I've always been viewed as kind of a tough guy. I've got an athletic build, a few prominent muscles, and a blocky chin. After concluding a rather timid childhood, I did the contact sports and later became an army officer in a paratroop division. After I got my education, years of leadership roles in stressful jobs cultivated a rather stern countenance and a strong voice. After retiring early from the working world I soon became operations director for a large volunteer ambulance corps where I worked as a medic when I wasn't taking my annual solo hike on the Appalachian Trail. I'm happy that I've learned to smile, laugh, and hug during my later adulthood, but underneath it all the killer paratrooper still lurks - and quite a few deer would agree with that! So why would a guy like me be afraid?
I'm afraid because I have watched the Republican Party's campaign commercials on TV, and they lead me to fear that the America whose uniform I proudly wore is in jeopardy from within. The commercials shamelessly distort truth in order to elicit a fearful response from the watcher. These commercials go for the gut level fear - fear of the person not of your race, fear of losing your family's money when you die, fear of your Social Security being taken away, fear of a terrorist shooting up your town, fear of a homosexual stalking your kids (this only worked before Foley - now it's a congressman stalking your kids).
These new Republicans (no relation to the honorable Republicans of pre-Clinton times) know that real gut level fear paralyses many people's brains to the extent that they will choose "protection" over their real societal and economic interests. Consequently, they resort to fear-mongering whenever they feel they can't win by any other means. In their culture, winning is the only thing that matters...winning is the means to achieve their goals, whatever they really are. (I question what their goals are because I never hear them stated coherently.)
Why do these commercials indicate that America is in jeopardy? Because people who would use distortions and fear to win an election would use distortions and fear to lead the country. Could this be true? One need not look farther than the current administration to know it is true. Their enemies are "evil"; they must "fight them there or we'll have to fight them here"; they call the estate tax the death tax, changing the entire tone of the discussion around it. They try to legalize torture while they purport to worship the Christ who said "love your enemies". Could they go from torturing accused terrorists to torturing their political enemies - maybe that's not so far-fetched an idea. Have Americans seen through this win-by-fear strategy of Cheney, Rove, and the rest of these despicable guys? If they haven't, I'm afraid there are some scary times ahead.
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5 comments:
I'm from the Corning Area.
We are indeed in for some scary times.
Even if the nation manages to secure a counterweight with an opposition Congress the Republican machine will not be reversing course with lies manipulation and deception.
In fact they will probably turn up the volume.
Thanks for stopping by an expressing your opinion. I left a response back at my blog.
I think I commented here once before about hiking in the southern Appalachian Trail before being injured. It's a great way to spend time.
In reading your post, you stated that today's Republicans have no relation to the pre-Clinton era. This could not be further from the truth.
Here are just two examples of some of the highest ranking members of Bush's White House.
Donald H. Rumsfeld space was a former Navy pilot. He worked his way through college on academic and NROTC scholarships.
He worked for President Eisenhower
He served 4 terms in Congress.
He became A Secretary of Defense in 1975 for President Nixon and now does the same for President Bush.
He served President Ford as White House Chief of Staff.
He also worked for President Reagan and the first President Bush.
Dick Cheney's career started during the Nixon administration as a staff assistant.
He was a five-time representative from Wyoming.
He was Secretary of Defense under George H. W. Bush.
Obviously they are direct descendents from the pre-Clinton administration.
Maybe it's not the Republican Party that has changed so much.
Maybe its you.
I have to agree with Crusader.
The current crop of Republicans are the same old bunch plus.
That plus is probably what differentiates the current batch from the past.
The adoption of the Neo-Evangelists as an activist part of the party and party doctrine is new and should be disturbing.
But in the end these are the same old Republicans from Nixon's time, tripping on domino theory's and getting advice from Henry Kissinger.
There's no Buckingham Palace uniforms on the White House guards (yet) but they've still got the same lame Regal Divine Right attitude about the Presidency.
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