Consequences of Republicanism

Presidential Candidates May Not Criticize America

2008-03-21T13:29:00.005-05:00

One of the many unfortunate consequences of the hyper-patriotism espoused by Republicans and a growing number of Democrats is that honest criticism of America is forbidden by any presidential candidate who hopes to succeed. I cannot help thinking that this is one of the core issues in the Obama-Wright "scandal," but one which you are not hearing about in the media.

Of course, race and the intense discomfort many Americans have confronting racism are involved. But as I have seen many on both sides of the political divide condemn Rev. Wright's comments, I keep wondering what was so bad about what he said. I am increasingly convinced that the real but untold story here involves the refusal to allow a presidential candidate to criticize America.

What was Rev. Wright's harshest statement? If what I've seen constantly rebroadcast on the major television networks is any indication, it would have to be the "god damn America" line. But the context appears to have been about showing that America is no innocent bystander but an active participant with blood on her hands.

As a middle-class white guy, I'm here to say that Rev. Wright is absolutely correct on this point. America is a leading sponsor of international terrorism and has been so for decades. Our government is now in the fifth year of an unprovoked war. We regularly condemn international law, insisting that it does not apply to us whenever it conflicts with someone's skewed view of our national interests. We are unwilling to abandon torture. We have handed over our educational system to anti-intellectual bigots.

Criticism of America is precisely what we need from anyone promising change. Of course, we need solutions too. But if we cannot acknowledge and have open discussions about the nature of the problems we face, there is little reason to expect that proposed solutions will ever gain the necessary traction.

Calling someone insufficiently patriotic when they acknowledge America's many flaws and offer solutions is much like condemning a child's teacher for trying to correct educational deficits through remedial education. Sadly, one does not have to look very far in contemporary America to find those who do both.

Tags: America, Obama, Rev. Wright, politics, criticism, president, candidates, 2008 election, election 2008, change, patriotism, Republican, Democrat

Republicanism Blocks Environmental Progress

2007-12-13T08:23:00.000-06:00

According to former Vice President Al Gore, the United States "is principally responsible for obstructing progress" on reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses. Now there is talk of European nations boycotting upcoming climate talks in the States as a form of protest.

For Gore, or anyone else from the United States, to call for action to reduce harmful emissions linked to global warming is likely to strike international observers as somewhat hypocritical. After all, the United States has repeatedly blocked measures to reduce our environmental impact.

I am skeptical that an EU boycott of climate talks will accomplish much as long as our Republican leadership continues to value big business over human welfare. The go-it-alone sort of attitude that has characterized this administration is not going to change overnight, and international pressure only seems to lead to increased resistance. I imagine the administration would simply use a boycott to engage in more European-bashing. Remember what they did to France?

I can't help wondering if the solution is for the international community to organize a meaningful boycott, one with sufficient teeth that it would truly get the attention of our President. It seems like even a limited boycott of American goods and/or withdrawing investments would be impossible to ignore. I agree that this seems harsh, but this is an administration who has made its willingness to ignore reason and science into a source of pride.

Tags: Republican, Al Gore, climate, global warming, environment, United States, European Union, pollution, politics, boycott

Mississippi: A Case of Malign Neglect?

2007-09-12T05:58:00.000-05:00

The first time I set foot in Mississippi was when I flew here from the West Coast for a job interview several years ago. I had two images in my mind of Mississippi, both gleaned from Hollywood depictions: swamps and racism. I was very apprehensive of coming here, and I think part of my mind was actually bracing to see Klan activity as I got off the plane. These notions were absurd, but I had nothing else on which to base my expectations. I knew nothing whatsoever of the real Mississippi. Now that I've discovered no swamps and no more evidence of racism than what I experienced on the West Coast, Mississippi has come to mean something very different.

I wish I could say that I now associate Mississippi with positive images, but this is not the case. What I can say is that I believe my current associations are grounded in reality and actual experience. When I think Mississippi now, I primarily think of poverty and ignorance. I see a populace struggling to overcome these unfortunate truths, but they do not appear to be receiving much help in doing so.

Let's start with one simple, undisputed fact: Mississippi is the poorest state in America. This is nothing new, as I'm fairly certain we've been in the bottom 5% since the Civil War. Reasonable people can disagree about the historic causes for this fact and about how best to change it, but there is no disagreement over our last place showing on a list of median incomes.

Believe it or not, Mississippi also has the highest sales tax on food in America. In fact, Mississippi is one of only seven states that taxes all individual food purchases. The poorest state maintains the highest tax on food. Doesn't make much sense, does it? Meanwhile, we have one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the nation. It appears that the tobacco lobby wields considerably more power with our Republican-controlled state government than do our impoverished citizens. Go figure.

Jamie Franks, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, said, "I find it quite appalling we live in the poorest state in this union and we have the highest sales tax on food in this union." He argues that we should cut the grocery tax in half and increase the cigarette tax to make up the lost revenue. I agree, and I have a difficult time imagining that anyone could disagree. However, Franks' opponent and current state auditor, Phil Bryant, does disagree. Well, at least Republicans are consistent in their disdain for the poor.

Education is often touted as an obvious, if only partial, way out of poverty. It is no surprise to anyone that Mississippi consistently ranks at or near the bottom in terms of education. A failed educational system perpetuates poverty, but it also creates a culture of ignorance. Every year, Mississippians hear about our awful education system and about how improving the education of our children is a top priority for our elected officials. And yet, we remain at the bottom year after year. This creates a sort of learned helplessness (i.e., nothing I do makes any difference, so why do anything at all?).

Some Mississippians, frustrated with constant reminders of their failings, seem to have embraced a sort of defiant ignorance. They resent the "cultural elites" who criticize them and vote Republican even though that simply perpetuates the state's problems. Christian fundamentalism thrives in such an atmosphere, and anti-education sentiment solidifies.

I'll be the first to admit that the way out of this deepening morass is not entirely clear. Of course Mississippi needs more and better jobs. But our current system of education is simply not adequate for preparing our citizens for many of these jobs. Of course we desperately need to increase educational funding. But it is not clear where the money to fund this broken system will come from. The only thing of which I can be certain is that we desperately need a change of political leadership. Our current leadership has not been interested in developing a plan for change, and this is precisely what we need.

Tags: politics, poverty, Mississippi, ignorance, education, Republicans, culture of ignorance

Do Republicans Even Know Why They Oppose Gay Marriage?

2007-09-10T05:43:00.000-05:00

One of the more dire and obvious consequences of Republicanism involves the impact of their morality police. Plain and simple, they want to invade your privacy (especially your bedroom) and legislate their version of morality. We have seen this time and time again with abortion, and it is particularly clear on the subject of gay marriage.

Why do Republicans oppose gay marriage? This is their way of pandering to their base - Christian extremists right here in America. But is this the only reason? When given the opportunity to provide a rationale, what do they say?

When asked during a recent Republican presidential debate whether he supported a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) had this to say:

I understand this is a divided audience on this, and I understand we as a country are struggling with this question, but these issues aren’t done in a vacuum. I had a question earlier about family values, and I think this is important for us to rebuild the family structure. In countries that have redefined marriage, where they’ve said, okay, it’s not just a man and a woman, it can be two men, two women, the marriage rates in those countries have plummeted to where you have counties now in Northern Europe where 80 percent of the first-born children are born out of wedlock. We don’t need more children born out of wedlock; we need more children born into wedlock between a mom and a dad bonded together for life.

When you do these vast social experiments — and that’s what this is, when you redefine marriage. It’s a vast social experiment. They’re not done in isolation. They impact the rest of the culture around you. When you take the sacredness out of marriage, you will drive the marriage rates down. And currently in this country, currently we’re at 36 percent of our children born out of wedlock. You can raise a good child in that setting, but we know the best place is between a mom and a dad bonded together for life.

So, we should ban gay marriage because allowing it will prevent straight people from getting married? He can't be serious! Does he have any evidence to support this claim? You know, I'm starting to think that it is entirely possible that Sen. Brownback and his fellow Republicans have absolutely no idea why gay marriage should be banned, only that they should call for a ban to appease their intolerant base.

H/T to The Carpetbagger Report

Tags: politics, election 2008, 2008 election, Brownback, gay marriage, Republicans, intolerance

Republicanism Harms American Infrastructure

2007-08-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

It is common knowledge, even among conservatives, that maintaining a nation's infrastructure requires money. The political controversy concerns where the required money comes from. With their adamant refusal to raise taxes and recent depletion of funds for public programs to pay for their vast military expenditures, an important consequence of Republicanism is harm to America's infrastructure. Sadly, the Minnesota bridge collapse may be as much a sign of what is to come as an anomaly.

I don't know about you, but the roads where I live are awful. Every day I must navigate potholes and ruts on my way to and from work. There is simply not enough money in the state budget to solve the problem because the Republicans in power refuse to consider tax increases, even if increases in a gas tax could be offset by cuts in other areas (e.g., we have a steep grocery tax here).

As long as the political party in control remains far more interested in appeasing business interests than in serving the American people, problems with infrastructure will persist. This is one more reason why supporting progressive candidates is so important.

Tags: politics, taxes, progressive politics, infrastructure, Republicans, America

US Mideast Policy: An Especially Dire Consequence

2006-07-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

Of all the negative consequences of America's current Republican leadership, the one that appears to have the largest potential to jeopardize our future can be seen in the Middle East. Cheney recently summed up the administration's idea of foreign policy by stating, "We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it." Combined with Bush's preemptive war doctrine, this "cowboy diplomacy" should make us all feel less safe.

Guided by a fiercely moralistic American nationalism which holds that America is good while those who disagree with us are evil, the GOP leadership is digging a hole from which escape will be difficult. We support military attacks on civilians while continuing to whine about 9/11. Yes, 9/11 was terrible, but not any more terrible than what we and certain allies routinely do to civilians. This attitude breeds well-deserved resentment. We have seen many former allies grow dissatisfied with our foreign policy, and our administration reacts by dismissing them.

In the Mideast, we are laying the foundation of anti-Americanism for decades to come. As the rest of the world recognizes our hypocrisy, how are we to achieve international cooperation in the future? How are we to prevent future terrorist attacks when we have squandered whatever international sympathy we had after 9/11 on an unjust war against Iraq?

Tags: politics, foreign policy, Iraq, Republican

Hurricane Season is Here

2006-06-02T07:39:00.000-05:00

June 1 brought the beginning of hurricane season. It is hard to believe it is here already when so much work remains to be done. Debris from Hurricane Katrina is still very visible, people are still living in FEMA trailers, and reports coming out of New Orleans suggest that the levees are in no better shape than they were prior to Katrina.

According to a report prepared by Democrat Nancy Pelosi's office, the Republican response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath has been characterized by incompetence and cronyism. Examples include the following:

- More than $1 billion in funding for Katrina efforts estimated wasted
- Most Katrina contracts went to large contractors outside Gulf Coast
- Contractors with connections to Bush were paid 15x the actual cost of jobs
- 40,000 families still waiting for a FEMA trailer (10,000 mobile homes sit unused)
- 4% of approved SBA disaster loans fully disbursed to small business owners
- 1/3 of children living in FEMA trailer parks have chronic illnesses

Tags: Hurricane Katrina, republican, FEMA, Nancy Pelosi

Norton Highlights Environmental Consequences of Republicanism

2006-03-12T10:17:00.000-06:00

KnoxNews: News from the Associated Press

According to this article from the Associated Press about recently resigned interior secretary Gale Norton, much can be learned about Republican environmental policies. The Bush administration is generally regarded as the least environmentally friendly to date. Under Norton, environmental protections were set aside to allow increased logging and drilling for oil and natural gas.

She represents the Republican desire to open federal land to such destructive activities and support for privatization of public land. In the Republican mind, land is simply one more resource to be exploited for monetary gain. Environmentalists are viewed as dangerous because they stand in the way of this sort of "progress." If earning more money is the primary goal, anything that interferes with this goal simply becomes an obstacle to overcome.

Tagged as: environment, Republicanism