They Can't Shut Him Up

Thankfully, because he seems to be the only person in the entire mainstream press who is allowed to tell the truth on a consistent basis.  Of course, you know who I am talking about:


"Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. We’ve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. We’ve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point we’re talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable.

The occasion for these observations is, as you may have guessed, the monstrous farm bill the House passed last week.


To fully appreciate what just went down, listen to the rhetoric conservatives often use to justify eliminating safety-net programs. It goes something like this: “You’re personally free to help the poor. But the government has no right to take people’s money” — frequently, at this point, they add the words “at the point of a gun” — “and force them to give it to the poor.” 

It is, however, apparently perfectly O.K. to take people’s money at the point of a gun and force them to give it to agribusinesses and the wealthy...

Somehow, one of our nation’s two great parties has become infected by an almost pathological meanspiritedness...If you’re an American, and you’re down on your luck, these people don’t want to help; they want to give you an extra kick. I don’t fully understand it, but it’s a terrible thing to behold."

I've always had sympathy with the notion that Conservatism/Fascism is deeply connected with a very real form of Sadism- the delight in inflicting pain on others. When they have to choose between what is the prudent, conservative (in the literal meaning of the word) policy, and the one that allows them to hurt  someone else, Republicans seem to have descended into a condition where cruelty wins out every time.  This is a really sick phenomenon*, and I need hardly remark that, as a principle on which to run a country, it is a recipe for disaster.

Thanks again, Paul, for stating the obvious when no one else is willing to do it.


*Not dissimilar, I guess (Godwin be damned) from the policies followed by a certain central European country from 1933 to 1935.

Comments

Jean Valjean said…
I recommend clicking through on the link to "strapping young buck", to be reminded of how vicious Saint Ronnie's strategy was in 1976.
joseph said…
Why some morons vote Republican:

“Don't forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor.”
― Sherman Edwards, 1776: 2a Musical Play
Magpie said…
I sometimes puzzle the religious pretences of a great many conservatives...

Matthew 25:41-46 specifically quotes Jesus as saying you'll be damned for refusing help to the vulnerable.

I'd imagine the devil would have even bigger fun with you if you kick them while they're down.
Anonymous said…
quit yer belly aching. It's not that people don't want to help those who truly need help,it's that they are tired of giving it to lazy people who think they are "owed" something just for being born here
joseph said…
It must be so pleasant to live in Anon's world. So ordered, so plastic, so unreal. People are poor because they want to be, people become sick because they live bad lives. Unfortunately, in the real world, people are poor because of bad luck, changing circumstances and too much money in too few hands. But that would require thought and analysis, much easier to just live in fantasyland.
Green Eagle said…
It would also require giving up the cheap high of hating other people.

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