Great post, Diest. I agree with all you have said. I would also add the following:
In order to understand what's happening within the GOP and American government as a whole right now, you have to grasp some other nuances. They are fascinating and horrifying at the same time. The GOP has in fact divided into 3 different parties, each controlled by vastly competing interests.
The first could be characterized as the traditional, moderate Republicans. They're mostly fiscally conservative – they are appalled at what is happening at the moment with the debt ceiling -- can be socially indifferent, believe in a strong defense, don't particularly favor big government or big business. These guys are in a tough spot right now, and there aren't very many of them. Susan Collins, Jon Huntsman, Lisa Murkowski are a few that spring to mind as examples of this group.
The members of the second group are owned by big money, corporate interests. Their campaigns are fully financed by interests in big oil, big coal, big food (think Monsanto), banking and finance corporations. They are literally helpless whores whose votes are bought and paid for by these interests (there are quite a few Democrats who fall into this category, too, but I’m not speaking to that for purposes of this discussion). They can't afford to care about anything but what their puppet masters tell them to. Virtually none of it is good for the American populace as a whole -- only their corporate benefactors' bottom lines. Into this group you can put Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Darryl Issa, Eric Cantor. They were the folks driving the party throughout most of the Bush II Era.
The third group could be characterized as the Ideologues, because they are largely ideologically driven. You already know about their capacity for magical thinking -- and that's a big part of the problem. They can twist facts -- or ignore them completely -- to suit their world view to a staggering degree. They are the core of the Tea Party and many identify as Libertarians. They want small-to-non-existent government, virtually no taxes, no spending on anything, big believers in home schooling (and it shows), would do anything to overturn Roe v. Wade and make all abortion illegal. Many think the Ten Commandments should be the law of the land. They don't have a good grasp on how the economy works -- let alone how it interacts within a global context. They are suspicious of anyone not like them, reflexively distrust if not outright hate persons of differing races and creeds. They just want what they want, and they're sure they know best for everyone. These are your Ted Cruzes, Michelle Bachmanns, Sarah Palins, etc. They have been shamelessly used and manipulated by the second group, who could reliably goose them into voting for the Republican brand by ginning up emotional issues such as gay marriage, abortion, illegal immigration, etc. The saddest thing is, they continue to be frequently manipulated through their values by Big Money -- and most don't even realize it. That's why they hate Obamacare. Some big businesses hate Obamacare (think Koch brothers). Unfortunately, the Ideologues have also become a force to be reckoned with in their own right. Big Money kind of has a wolf by the ear with them.
So now, all these competing interests are fighting like hell within the party. It makes it virtually impossible to reason or negotiate with them in any meaningful way – because Dems never know who they’re talking to. Sort of like The Three Faces of Eve. The Moderates and Big Money guys might go along with one way of thinking, only to be sabotaged by the Ideologues.
The Ideologues are running the Republican show at the moment. It’s not so much that they don’t care about the country – far from it. These folks are the ones flying their flags, clutching their bibles, marching off to fight our wars in our all-volunteer military. They fervently believe that they are big patriots who are helping the country by forcing it to “stop spending money we don’t have.” They don’t grasp the difference between establishing a budget (we haven’t had one since 2009) and the debt ceiling. They actually think that by failing to raise the debt ceiling, they are addressing the spending issue. Sadly, ignorance is at the heart of this mess – as it so often is.
Hopefully this lengthy explanation will help you to understand why we’re in the ridiculous fix we’re in, from my perspective. Just my opinion, of course.
In order to understand what's happening within the GOP and American government as a whole right now, you have to grasp some other nuances. They are fascinating and horrifying at the same time. The GOP has in fact divided into 3 different parties, each controlled by vastly competing interests.
The first could be characterized as the traditional, moderate Republicans. They're mostly fiscally conservative – they are appalled at what is happening at the moment with the debt ceiling -- can be socially indifferent, believe in a strong defense, don't particularly favor big government or big business. These guys are in a tough spot right now, and there aren't very many of them. Susan Collins, Jon Huntsman, Lisa Murkowski are a few that spring to mind as examples of this group.
The members of the second group are owned by big money, corporate interests. Their campaigns are fully financed by interests in big oil, big coal, big food (think Monsanto), banking and finance corporations. They are literally helpless whores whose votes are bought and paid for by these interests (there are quite a few Democrats who fall into this category, too, but I’m not speaking to that for purposes of this discussion). They can't afford to care about anything but what their puppet masters tell them to. Virtually none of it is good for the American populace as a whole -- only their corporate benefactors' bottom lines. Into this group you can put Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Darryl Issa, Eric Cantor. They were the folks driving the party throughout most of the Bush II Era.
The third group could be characterized as the Ideologues, because they are largely ideologically driven. You already know about their capacity for magical thinking -- and that's a big part of the problem. They can twist facts -- or ignore them completely -- to suit their world view to a staggering degree. They are the core of the Tea Party and many identify as Libertarians. They want small-to-non-existent government, virtually no taxes, no spending on anything, big believers in home schooling (and it shows), would do anything to overturn Roe v. Wade and make all abortion illegal. Many think the Ten Commandments should be the law of the land. They don't have a good grasp on how the economy works -- let alone how it interacts within a global context. They are suspicious of anyone not like them, reflexively distrust if not outright hate persons of differing races and creeds. They just want what they want, and they're sure they know best for everyone. These are your Ted Cruzes, Michelle Bachmanns, Sarah Palins, etc. They have been shamelessly used and manipulated by the second group, who could reliably goose them into voting for the Republican brand by ginning up emotional issues such as gay marriage, abortion, illegal immigration, etc. The saddest thing is, they continue to be frequently manipulated through their values by Big Money -- and most don't even realize it. That's why they hate Obamacare. Some big businesses hate Obamacare (think Koch brothers). Unfortunately, the Ideologues have also become a force to be reckoned with in their own right. Big Money kind of has a wolf by the ear with them.
So now, all these competing interests are fighting like hell within the party. It makes it virtually impossible to reason or negotiate with them in any meaningful way – because Dems never know who they’re talking to. Sort of like The Three Faces of Eve. The Moderates and Big Money guys might go along with one way of thinking, only to be sabotaged by the Ideologues.
The Ideologues are running the Republican show at the moment. It’s not so much that they don’t care about the country – far from it. These folks are the ones flying their flags, clutching their bibles, marching off to fight our wars in our all-volunteer military. They fervently believe that they are big patriots who are helping the country by forcing it to “stop spending money we don’t have.” They don’t grasp the difference between establishing a budget (we haven’t had one since 2009) and the debt ceiling. They actually think that by failing to raise the debt ceiling, they are addressing the spending issue. Sadly, ignorance is at the heart of this mess – as it so often is.
Hopefully this lengthy explanation will help you to understand why we’re in the ridiculous fix we’re in, from my perspective. Just my opinion, of course.
