Who Hijacked Our Country

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

“Repeal and Replace”

Fifty years ago, southern rednecks shouted “Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever!” Twenty-five years before that, their counterparts probably had slogans and dire warnings against public works projects, Social Security and other socialist threats to America. Today nobody even remembers those soundbites and warnings.

And years from now, nobody will remember the Republicans’ current mass tantrum of “Repeal and replace!”

This is the best they can do? Well, at least their new slogan has more syllables than their previous slogan, “No.” Maybe they’ve gotten a tiny bit smarter. Riiight.

Mitch McConnell said: “I have more chins than the Hong Kong phonebook Repeal and replace will be the slogan for the fall.”

Good luck with that. He should’ve just cut to the chase: “We have absolutely nothing to offer. We haven’t had an original idea in decades. All we can do is cross our arms, stamp our feet and say NO.”

I have no idea whether the new health care bill is popular with the public or not. Poll results are all over the map. The rightwads will claim that 99.9% of the public is furious over this government takeover. I doubt it. My guess is, a lot of people are relieved that a decision finally got reached after a full year of hysteria, threats and namecalling. In general, the public likes and respects people who move forward and take decisive action. People who try to turn back the clock, or who stand on the shore and scream for the tide to stop coming in — not so much.

The public also hates spineless wimpy politicians, which is why it was so important for the Democrats to finally score a legislative victory after a year of getting sand kicked in their faces by Republicans.

And this public disdain and disrespect for wusses should be a warning to Republican legislators. Marching in lockstep, doing and saying everything in unison — Congressional Republicans look like a bunch of automatons. Simpletons. Bots.

When Mitch McConnell and John Boehner yell “Shit,” their terrified minions yell “What Color Sir?!?!?”

Is this the kind of “representation” their constituents want? The political process is supposed to be messy, chaotic, full of disagreement, shouting, bargaining. Republican politicians have about as much individuality as a bunch of military recruits executing “To The Rear, March!” with perfect precision because they’re scared shitless of their drill instructor.

Is that what the public wants?

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12 Comments:

Blogger Beekeepers Apprentice said...

Well, that's what probably just under 50% of the voting public wants.

They've forgotten that it won't matter shit if they win a landslide victory in both houses, Obama still wields the veto pen. He's not going to let this get overturned so quickly after this past year of bullshit piled on dogshit piled on 3 week old guinea pig shit, just to get that shit passed. That shit won't fly.

March 24, 2010 at 5:18 PM  
Anonymous Jess said...

"Is this the kind of “representation” their constituents want? "

You have to ask? They keep being voted in, even when they are telling their constituents they will be doing nothing, see Mccrankypants(R-get off my lawn). He is out there telling his town hall people he will not be doing anything but hey send me money so I can not do anything for you. The mid boggles.

March 24, 2010 at 6:48 PM  
Anonymous S.W. Anderson said...

The 27 percenters — playground bullies, racists, resenters, narrow-minded, change-averse mossbacks — want pols they can control by threatening to abandon them. The 27 percenters are the GOP base, and know that without their support, their pols are nothing.

It's the 27 percenters all those lockstep marchers are afraid of. Republican officeholders don't want to be the next Dede Scozzafava. John McCain doesn't want to be J.D. Hayworth's ticket back to Washington.

McConnell and Boehner are acutely aware of this and act accordingly.

There's no achieving compromise and accommodation with the rabid-right Republican base. It's less doable than achieving a workable peace accord with al Qaeda.

Republicans in Congress know it. I'm pretty sure Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid know it. I just hope Obama finally knows it as well.

March 25, 2010 at 12:53 AM  
Blogger Joaquin said...

Wow! So we have a consensus here that a piece of legislation was passed, or should I say rammed through, that is wildly unpopular with half of the country.
Oh, and by the way, 50% of the country (like me) is not Republican.

March 25, 2010 at 4:52 AM  
Blogger Randal Graves said...

Repeal and replace? That's as awful as Kenny Mehlman's 'adapt to win' and demonstrates how much more awful the Dums truly are. If you're consistently losing the imagery game, the most important game in town, to these halfwits, well I can only mock.

March 25, 2010 at 7:23 AM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Bee: Good point. No matter how much of a Republican landslide there might be in November (and I think it's too early to make predictions), Obama can just veto anything he doesn't like.

Jess: I keep hoping some of these voters will smarten up and start asking themselves "what the fuck is he/she doing in Congress besides standing at attention and saying Yes Sir No Sir every time the boss says something." Hope springs eternal.

SW: Yup, the good ol' 27-percenters. Corporate donors and their teabagger minions aren't just the rightwing fringe of the party, they're the base. I too hope Obama finally knows who/what he's dealing with.

Joaquin: Rammed through? Gee, it only took a year. Whew! They rushed that bill through so fast my head is still spinning.

As far as how many people are for or against it, like I said in the post, I'm not trying to guess because everybody can find a poll that says "99% of the public agrees with me."

Randal: LOL, the Democrats are losing the message war to those dunces -- how sad is that.

March 25, 2010 at 11:23 AM  
Blogger Holte Ender said...

To win the image war you have to have a little bit of media on your side, whereas the Republicans have to whole of the corporate juggernaut constantly hammering their message.

March 25, 2010 at 11:41 AM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Holte: Lately I've been surprised by Yahoo.com. They still have a rightwing slant to a lot of their stories, but they're also actually running some of the stories I thought I'd find only at Think Progress and AlterNet.

But as a whole, yes, the "media" is running the message that their corporate owners want them to run.

March 25, 2010 at 12:52 PM  
Blogger Joaquin said...

"Joaquin: Rammed through? Gee, it only took a year. Whew!"

Nope! No arm-twisting, no back-door deals, no bogus number, and certainly no threats.
Please tell me you aren't serious?

March 25, 2010 at 1:19 PM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

That's politics, all those things you describe. Of course it's happened in the past year; Obama didn't invent it. It happened during Dumbya's presidency; I'm sure you can figure out why Tom DeLay was nicknamed The Hammer. All presidents and congressional leaders have used armtwisting and backroom deals. Nothing new.

March 25, 2010 at 2:51 PM  
Anonymous S.W. Anderson said...

Tom, I don't know if you ever visit Buzz Tracker, but you should. It's a news/blogs aggregator that was started by a go-getter entrepreneur type, then bought by Yahoo!

Take a look at its "News" section and let me know which way, if any, you think it tilts.

March 26, 2010 at 12:42 AM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

SW: After looking at those "news" headlines, I'd have to say they tilt just ever-so-slightly to the right.

March 26, 2010 at 1:04 AM  

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