Why the right wing may go extinct: it’s too dumb to breathe
You’ve probably seen the absurd — laughable really — “interview” Florida news anchor, Barbara West, conducted of Joe Biden. Not satisfied with merely repeating official GOP talking points, West, instead, jumped the media shark all the way to repeating the talking points of the party’s most extreme nutcases.
Here are some of the money quotes from the “interview” (borrowed from Crooks and Liars):
Interviewer: “You may recognize this famous quote: “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” That’s from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?”
Biden: “Are you joking? Is this a joke?”
Interviewer: “No”
Biden: “Is that a real question?”
Interviewer: “That’s a real question”
* * *
Interviewer: “Are you forewarning Americans that nothing will be done, and America’s days as a world leading power are over?”
Biden: “Umm, no, I’m not at all. I don’t know who’s writing your questions.”
* * *
Interviewer: “What do you say to the people who are concerned that Barack Obama will want to turn America into a socialist country much like Sweden?”
And here’s a shocker: it turns out West is married to a GOP operative. As Gomer Pyle might have said: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!
What I find most fascinating about this isn’t that some unknown local television ”personality” decided to make a pitch for Fox News glory. Hell, a talking head has only one soul to sell: why not sell it to Rupert Murdoch? No, what’s fascinating is the right wing’s response.
I won’t link to any of their sites because, well . . . because doing so might cause my computer to crash in protest: but I did spend some time surfing right wing blogs (just type “Barbara West” into Google blog search), checking out posts on the subject. Suffice it to say, the wingers are in ecstasy over this.
Apparently to the twisted minds of the far right GOP base, West’s questioning of Biden wasn’t an embarrassment: it was Pulitzer Prize quality journalism. They’re laughably wrong, of course, but what’s really striking is their cluelessness about the broader public mood. Despite everything that’s happened, these people still have no idea — not the slightest inkling — of how badly this type of ignorant hate-mongering is damaging the GOP brand.
It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for John McCain. Think of what he’s up against — trying to thread the needle of playing nice with these nitwits in the base, while at the same time trying to appeal to independents. No wonder his campaign appears to be going up in flames.
There’s good reason to hope for more than McCain’s defeat this year’s election, of course — to dream even that it may represent the beginning of the extinction of today’s ultra-radical conservatism. And if so, this time it won’t be an asteroid that takes out the (political) dinosaurs.
Nope, this time it turns out that they were just too dumb to breathe.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:22 am
The Far-Right does seem remarkably clueless. I have long stated that Conservatism is ultimately destructive and toxic. The Republican Party of Dwight David Eisenhower no longer exists. It’s destruction began with Barry Goldwater, was furthered by Ronald Reagan, and has reached its critical mass with George W. Bush. It is imploding upon itself, weighed down by Supply Side Economics, warmongering, hatemongering, and corruption. Sarah Palin is an excellent example of the Far-Right. She is all the nastiness rolled up into one person. I pray that the Republican Party is reduced to rubble in this election. It must reform (both meanings) itself; and return to a more centrist and reasonable party. It must re-embrace separation of church and state; fiscal responsibility that includes defense spending; and look to Abraham Lincoln, once again, for inspiration in race relations. It must immediately recognize that corporations will not regulate themselves, neither fiscally nor morally. Supply Side Economics or Trickle-Down Economics must be denounced. Only the comatose and the extremely greedy or supremely stupid can fail to recognize the abject failure of this line of economics. It has taken us to where we are today. It fails to recognize that greed is a major factor in corporate group behavior. It fails to recognize that the market will NOT correct corruption. It fails to recognize that the Middle Class is the economic engine of this country. It fails to recognize that “sharing the wealth” is not socialism, it is the way to keep an economy and a country healthy. When the majority of citizens in a country are so burdened by debt, by job loss, by loss of healthcare, by an inability to obtain higher education for their children, then that country will fail. And when it does, the greedy and the wannabees will fail, too. How many times does this country have to go through these kinds of crises to learn this lesson? Another major crisis looms on the horizon. It is healthcare. The Baby Boomers are aging, have chronic conditions, and will be retiring in huge numbers. What then? Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, medical supply companies: all have fed from the trough at the expense of sick people. If we are to have a healthy society both physically and economically, the fat-cats from all of those categories will have to take a cut. We have wealthcare, not healthcare. We have hospitals building, building, building extravagant facilities. We have insurance executives making 40 million dollars a year. We have too many doctors living in mansions and feeling entitled to every luxury. Some don’t, but the majority do. Pharmaceutical companies regularly foist medications on the public that can do more harm than good; then overcharge for them; and pay their executives fabulous salaries for doing so. The system is rotten to the core. I can foresee that it has to collapse like the investment banking industry in order to be repaired. Only this time, the cost will be in human life. It is the Republicans who have blocked reform. It is the Republicans who deregulated the banking industry. And, it is spineless Democrats who have allowed it to happen. Where were their filibusters?
I dont feel one moments pity for John McCain. He voted with the worst President in history 90% of the time. He chose an incompetent, inexperienced, avaricious harpy for his running mate. He has allowed his campaign to deteriorate into a slimy, sleazy, mud-slinging pile of crap. He has refused to recognize his own physical limitations and history of very serious illness. I would love to believe that the American people are rejecting the Republican brand because it has gotten too corrupt and too ugly. Sadly, I think it has more to do with people being kicked in their pocketbooks, than it does with anything else. Of course, there are the more enlightened who are sick unto death of dirty campaigns, lies and smears. But, as I said 4 years ago, real change wont come until the majority feels some real economic pain. With their credit cards maxed out, their lost jobs and houses, and their bleak prospects, they are starting to see the light. Hopefully, this will overcome the racism, the wannabeeism, and the greed that has grown into a gaping wound over the last 8 long and harmful years. That fool in Orlando should be fired. We have had enough of ignorance masquerading as information.
October 28th, 2008 at 2:15 am
just an aside
please, does anybody explain this woman, that each and every IT-worker is - in that sense - a Marxist? Because “load balancing” is exactly that - “From each according to his abilities” = servers and services have to deliver what they are made for, means what they can do and ” to each according to his needs” = get everything they need to function - simply why? Because that is the most efficient state of the system - and in IT, we can not believe in faith, we have do produce results…
but now - the goodie
really, i couldn’t believe that - i thought, the quote must be wrong
but then i visited YouTube and yes, i hear the same, i checked it twice, three and four (5, 6,…) times (at 3:27 FYI - check it yourself!) …
i really hear an “A” in “as a worlds leading power”…..
despite the fact, that the first you see, googleing “barbara west” “americas days”
is “as THE worlds leading power”
seems, that even Ms. Barbara West (and especially her GOP-husband?) doesn’t believe in the story of the Single Superpower anymore? The Reps know that the PNAC does not work without being “lonely at the top”, they simply know that America has to become “socialist” now aka “to share” power - but try to tell it Joe the Plumber otherwise, on and on - why? Because they think, he is too stupid to understand anything?
seems, that they bet everything on that - that the American electorate is “too dumb to breathe”
oh, the power of language
October 28th, 2008 at 5:34 am
Ya know - you just have to admire a man who can quote Gomer Pyle!
As you watch this campaign progress, it becomes apparent that we are no longer two America’s. Now we are three - the progressives, the conservatives, and the ultra-right-wing radicals who would have us go to a state controlled by their moral/religious values. That third group scares me the most - they are so convinced that their way is the ONLY way that they cannot even participate in a reasonable discussion.