God Bless America


I hear and read a lot from the right about how we pinko communist liberals are out to destroy the American way of life. Cries from the left to address income inequality are dissed as socialism. Attempts by progressives to regulate industry, whether financial services or energy, are shot down as job killers. Supporters of gay marriage, birth control, and the freedom to choose an abortion are demonized as unChristian and anti-religion. Global warming is a hoax.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks. The man, too.

The left supports equality, freedom, and individual rights. Folks on the left are not inclined to believe that businesses are people, too. In fact, a common cry from the left is the need to regulate industry to protect the environment and prevent infringement of equality, freedom, and individual rights. The emphasis is on a level playing field that gives equal opportunity to everyone to pursue (and achieve) the American Dream. There’s an underlying assumption that the pursuit of corporate profit often comes at the expense of consumers, workers, and the planet.

I don’t know what the right is for, but evidence suggests folks on the right are opposed to gay marriage (and equal rights for gays), women’s reproductive freedom (birth control and abortion), and any form of regulation or taxation. Much of this is justified by religion–specifically a warped form of Christianity that values hate over love. The rest is labeled as anti-business and therefore, job killing. The mantra of the right is trickle down economics–the belief that big corporations and the rich people who run them will create all the jobs we need.

Bullshit.

Based on my observations, the right is entirely opposed to the concept of fairness. Instead, they embrace the Machiavellian idea that the ends justify the means. The objective is to win, no matter the cost.

That’s why the right supports the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court that permits unlimited giving to political action committees by corporations and the super rich. That’s why redistricting favors Republicans, even in states with Democratic majorities. That’s why GOP leaders bash President Obama’s policies, even though many, if not most, were once major platforms of the GOP.

The right decries the power of the liberal elite–basically anyone with a college education. Science is completely discounted in favor of magical thinking. Facts play no role in solving problems. Global warming is a figment of the liberal imagination.

Politicians on the right voted against any stimulus spending during the worst recession since the Great Depression. Maybe we should require them to pass a basic course in macroeconomics before we allow them to vote on such important matters.

The right talks about letting the people decide issues such as gay marriage and equal rights for gay Americans. If the people had voted in the 1860s, we’d still have slaves here in the south. And we all know that if Civil Rights were put to the electorate back in the 1960s, we’d still have segregation and Jim Crow.

The right talks about individual liberty, except and unless we’re talking about gay rights, birth control and a woman’s right to choose abortion.

The right talks about the need for less regulation, unless we’re talking about what goes on in the bedroom.

The right supports freedom of religion, as long as we’re talking about Christians.

Politician’s on the right talk about the sanctity of marriage, while they’re boinking their mistress and cheating on their third and fourth spouse. Or worse, they strike out against gay activists and the gay agenda while paying male prostitutes on the sly.

It’s the hypocrisy that pisses me off the most.

Democrats and others on the left aren’t all noble and good. The majority of politicians on both sides of the aisle are at the beck and call of the corporations who fund their campaigns. Our elected leaders and their corporate cronies are the robber barons of the 21st century. You can’t trust any of them, but I’m especially distrustful of politicians on the right. The hateful and inflammatory rhetoric they spout at every opportunity would be laughable if it wasn’t so darn scary.

The most frightening aspect of all of this is how easily manipulated the Republican base seems to be. Whatever they see on Fox news, hear on talk radio, or read in an email forwarded from a like-minded friend, they believe–hook, line, and sinker.  I’d worry more, but I think most GOP voters are disgusted with the current state of affairs.

Romney will never get the votes of Christian conservatives. Gingrich has more baggage than Delta loses every year, and is far too random and sporadic to go the distance without self-destructing. Santorum’s victories don’t mean much when you look at the percent of the electorate who actually bothered to vote–never mind his laughable positions on social issues. If that’s all the GOP can put up for President, then we’re looking forward to four more years of President Obama here in…

My Glass House


6 responses to “God Bless America”

  1. “It’s the hypocrisy that pisses me off the most.” Amen.
    Republicans say they want small government, yet they want to legislate our personal lives. They just want small government when it gets in the way of making money.

  2. Oh, well done! Also, just an addendum: The faith in trickle-down economics and the anti-business chant are merely one more aspect of the “Christianity Cha-Cha” danced by the Right. Keep ranting, Michael…I love it.

    By the way, enjoying Addicted.

    • Thanks! I expected a lot of defensive and/or negative comments from people I know on the right, but haven’t heard a peep out of them…yet. Glad to hear you’re enjoying Addicted. I try to keep the rants down to one a month…mostly. 🙂

  3. “…but haven’t heard a peep out of them…yet.”

    Bahaha… I was too speechless when I first read the post to make a peep. So it begs the question: Do I disagree with what you say? As a card-totin’ member of “the right”, it is a bit humbling to admit to myself that much of what you say is truth. I my ownself am horrified at the words and behavior of many of my fellow right-wingers. There’s so much about politics and economics that I don’t understand, so it would not be wise for me to stand on my soapbox and scream too loudly. That being said, don’t forget that there’s a lot of folks who sit solidly on that line somewhere between the left and the right and don’t subscribe to the die-hard beliefs of either. I still ask myself: Am I a liberal conservative, or a conservative liberal? Like I’ve been saying since the beginning of our blogger-friendship, “not all Christians are like that”. It’s just the ones who holler the loudest, and make fools of themselves, who RUIN it for the rest of us. Ha! I know that I can’t possibly be the only Christian in the bunch who feels and believes the way I do. Maybe I’m just the only one who will admit it. I don’t know. As much as I love Jesus and as important as my faith is to me, I just wish the (supposed Christian) politicians wouldn’t espouse so much judgement and generate so much ire. Sometimes I think my ability to see both sides of the fence is a curse. Maybe it would be easier if I was 150% on board with the far left, or 150% on board with the far right. But then I guess that would make me one of the narrow-minded people that I detest… so I guess I’ll just stay here in my own little world of ambiguity. ….sigh….. But you just keep on preachin’ it. Here in my world, I enjoy the opines of both sides. I get real excited when I find others who live somewhere to the right of middle like me, but there’s not much material from those folks. God Bless America, indeed. Your Friend, Rodney King, oh I mean CathyB.