Politics is not my favorite thing. I understand a little about it because I worked on The Hill for close to a decade. Up close, it’s like Hollywood with power rather than money. It’s not real pretty. (Don’t get me wrong, the city of Washington is one of the most gorgeous anywhere).
It taught me one very important thing. Never ever be a “party person”. My favorite uncle, was a retired Congressman (R-PA) who ran and won 3 terms. But something was changing in his party that didn’t sit quite well with him. So he switched to the other party and under a two-term President worked as his Secretary Of Mining Safety both terms.
But that was not the last straw that helped me make my decision to go Independent and study each candidate carefully; it merely “sealed the deal”.
One thing I do know about political parties. For America to be strong, we need a very strong two-party system. What we now have is a very very strong Democratic party, and 26% on the fringe with the leadership of the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre, or Romney, or someone. Who knows…and who really cares?
Today they (Finally) got what they wanted. To like little yappy dogs, nip at Hilary Clinton’s ankles. And that is exactly how it looked. A group of men with American popularity rating so low (26%) in a “gotcha”) battle with the most popular woman in the world. They had the usual suspect cheerleaders in the background; Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al all yelling “Go, baby go..you guys are winning the Super Bowl”.
Here’s the problem. Of course we know they weren’t winning anything and chances are the GOP’s (AKA “Guns Of Paradise”) ratings will drop another 5-10% in the polls after today’s circus. Why was it a circus? Because they did the predictable to make it a circus.
Today’s hearings should have been anything but political, yet that is all it was, lest the questions from Democrats which were basically fact-finding queries. America knows diplomacy is a dangerous game. We didn’t take Reagan’s team to task when we lost over 200 Marines in Saudi nor 47 diplomatic workers under GW Bush. We know this kind of thing happens, and we know diplomacy is dangerous. Very dangerous. We also know it is underfunded. In addition, we also know the democrats asked for more funding for it for embassy security, the GOP turned it down.
But let’s just say none of that is so. Let’s just say a political party with a popularity rank of 26% positive was to be on television at a hearing with the world’s most popular woman (who they all know were as much as fault as were the Reagan administration or GW Bush administration for our diplomatic and military losses then).
This would have been the perfect opportunity, had the GOP had decent leadership to huddle before the event and say, “Guys, we’re going to do the unpredictable. We know all the facts. We can play ‘trial by fire –gotcha’, or we can come in with an olive branch and use this event to turn our party around by doing the right thing……finding a solution with her, to keep this from happening again, even take some blame if we must for under-funding and promising never to under-fund our embassies again.”
Can you imagine what that would have done to the GOPs popularity rating? Dems, Independents and undecided would be standing in line to buy their GOP ticket. But Jane Austen knew “Pride And Prejudice” long before the rest of us did, and they couldn’t get past that. Once again, The predictable.
Why can’t they simply change? The NRA has convinced most of them our “socialist government” is coming for their guns. And they believe it. And they continue to send the NRA their hard-earned money. And of course this is all about “principles and absolutism..whatever in the world that means. I haven’t a clue. If someone will stop and look closely, the Obama administration wants what 70%+ of NRA membership wants. Background checks, remove extended magazines and closing loopholes for easy purchasing. I am a defender of the 2nd Amendment. I’m not for gun control. I’m for gun laws that work, and are enforced. Something tells me every time I turn on the news, those two elements are not in place. Common sense. Not socialistic, and a safer nation. Contrary to popular GOP belief, enforcing decent gun laws is no more socialistic than enforcing smart traffic laws.
So the GOP again looks at the Dems. “But they’re sinners. They are pro-choice and abortion is an abomination.” If it is any consolation, I don’t know anyone who is pro-abortion. In addition, Central America taught us that the pro-life movement has run its course. It doesn’t work. All the pro-life movement does is make itself wealthier. Central America has the highest abortion rates in the world. Abortion is illegal in every country but Uruguay. How does it happen? Any way a woman can, but more often than not using the ulcer drug Cytotec which is not safe in the least, and if the pregnancy turns into a birth, the chances of birth defects is very high. But its as common as aspirin in Central America and would be in America too (should abortion become illegal or impossible to procure).
So vote pro-life, you get about twice as many abortions….and extremely dangerous ones at that. Many won’t use Cyotec. They will use the old trusty coat-hanger that may (or may not kill her). In today’s safe clinical environment, the mortality rate of the pregnant woman is .06%, one of the safest medical procedures available. When/if it ever becomes illegal, the mortality rate will not only go up, so will the amount of abortions, by a great deal.
So Dems are not the ghoulish “party of death” that so many think. Most of us understand that pro-choice with a prudent mixture of contraception and family planning means less abortions. Millions less. It’s been proven over and over. But this is for the real world; not for people in an insane attempt to control women’s bodies. Those people have made up their “minds” anyway. They don’t care that this reduces abortions by millions, as long as they can hang on to their antiquated politics that needs dusting worse than a 150 year old boarded up saloon from the Old West.
But another blemish on the GOP is that Americans are not dumb. Where they are trying to outlaw abortion, they are also attempting to make contraception and family planning education nearly impossible. What in the world does that accomplish? That’s a rhetorical question. It is to control women’s bodies and it is very very sick and, of course, will backfire to a way lower than 26% positive rating (but I can guarantee it helped get the GOP to a rating that low). I predict the ranking will drop to about 12% before they decide to fold. A few stragglers might remain but I’d be very surprised. Just pray for intelligent leadership…..but don’t take that to the bank. They better be intelligent and have the ability to work fast.
And so it goes. The circle of hate in the GOP party taking them further and further closer to the abyss…. The Contemporary Museum Of Former Political Parties”. I wonder if they’ll build a monument to ol’ Wayne LaPierre in the front showing a pistol silencer to a child (out of love of course).
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Rick London is a freelance writer, author, cartoonist, and songwriter. He spends a great deal of time with his wife popular nature and wildlife photographer Lee Hiller-London. London founded Londons Times Offbeat Cartoons and funny gifts in 1997. Lee Hiller owns the popular online shopping shop LeeHillerDesigns.com.
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