Who’s afraid of Reality Politics?
The GOP Presidential primary has been quite an interesting sideshow of personalities. First the shadow of Sarah Palin preceded the comedy of Herman Cain. Mixed amongst Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, we were also treated to the intellectual distraction of Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry.
Now that were are left with Santorum, Romney and Gingrich its clear that there is something very wrong with the party of Abraham Lincoln. The recent Republican debates reveal ideals that run counter to the social and financial interests of most people. Sadly, most of the candidates supporters seem to applaud policies that further separate people from maintaining or attaining a portion of The American Dream.
Case and point, Mitt Romney says that when these points are raised, its because people are guilty of “envy or class warfareâ€. When these questions are posed at debates, GOP candidates have been allowed to brush aside these issues with crowd-pleasing one liners that have no substance in fact. Citizens paying for government sponsored corporate bailouts seems to have obscured the fact that corporations, ought to have a government mandated responsibility to citizens. Certainly this issues should warrant more courage on the part of moderators at debates and the media in general.
As per Bill Moyers suggests, inequality isn’t something that simply happens by accident.
“America has woken up to the Reality: Inequality Matters†is a worthwhile look: www.alternet.org/action/153800/america_has_woken_up_to_the_reality%3A_inequality_matters_/
Another issue that is the elephant in the room is the matter of Newt Gingrich’s race baiting narratives on food stamps. Utilizing tried and true tactics from the Southern Strategy that generally targets people of color, stokes the fears of right wing conservatives, while undermining initiatives and programs that benefit society as a whole. No matter that most recipients of food stamps, housing assistance, etc. are not people of color. A large majority are, in fact, retirement age seniors and children. Republicans have succeeded in creating racial stereotypes of the beneficiaries, to the detriment of the entire country. Fundamental economic issues such as downsizing and outsourcing are not addressed, simply because our media pundits and journalists are not willing to call out Gingrich or his apologists. “Gingrich won’t win the Presidency, but he may always be the GOP’s #1 Racist†is a worthwhile read: www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/764530/gingrich_won%27t_win_the_presidency,_but_he_may_always_be_the_gop%27s_%231_racist/