truth-out.org: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult

[Kindred]

Barbara Stanwyck: "We're both rotten!"

Fred MacMurray: "Yeah - only you're a little more rotten." -"Double Indemnity" (1944)

Those lines of dialogue from a classic film noir sum up the state of the two political parties in contemporary America. Both parties are rotten - how could they not be, given the complete infestation of the political system by corporate money on a scale that now requires a presidential candidate to raise upwards of a billion dollars to be competitive in the general election? Both parties are captives to corporate loot. The main reason the Democrats' health care bill will be a budget buster once it fully phases in is the Democrats' rank capitulation to corporate interests - no single-payer system, in order to mollify the insurers; and no negotiation of drug prices, a craven surrender to Big Pharma.

But both parties are not rotten in quite the same way. The Democrats have their share of machine politicians, careerists, corporate bagmen, egomaniacs and kooks. Nothing, however, quite matches the modern GOP.

....

John P. Judis sums up the modern GOP this way:

"Over the last four decades, the Republican Party has transformed from a loyal opposition into an insurrectionary party that flouts the law when it is in the majority and threatens disorder when it is the minority. It is the party of Watergate and Iran-Contra, but also of the government shutdown in 1995 and the impeachment trial of 1999. If there is an earlier American precedent for today's Republican Party, it is the antebellum Southern Democrats of John Calhoun who threatened to nullify, or disregard, federal legislation they objected to and who later led the fight to secede from the union over slavery."

A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress's generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.

More here:

Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult | Truthout

http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Long, but interesting and disconcerning.

Of course, I have no idea who the author actually is. And while he raises a lot of good points, I'm sure numerous democratic operatives can be found who have similar problems with the democratic political machine.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

:munchout::munchout:

[AsburySkinsFan]

Consevatives will hate this and will quickly deny its validity, and they will attack the author.

But then the Left will love it and pretend that their side isn't just as rotten.

[TimmySmith]

The claim that one side could sabotage the whole match is sort of ridiculous. If the other side was doing a demonstrably good job, it would be noticed. It's kind of like the football argument that the defense is doing a poor job because it's spending too much time on the field.

[NavyDave]

A lot of people think that the only difference from the DNC, the GOP and a bag of Manure is the bag.

Unfortunately 3rd and 4th parties that would give people on the left, right, and those straddling the fence, options are not strong enough to repel the backlash and propaganda from the media, corporate interests and big money types with their own agendas.

[TradeTheBeal!]

A lot of people think that the only difference from the DNC, the GOP and a bag of Manure is the bag.

Unfortunately 3rd and 4th parties that would give people on the left, right, and those straddling the fence, options are not strong enough to repel the backlash and propaganda from the media, corporate interests and big money types with their own agendas.

Let us mark this as the moment when Navy Dave and I were in full and total agreement. Perhaps there is hope for us all.

[Teller]

Let us mark this as the moment when Navy Dave and I were in full and total agreement. Perhaps there is hope for us all.

Cue the giant meteor coming to kill us all.

Seriously though, very cool to see the objectivity in this thread so far. It's definitely encouraging.

[AsburySkinsFan]

A lot of people think that the only difference from the DNC, the GOP and a bag of Manure is the bag.

Unfortunately 3rd and 4th parties that would give people on the left, right, and those straddling the fence, options are not strong enough to repel the backlash and propaganda from the media, corporate interests and big money types with their own agendas.

Someone PM the mods, I think NavyDave's account got hacked! Because we are in complete agreement!

[ABQCOWBOY]

Consevatives will hate this and will quickly deny its validity, and they will attack the author.

But then the Left will love it and pretend that their side isn't just as rotten.

Yeah, that's what will happen.

We know politicians are all screwed up. We know they are in either party.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

I think we should lock the thread right now while the posts are all seemingly rational and calm lol...

[JohnLockesGhost]

I think the Republicans were right to demand a long-term plan for dealing with the deficit and debt in exchange for raising the ceiling. The problem of course is that they got a good deal and didn't know how to say "ok."

A 3:1 ratio of cuts to revenue increases seems like a big win for the Republicans, but somehow they turned it down.

[Kindred]

I think the Republicans were right to demand a long-term plan for dealing with the deficit and debt in exchange for raising the ceiling. The problem of course is that they got a good deal and didn't know how to say "ok."

A 3:1 ratio of cuts to revenue increases seems like a big win for the Republicans, but somehow they turned it down.

The big win, is to bring down the Obama administration at any cost. Tanking the economy under his watch is the objective.

[thebluefood]

A lot of people think that the only difference from the DNC, the GOP and a bag of Manure is the bag.

Unfortunately 3rd and 4th parties that would give people on the left, right, and those straddling the fence, options are not strong enough to repel the backlash and propaganda from the media, corporate interests and big money types with their own agendas.

I...uh...I agree with everything you just said, NavyDave.

Holy Moses, the day finally came.

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think the Republicans were right to demand a long-term plan for dealing with the deficit and debt in exchange for raising the ceiling. The problem of course is that they got a good deal and didn't know how to say "ok."

A 3:1 ratio of cuts to revenue increases seems like a big win for the Republicans, but somehow they turned it down.

How was the so called 3 to 1 cut option a good deal? I never saw anything that illustrated how that would be done. I only heard the President say that it was put on the table but the Speaker has said over and over that nothing was ever presented for consideration. I would be interested in seeing anything that actually promised a 3 to 1 cut and also how they intended to make those cuts.

[Jumbo]

The claim that one side could sabotage the whole match is sort of ridiculous. If the other side was doing a demonstrably good job, it would be noticed. It's kind of like the football argument that the defense is doing a poor job because it's spending too much time on the field.

A lot of people think that the only difference from the DNC, the GOP and a bag of Manure is the bag.

Unfortunately 3rd and 4th parties that would give people on the left, right, and those straddling the fence, options are not strong enough to repel the backlash and propaganda from the media, corporate interests and big money types with their own agendas.

I find much agreement here with TimmySmith and NavyDave. That was fun to type and true! More interestingly, it's not the first time.

[Prosperity]

The claim that one side could sabotage the whole match is sort of ridiculous. If the other side was doing a demonstrably good job, it would be noticed. It's kind of like the football argument that the defense is doing a poor job because it's spending too much time on the field.

Is it so ridiculous to think that the "other side" was not, and is not doing a demonstrably good job?

I'm fairly certain the the Dems are incompetent, beholden to very special interests, and overall doing a bad job... It shouldn't be too much of a surprise, the Dems are cobbled up from very diverse segments of society... ethnic minorities, unions, government workers, academics, professionals... these people don't really have a whole lot of converging interests... The Democratic party is essentially an opposition party that has to take up the role of the governing party. The Republican party by contrast is fairly homogenous in comparison, it has tremendous support from every majority/power group in the country... but they are essentially the governing party that acts like an opposition party... it's all out of whack.

I'm also fairly certain that the GOP is controlled by lunatics and psychopaths, whether it's from the bottom up from their beloved "base" or the top down from their demigods.

It may not mean much to come up with the conclusion that one side IS worse than the other, but it's undeniable at this point... And it's frustrating that so many otherwise responsible and intelligent people can't admit that yes, the people they vote for ACTUALLY ARE that bad. Every once in a while we have to "man up" and be willing to point the finger at ourselves.

The liberal movement's disregard for large swaths of this country has been a strong influence in creating large groups of people who are just completely detached reality of governance... and whether that was out of condescension or contempt is up in the air, and ultimately we have to be able to re-engage with the blocks of the political body that are on the verge of complete disengagement (e.g. Tea Party). But it's not just a one way street. If we are to prosper, then the Tea Party (or whoever) has to realize that they are in fact behaving in a seriously destructive ways.

[Rocky21]

http://truth-out.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3079:goodbye-to-all-that-reflections-of-a-gop-operative-who-left-the-cult

I missed this article the first time around and just read this for the first time today. It seems like a look behind the curtain of the GOP and I don't like what I see.