Trains of Thought

I was mindlessly sitting on my two bucket bench this morning waiting for Maggie to stop dicking around and complete her morning constitutional. I had just finished the roach I sparked up earlier when a thought finally crossed my mind I considered following up on.

It is election season and maybe it is time to break my promise to not post any more overtly rabid political posts. After all, if there is a time and place for political commentary, it is on one side or the other of an election.

Next, I considered what to write about that could successfully make political points that were not super charged with overzealous vitriol. That has been a problem for me over the last twenty years when the last Republican I have ever voted for proved their promises did not mean shit, squat, or even bup-kis. 

My days of crossing party lines ended then and my anger has only gotten stronger with each year since. The GOP has proven in recent years they only care about power and have no intention in governing for anyone other than the rich and the financial interests that are continually trying to strangle the last vestiges of Democratic governance from our lives.. And yeah, I know the Democrats are often guilty of a party first, citizens second mentality also, but at least they will occasionally create legislation that has a snowball's chance of helping us unwashed masses and not just the self serving lobbyists and privileged few who hide behind gated walls of brick and expensive lawyers.

Next I considered how to find something I had never thought of that would paint a picture of the GOP as it has changed since the traitor Ronald Reagan polluted our body politic with his mealy mouthed kind veneer while he and his cronies gave away America to the folks with deep pockets.

......... Hmm.

I came across the image to the right. It had been posted on Facebook on a Right wing leaning page called, "Opposing Views". I knew of the harsh conservative politics of the poster and was surprised this list actually read like a new version of the GOP Platform going forward. But I also knew she often was clueless about her own party's flaws, often laying them on the Left, pinko commie Liberals. .... 

Whatever.

I did some poking around on the Internet and found an article, "From Lincoln to Trump: The long evolution of the Republican Party". The article is a concise and well written history of the GOP from an obvious liberal slant. I really did not find any fault with it other than its portrayal of Barry Goldwater. But that has nothing to do with my interest today.

The article relied heavily on the ideas and concepts of Heather Cox Richardson, a well respected liberal leaning expert on US history and politics. She points to a split in the Republican Party that occurred during the New Deal of the 1930's. That was the beginning of "Movement Conservatism". It's conservative supporters pushed for a more restrictive governing style that favored business and religion over the needs and will of the average citizens. She goes on to explain it took over forty years for "Movement Conservatism" to find the light when Ronald Reagan was elected. 

Now it has morphed into the even newer, meaner, and self serving organization run by the fringes of the party and not the old guard. It took about 90 years to completely shed the founding principles of the original Party of Lincoln and become what is essentially an autocratic movement to turn this country into a private for profit venture that aims to reward the financial and ideological interests of the few over the many. Ms. Richardson wrote:

"Its (GOP) only guiding principle right now is that of the Movement Conservatives, the idea that the government must do absolutely nothing except protect business, support a strong military, and protect Christianity."

She seems to have hit the nail on the head here. The "Movement Conservatives" have dropped any illusion they are in Washington to govern. Many of them admit to only being in DC to regain and hold onto power as they systematically attempt to turn the USA into a banana republic that subscribes to their twisted take on Reality.

The Republican Platform above, details what kind of minion they want on board. The main method they want members to use is sadly but an unspoken rule, but because of its wanton use has to be Party policy, it has been a hard and fast rule for at least the last four election cycles. It should read something like:

"Lying for the Good of the Republican Party is not only okay, the party feels that lying works better than telling the Truth."   

Keep it 'tween the ditches ..............................................

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"American Idiot" by Green Day seems it might fit well with this post. Released in 2004, it pointed to that period's emerging realities and predicted our current political reality. It sucks that it has been so right for so long.

This song is best turned up to WOW!