Politics, Inc.
America Gets Exactly the Government it Deserves
Like most Democrats who fought tooth and nail to put John Kerry in the White House, I was rather surprised when we didn't win. Or maybe we did win and we've had another election stolen out from under us. I don't know and ,in a way, I do not care anymore.
America is going to get EXACTLY the government it deserves.
We are already beginning to see the consequences of giving the Republicans this type of power. Bush, no longer restrained by the fear of a re-election campaign, will act however he sees fit. He will be emboldened further since the American electorate saw fit to reinforce Republican Congressional margins despite four years of abysmal performance.
ETHICS AND MORALITY-
Literally DAYS after America voted for the "party of morality", GOP congressmen used their power to pass a measure that will keep Rep. Tom DeLay, the Republican House majority leader, in power even if he is indicted for felony political crimes. This is not the first time that DeLay (who is nicknamed "The Hammer" in Washington for his aggressive parliamentary tactics) has been in trouble for his ethics; he has been officially rebuked by Congress at least twice in the past. Yet DeLay is also the architect of a brutal redistricting plan that defeated four veteran Democratic representatives from Texas. For this, Republicans are retaining him as their leader, despite his apparent lack of moral values.
POLITICS-
Things were little better in the Senate, where the Republicans also picked up seats. Hard-right conservatives smelled blood in the water...some of it belonging to fellow Republicans. The election completed the re-alignment of the Republican Party to neo-conservative by putting a Senator into power who believes abortion doctors ought to be executed and that unmarried women shouldn't be allowed to teach in schools. The annihilation of the Republican centrists is perhaps typified with the example of Senator Arlen Specter, the moderate Republican who was betrayed by his own party during the G.O.P. primaries; and who still managed to win re-election despite the fact that the White House supported a neo-conservative candidate who ran against him. Again under attack, this time for being too "moderate", Specter was forced to sell his soul in return for his chairmanship; promising to push hard for Bush's judicial nominees even if he did not agree with them. Make no mistake: The Republican Party no longer has a use for moderate Republicans. You're either a neocon or you're nothing.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-
Bush has already indicated, without actually saying it, that his second term will be just as ruthless internationally as his first. Despite his failure to stop the 9-11 attacks, despite his failure to capture Osama Been Forgotten, and despite rapidly spreading Anti-Americanism around the world, a majority of Americans appear to be laboring under the ill-conceived notion that George W. Bush has actual skill when it comes to international diplomacy. Despite the sundering of alliances that have survived for years and the erosion of the anti-terrorism coalition, Bush Inc. continues to rattle the sword abroad. Just this week it accused the dictators of Iran of building weapons of mass destruction under our very noses. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Where have I heard THIS before?
IN CLOSING-
Mind you that a great deal of work remains! We have liberal elitists (anyone with a brain) to discredit, corporate payoffs to be made, voter fraud to cover up, Iran, Syria, Illinois, New York, and California to invade, gays and lesbians to crush (who needs those annoying constitutional guarantees of equal protection anyway?), allies to antagonize, economies to collapse, 60,608,582 allies to reward, and 57,288,974 enemies to punish.
Relax America. You're getting the government you deserve.
