From The Republican Glasnot, by David Brooks:
There are increasing signs that House Republicans are willing to unite behind Speaker John Boehner so he can cut a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff.” There has been an epidemic of open-mindedness as Republicans try to win minority votes and create a version of their party that can be competitive in states like Connecticut and California.
There’s an old saying in the military: One Aw’ shit! will wipe out a thousand Attaboy!’s.
Truer words were never spoked.
But our Mr. Brooks seems to think that one Attaboy! wipes out, (or close to it), literally thousands of Aw’ shit!’s that have been screeched by various members of his party. That ain’t the case, and no amount of speeches will change the nature of the GOP. This is a party that is not just beholden to the wealthiest of wealthy Americans; it is part and parcel, bone and sinew, heart and soul the literal embodiment of the Mitt Romney/oligarchy mindset.
Just think about the major shakers and movers within and about the GOP: Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, at least 3 members of SCOTUS, Rush Limbaugh, Fox (Roger Ailes) News, the Tea Party, (cue the King of Siam), et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. These are people and organizations who want to and will, if given enough power and access: repeal Roe vs. Wade; deny non-white, Democratic-voting citizens the ability to cast their votes; burn ObamaCare to cinders; privatize or otherwise obliterate Social Security and Medicare; remove environmental and financial regulations; restructure our tax laws to favor, above all, the wealthiest among us; and more things than I care to list at the moment.
Those things are big. They reflect fundamental elements within the American character, and they, along with a myriad of other attributes, define who and what we are as a nation.
If Republicans are given the opportunity to re-create that definition, America will become something far different from anything we have ever experienced. (Perhaps with the notable exception of the decade immediately preceding the Great Depression.)
While I appreciate Mr. Brooks’ attempt(s) at reconciliation, he engages in far too much wishful (wistful?) thinking. I think he earnestly wants the GOP to become something good and decent, but his fervent desire clouds his perception. At present, the Republican party has a cold and stingy heart, and until that heart is transplanted, (no small thing), no speech, no lecture, no fuzzy feel-good moment will serve as anything but deceptive propaganda. If you shake my hand and pat my back in a gesture of goodwill and friendship with one hand, while the other slowly slides a shiv between my ribs, you’re still an untrustworthy bastard in need of . . . well . . . let’s just say it’s time for a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment.
Can I get an amen?
