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Washington’s economic policy debate is a sham
A good summary of the reality outside of Washington. Probably nothing new for most people here, but heresy for the GOP ditto heads, if they understand the big words.
5 comments
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Destro Thu, Jul 26, 2012 7:06:06am |
A good summary of the reality outside of Washington. Probably nothing new for most people here, but heresy for the GOP ditto heads, if they understand the big words.
Thank you for this.
I used to be a Republican (but not so much a dittohead) until halfway into the Bush admin. Why I chose to be a Republican is complicated but in Bush's term I saw the stark hypocrisy of the GOP party faithful which sought to excuse policies that I assumed were anti Republican until Bush adopted them. For example, growing up in the right when Clinton era talk of "FEMA death camps" were all over the place I was kind of shocked to see Republicans adopt and defend something called a "Patriot Act" and "Homeland Security" (sounded too close to fatherland) and call for identity papers (Papers, please in a German or Russian accent was a way to warn about big brother govt taking over America).
So I left the Republican party for its hypocrisy but still considered myself a "conservative" and then when the economy collapsed and I realized it collapsed because of policies advocated by conservatives and libertarians of deregulation, etc I just realized I adopted a political and economic ideology not based on reality but on dogma.
I changed my political orientation. But why have so many not done so is what puzzles me? We just had the man who created the too big to fail Citigroup, the man who pushed for the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act, former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sandy Weill now saying we should re-instated Glass-Steagall and break up the banks! We have former Fed chairman Greenspan, an Ayn Rand worshiper admit his ideology was wrong and caused the economic meltdown! And still the GOP is pushing that same old trust the private sector over govt, let the rich fix things by leaving them alone ideology even when the ones who championed it for them are saying they were in error.
I get why the GOP does not want to admit it was in error on economic issues. I do. But why are the voters not punishing them for it? I always figured that the racists and homophobes and other right wing hate fringe groups would still stay with the GOP but why are they still a viable party outside of those small hate groups?
Help! I don't get it!
| 2 |
Achilles Tang Thu, Jul 26, 2012 9:01:43am |
re: #1 Destro
We always hear politicians say the voters are smart, ulitmately. Unfortunately they are not, as a whole. That should be obvious from the more blatant lies that we see being accepted.
From the slumming I do on some other forums, I also know that a lot (but I have no percentages) of people interested in politics are extraordinarily ignorant and even disturbed individuals. It is economic cognitive dissonance of the same character found in religious fundamentalists, and is often entwined closely with religion.
| 3 |
Destro Thu, Jul 26, 2012 9:59:11am |
re: #2 Achilles Tang
We always hear politicians say the voters are smart, ulitmately. Unfortunately they are not, as a whole. That should be obvious from the more blatant lies that we see being accepted.
From the slumming I do on some other forums, I also know that a lot (but I have no percentages) of people interested in politics are extraordinarily ignorant and even disturbed individuals. It is economic cognitive dissonance of the same character found in religious fundamentalists, and is often entwined closely with religion.
I sometimes re-visit my posts on the forums I posted at I am kind of ashamed of myself. Not that I was wrong, but in some cases I was just being a parrot, a member of the amen corner of the right wing noise machine. That is something I can't forgive myself but I can learn from it.
I would love to read more about conservatives crossing over and realizing they were in error like Frank Schaeffer, for example, [Link: en.wikipedia.org...]
| 4 |
Destro Thu, Jul 26, 2012 10:08:28am |
re: #3 Destro
I sometimes re-visit my posts on the forums I posted at I am kind of ashamed of myself. Not that I was wrong, but in some cases I was just being a parrot, a member of the amen corner of the right wing noise machine. That is something I can't forgive myself but I can learn from it.
I would love to read more about conservatives crossing over and realizing they were in error like Frank Schaeffer, for example, [Link: en.wikipedia.org...]
What I meant to write was; I sometimes re-visit my posts on the forums I posted at I am kind of ashamed of myself. Not that I am ASHAMED I WAS wrong, but in some cases I was just being a parrot, a member of the amen corner of the right wing noise machine. That is something I can't forgive myself but I can learn from it.
| 5 |
Achilles Tang Thu, Jul 26, 2012 10:18:32am |
re: #4 Destro
Well there are, I'm sure, some posts here from years ago that I don't want to see the light of day. Being an atheist, I'm pretty tough on any kind of fundamentalism whatever the religion, but I sometimes took that too far in a mindless sense after 9/11.
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