When I learned about socialism in junior high, I don’t remember this part. Apparently, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) believes that same-sex marriage is a part of “socialist” agenda aimed at undermining “the foundations of individual rights and liberties.”
As reported at thehill.com, King said the following on a conservative radio program:
If there’s a push for a socialist society where the foundations of individual rights and liberties are undermined and everybody is thrown together living collectively off one pot of resources earned by everyone, this is one of the goals they have to go to, same sex marriage, because it has to plow through marriage in order to get to their goal. They want public affirmation; they want access to public funds and resources.
For the moment, let’s set aside the idiocy of this statement. Behind the fear, anger, and misinformation of this position, we also see exposed the laziness of the Right’s new and unhinged rhetoric. Right now, the GOP just seems to be taking every strand of resentment and dissatisfaction in society – whether shrouded in populism, racism, or fundamentalism – and declaring socialism (or fascism in some instances). One can’t imagine the intellectual pillars of American conservatism (Irving Kristol, William F. Buckley, etc.) using terms like socialism or fascism without actually understanding what these words mean. But so what? Why trouble ourselves with nettlesome details like “what words actually mean,” or “historical facts?” This is the party of Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin.
Andrew Sullivan agrees – and then points out how anti-socialist marriage rights actually are:
Socialist? You realize that King must have no understanding of the word, or that the word has now become synonymous in Foxland with “anything that scares me.” How on earth is allowing 2 percent of people the right to marry the person they love a path to redistribution of wealth or government ownership of the means of production? Marriage is an institution that helps people be independent of the state. If one spouse gets sick, it is his or her spouse’s first responsibility to care for him or her. Without the spouse, the government would have to step in. Marriage encourages responsibility, long-term commitment, and leads to better health. All of that too helps people remain independent of the state. In fact every single argument that social conservatives make about marriage for straights – and rightly so – also applies to marriage for gays.
The mindset that lumps this in with some amorphous threat to everything good and American is not rational. It is gripped by paranoia, illogic and prejudice.
Par for the course on today’s Right. When the GOP is ready to engage in thinking again, there are people ready to rejoin.
The current, unhinged version of the GOP is not without its conservative critics. David Frum is among those on the Right who are increasingly wary of the GOP’s deal with the devil. Today, he highlights how Glenn Beck (who it seems is out for himself and not for the party – suprise!) made a failed effort to derail Cass Sunstein’s appointment to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within OMB. Sunstein is a free-market-oriented, pro-competition Obama appointee that Frum describes as “the best possible choice to be hoped for from a Democratic administration.”
Republican senators know the truth about Cass Sunstein – that’s why only 33 Republican senators voted “no” on the cloture vote on his nomination, the vote that mattered. Yet unfortunately they also fear the wild disinformation broadcast by Fox News and credulously believed by millions of Fox viewers. So the final vote on the nomination of this best friend conservatives are likely ever to have inside the administration was 57-40, with only a handful of Republicans voting in favor.
The Senate’s most left-wing member, Bernie Sanders, intelligently voted “nay.” There’s one person at least who did not allow himself to be hustled out of his principles by a television loudmouth.
Frum ends with a plea to join his segment of the Right so they can get on with the business of being loyal, constructive opposition.
The ultimate happy ending of the story should not however close the page on this appalling episode of broadcast recklessness and political cowardice. We conservatives are submitting our movement to some of the most unscrupulous people in American life. This submission disgraces conservatism, discredits Republicans, and damages the country. It’s beyond time for conservatives who know better to join us at NewMajority in emancipating ourselves from leadership by the most stupid, the most cynical, and the most truthless.
Representative Wilson says he apologized for merely interrupting the President.
My statement to Rahm Emanuel was a general apology to anyone and everyone about speaking out of turn. Period.
Really? If you raise your hand next time, we’ll forgive the fact that you called the President of the United State “a liar” and trampled all over the truth.
A variety of sources have proved Wilson’s unequivocal lie. H.R. 3200 does not include health care for illegal immigrants:
H.R. 3200: Sec 246 — NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS
Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.
Yet Wilson continues to assert illegal immigrants will be covered. Is Wilson misinformed? Does he understand only what he wants to understand? I reject the cynicism that all politicians are crooks. Exaggeration is inherent in political debate. It’s an art form. It’s also common in boardrooms, at dinner tables and in bars. Rational people have a sense for when an argument is waged unfairly. We have a sense for when exaggeration goes too far. It’s called distortion and eventually, dishonesty.
A half truth is a whole lie.
~Yiddish Proverb
Normative values and social standards influence the rise and fall of corporate corruption over time. The same is true for the rules of political engagement. The neglect and subjugation of facts, empirical evidence and independent thought corrodes our political discussions. In an increasingly complex world, our collective expectations for truthfulness and comity in American politics have reached dangerously low levels.
If you need further evidence, observe the rallying around Wilson’s “boldness” and get your free t-shirt!
This evening, Senator McCain denounced Representative Joe Wilson’s (R-SC) interruption of President Obama’s speech, when he shouted “lie”
No place for it in that setting or any other, and he should apologize for it immediately.
Senator McCain’s swift denouncement is consistent with his own history of respect for his political adversaries. During the presidential campaign, McCain famously reclaimed the microphone from a town hall participant, who called Senator Obama an Arab.
No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].
Hopefully, McCain’s denouncement of Representative Wilson, reclaims the microphone from the screaming dissonance that has recently overwhelmed reason and civility in our politics. Thank you Senator McCain for reminding us why we admire your principled public service. Thank you for edging us back toward respectful civil discourse and deference to our democratic institutions and traditions.
Sarah Palin is worried about “Death Panels”. Chuck Grassley is worried about “pulling the plug on Grandma”. Seniors are worried that nefarious socialists will conspire in turning “their medicare” into government run health care. Zach Braff, from Scrubs, is worried about removing excess nipples. What’s my irrational fear? I’m extremely worried those stingy government bureaucrats won’t include coverage for my hair transplant. I demand health reform too!
When the country desperately needs some civility, a voice of temperance and respect emerges from the dignified former first lady. The tea baggers, birthers and health care town hall screamers should simmer down and heed the tone and sentiments of Laura Bush, expressed in her CNN interview:
I think he[President Obama] is [doing a good job]. I think he has got a lot on his plate, and he has tackled a lot to start with, and that has probably made it more difficult.
. . . it’s really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States.
. . . I think there is a place for the president … to talk to schoolchildren and encourage them. Parents should follow his example and encourage their own children to stay in school and to study hard and to try to achieve the dream that they have.
Regrettably, the Republican strategy to scare elderly Americans about health reform appears to be working. To be sure, Democrats have employed identical tactics when Republicans have attempted to reform Social Security and Medicare. In both cases, fear mongering poisons the opportunity for much needed reform.
Politics is fiercely competitive. Policy debates matter. Brazenly perpetuating disgraceful misinformation about health care “death panels” and “rationing” goes too far. Moderate, reasonable Republicans must say enough. A functioning democracy presupposes an informed electorate and a constructive opposition. The current antics of the GOP imperil the balance and long-term effectiveness of American democracy. Joe Klein’s Time column captures the lamentable state of affairs.
How can you sustain a democracy if one of the two major political parties has been overrun by nihilists? And another question: How can you maintain the illusion of journalistic impartiality when one of the political parties has jumped the shark?
I’m not going to try. I’ve written countless “Democrats in Disarray” stories over the years and been critical of the left on numerous issues in the past. This year, the liberal insistence on a marginally relevant public option has been a tactical mistake that has enabled the right’s “government takeover” disinformation jihad. There have been times when Democrats have run demagogic scare campaigns on issues like Social Security and Medicare. There are more than a few Democrats who believe, in practice, that government should be run for the benefit of government employees’ unions. There are Democrats who are so solicitous of civil liberties that they would undermine legitimate covert intelligence collection. There are others who mistrust the use of military power under almost any circumstances. But these are policy differences, matters of substance. The most liberal members of the Democratic caucus — Senator Russ Feingold in the Senate, Representative Dennis Kucinich in the House, to name two — are honorable public servants who make their arguments based on facts. They don’t retail outright lies. Hyperbole and distortion certainly exist on the left, but they are a minor chord in the Democratic Party.
It is a very different story among Republicans. To be sure, there are honorable conservatives, trying to do the right thing. There is a legitimate, if wildly improbable, fear that Obama’s plan will start a process that will end with a health-care system entirely controlled by the government. There are conservatives — Senator Lamar Alexander, Representative Mike Pence, among many others — who make their arguments based on facts. But they have been overwhelmed by nihilists and hypocrites more interested in destroying the opposition and gaining power than in the public weal. The philosophically supple party that existed as recently as George H.W. Bush’s presidency has been obliterated. The party’s putative intellectuals — people like the Weekly Standard’s William Kristol — are prosaic tacticians who make precious few substantive arguments but oppose health-care reform mostly because passage would help Barack Obama’s political prospects. In 1993, when the Clintons tried health-care reform, the Republican John Chafee offered a creative (in fact, superior) alternative — which Kristol quashed with his famous “Don’t Help Clinton” fax to the troops. There is no Republican health-care alternative in 2009. The same people who rail against a government takeover of health care tried to enforce a government takeover of Terri Schiavo’s end-of-life decisions. And when Palin floated the “death panel” canard, the number of prominent Republicans who rose up to call her out could be counted on one hand.
The cost of the current American health care system threatens the competitiveness of American business and the financial security of many American families. Conservatives recognize that we cannot afford our health care system. Will the Grand Old Party please stand up?
Plenty has been written about the Right’s partisan and irrational reaction to Obama addressing the nation’s schoolchildren, so there is not much to add. It seems that the American Right has gone so insane that in spite of their monopoly on all things Good and Patriotic, they do not want children to be told by the President of the United States to stay in school and work hard. Perhaps Glenn Beck has noticed fascist or communist overtones coming from a man who tells small children to eat their vegetables.
But its worth highlighting something from DailyKos - and that is a reminder that on the eve of the 1992 election, President George H.W. Bush actually pitched his education plan in a nationwide broadcast to schools.
Also of note, on November 14, 1988, president Reagan gave a live speech to America’s classrooms that included a Q&A session during which he offered up his positions on deficits and taxation and gun control.
God forbid we use the office of the president to “indoctrinate” children, huh?
If all the wingnuts are pulling their kids out of school because the President is going to speak for fifteen minutes, can we teach evolution the rest of the day?
I just returned from vacation in Kenya where I captured the attached photo.
Terrified from being that close to a wild elephant, you can imagine my relief when I discovered the following article from Ragebot:
The Republican Party’s familiar elephant mascot may soon join the ranks of the unemployed, if the recommendation of a special party panel is adopted.
The seven-member committee, led by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-6), took the unprecedented step today in response to rising sensitivity within GOP ranks about things really being from America.
“We have done a great investigation into the question, and quite simply the elephant is not from America,” said Bachmann, shortly after the 6-1 vote which adopted the bald eagle as the Republican mascot.
The lone dissenting vote was cast by Governor Charlie Crist of Florida. “I prefer the faaabulous pink flamingo,” Crist said.
Outside the committee’s meeting place at Washington’s Omni Shoreham Hotel, Bachmann spoke to a crowd of conservative activists known as “trunkers,” who oppose what they call the non-American elephant mascot. Many in the gathering held placards reading “It Is From Kenya,” and “Show Us The Pedigree.”
One couple, M.F. and Shirley A. Nutt of Westmost, North Carolina, cheered as the Minnesota House member told trunkers that the Republican Party has no problem claiming the eagle, already a national symbol, for partisan political purposes. “That’s what our party is all about,” Bachmann said.
The Nutts denied being species-ist. “But if we follow something it has to be born in America, not something from Africa and probably Muslim,” M.F. Nutt said.
According to our polling, AOR readers are above average intelligence. Therefore, we’re certain our readers will recognize this is satire and not factual.
Hey Maria, you need to be 65 to receive Medicare! In the rapidly devolving cable news world, staged debate and provocation replace reporting and information. Armed with prepared questions, talking points and a cursory understanding of the topic, news personalities referee debates. These “talk” programs are much less expensive to produce than traditional news programs that rely on large teams of reporters, mobile camera trucks, researchers, etc. The ratings are better and it’s a trend that is unlikely to change. Unfortunately, these news personalities increasingly editorialize about subjects they do not completely understand. CNBC Anchor Maria Bartiromo provides the latest example as Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) attempts to explain that Medicare is government managed health care and patients are very satisfied:
Bartiromo: How come you don’t use it? You don’t have it. How come you don’t have it?
Weiner: Because I’m not 65.
Bartiromo: Yeah… c’mon!
As we’ve noted in other posts, CNBC and Larry Kudlow don’t have a sterling record of providing reliable or objective economic assessments either.
The current, unhinged version of the GOP is not without its conservative critics. David Frum is among those on the Right who are increasingly wary of the GOP’s deal with the devil. 
a town hall participant, who called Senator Obama an Arab.
I just returned from vacation in Kenya where I captured the attached photo.
