October 24, 2009
More Republican Logic*
This blog has proven over
and over and over again that the Republican1. To prevent a mature, honest, practical, intelligent, spin-free debate from taking place, about anything, by...
2. Creating paranoia among the base...
3. Creating immense fear of Democrats and liberals (in reality, however, Democrats have been so thoroughly intimidated by the GOP, you'll find them rolled up into the fetal position on every issue)...
4. Creating enemies, and...
5. Keeping the base ignorant (see Fox "News"), misinformed (see Sean Hannity), indoctrinated (see Glenn Beck), inflamed (see Rush Limbaugh), busy (see the "tea party" protests), angry (see the "tea party" protests) and pugnacious (see all the above), so the GOP can...
6. Divert attention from the disastrous record the Republican Party has, to...
7. Prevent their base from wising up and leaving the cult, by...
8. Ensuring that they continue to (erroneously) believe the media is liberal so they A) won't believe anything negative about a Republican, B) will massively protest a news organization that puts out an anti-Republican story to influence future reporting, and C) will only believe what they hear on conservative talk radio and
9. Kept perpetually enraged at Obama, Democrats and liberals, and therefore...
10. Perpetually poised for the next attack, which comes the next day (or the next hour).
So it's an insane cycle that keeps repeating itself. Madness, isn't it (if only the GOP was as efficient running government!)?
To meet these objectives, the entire political process has to be disrupted and poisoned. It's a coordinated, incessant and repetitive barrage of blame, lies, attacks, spin, cynicism, hostility, childish ridicule and talking points; all directed towards Obama, Democrats, liberals and everyone else non-Republican. It's quite a massive and powerful propaganda machine.
There's so many of these manipulative GOP attacks and lies that it's impossible to keep up. But on health care, one recent talking point was that "Obama wanted to give health care to illegal aliens." You know, the whole Rep. Joe Wilson, "You lie" thing.
Since they don't mind looking wrong, hypocritical and foolish (which is what cults get you to do...for the cause), the truth, the facts and logic do not matter to the GOP or their brainwashed base. But:
Health care for illegal immigrants costs Americans at least $1 billion each year, not including health costs for children and the elderly.
In the event that's on the low side, I'm going to raise that to $2 billion a year.
So we're spending $2 billion a year on health care for illegal aliens...in a $3.1 trillion dollar budget. Two billion dollars isn't even pocket change! It's the lint!
So when you come right down to it, health care for illegals aliens is like a pimple on Jennifer Aniston. Really. And it's that lousy $2 billion, in part, that has mobilized the Republican base into opposing health care reform; reform that's in their interests...even pompous, arrogant, hypocritical conservative Republicans...even if they have the best insurance money can buy (but again, that's what cults mindlessly get you to do).
So if the worst problem we have with our health care system is that "Obama wants to provide illegal aliens with it," then that would mean our system's in such great shape, it wouldn't need much reform at all. But since the GOP must keep their brainwashed base in a perpetual state of incensed rage at Democrats...
On health care, the GOP got it started by using frightening talking points such as "death panels" (only a member of a cult would be gullible enough to believe such politically driven propaganda) and "government controlled health care" (only a cult can get its followers to forget about Medicare and the VA health system). And then the base was told they had to be outraged - outraged I tell you, outraged! - that "illegal aliens would get health care under Obama's health care plan." And since the base is unable to think for themselves, and do what they're told, no questions asked, they were. And as a result, and most important for the GOP, we haven't had a mature, honest, practical, intelligent, spin-free debate on health care. Mission accomplished.
Let me put this (manufactured) outrage into some perspective:
Where was this outrage when George Bush was spying on Americans without a warrant? Where was this outrage when - due to gross negligence, indifference, incompetence and petty politics - George Bush failed to even try and prevent the 9/11 attacks? Where was this outrage when George Bush became the best terrorist recruiter Osama bin Laden could have?
As far as the lousy $2 billion is concerned, we've spent $700 billion - and counting - on the Iraq war, a war that shouldn't have even been fought in the first place. Where the hell is Republican outrage over that?
And then there's the Wall St. bailouts:
Casey Research, of Vermont, has analyzed the costs of the government bailouts of the housing crisis, the credit crisis and others and has concluded that the total is $8.5 trillion...(bold mine)
Drawn from independent research and diverse published sources...the combined total of existing and announced potential outlays from the Federal Reserve and from U.S. government agencies that are directly attributable to the financial crisis has climbed to more than $10 trillion.(bold mine)
Let the record show that conservative Republicans aren't enraged about any of that. Not in the least. What they are angry about is that "Obama wants to give health care to illegal aliens."
They sure got their priorities in order, don't they?
(Note: apparently, the "tea party" protesters do oppose the Wall St. bailouts. I'll let Salon's Glenn Greenwald take it from here:
...look at who the lead supporters are: Rush Limbaugh, the Murdoch-owned Fox News, Glenn Beck, the right-wing blogosphere...talk radio (and) business groups led by Dick Armey. Does anyone actually believe that what motivates them is concern over the excessive, corrupting influence of Wall Street and large corporations in government? Please. They are pure GOP partisans who are exploiting citizen anger to undermine Democratic politicians in order to return the GOP to political power...In fact, many of the movement leaders are among the most vocal advocates for unfettered corporate power. From the expansions of the Surveillance State and endless imperial power to strident opposition to lobbyist reforms, they support the very policies that most empower those corrupting groups and further the government-corporate merger. If they're so concerned about excessive government power, debt and corporate influence and corruption, where were they during the Bush era? Cheering it all on. They didn't discover their "small-government principles" until Barack Obama was inaugurated and it became a means for undermining his administration and recovering from Republican political ruin.)
But let's get back to illegal aliens and health care.
When there's a car accident and the driver and/or passengers are "bleeding out," should the police and medics check to see if they're "legal" or not before treatment is administered? Of course not. In fact, it's the law. Everyone must be treated regardless of who they are and the ability to pay. Even Republicans, with the exception of Rep. Michelle Bachmann, would agree that it should be "treat first and ask questions later." It is, after all, the "pro-life" and "Christian" thing to do.
So what are conservatives so angry about then? Because that's how it's been forever. And the taxpayer has been picking up the tab forever. That's how it worked when George Bush was president too. How come it was alright for him to "provide health care to illegal aliens?" Where was Joe Wilson then? Where's the Republican Party's Christian values now?
And this will continue because contrary to what Joe Wilson and the Republicans have said, there was no legislation that would have allowed illegals to participate in whatever health care reform that came out of Congress. Period.
Wait a second, I'm confused (well, that's what Republican logic does!).
Wilson and the Republicans don't want illegals to have coverage so they and their brainwashed base who are having a conniption fit because Obama "wants to give them health care" can continue to pay $2 billion a year for it? That doesn't make sense (well, that's Republican logic for ya!).
But that's how they want it because they don't want illegals to be part of whatever health care plan that comes out of Congress. That's what Wilson's "You lie" is all about (hell of an approach to health care while we're in the mist of a swine flu pandemic, huh? It should be pointed out that Joe Wilson's job, like all Republicans in Congress, is to solve problems, prevent problems and prevent problems from getting worse.).
So let me see if I have this straight: The GOP and their brainwashed base don't want illegals to be part of any government insurance plan...and Republicans are angry that Obama will give it to them, or allow them to buy into the plan, even though Obama wasn't...But if he did, and illegals were covered, the taxpayer - including Joe Wilson, his republican colleges and their outraged base - wouldn't have to worry about paying for their care out-of-pocket, which is how they've been paying for it, and what they're basically screaming about in the first place...
Yup, sounds like more Republican logic to me!
Actually, the smart and practical thing to do would be for the federal government to (somehow) provide insurance for illegal aliens. Because if a blanket insurance policy for illegals can be purchased by the government, at least they'd be covered when they showed up at the emergency room. And that would save taxpayers money.
But using Republican logic, they'd rather continue the insanity of sticking the taxpayer with the illegal alian's health care bills instead of providing them with insurance that would save the taxpayer money.
Then again, if illegals were covered and taxpayers did save money, it would remove the issue the GOP needs to rile up their brainwashed base with. And they can't have any of that.
On second thought, no it wouldn't. Republicans would still scream: "You see, we told you Obama would give health care to illegal aliens!" Of course, they'd fail to point out that it would be saving taxpayers, including pompous, arrogant, hypocritical Republicans, money. But as I said, the truth, the facts and logic do not matter to this cult.
So - one more time - let me see if I have all this straight: In 2001 George Bush failed to pick up a phone and demand specifics which might have prevented the 9/11 attacks...He lied the country into an unnecessary war, a war that's caused almost 40,000 American casualties, roughly a quarter of a million Iraqi casualties (quite a lot for a supposedly "pro-life" President, I would say) and has cost hundreds of billions of dollars, so far...We've had trillions of dollars stolen from from the United States Treasury, and with it, a stock market crash that wiped out the investments held by all Americans (pompous, arrogant, hypocritical Republicans included)...We have tens of millions of Americans without health insurance, thousands more losing their insurance every month and skyrocketing health care costs that are strangling businesses and bankrupting families (pompous, arrogant and hypocritical Republicans included) and government at all levels...and Republicans are outraged - outraged I tell you, outraged! - because Obama wants to "give health care to illegal aliens," which wasn't true, but if it was, would actually save them and all taxpayers a few bucks in a $3 trillion budget...
Yup, sounds like more Republican logic to me!
And they'll be more of this. Just wait until the GOP says that health care reform is a "plot to kill Republicans." Oh, wait, they already did. Okay, wait until they say that "Obama's government-run health care plan will ration care for disabled children." Oh wait, they already said that too (and as MSNBC's Rachel Maddow pointed out, they're eligible for SCHIP and Medicaid, which are, guess what? Boogoody-boogoody-boo!...Socialist, government-run programs!)
Never mind. Just wait until they start calling for Obama's impeachment.
Oh wait, they already are (where were these guys when we had war criminals as President, Vice President and throughout their administration?).
This, this, this and this (Nov. 2 insert: and this, Nov. 6 insert: and this, Nov. 15 insert: and this) is what we're dealing with here and how the GOP keeps their moronic, mindless, gullible, pugnacious brainwashed base, well, moronic, mindless, gullible, pugnacious and brainwashed (if anyone can be compared to the Nazis, it's the Republican Cult!).
And this is what they think of their country (why do Republicans hate America?).
Heck of a bunch, these Republicans, huh?
You know, when you have brainwashed followers that have lost the ability to think (assuming they had the ability to begin with) the leaders of this cult have it very easy. Very easy indeed.
Note: It's worth pointing out that providing health care for illegals, or paying for it out of pocket as we always have, is not a "health care" issue at all. Illegals shouldn't be enrolled in American schools either, let alone signing up for government health care benefits.
So this is not a health care isse. It's an immigration issue. But instead of having a mature, honest, practical, intelligent spin-free discussion about very complicated issues like immigration and health care, and actually working towards solving these problems, the GOP uses them, instead, to keep their brainwashed base - many of whom return home from these "tea party" protests only to find a pile of unpaid medical bills themselves - in a perpetual state of incensed rage, at Democrats, and to manipulate and mobilize them against health care reform...reform that's in their interests.
Yup, sounds like more Republican logic to me!
Note: ACORN is a nationwide community organization that assists poor and middle income families. So by default, that automatically means it's a (boogoody boogoody boo!) liberal organization, and therefore, one of the GOP's prime targets (I suppose they don't have anything better to do with their time). So the recent scandal, if you want to call it that, involving ACORN has made the day for Republicans and Fox "News" viewers.
Consequently, without any formal investigation and practically overnight, Congress has cut federal funding to the organization, about $3.5 million a year.
No, that's not typo...$3.5 million
If the $2 billion the country spends on health care for illegals is the lint in "Uncle Sam's" pocket, then $3.5 million is a spec of air in the pocket!
But the GOP, naturally, pushed the right buttons and got its base to be outraged - outraged I tell you, outraged - about this impropriety at ACORN because, as I said, they need to create liberal enemies so they can enrage their brainwashed base for all the above stated reasons.
Once again, I'll allow Glenn Greenwald to take it from here:
ACORN has received a grand total of $53 million in federal funds over the last 15 years -- an average of $3.5 million per year. Meanwhile, not millions, not billions, but trillions of dollars of public funds have been, in the last year alone, transferred to or otherwise used for the benefit of Wall Street. Billions of dollars in American taxpayer money vanished into thin air, eaten by private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, led by Halliburton subsidiary KBR. All of those corporate interests employ armies of lobbyists and bottomless donor activities that ensure they dominate our legislative and regulatory processes, and to be extra certain, the revolving door between industry and government is more prolific than ever, with key corporate officials constantly ending up occupying the government positions with the most influence over those industries...
...nobody is apologizing for (ACORN) or suggesting that they've done nothing wrong. Any group that large will have individuals in it who do bad things. The issue is one of proportion. If someone ostensibly opposes government waste and unfairness in tax policy yet spends most of their time focusing on a tiny group that helps the poor and receives a minuscule amount of government money -- all while ignoring or even revering the enormous, omnipotent industries which eat up trillions in taxpayer waste and dwarf the impact of ACORN by many, many magnitudes -- then any rational person would question what the real motives are [and the claim that ACORN is "Now Eligible for up to $8 billion" is pure Beckian deceit...]
ACORN isn't just being mentioned in passing as something that needs an examination; it's dominating headlines and the obsessions of the Fox News movement, despite the fact that it's a tiny, microscopic drop in the bucket even when assessed by the principles the protesters claim to support (by a vote of 345-75, the Democratic-led House just joined the Senate in voting to cut off all funds to ACORN; I'm sure the courageous Congress will be doing that to Blackwater, KBR, Citibank, lawbreaking telecoms and many other corrupt corporations who own them any moment now). Claiming you're worried about large government and taxpayer waste while fixating on ACORN proves the insincerity of the ostensible concern, let alone doing so while cheering on the same Wall Street banks, defense contractors, and insurance industries that control and expand government power for their own benefit.
The Anonymous Liberal:
...(ACORN is)...a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower and improve the lives of poor people. As with many other organizations, ACORN has a number of legally distinct parts, each of which has different sources of funding and engages in different kinds of activities (ACORN's conservative enemies routinely conflate these various parts to imply that ACORN is using federal money for improper political purposes). Since its founding the 70s, ACORN and its employees and volunteers have fought successfully to, among other things, increase minimum wages across the country, increase the quality of public education in poor areas, and protect people from predatory lending practices. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, ACORN helped rebuild thousands of homes and assisted victims in relocating and finding housing outside of New Orleans. The ACORN activity that has drawn the most conservative ire is its voter registration efforts which, consistent with ACORN's mission, are primarily aimed at low-income voters (who tend to vote Democratic)...
...the amount of federal money that went to ACORN was very small. This is a relatively insignificant organization in the grand scheme of things, but it's an organization that has unquestionably fought over the years to improve the lives of the less fortunate in this country.
That the GOP and its conservative supporters would single out this particular organization for such intense demonization is telling. In September of last year, the entire world came perilously close to complete financial catastrophe. We're still not out of the woods and we're deep within one of the worst recessions in U.S. history. This situation was brought about by the recklessness and greed of our banks and financial institutions, most of which had to be bailed out at enormous cost to the American taxpayer (exponentially more than all of the tax dollars given to ACORN over the years). The people who brought about this near catastrophe, for the most, profited immensely from it. These very same institutions, propped up by the American taxpayer, are once again raking in large profits.
But rather than focus their anger on these folks, conservatives choose to go after an organization composed almost entirely of low-paid community organizers, an organization that could never hope to have even a small fraction of the clout or the ability to affect the overall direction of the country that Wall Street bankers have...
In another posting, Greenwald points out that:
...25 of the GOP Senators who just voted to cut off funding to ACORN opposed, in 2006, legislation to curb abuse and fraud by federal contractors, including the ones eating up billions upon billions of dollars in taxpayer funds in Iraq.
Rachel Maddow goes into more detail on this Congressional hypocrisy, here.
So let me see if I have this one straight: On one hand we have ACORN, a national community-based organization that assists poor and middle income families that receives a whopping $3.5 million a year of federal funding, get caught with impropriety at a couple of their offices...and on the other hand we have a Wall St. collapse involving the theft of trillions of dollars from the United States Treasury...and the GOP and their brainwashed base is enraged - enraged I tell you, enraged! - not at Wall St. and not at the greedy, irresponsible banks that brought the nation's economy to its knees and wiped out their own investments...but ACORN!
Yup, makes sense to me! But wait there's more!
It's worth noting that besides the billions of dollars worth of fraud by Halliburton, they're also responsible for the deaths of 16 U.S. servicemen and two contractors in Iraq who were electrocuted in the shower. Halliburton's (subsidiary's) showers.
Also, their workers are accused of rape and the vicim was threatened not to report it. And 30 out of 40 GOP Senators voted against a bill that would "withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR (Halliburton) 'if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.'"
Daily Kos:
This is interesting. According to Republicans, a fake pimp and ho, reported to the police, was apparently so beyond the pale that they've worked to strip ACORN of all federal funding. But (Halliburton) denying employees actual redress from gang rapes is no big deal?
So when there's billions of dollars worth of fraud from a defense contractor like Halliburton, that's also guilty of manslaughter, rape and covering it up...1) Unlike ACORN, their funds aren't cut off, 2) the GOP votes against putting a stop to their abuses and fraud, 3) the GOP votes against withholding their defense contracts if they bar employees from their day in court, 4) they're still receiving government contracts, and 5) not a peep of outrage from the GOP and their brainwashed base...
Yup, sounds like more Republican hypocrisy to me! But wait, as always, there's more!
Daily Kos:
While Republicans may be publicly wringing their hands over unemployment numbers (while gleefully calculating how they can use them to their advantage in 2010), they continue to block legislation that would extend unemployment benefits (UI):Republicans are hoping to attach a number of amendments related to ACORN and immigration — provisions that have delayed floor action on the UI bill indefinitely, according to the offices of both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). (Bold mine)
But wait, still more!
To prove even further what this cult's objectives and priorities are, and to illustrate how incessant and repetitive attacks are used to create liberal enemies for the sole purpose of indoctrinating, enraging, distracting, misdirecting and mobilizing their moronic, mindless, gullible, pugnacious and brainwashed followers...
Politico's Ben Smith:
Here, by the frequency of the words used, are the threats Glenn Beck has been talking about since his Fox show launched: ACORN 1,224, Czar/Czars: 533, Socialist/Socialism: 404, Communist/Communism: 330, Liberal/Liberals: 272, SEIU: 259,Community Organizing/Organizer: 167, Marxist/Marxism: 127, Afghanistan: 97, Troops: 95, Iraq: 95, Soldiers: 52, Al Qaeda: 50, Left-Wing: 43, Taliban: 38.
Beck's individual enemies list is also a bit light on the international terrorists:
Van Jones: 267, Valerie Jarrett: 52, Mark Lloyd: 50, Bill Ayers: 46, John Holdren: 43, Jeremiah Wright: 42, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 41, Osama Bin Laden: 40, Kim Jong-Il: 7, Mullah Omar: 2, Najibullah Zazi: 0 (Bold mine.)
Nuff said.
October 30 insert:
Huffington Post's Sam Stein:
On Thursday morning, (Fox "News") Fox and Friends made 22 mentions of the minority-organizing group ACORN -- a consistent boogeyman for the GOP -- despite the fact that there has been no new news on the ACORN front in weeks.
Conservatives who couldn't get enough undercover video footage when the target was ACORN will no doubt be screaming for heads to roll over the report and accompanying video, produced by the City of New York (Nazifascistsocialismists!), documenting that a shocking 63% of private sellers at gun shows tested were perfectly willing to sell to buyers who admitted up front that they probably couldn't pass a background test...
Where's Fox "News" on this undercover video? Where's the outrage from the right? And keep in mind, the right's answer to gun violence is to "enforce the gun laws already on the books."
All together now...yup, sounds like more Republican hypocrisy to me!
December 12 insert:
Talking Points Memo:
ACORN employees caught in those undercover videos advising a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to break the law acted unprofessionally and inappropriately, but did nothing illegal, a report commissioned by ACORN and conducted by an independent investigator has found.
The report, by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, recommends nine steps for ACORN to take in order to regain public trust in the wake of the scandal...
On the key question of potential illegal conduct, it finds:
While some of the advice and counsel given by ACORN employees and volunteers was clearly inappropriate and unprofessional, we did not find a pattern of intentional, illegal conduct by ACORN staff; in fact, there is no evidence that action, illegal or otherwise, was taken by any ACORN employee on behalf of the videographers.
But that's not all.
Harshbarger also notes that the videos were sometimes less than perfect representations of the events they depict. He writes:
The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O'Keefe's and Ms. Giles's comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding. A comparison of the publicly available transcripts to the released videos confirms that large portions of the original video have been omitted from the released versions.
Salon's Joe Conason writes:
What Harshbarger discovered, as his report's Appendix D reveals, is that much of what appeared on Fox News Channel and in other media outlets, let alone on right-wing Web sites, was not what had actually occurred in the ACORN offices -- and that exculpatory material was edited out of the tapes (from encounters at ACORN's offices in San Diego and Philadelphia).
...Contrary to the claims of right-wing critics, who complain that Harshbarger failed to interview any of ACORN's adversaries, the lawyer and his colleagues were rebuffed when they tried to speak with O'Keefe and Giles. Amy Crafts, a Proskauer associate who co-authored the report, told me that she made several efforts to contact the video producers both in person and through their attorneys.
On Oct. 21, Crafts said, she was barred from the press conference held by O'Keefe and Giles at the National Press Club in Washington, even though she promised not to ask any questions. Then in November, she wrote to O'Keefe and Giles requesting interviews through their Washington attorneys. O'Keefe's lawyer replied that his client would not participate, while Giles' lawyer didn't bother to answer at all.
None of this should be surprising to anyone familiar with the backgrounds of O'Keefe, Giles and Breitbart -- a former employee of the Drudge Report. But it is now clear that the ACORN videotapes were an exercise in propaganda, not journalism.
As far as ACORN's funding is concerned, Federal District Judge Nina Gershon of the Eastern District of New York ruled that when Congress withdrew funding for the orgnization, it clearly violated the Constitutional ban on "bills of attainder." Glenn Greenwald goes into the decision in more detail here but I'd like to highlight an update to his posting:
As always happens whenever there is a judicial decision that undermines the Right's political interests, there are going to be hordes of right-wing polemicists marching forth to denounce this ruling as "judicial activism." They're already starting. These are people won't bother to read a single word or case about "bills of attainder," but overnight, they're self-proclaimed legal scholars on this Constitutional prohibition and are in a position to criticize the Judge's ruling as legally erroneous. Of course, the only thing they really know is that they hate ACORN and therefore dislike the outcome of this case. In other words, they're denouncing the decision for reasons having nothing to do with law and everything to do with their own political beliefs and outcome preferences -- i.e., they're advocating, as usual, for the consummate act of outcome-based "judicial activism" which they endlessly claim to oppose.
April, 2010 insert: Rachel Maddow does an excellent job of not only exposing just how phony O'Keefe's ACORN video tapes were, but how Fox "News" aired them and what they did not show, here.
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