Thomas Sowell has written a terrific piece about the con game played in DC, and wonders why the Republicans keep falling for it.
Santa and Frank
People who remember the old comic strip "Peanuts" will recall an often repeated situation where Lucy offers to hold a football for Charlie Brown to kick. Then, as Charlie coming running up to kick it, Lucy snatches away the ball and Charlie Brown loses his balance and goes crashing on his backside.
There is a similar routine that has been repeated many times in Washington, over the years, with the Democrats playing Lucy and Republicans playing Charlie Brown.
It goes like this: Democrats start spending money wildly, handing out goodies to a wide range of people who they want to vote for them, while Republicans complain about deficits and the national debt. Then, when the public becomes alarmed about the debts that are piling up, the Democrats get the Republicans to vote for higher taxes to deal with the debt crisis, in the name of "fiscal responsibility."
Sometimes the deal is sweetened by the Democrats promising to make spending cuts if the Republicans vote for higher taxes, so that there can be one of those "bipartisan" solutions so beloved by the media. But, after the Republicans vote for the tax increases, and come running up to find the spending cuts, the Democrats snatch away the spending cuts and the Republicans fall right on their backsides, just like Charlie Brown.
Why Republicans join such transparent attempts to rescue the Democrats from the political consequences of their own actions is one of the many unsolved mysteries of human nature in general and the Republican Party in particular.
No Sheeples Here covers the story (with an awesome graphic) in The “Peanuts” Protocol Or Why Republicans Are Like Pavlov’s Dog, noting:
The Republicans-as-Charlie-Brown, bad-guy scenario makes Republicans look ... to appear unintelligent, on the one hand, and heartless on the other ... too feckless to take the rhetorical (and the moral) high ground ... chiefly on fiscal responsibility and political integrity.
The voting public's willingness to believe fancy rhetoric and ignore hard facts is a crucial part of the scam that is played out in our nation’s capital day in and day out. Remember November and throw the bums out ...
Stacy McCain loves the graphic too, "Nice Work, No Sheeples!," adding:
In truth, political compromise means:
- Inside the Beltway, Lucy and Charlie switch roles across a spectrum of issues.
- The more firmly planted in the toilet things are, the harder they are to pry loose.
- They have enough real or imagined scandal dirt on each to keep all decision making as distorted as a Sonic Youth cut ...
Herein lies the problem with partisan politics. It's absolutely true that the "voting public's willingness to believe fancy rhetoric and ignore hard facts is a crucial part of the scam." Unfortunately, it's just as true on the right as it is on the left.
Forget about the left right now too, because we can't change other people, we can only change ourselves. For example, how many times have you supported a Republican candidate who acts in ways that violate your personal beliefs? Were you adamantly against the bailouts and yet voted for Bailout McCain? Inconsistency. The "lesser" of 2 evils is still evil.
I'm aware of all the arguments too, so don't waste your breath. The reality is that until more people are willing to walk away and vote third-party, we'll be stuck in this 2-party monopoly system, a system that has failed "we the people," forever.
President George Washington tried to teach us the truth about political parties in his farewell address, but just like his foreign policy advice, we naively believe we know better. Now we're trapped in a system, rigged by the Democratic and Republican parties, who've made it next to impossible for new and/or independent candidates to compete. That's why they can throw people like Mitt RomneyCare at us and get our votes, regardless of how progressive he truly is.
The truth about the Republican Party is that as an organization, they are not out to represent the conservative movement or even the population at large. Nor are they interested in limiting government. The party is after one thing and one thing only - control over a multi-trillion dollar budget! Same goes for the Democratic Party too. This is hardly a controversial statement either. After all, besides using your common sense, Phyllis Schlafly taught us this fact almost 50 years ago!
Our economy is literally collapsing, and our 2-party monopoly system and central bank are 100% to blame (see The Triumph of Politics)! So as happy as I am to see a number of promising candidates this coming November, I must warn you not to get your hopes up, because more taxes, higher unemployment, and yes, even more bank bailouts are coming our way.
This is what we get for supporting "the party," regardless of actual policy and character. We've been duped in a fool's game for the masses. Stop and think about it for a moment ...
George W. Bush increased domestic (non-defense) spending more than any president since LBJ, and yet "conservatives" still stick up for him. And don't even get me started on the Republican Party's horrendous record on abortion ... Duped.
President Bill Clinton's mentor Carroll Quigley summed up our political system perfectly in his book "Tragedy and Hope," writing:
The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy.
How true it is ... George W. Bush didn't reduce government as promised, he expanded it instead. Then Barack Obama expanded the war after getting elected as the "antiwar" candidate. It's the same game that's been played for years. It's all B.S.
Any who, my purpose here was to provide you with the unvarnished and ugly truth, hoping the more you know, the better you'll be at turning the system around. So keep your chins up ... you know what to do!
See also: The History of the Republican Party.
I was listening to him today on the Andrew Wilcow show. I have been very disappointed in the Republican response to Kagen, the financial reform bill, and cap and trade. Why they are so willing to compromise with a bunch of socialists that want to trample over our rights I can't figure out. The only answer I can come up with is that they're all in it together to a certain degree and we're being played over and over again. None of them really want to give up their power. Both groups move us towards tyranny. The only difference between the parties is that Republicans move slower towards tyranny. They all need to go if you want my honest opinion.
BINGO! And a multi-trillion dollar budget gives them a lot of power too.
JC is right on the money. The real R-vs-D con game is the attempt by Republicans to make us believe they're trying to move the ball toward the *other* goal line, not the same one the Democrats are moving toward.
(To this day I wish that *just once* when Lucy pulled the ball away, Charlie Brown would kick her right in the head!)
I've been advocating third parties for years and have voted for third party candidates. I don't consider voting for a third party as "throwing my vote away", I consider it as a vote of conscience. I despise people who say they voted for "the lesser of two evils". More...or... less...evil is still evil.
Regards, Mike
I'm with you ... I think the only "wasted vote" is the one cast for someone you don't really like. The "lesser evil" is still EVIL. Plus, it sends the wrong market signal. It says you support the progressive (even though you only voted for him because of the 'R' on his lapel). Therefore, you wasted your vote by sending a signal you didn't want to send. Vote for who you want, not for the "team."