH radio. He was the farm and agricultural "expert". Came on at 4AM to broadcast the "farm report".
He had a call in show too. Lady calls in and says. "I want to get rid of a bunch of Oleanders in my back yard. How do I do that?"
Ol' Dew, as he was called, replied.."You need to go out and buy a six pack of beer, a bucket of fried chicken with mashed potatoes, a gallon of gasoline, a shovel and an axe if ya' ain't got 'em. Get a pint of hydrochloric acid too. Now, send your husband out to chop down them oleanders to just below the ground. Dig a little pit around the stump, down to the roots. With the axe, chop up the stump best you can. Pour the acid on the stump and the roots. Now, pour the gasoline over everything and light it. When the fire burns itself out, cover the what's left with dirt and level it. When your husband comes in the house give him the beer and the chicken. He's earned both. After that, go back to the store and buy him another six-pack of beer for NEXT year 'cuz he'll have to do the same thing all over again. Lady, they ain't NO WAY to kill oleanders."
I'm back.
I am pretty much in aH's boat too. Today's republicans have totally lost the ability to think for themselves. They have several guys who don't even bother to hide behind a curtain that tell them what to think, what to do, and exactly who is to blame for their poor "lot in life". They "believe" that any non-republican is gonna devastate life as they know it and "raise taxes". They don't give a shit about anybody but themselves. Everybody should be able to "help themselves" with minimal or NO government intervention. They see ANY change to the status quo as highly threatening to their life style because....that's what they are told.
Over the past 30 years they have become nothing but obstructionists and have totally lost ALL respect for this country and its people. They're "my way or the highway" should be tatooed on each republican's forearm.
OTOH, I don't think there are as many of THEM as we think. It's just that they are VERY vocal and VERY visible. We MUST remember that just two months ago we were seeing numbers of people who claim to be republican party members dropping to around 20-21%. We were talking SERIOUSLY of the demise of their party. The democratic party has an historic opportunity to deal a significant blow to these self-serving bastards. God help us if Obama and the DNC allow this oppoprtunity to pass them by.
We all think what we think. But, in today's world it's very nice to discover that other reasonable people think like you do.
I could not find a single point in this editorial that I could disagree with. I, too, feel the same way about Huckabee. But as you say, where are the other reasonable minds in the GOP? I've said it before, they USED to have honorable, reasonable, politicians and statesmen in that party. Where the hell did they go??????
I know you get paid by the comment, so I will spread my posts out over the course of the day.Gotta go.
Common ground? That's not even in the right wing lexicon. I'm not ready to swallow the intimations that the Democrats will be slaughtered if they don't change direction.
I've tried to reason out why a recent poll suggested that 84% of Americans polled believe that bipartisanship should be an essential component of passing healthcare. Now that's a puzzler, but one of the possibilities that presents itself to me is that a sizable portion of that 84% think that Republicans should discontinue their single-minded effort to drive America off that legendary edge of the world.
Not that many years ago I believed that Republicans were simply racist, at this point I think they are simply crazed zombies hungry for fresh meat. It seems obvious that the pressures of an ever speedily changing world has driven them mad! As the great Sigmund said repression of satiating human need results in emotional foment that will eventually out in explosive fashion.