Two Kinds of Republicans

All this talk of Richard Nixon and Watergate has got me thinking. At the time ‘Tricky Dick’ brought major scandal to the presidency, I was not politically astute. I wasn’t paying attention enough to realize just how corrupt Nixon was. I was too young then and didn’t have a real solid sense of politics, but I had a feeling that Republicans were not the ‘good’ guys.

I actually started loathing Republicans back in the early 80’s when Ronald Reagan came to power. As soon as I heard about “Trickle-down Economics”, I knew Republicans were not to be trusted. How could anyone, in ‘good’ conscience, base the United States economic strategy on helping rich people get richer, in anticipation that they’d drop some of that extra money and the poor and middle-class people could pick it up? Not being one of those rich people, I couldn’t find any sense in it.

I always thought there was something fishy about our hostages in Iran being released minutes after Reagan was sworn in, and I’m certain that both he and his veep (GHWB) were part and parcel to the Iran-Contra scandal. But for some reason, neither Reagan nor George Herbert ever got burnt on Iran-Contra. And now Reagan’s legacy, right or wrong, real or imagined, is that of ending the ‘cold war’. (Those of us in the know, know that Reagan had very little to do with that outside of that famous quote…”Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”. Communism in the USSR was doomed to end in spite of Reagan).

So here we are now, barely scratching the surface of the 21st century, and the Republicans are squarely in charge. After 8 years of Democratic executive rule under Bill Clinton, the Republicans now control all three branches of government. After 8 years of our most thriving economy, a balanced budget, the lowest unemployment rate, and the highest number of people lifted from poverty, the Republicans are setting our country’s direction. After 8 years of solid governmental regulatory oversight to protect citizens, the Republicans have systematically repealed regulations to expose citizens to predatory industrial practices.

But I digress. The purpose of my article is to articulate how I classify Republicans into two categories. So, here it is:


Category #1 – The Ignorant

There are so many people in this country who are simply not paying attention. This is your typical American who may watch the evening news a couple times a week (probably Fox News), hear a few sound bites from Dubya, Darth, Rummy or Condi, and actually believe the crap that they spew. Like when Cheney recently said that the Insurgency was in “… its last throes…”. Not even he could have possibly believed it as the words left his mouth, but I’m sure there are millions of sheeple around the country who heard that and assumed the war was almost over.

These people are the Ignorant. They think all of the detainees in our Guantanamo Bay prison are terrorists and deserved to be tortured, when actually only 39 have been convicted of terrorist activities while hundreds have been illegally and indefinitely imprisoned without due process. They think the war in Iraq is justified because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, was a direct threat to our country, and was working hand-in-hand with Osama bin Laden on the 9/11 attacks. These people don’t read. They don’t even know about the Downing Street Memo which proves that Bush lied to the American people by “… fixing the intelligence around the policy…”. And they blindly trust what they hear from bullshitters like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, not realizing that 90% of their crap is pure lies.

These people haven’t bothered to peek under the covers to understand the impact and ramifications of this Administration’s policies. They don’t realize the correlation between our spending on the wars in the Middle East and the budget cuts in our domestic programs. They don’t realize the pure corruption and conflicts-of-interest in Bush’s appointments and decisions. They don’t know about Bush’s business failures before he became Governor of Texas, how he rose to power on the money and influence of his father’s name.


Category #2 – The Evil

Then there’s the type of Republicans who are intelligent. They’re not ignorant. They know exactly what’s going on and want it that way. They’re benefiting from the Bush Administration’s policies. After all, while Bush has overspent the federal budget by more than $400b a year, he’s bound to make a number of friends. Perhaps they work for a defense contractor. Or, maybe they’re Evangelical Christians who will blindly support any Republican as long as they purport anti-abortion, anti-gay, and abstinence-only causes.

These people are benefiting from Bush’s big-business agenda. Perhaps they work in the energy industry and benefit from Bush’s deregulation policies that allow for massive amounts of waste & pollution to be discharged into our air and water (I dare any Republican pundit to compare the ‘Clean Air Act’ to W’s ‘Clear Skies Initiative’). Or, perhaps they’re in that top 2% of our economic ladder, and actually benefit from the tax cuts because they don’t partake in any domestic services and don’t pay any extra fees that offset them. Oh yes, there are many people out there who know of the corruption behind the Bush Administration and condone it. They’re part of that corruption machine.

Whether it’s ignorance or evil, Republicans are unhealthy for America. Republicans are the ones who’ve driven the biggest wedge between the rich and the rest of us. Republicans are the ones responsible for the decimation of our economy, our environment, and our civil rights. When I think of Republicans beyond the current Administration, I think of Newt Gingrich, Jesse Helms, Tom Delay, and Bill Frist. I think of stolen elections (2000 & 2004), drilling in ANWR, Enron, the Downing Street Memo, and ‘Swift Boat Veterans for Deception’. When I think of Republicans I think of corruption, deceit & hypocrisy.

Wake up sheeple! Come back over from the dark side and help us rebuild the America our forefathers envisioned. You know… the America where everyone has equal rights… Where our elderly, our veterans, our needy & our children are taken care of…. Where we’re free to practice our religion or not practice any religion… Where we’re free to say anything without fear of governmental retribution… Where we treat people in foreign lands as partners instead of adversaries or enemies… Where we’re not hell-bent on world domination