(Odin)
Without question the leadership of Republican Party chose to reject any cooperation or compromise with President Obama. They chose to avoid the usual practice in the legislative process that expects the minority party to try to hone the legislation. The purpose was to gut the authority of the then-majority party. The minority party of the time expected to get everything that it was going to get if it had a majority beyond any challenge.
Today the Republican Party gets almost the sort of power that the Communist Party of China has.... on behalf of people who believe that no human suffering is in excess so long as it turns, indulges, or enforces a profit... with a few scraps for the Religious Right. America becomes a country in which the modern versions of Gilded Age plutocrats, Southern agrarian magnates, and the real-life equivalents of Elmer Gantry. We have a real-life Berzelius Windrip taking an office once held by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt.
We have 1461 days of what could well be the most dangerous time in American history. At the least, neither Abraham Lincoln nor Jefferson Davis had nukes. We had an ocean between ourselves and both of the demonic powers of the Axis. We face 1461 days in which every joy in life is tainted. The best one can extract from the Trump Presidency is a sort of Schadenfreude in watching a political train-wreck due to the incompetence and extremism of the Republican Party and a horrid President.
Quote:Meanwhile, the divide has come from the right-wing. I watched PBS Frontline's "Divided States of America" last night, and was reminded of the tactics and angry fanaticism of the people (Classic X'er is) siding with, and what they have done over the last decades and especially during Obama's term to force their will on us and shut down the government. I think the divide is pretty well baked in now until one side wins and a consensus is thereby achieved. It may not be a full consensus, but at least the nation will move on. If it moves in a progressive way, the nation will prosper. If it moves in the direction you have supported, it will not. As to who will win, sure your side is winning now. But the nation remains evenly divided, and the winner goes back and forth. You may be disappointed if you think the contest is over.
Without question the leadership of Republican Party chose to reject any cooperation or compromise with President Obama. They chose to avoid the usual practice in the legislative process that expects the minority party to try to hone the legislation. The purpose was to gut the authority of the then-majority party. The minority party of the time expected to get everything that it was going to get if it had a majority beyond any challenge.
Today the Republican Party gets almost the sort of power that the Communist Party of China has.... on behalf of people who believe that no human suffering is in excess so long as it turns, indulges, or enforces a profit... with a few scraps for the Religious Right. America becomes a country in which the modern versions of Gilded Age plutocrats, Southern agrarian magnates, and the real-life equivalents of Elmer Gantry. We have a real-life Berzelius Windrip taking an office once held by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt.
We have 1461 days of what could well be the most dangerous time in American history. At the least, neither Abraham Lincoln nor Jefferson Davis had nukes. We had an ocean between ourselves and both of the demonic powers of the Axis. We face 1461 days in which every joy in life is tainted. The best one can extract from the Trump Presidency is a sort of Schadenfreude in watching a political train-wreck due to the incompetence and extremism of the Republican Party and a horrid President.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.