This article by
Bill Moyers got my dander up a little bit. I admit that fisking Bill Moyers
is a little bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but I couldn’t resist.
Way back in the 1950’s when I first tasted politics and
journalism, Republicans briefly controlled the White House and Congress. With
the exception of Joseph McCarthy and his vicious ilk, they were a reasonable
lot, presided over by that giant war hero, Dwight Eisenhower, who was
conservative by temperament and moderate in the use of power.
McCarthy was only one man, but the Democrats have fielded person
after person making accusations of Republicans wanting to starve children, take
away seniors Social Security, force families into the street, burning black
churches, racism at every opportunity. How many judicial nominees have been
blacklisted and smeared and not even have their nomination come to a vote?
Reverse McCarthyism has come into play, you are now condemned if you are not a
communist (in ideology).
That brand of Republican is gone. And for the first time
in the memory of anyone alive, the entire federal government � the Congress, the
Executive, the Judiciary � is united behind a right-wing agenda for which George
W. Bush believes he now has a mandate.
Is this the
same right-wing Judiciary which approved of digital child pornography, sided
with removal of Under God from the pledge, abortion clinic protection zones,
ignored state law and allowed Lautenberg to run in New
Jersey?
That mandate includes the power of the state to force
pregnant women to give up control over their own lives.
And that mandate would also prevent doctors from sticking forceps
in the a babies head and then vacuuming out their brains. Do women really have
more control in their lives when they can erase a
responsibility?
It includes using the taxing power to transfer wealth
from working people to the rich.
Top 50% of Wage Earners Pay 96.09% of Income Taxes. I wonder what would
happen if Mr. Moyers went to a store to buy an item and they charged him three
times the normal price based on his ability to pay? Can you imagine what would
happen if ATM fees were based on how much money you had in the bank? I could
almost wish on people with this mindset that they could leave in a country that
perfectly followed their ideas, but I really don’t wish famine and starvation on
anyone.
It includes giving corporations a free hand to eviscerate
the environment and control the regulatory agencies meant to hold them
accountable.
Since when are you for holding someone
accountable? I don’t seem to remember your strong support of accountability
during the Clinton years. Or is it only the so-called “evil corporations intent
on destroying the environment at all costs” that you want to hold accountable. I
also don’t seem to remember you getting livid when on the last day of the
Clinton Presidency, Clinton removed a rule concerning regulators. This
effectively allowed people serving the government in regulatory agencies to be
able to immediately start working at the very same companies they were
regulating.
And it includes secrecy on a scale you cannot imagine.
Above all, it means judges with a political agenda appointed for life. If you
liked the Supreme Court that put George W. Bush in the White House, you will
swoon over what’s coming.
Secrecy? You mean like an
ex-President who wouldn’t release his health record, thousands of e-mails
disappearing, law firm records mysteriously showing up in a waiting room.
Selected not elected, yes maybe if you keep chanting that mantra over and over
maybe somebody other than party hacks will believe it. The Florida supreme court
decision was so horrendous that even the Supreme Court recognized the
travesty.
And if you like God in government, get ready for the
Rapture. These folks don’t even mind you referring to the GOP as the party of
God. Why else would the new House Majority Leader say that the Almighty is using
him to promote ‘a Biblical worldview’ in American politics?
Oh no! A biblical world view, like not killing, lying, stealing,
committing adultery, charity toward you neighbor that is not forced. Is this
what scares you Mr. Moyers? The Democrats are the party of abortion and
euthanasia, it defines itself by who it kills. The GOP might not be the party of
God but the current Democratic Party is the party of
Moloch.
So it is a heady time in Washington � a heady time for
piety, profits, and military power, all joined at the hip by ideology and money.
So what is the argument against piety, profits, and
military power? What is wrong with reverence for God? What is so horrible about
a profit? Not everyone can suck from the teats of the government via PBS. Did
you think about Veterans Day when you wrote this venomous article? Did you thank
those people that died to keep the very freedoms you
enjoy?
Don’t forget the money. It came pouring into this
election, to both parties, from corporate America and others who expect the
payback. Republicans outraised democrats by $184 million dollars. And came up
with the big prize � monopoly control of the American government, and the power
of the state to turn their ideology into the law of the land. Quite a bargain at
any price.
Oh yeah, make the political money smear.
The Republicans only win because of the amount of money given to them. If you
could just buy an election then Ross Perot, Donald Trump, and Steve Forbes would
have all been President. Bill Simon could have paid his way into the Governor’s
Mansion in California. Republicans have consistently raised more money than the
Democrats, why have they seldom been in control?
