Tag: Republicans

There are two models of the acquisition of political power discussed here:

1) the Republican model, in which an “aestheticized” politics is promoted (in this case, it’s the “aesthetics” of the War on Terror and of insecurity in general) in order to capture power for an elite (the Bush administration and its neoconservative cronies, and its financial backers in the oil and defense industries)

2) the model proposed by the Italian thinker Antonio Gramsci, in which a coalition comes to power in order to support the claims of working people.

Here I will try to suggest that the former is “bad pragmatism” and the latter is real pragmatism, and suggest that the Democratic Party stop imitating 1) and find a way to subscribe wholeheartedly to 2).

(crossposted at Big Orange)

“I want to publicly acknowledge Hillary Clinton for the outstanding race that she has run.

“She is a great senator from New York she is an extraordinary leader of the Democratic party and she has made history alongside me over the last 16 months and I’m very proud to have competed against her.”

—Barack Obama on Hillary Clinton

“I know Senator Obama understands what it is at stake here. It has been an honor to contest these primaries with him. It is an honor to call him my friend.”

—Hillary Clinton on Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, two of the ablest politicians in recent memory, have declared an end to hostilities. Understanding that they share the same goals, with some respectful disagreement on how to achieve these goals, they are beginning the process of coming together to form a united front against John McCain in the fall.

As passionate partisans, it is now time for us to follow their lead and start the reconciliation process among the netroots so that our country can turn abruptly away from the edge of the cliff it’s been skating along these past few years of the Bush administration, and start heading in a direction that restores our values and reunites our country.

That’s why I say: Obama Me With Fries!

I’m not feeling very generous towards Republicans these days.  No matter what they now say, they let Bush, that bald other-president and all their cronies assault our country and attempt to lay waste our core beliefs.

Impeachment’s too good for those cats, but what the ‘ell… Bring it on!

But they aren’t the only ones to blame.  I blame all Republicans.  

Iraq.  And lying.

Especially for 2004.

Lying.

And the last 8 years of attempted fascist rule.

And Iraq.

And Iran (a preempt).

And for putting me in the position where, eventually, I’m going to have to forgive them for all that, and much more, because someday I’ll end up coming to my senses and see that that’s the only way to forgive myself for writing essays like this one.

Damn Republicans!

YEAH, I know!  Fooled you, huh?  NOT!  Bush telling the truth is akin to Sky = ruby red, Water = dry, Republicans = compassionate conservatives, etc.

In ANOTHER telling tale of BushCo malfeasance, former White House spokesman Scott McClellan writes in his soon to be released book that Bush and his advisers used pure propaganda on the run up to the war with Iraq and that they spent the first week of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy in complete denial.

From CNN:

The spokesman who defended President Bush’s policies through Hurricane Katrina and the early years of the Iraq war is now blasting his former employers, saying the Bush administration became mired in propaganda and political spin and at times played loose with the truth.

AT TIMES played loose with the truth, Scottie? That may be the understatement of our new century!  

In excerpts from a 341-page book to be released Monday, Scott McClellan writes on Iraq that Bush “and his advisers confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed to build and then sustain public support during a time of war.”

“[I]n this regard, he was terribly ill-served by his top advisers, especially those involved directly in national security,” McClellan wrote.

McClellan also sharply criticizes the administration on its handling of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

“One of the worst disasters in our nation’s history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush’s presidency,” he wrote. “Katrina and the botched federal response to it would largely come to define Bush’s second term.”

“It was Soviet troops that liberated Auschwitz, so unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there’s no way Obama’s statement yesterday can be true,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant. “Obama’s frequent exaggerations and outright distortions raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief.”

link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/…

The above is a confident statement from a confident American political operative, working for a jittery party that senses its own demise. Desperate for any political traction, they grasped today upon Obama’s mis-statement that his relative liberated Auschwitz, and not Buchenwald.

For this small historical gaffe, the GOP would have us infer that Barack Obama is not fit to be President of the United States.

But what is the greater gaffe, mislabeling one of several Nazi concentration camps, or misunderstanding the lessons of the Holocaust as our country stumbles, and trips, and reaches for light straws of hope as we seek to restore our moral authority as the world’s leader on human rights after the abuses at Abu Ghirab and the ongoing detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay?

I thought it might be fun and informative to get to know the people behind the names being floated about in the media regarding John McCain’s possible running mates in this year’s Presidential Election.

We know how that guy from Taco Bell became the running mate of George W. Bush.  Old Fourthmeal himself chose himself out of all the Neo-Cons on the planet, and….      

What?  It’s not Fourthmeal?  It’s fourth BRANCH??!? But, I thought it was all those refried beans from Taco Bell that made this administration so full of….What?  OK, OK!

We know how that guy from Halliburton became the running mate of George W. Bush.  Old FourthBRANCH (I hope you’re happy now) himself chose himself out of all the Neo-Cons on the planet, and became the VP from Transylvania.

While I don’t give John McCain high rankings on being the brighest bulb in the string of Christmas Lights, I still don’t think he is dumb enough to ask Vlad Cheney to assist this time.

Therefore, WE will assist Mr. McCain in his quest to find just the perfect combination of “right-wing-crazy” and “young enough to be his grandchild” Candidate for VP!

Come along and give me a hand with this one.