Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Mad Rant: US Politics

Sorry folks, but I must move away from the standard fare and vent a little on the current state of politics in the USA. As those who follow along will know the GOP recently came out with their “pledge” covering all the things they promise, promise, pinky-swear to do if they are elected to power in the upcoming congressional elections. Most expect that the Republicans will gain seats and the Democrats will lose them, many think the Republicans will take control of the House and a few think even a GOP-majority Senate is a possibility. Forgive me if I do not wet myself with excitement. As anyone who has read this weblog for any length of time will know, I positively despise the liberal-revolutionary-pinko-commie regime of Barack Hussein Obama, Senate leader Dirty Harry and Speaker Pelosi who is still upset that someone dropped a house on her sister. I would love for anyone, even the tan wonder, to send her packing and nothing would please me more than to never have to hear the sickening, oily voice of Dirty Harry ever again.

All that being said, I am still feeling the pain from being burned by the GOP under Bush. Here was a guy who had been almost ideal as Governor of Texas; he had done virtually nothing -always a good thing. He runs for office promising to be a Reagan conservative, a small government politician who would cut spending, give tax refunds and would not police the world. As we know, he then went on to grow government more than any president since FDR, spent more money than any of his predecessors and still more less acted like he was trying to police the world. Now the GOP has their new agenda out which promises to cut spending back to “2008 levels”. Oh, excuse me while I swoon with gratitude. In case no one noticed the spending levels of 2008 are a big part of our problem. Bush was no fiscal conservative, he spent money more lavishly than any president before him not to be outdone until the current regime surpassed even his record of financial stupidity. They could change their ways of course, but the chances of that are slim to none and slim just left town.

I know that the GOP talking point on the subject is that they have learned their lesson. Well, frankly, I do not believe them. Their actions have done nothing to inspire me with confidence that they had a collective ‘come to Jesus’ moment. On the contrary, the actions of the GOP elite in the numerous primaries around the country have given me the distinct impression that they still care more about the Republican Party and their own interests rather than those of the country. I just do not believe them. Republicans always get more conservative around election time. Which is of course not to say that the Democrats are to be preferred (I will be properly thrilled to see them go) but like politicians the world over we see in America two parties paying lip service to their respective sides only to be ruled by an elite that seems to differ only in the degree to which they pursue virtually the same agenda. The modern world may crow that monarchy and aristocracy has been left behind but, as the GOP primaries show, there is still very much a ruling class and a ruled class and the likes of Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich get very upset when voters, even their own voters, defy them. The Democrats are the same, perhaps even more open about it, as is seen by their use of “super delegates” to ensure the continuity of the ruling class at election time when the regular delegates fail to make the ‘proper’ choice.

All of this has left me more apathetic about mainstream politics than I have probably ever been, though, again, that does not mean my views on the subject are not adamant and strongly held. In Texas, we are on the verge of reelecting a Governor who has held office longer than any other in history being challenged by a Democrat desperately trying to seem as conservative as possible. He is, of course, being completely dishonest. The Governor is likewise dishonest as he promises to get the “important” work done that seems to have slipped his mind during his better than a decade in office. When he was running in the primary he was an ultra-Republican talking about state sovereignty, nullification and even hinting of threats of secession. Now both candidates oppose stricter immigration enforcement even though most Texans support it and both oppose ending birthright citizenship even though polls show most Texans support it (not that one state no matter how large could accomplish that). It all serves to remind me of how much I despise party politics and especially politicians, why absolute monarchies of those dark, feudal days of the past seem so romantic to me and why I remain … The Mad Monarchist.

7 comments:

  1. You know full well that telling a Right Wing Conservative Republican in America you are a Monarchist will lead them to conclude you’re a godless, Immoral Liberal who wants to impose a Socialist State and rule by Elites, and the left will decry you as a NAZI, and you also know full well that what matters in an Election is simply whatever emotional power the Candidate Can generate, so while I can fully appreciate this post, I have to say it was Old News to me years ago.

    Americans are like the rest of the world when it comes to Democracy. They don’t see through the fact that Campaigns aren’t Really, and really only vote according to Party Loyalty and whichever Party thy think will serve their interests, or else hey Vote on Raw Emotional Passion. Obama is President now because of his Hope and Change feel good ad campaign, and the Governor f Texas is Governor because at Election Time he wears a Cowboy Hat and talks about the Free and Independent Republic of Texas, and its all an Act.

    Both Parties are owned by Corporate interest and often the same Corporate interests for either pull the Strings, and neither really want to rock the boat, its smoke and mirrors.

    However, the Tea Party Candidates do Interest me. While I have problems with some of them, such as O’Donnell, it seems they have a cog in the Machine of the Body Politic created by “The Establishment”, and it will be interesting to see how long it takes them to either succumb or build new, just as elitist Establishment.

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  2. This was me venting -not trying to reveal some startling new truth. Part of what generated this was the reaction of the GOP leadership to the Tea Party candidates and other "conservative" or "libertarian" GOP candidates; which has been adamant opposition to them in most cases even if it means favoring someone clearly to the left of where most Republicans are.

    As to being known as a monarchist, my conservative GOP parents are sympathetic but leftists tend to read me pretty well. They say, 'you're must be crazy, that's archaic, reactionary and backward' to which I say, 'yes, yes and yes!' On the other hand it is the conservative criticism that is harder to dispute when royals are supposed to be non-political yet you have the Queen of Jordan calling for wealth redistribution, the Crown Princess of Norway championing the "gay" movement and almost every prince in Europe beating the environmentalist/global warming drum.

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  3. Or rather, dude, Rand Paul -son of the great TX Rep who's running for the senate out of Kentucky and who the GOP leadership fought tooth and nail.

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  4. I feel your pain. I'm getting used to being viewed as a nutter for being to the right of the Grand Ole Party. I never thought I'd agree with Huey Long, but it seems he was right in his analysis of the two parties. "The only difference I ever found between the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership is that one of them is skinning you from the ankle up and the other, from the neck down."

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  5. Ah Huey Long -say what you will about him; the man wasn't boring.

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  6. Some people could rise above their station, it was not common, but it did happen and even today it's not automatic. As for Galileo, he was not put under house arrest for his scientific theories, it was for his comments about Scripture being in error and making some insulting remarks about the Pope -who was his sovereign. He could have recanted his theological arguments and still stuck by his scientific theories and been perfectly fine but he refused to do that. Moreover, he had not even proven what he claimed.

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