Republicans Have Lost Their Way

The following is one of the best, most concise summaries regarding what happened to the Republican party on election day.  It is a comment in response to a piece in the Washington Post regarding how the party has lost it's ways.  I recommend the piece, but here is the comment:

"While rebooting back to Reagan is a nice try, you're still not understanding why you lost. You LOST, because America basically isn't interested in what the Republicans are selling right now. ...not just the really bad parts, like racism, xenophobia, billionaire worship, military adventurism, religious intolerance, and many other very bad things the Republican party embodies...

No, not only are we not interested in the very extreme views of some far-right Republicans - we also aren't particularly interested even in what the Republicans think are the *good* aspects of your party; we're not willing to trust the states to do, well, anything they should do whatsoever ("Let the states handle it" right now is code for "Let the baby freeze to death on a mountainside.") We're not willing to gut the EPA, not willing to cut education, reject Medicaid, not willing to crush unions. We're NOT WILLING TO SAY "Hey, times are tough pal - you're on your own!"

The Republican party is morally and spiritually bankrupt. You have no good ideas to salvage, and we're leaving you behind. You'll be losing by greater and greater margins in the future".

A Huffington post piece struck a similar theme.  Here the author points out:  "Mitt Romney could have easily won the presidential election if he and his party had realized that they were turning people off, according to Matt Taibbi.  Modern Republicans have so much of their own collective identity wrapped up in the belief that they're surrounded by free-loading, job-averse parasites who not only want to smoke weed and have recreational abortions all day long, but want hardworking white Christians like them to pay the tab.  Their whole belief system...is inherently insulting to everyone outside the tent – and you can't win votes when you're calling people lazy, stoned moochers."

That pretty well sums it up.  Heed GOP.  Soul search.  You're 'out to lunch' as a national party. We need a strong two-party system in America.

The 'Southern Strategy' Has Come Full Circle

The infamous "southern strategy" has now come full circle and has defeated national Republicans. This is a fascinating subject for those of us who grew up in the 'Jim Crow' south and watched and experienced it happening. It is highlighted nicely in this Washington Post piece.

The writer says: "Lyndon Johnson knew when he pushed through civil rights legislation that the Jim Crow South he’d grown up in would reject the Democratic Party for decades to come as a result. But somewhere, L.B.J. is smiling today, because the G.O.P.’s Southern strategy to capitalize on racial animus has now worked so completely that it’s turned back to bite Republicans, with Romney overwhelmingly losing the growing share of America’s minority voters. President Obama captured 93 percent of the African-American vote and 71 percent of the Latino vote."

Those numbers, and the insufficient number of white votes for Romney, were decisive for Barack Obama........44 years after Strom Thurmond went on TV across the South to encourage white southerners to vote for Nixon in '68, as Strom put it (speak through your nose with your best South Carolina accent) "because he can win, and he thinks just like George Wallace" (the Third Party candidate).......32 years after Ronald Reagan kicked off his '80 campaign in Philadelphia, MS, where 4 'freedom riders' were murdered in the 1960s (a state, ironically, where riots are occurring today at the state university over the election of Barack Obama).

We're getting there.  That 'arc of the moral universe' which Dr. King talked about, the one that Barack Obama acknowledges, but says WE have to bend, was bent a little further towards justice on November 6.  Yes, we're getting there. As well as LBJ, my guess is Dr. King is smiling too.

One Last Thought Before Election Day 2012

On April 4, 2008, Senator Barack Obama, speaking on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, declared:

"Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends towards justice, but here is the thing: it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice...."

Life is not a sprint, it's a relay.  Let's do our small, but meaningful, part.  Vote For Barack Obama.

(Picture taken in 1967.  A 25-year old Jesse Jackson and Dr. King in Cleveland to meet with Carl Stokes who was campaigning to become the first black mayor of a major American city.  The irony was that Stokes could not afford King's help, for fear of a white voter backlash. Stokes was elected).

Eagerly Anticipating Election Day 2012

Tomorrow we collectively speak as Americans.  It is our most important day as a democratic republic.  The day attests to the fact that "the people" in America are in control.  Yes, you can be cynical and say that special interest money and 'the lies' and 'half-truths' of a campaign overly influence the process and skew the results.  But I feel strongly that the wisdom of the vast majority of Americans see through it and that the will of a more informed majority than ever before speaks.  I cannot imagine bright, educated Americans not participating in this nearly sacred process.

As for the result of the process tomorrow, America will certainly survive and more forward regardless of the result.  I do feel strongly that for the sake of health care reform, women's issues, a more fair tax structure, a continued committment to a strong central government, and for the sake of future Supreme Court appointments, an Obama win is critical.

I predict a strong Obama win.  I predict a 303-235 electoral college win for Obama, and a 52% to 48% popular vote win.  My electoral college prediction is down from last week as I do not think Obama will carry my home state of NC.

It is a great process.  I'm glad I live in America.  I hope you vote.

America's "Uncle Bill" and His Election 'Take' on Hurricane Sandy

The Federal Gov't Delivers - The October Surprise

Conservatives sometimes amaze me.  They run down the federal government until they need it.  Whether it is student loans, farm price supports, SBA low interest loans, a stimulus contract, Medicaid, prescription drug coverage for seniors, a tax credit .......and now, of course, FEMA........... help for those in harm's way and in disaster's way in the northeast.

The irony of this election is that the October surprise which is going to push Barack Obama across the line, is a climate change-driven event, an event that necessitates a strong federal government response........ all of us chipping in to look after our neighbor......... as it should be.  Above, the conservative New Jersey Governor, who delivered the keynote address for Mitt Romney, looks mighty appreciative, as he certainly should be.  Oh, the irony........

Vasilli Arkhipov - "The Man Who Saved The World"

Yes, one person can make a huge difference. What a story.  50 years ago today, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, second-in-command Vasilli Arkhipov of the Soviet submarine B-59 refused to agree with his Captain's order to launch nuclear torpedos against US warships and setting off what might well have been a terminal superpower nuclear war.

The US had been dropping depth charges near the submarine in an attempt to force it to surface, unaware...it was carrying nuclear arms. The Soviet officers, who had lost radio contact with Moscow, concluded that World War 3 had begun, and 2 of the officers agreed to 'blast the warships out of the water'. Arkhipov refused to agree - unanimous consent of 3 officers was required - and thanks to him, we are here to talk about it.

His story is finally being told - the BBC is airing a documentary on it.

Raise a glass to Vasilli Arkhipov - the Man Who Saved the World.