And which part of your judgment has ever not just been your opinion?
What, other than your opinion, do you have?
We are back in 1964. The radical right seized control of the
Republican Party and nominated Barry "Nuke 'Em" Goldwater-- who was really
something of a libertarian, to be truthful about it, to run for president.
In 1964, he was crushed by Lyndon Johnson who sounded reasonable and sane in
contrast. Will the same thing happen in 2012? I could guarantee
you the Democrats would be ecstatic if they ended up running against Sarah
Palin, but even I have hard time believing the Republicans would be quite
that stupid.
When the radical fringe seizes control of a political party-- which isn't
all that hard to do-- you just have to be the biggest subset of a subset--
they often end up choosing an extremist as a leader, and most elections in
most western countries end up favoring the candidate that seems most
"reasonable". John McCain, you have to remember, actually seemed
reasonable in 2000, but in 2008 he was up against a leader who was both reasonable and
charismatic. That's a rare combination. John Kennedy and Barack
Obama. I think that's about it.
August 28, 2010
Back in the 1970's, Ray Stevens was known for such
socially progressive songs as "Walk a Mile in my Shoes" and "Games People
Play". Lately, he seems to be producing tasteless diatribes against
illegal immigrants. Well, good for you. His songs always were
kind of cheesy.
But it brings up the issue of conservative popular music.
"Okie From Muskokee".
"I'd Love to Change the World"
"Who Will Stop the Rain"
"Ballad of the Green Berets"
That last one is so cheesy, I'm not sure it should be
included.
Do we really have to waste time explaining to
anybody why this entire imbroglio over the Islamic Centre in New York is
bigoted, vicious, and childish? Would it make any difference?
To
those who insist that it might not be right to prohibit the centre from
being built, but it is "insensitive" to try to build it there, I say, would you tell Rosa
Parks that it was insensitive of her to deny these white people your bus
seat on this hot, uncomfortable day?
Does anybody in Canada really think
we were about to be bombed by Russia?
Do tea partiers really believe Obama
inherited a balanced budget?
Paul Krugman, an economic columnist with the
New York Times, said very early on that the economic stimulus package was
not enough. The results are pretty well exactly what he predicted.
I doubt the Republican's are going to cite him as an authority, since they
believe that if only there had been more tax cuts-- and bigger deficit--
we'd have 6% unemployment right now and 4% growth in GDP for the year.
Is there anything the tea party stands for that makes sense? I saw
an interview with one of the people who attended the rally at the Lincoln
Memorial. He thinks America needs to go back to it's basic values.
We need people of "honor". Like Dick Cheney, I suppose. I don't
think I could have thought of a more useless expression of political policy
if I had spent weeks trying.
Does the Tea Party know what Ron Paul stands
for? Somehow, I doubt it. Does Sarah Palin know? Does
Sarah Palin know what Sarah Palin stands for? Does Sarah Palin know
what she doesn't know?
If there is a single politician active in U.S. politics today who does
not know what she does not know, it is Sarah Palin.
The Democrats must
also be hoping that the Tea Partiers go crazy on the immigration issue-- go
all out, swing for the fences: Latin voters could very well swing a few
districts.
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