Wednesday, July 07, 2004

I cannot understate how much I hate the conservative movement in this country at the present time. On most major news media outlets, people aren't asking the followup questions after conservatives make the blanket claim that Kerry/Edwards are "liberals" that are going to "raise your taxes." This infuriates me. Say "don't you mean, raise taxes on the rich?" It's really that simple, but they don't do it. Why? It's driving me fucking nuts!

The atmosphere in this country right now is really, really poisonous. I fear it's only going to get worse, especially if Bush gets re-elected. If he wins in another controversial election, you can bet there will be rioting in the streets. Am I out of touch to think this way? I don't think so. I feel like I am one of many self-described pragmatists or moderates who are waking up to the fact that the assault on the average working person by this country's current people in power is very, very significant. To paraphrase Bill Bennett, we are "slouching towards an oligarchy."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If they governed half as well as they campaigned and fought to gain power in 2000, I think Cheney/Bush would be much closer to cementing the oligarchy's control over America. In a perverse way, one should be thankful at how grossly incompetent and inflexible this administration has been. If they had been more subtle and willing to compromise, they might be coasting toward re-election (no negative news and scandals related to Iraq and greater ability to control the media and frame the election in more advantageous terms). But of course, ideological rigidity and an inability to effectively govern are defining qualities of the extreme right.

Ever see the film Bob Roberts? If not, I highly recommend it. Tim Robbins plays a folk singing compassionate conservative of sorts who runs against an old liberal Democrat (played amusingly by Gore Vidal). Ever since the movie came out (over 10 years ago I believe), I've feared the emergence of such a formidable Republican presidential candidate. Thankfully there will never be another Reagan. He came to power through a unique set of conditions. Initially I thought Dubya might be the GOP wolf in sheep's clothing, but it soon became clear that he was too deficient in intelligence and he, Cheney, Rove, et al. were too greedy in grabbing too much, too quickly.

Maybe I'm under the influence of John Edwards' positive vibe, but I increasingly think the radical right's window of opportunity is about to close. Their extremism has hastened their own demise (which was coming eventually as a result of unfavorable demographics if they weren't able to solidify their grip on power).

On a more personal note, I was sorry to read about your current joblessness. I started my current job less than one month before 9/11 after being layed off and unemployed for nearly 6 months, and the memory of that difficult time is still relatively fresh. Best of luck in finding a decent new job soon.

Tom Bragan
bragan88 at yahoo dot com

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