Sunday, October 23, 2011

Rick Santorum: A Dangerous, Small-Thinking Village Idiot

Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania and current GOP presidential wannabe, has now risen to the top of the “major idiot in the village” heap.

We’re fighting two wars, the economy is completely in the tank, unemployment is over 9 percent, wounded soldiers aren’t getting the care they need and this bozo is standing on his “I’ll die on that hill” in his fight against gay marriage and any federal dollars being spent on any type of contraception.

Oh man, get a clue. The whole argument that gay marriage will shake "the very foundation of our country, the family, what the family structure is going to look like" (his words) is bogus. The family structure isn’t what it used to be now. Sunday dinners at grandma’s are a thing of the past, the black and white picture of the 50s has long since turned into a wider, broader Technicolor world.

Santorum seems to believe it’s this “family structure” that has held the country together and any changes to that dated 50’s black and white screen is what has led to our economy woes and the apparent decline of our nation and probably the world in general. Oy. We evolve . . . sometimes for the better and sometimes not so much. Of course one could argue that things never really were all that great then, but they certainly seem more simple than today as we look back. It’s kind of like he’s living in the colorless world of Pleasantville.

Santorum’s rage against gays is obviously comparable to the rage years ago some people had against blacks and their civil struggle for equal rights. And Santorum’s anti anything “in the sexual realm,” including Planned Parenthood and contraception apparently means that if we don’t talk about it and deal with the issues then they simply don’t exist.  

I guess the larger issue (and Santorum is a small issue guy) is the thought that state-sponsored discrimination is bad. Why shouldn’t committed partners (gay or not), be allowed to visit loved ones in the hospital, buy real estate, apply for health insurance together, and on and on? He’s one of those guys who tries to bully everyone and then complains someone’s bullying him, as he did when Saturday Night Live did a bit poking fun at his anti-gay views.

I’ll admit I just don’t get it. I don’t get the energy spent on these issues and the time spent actively and openly discriminating against people, largely because they are different than what some feel is “normal.” People are different . . . live with it and move on. I do find it interesting, though, that people who preach less government want to change the Constitution to add a gay-marriage ban or alter laws regarding immigrants and their offspring. Government doesn’t belong in the bedroom, or many other places into which it creeps. Our forefathers are rolling in their graves at the small mindedness.

Rick Santorum is dangerous. He may have risen to the top idiot status among this crop of GOP hopefuls, but that not saying all that much. If this is the best we can hope for, then God help us all.

At a time when we need and are looking for leaders, the horizon seems woefully empty.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

GOP Pandering to the Far Right Will Only Hurt at Election Time

Republicans are making a big mistake in their right-wing pandering. A mistake that could enable Barack Obama get his feet back under him, get off the ropes, and start to frame the issues that may help him win re-election next fall.

He’s already starting to frame his campaign, and as the Republicans start to flounder as they bang on each other and try to show the Tea Party who has the most tea party “pick me” points, Democrats can start taking the opportunity to show they are the ones who care about the middle class, the environment, the elderly, women and the young.

By continuing to move to the right, Republicans are making themselves even easier to target as the party of “no.” And while some “no” is important, the current Republican stand on taxes, Social Security, Medicare, disaster financing, the environment, women’s health and a host of other issues is starting to turn off even many Republicans.

The problem for the Republicans now is that they apparently need to pander to the far right to nail the primaries. That pushes them too far to the right for the general population, most of whom sit in the moderate/conservative seating section. Obama probably won’t be able to rally the groups of new, young and enthusiastic voters that pushed him into office in the first place, so that, and the critically ill economy outweigh his recent foreign policy points (thanks Hillary) and we’ll see if that’s what sends him home after one term.

The simple truth is that while voters want to cut government spending, they also want the most fragile in our country to be protected and they want the unemployment rate down big time. On top of that, I’m guessing most Americans want their water safe to drink, their food safe to eat and their land to be protected from environmental risk like oil spills and chemical leaks..

Those issues are long-term ones, but important elements to the fabric of our country. Let me put it this way: Remember the disaster in the Gulf? Are you willing to risk another disaster like that by lifting environmental regulations? Me neither. In the long run (and that’s a run about which most politicians have no clue) the regulations (reasonable and sensible) are cheaper and certainly more logical than such having to deal with disasters themselves, given the overall costs, both financial and personal.

But government has embraced the short-sighted vision. They look at the cost of adding food inspectors instead of looking at the cost of food recalls, poisoned people and damaged businesses.

Is hydraulic fracturing (pumping fluid from into deep underground rock fracturing to push out natural gas and oil) safe? Personally, I don’t know, but there is growing evidence it is not. Ground water pollution (and companies aren’t disclosing their fluid formulas) is just one issue. I’d ban it until we had more science on the risks. Of course science is something some politicians rail against. That’s a shame.

Science doesn’t take place over night and by ignoring it now, often simply because our political ambitions differ from scientific findings, is stupid and short sighted. Let’s push the science through faster so we can move on some of these issues faster. Let’s not red-tape stuff to death.

Clean it up, increase efficiency, decrease bureaucracy and begin to make good policy that’s good for the country instead of minor clips and bits that may sound good today, but do nothing in the long run other than to show how limited Washington’s view really is.


Sunday, October 9, 2011

A Field of Bigots: Will They Continue to Hijack the GOP?

Unfortunately, it’s easy to be a bigot. We’re all biased in one way or another. Sometimes we fight those feelings and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes our prejudice is silly (would you hire a guy with a huge hair comb-over to be your director of marketing?) . . . and sometimes not so much . . .

The current flock of Republicans is going to find many of them have a bigotry issue that may play to the far right, but won’t play, even in this era of “throw all the bums out,” in the general election . They have a gay issue , , , a woman issue . .  and a poor people issue . . . (and I haven’t even started on things like environmental and regulatory issues , , , don’t worry, I will.) It appears to be a field full of bigots. And they to have hijacked the GOP.

Congressman Rick Santorum has showed his colors time and time again. He doesn’t like gay people . . . doesn’t want them to get married and, I’m guessing, won’t be having any of “them” over for a cookout any time soon. That’s too bad, because maybe if he spent some time talking with gays he’d start to see them as actual people. He continues to rail against the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” saying, "They're in close quarters, they live with people, they obviously shower with people," Santorum said, saying the presence of gay soldiers could have an adverse "effect on retention and recruitment."

It's talk without knowledge. Talk designed to get people hyped up over some base issue.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the current GOP frontrunner, has time and time again said he is opposed to any gays, or any unmarried people living together, holding jobs as teachers.

Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachman and Rick Santorum have signed a pledge saying they will back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Oh come on. Why is it that those people so intent on waving the constitution every chance they get are so intent to change it to fit their political views? Leave the damn Constitution alone.

And too often the heavy Christian talk of Perry or Michelle Bachman leaves one wondering if they’d throw non “born agains” out of the country. After all, the president lords over all the people, not just those who happen to believe exactly what he or she believes. Creating a message of “I’m superior to you” because I believe this or that is a slippery slope from which it’ll be hard to recover. And while primaries tend to bring out the most fervent believers in both parties, the risk is that the person who remains standing may be unelectable to the larger and more moderate voter pool.

And herein lies a problem for the Republicans. In snuggling up to the far-right, they’re writing off independent voters and the apparently silent and endangered moderate Republicans . . . and even (gasp) moderate and conservative Democrats.

Too bad . . . it may cost them by the time we wade through all the political bull that will be thrown at us over the next year. And it may cost them at a time when Obama is falling out of favor with his base. If he can effectively hammer the Republicans on the perception that their radical conservatism, anti-woman, anti-environment etc. positions are actually anti-middle class positions that have nothing to do with lowering unemployment, fixing the tax code, cutting corporate subsidies, rebuilding infrastructure, improving the mortgage/foreclosure mess and reigning in earmarks, he can start to turn his political ship around.

Thus far he hasn’t done it. People love a good talker who pokes and jabs with his or her opponent (Reagan was a master and Clinton managed to weather all the Republican arrows with his verbal prowess and nimble political footwork). Come election time, the only issue will be whether or not Obama has damaged himself enough to allow the far right to slip into power. I shiver . . .

Keep a keen ear, don’t just suck up the 30-second sound bites, read, read, read, and remember that nothing is spontaneous . . . it’s all part of a politician’s grand plan to get your vote and spend your money.