A challenge to Republicans: Can you answer these questions?
1) Can you name any program or law enacted by the GOP that was both intended to and has concretely improved the quality of life of NON-WEALTHY Americans (actual human beings, not fetuses or other collections of cells--see below *)? If so, please show viable statistics from respected, non-biased sources (for example, NOT the Heritage Foundation) to back it up your assertion. Democrats, for all of their failings, can easily identify a plethora of their health, education, safety and anti-poverty programs that have been statistically shown to have noticeably improved the lives of ordinary Americans (or at least were intended to) for decades. What about you guys?
2) Can you identify a group of NON-WEALTHY Americans that the GOP has consistently supported not just with lip service but through their actions (again, fetuses and other cellular structures don't count*)? Dems can point to their concrete support for unions (and working people in general), educators, farmers, children in poor families, single mothers, etc.. Can the GOP point to anyone they have helped other than the already rich & powerful (such as CEOs and other rich people who either obtained their wealth through other channels besides HARD WORK [like through inheritance or unethically, like Halliburton, Bechtel, Enron, defense contractors or through their manipulation of financial systems obtained more than their fair share of available money and other desirable resources, like CEOs])?
3) Can you identify a group of NON-POLITICALLY POWERFUL Americans that the GOP has consistently supported not just with lip service but through their actions (again, leave fetuses and other groups of cells out of the equation*)? Dems can point to long-term support of classes of citizens who require protection from the ravages of runaway capitalism, bigotry and discrimination, such as racial & religious minorities, women, children, older Americans, people with disabilities, gays & lesbians, workers in hazardous workplaces, even the environment. Who or what specifically does the GOP protect besides those who DO NOT NEED protection because they already benefit disproportionately and unfairly from the current system?
4) If you have been unable to adequately answer the above three questions (and I KNOW you haven't!), are you willing to admit that:
a) the primary purpose of the GOP is to, as conservatives, "conserve" and even enhance the current misallocation of wealth and other resources that benefit the WEALTHY? Conversely, are you willing to admit that the GOP also fights any attempts to "level the playing field," such as instituting a "living wage" (or at least increasing the minimum wage), preserving Social Security, creating a progressive, fair tax code, affirmative action, etc.
b) all of the usual right-wing political rhetoric has only one purpose: to psychologically manipulate (i.e., through the use of wedge issues and Orwellian language) just enough NON-WEALTHY Americans to vote for and work against their own self-interests so that the GOP can pull off constantly helping only the WEALTHY? If you disagree with the assumption underlying that question, refute it by identifying language and tactics similarly used by Dems to manipulate Americans. Can you identify Democratic Party counterparts to Karl Rove and Frank Luntz? If you think the GOP doesn't use mass psychological manipulation on Americans, can you explain why people like Rove and Luntz are employed by the GOP? Why does the GOP need them? What other and legitimate purpose could they possibly serve?
By the way, these questions were composed by someone who is NOT a Democrat, thinks the Democratic Party has failed to adequately serve the needs of Americans, but believes that the GOP has not only failed at an exponentially greater extent than the Democrats, but has willfully tried to harm the general welfare of NON-WEALTHY Americans.
* - Note: the reason I have removed fetuses from this debate is because the abortion issue is clearly another GOP manipulation. The GOP realizes that no sane populace is going to willingly vote for and support candidates who work against their own interests. This forces the GOP to trick certain groups into supporting them. They normally do this through divisive Rovian tactics such as phony patriotism & rabid nationalism, hatred of homosexuals & gay marriage and creating misperceptions that poor & middle-class white people are somehow being cheated by minorities and immigrants. You know, the old "wedge issues" trick. This has gained them the support of entire groups of white people. Some have given these voter demographics names such as "Reagan Democrats," "Office Park Dads," "NASCAR Dads," or single-issue voters such as "The Gun Nuts." After observing their lack of critical thinking skills, their simplistic world view and how easily they have been suckered, I've given them a different name: "stupid people."
On the other hand, the GOP has gained the support of evangelical Christians through a different tactic: by pretending to agree with them on so-called "moral issues" such as abortion. However, as we've seen with evangelical leaders such as Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, W.V. Grant, Benny Hinn, Kent Hovind, Peter Popoff, Robert Tilton, Jim Whittington and, more recently, freakin' Ted Haggard, these guys don't walk the walk. Take this challenge: sit through one service at a "mega church" and listen to how they distort the teachings of Jesus (such as having the accumulation of wealth as your primary spiritual goal), and you'll get another glaring example of how these guys no longer even bother to "talk the talk."
And earlier this year, David Kuo (former head of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and author of the best-seller "A Loss of Faith") finally revealed what most smart people have known for decades: the GOP does not agree or even respect evangelical Christians--and, in fact, privately mocks them. Any evangelical Christian who still thinks GOP leaders and even their own religious leaders are moral people or somehow represent their values--I again refer you to the voter demographic group I created: "stupid people."
The arguments the GOP have used to support their "pro life" stance can be boiled down to two assertions: 1) a fetus, regardless of its developmental stage, is a human life (I won't address that issue or if abortion is "right" or "wrong") 2) it is a defenseless person that needs protection. But because the GOP has consistently shown that it has no interest in protecting actual human beings who NEED protection (see above), their contention that they want to uncharacteristically protect a fetus rings hollow and can be very easily dismissed. It's obvious that it is politically expedient to be anti-abortion. But after years of the GOP refusing to support programs that benefit living, breathing children (like a quality education for even poor children, Head Start and other preschool programs, school lunches, immunizations, etc.) anyone who honestly believes that the GOP gives a rat's ass about a fetus also belongs to my voter demographic creation, the "stupid people."
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By the way, if you're worried that you may fall into my newly created voter demographic group, don't sweat it. Every politician in the world caters to you. Every major media outlet views you as a highly priced demographic. So, then, do almost all of their advertisers. In fact, the whole freaking world caters to you. Relax, breathe easy and know that you're right at home here in 2007 America!
