A Depressing Political Reality

There's so much out there to be depressed about. What has been depressing me lately is the way in which the Republican party and their collaborators known as the mainstream press have managed to reduce our entire political discourse to nothing but an endless sequence of ludicrous Republican lies, and the need of Democrats to spend their time dealing with them. I have said before that I believe this is because Republicans cannot hope to win a fair discussion of the issues, as they are nothing but front men for the most corrupt of the rich. On a whim, I spent a few minutes listing some of the right wing lies that have gained currency over the last year or so. I am sure I missed a lot of them, but here are the ones I thought of:

We Don't Know Who Barack Obama Is

Obama is an illegal alien

Health care reform will result in government death panels that will decide if you live or die

Obama is a Muslim

Obama is a Communist "Manchurian candidate"

Obamacare will provide free abortions on demand

Obama and the Democrats are responsible for the economic collapse of America

Letting poor people buy houses is what caused the real estate bubble to burst

Obama will give free medical care to all illegal aliens

Obama is going to raise taxes on the middle class

Acorn is some sort of subversive organization

Obama won the election by cheating because he spent more money than McCain

Democrats are the real racists

Democrats are really Nazis

Liberals are in league with Islamic religious fanatics

Global warming is a gigantic hoax

Democrats are all out to destroy Christianity

Obama is attacking our intelligence agents by holding them responsible for crimes they commit

Torture is not torture when we do it

The tenth amendment basically prohibits the Federal government from doing anything that Right Wingers don't like, particularly when it comes to taxes.

Obama is an antisemite who is working to destroy Israel

Bill Ayers actually wrote Obama's book

The press is in Obama's pocket

Obama is a subversive because his preacher made a couple of speeches that some people didn't like

The tea parties are a massive popular phenomenon, rather than a systematically manipulated publicity stunt

The stimulus didn't work

Obama has appointed a lot of "Czars," which is a really scary word, and must mean that he is trying to be the Czar of America himself, and is also proof that he is a communist, because the Czars were from Russia.

Now, every one of these is absolutely ludicrous, and shouldn't have been dignified with a minute's thought. Yet, they have all been allowed by the press to become significant parts of our national discourse. It's a wonder that the Democrats have managed to accomplish anything at all with their majority power, when they need to wade through this ocean of muck to get anything done.

Comments

Poll P. said…
Obama, if allowed to directly address schoolchildren, will attempt to recruit them to Marxism/Socialism/Communism/Islamicism.
magpie said…
"Michelle Obama's biceps are a major political concern".
Derek said…
"Health care reform will result in government death panels that will decide if you live or die"

Not so explicitly as you put it but they will end up rationing care and you'd have to be in primary school to think otherwise.

"
Obamacare will provide free abortions on demand"

It's in the bill. Of course, again, the way you word the phrase eliminates the very few instances when it wouldn't be subsidized. But it is true that Obama will subsidize abortions.

"Obama and the Democrats are responsible for the economic collapse of America"

Obama is no more at fault than the others, but the Dems are behind most of the crash. The Community Reinvestment act (carter, expanded under Clinton) was the driving force behind destroying the mortgage/banking/housing markets. If you FORCE companies to make bad loans, what do you think will happen? Then there is the Fed's artificial inflation of the interest rate, which of course isn't held accountable by the Dems or the Republicans. I'd love to hear how the Republicans did something to cause this recession.

"Letting poor people buy houses is what caused the real estate bubble to burst"

No, forcing banks to give loans to poor people who couldn't afford them caused the real estate crash. Normally you'd be calling the banks evil for giving out such loans, tricking these poor people into signing things they can't pay off, just because they are greedy. Wall Street greed, right? So greedy that they destroyed their own companies, right?

"Obama will give free medical care to all illegal aliens"

Section 3200, it's in the bill. Of course, the Dems in the Senate are talking about removing this provision that they too say doesn't exist. Removing something that doesn't exist, hmmm.

"Obama is going to raise taxes on the middle class"

He'll have to unless he wants the deficit to be a hell of a lot higher. His budget estimates showed both in tax revenue and deficit control that their would have to be some large tax increases. He'll do the Clinton.

"Acorn is some sort of subversive organization"

Not subversive per say but definitely scummy.

"Obama won the election by cheating because he spent more money than McCain"

When you spend 4X more than your opponent, have the mainstream medias unquestioning loyalty, and a president who is pegged as a moron and douchetwat by 70% of the country, and you only get 7% more votes than your opponent, it is safe to say that had all things been equal, you wouldn't do nearly as well.

"Democrats are the real racists"

Their history says so, and their race-baiting says so.

"Democrats are really Nazis"

They aren't Nazis, they are SIMILAR to the Nazis.

"
Global warming is a gigantic hoax"

This is a scientific question, not a political one. Even so, as a geology major, I can say that it is more than likely to be cause by solar activity, and the CO2 rise is simply positive feedback from the temperature rise.
Derek said…
"Torture is not torture when we do it"

Waterboarding isn't torture when done in the manner we do it. Not by any of our laws nor by any international law.

"The tenth amendment basically prohibits the Federal government from doing anything that Right Wingers don't like, particularly when it comes to taxes."

Not so much taxes, but the expansion of power by stripping rights from the States and the people (9th amendment) is a serious issue.

"The press is in Obama's pocket"

They used to be, now they are just on his lap.

"
Obama is a subversive because his preacher made a couple of speeches that some people didn't like"

Not subversive, and are you telling me you liked them?

"The tea parties are a massive popular phenomenon, rather than a systematically manipulated publicity stunt"

Your evidence that it is somehow coordinated by some larger group? The tea parties I attended were coordinated by my friend, a few locals, and me.

"The stimulus didn't work"

When will the recession be over?

2008 answer: Mid to late 2009
2009 answer: Mid to late 2009
current answer: Mid to late 2009

seems that way to me.
Green Eagle said…
Derek,

There you go again.

When you are ready to do something other than spouting Republican lies, you are welcome to come back. Until then, you are just discouraging people who really care about something more than your childish games. I'm really far more interested in them than I am in you, and I am particularly uninterested in wasting time dealing with statements of yours which we both know to be totally false.

All the best,
GE
Derek said…
"am particularly uninterested in wasting time dealing with statements of yours which we both know to be totally false."

Funny, because whenever I present a claim that is backed with evidence and truth, you turn your tail and flee. I will gladly leave forever and ever if you can prove I am lying. Contradict me.

Totes. All the best,

D

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