Could we be a little less stupid, please?

by Rich Miles

America has gotten beyond the place of respectful disagreement. We have in our country an entire political party that regularly and robustly lies its ASS off to us all. I mean, we're not talking about people who see available facts, and interpret them differently from the opposition. We're talking about an entire group of people, roughly half of our populus, that simply has no regard whatever for the truth. And really, the worst thing about this fact is that there are a LOT of people - again, nearly half the people here, who either approve and subscribe to these lies, or are too fuckin' stupid to recognize that they're being lied to. And we call these congenital liars - wait for it - Republicans. I mean, my mom and dad taught me that lying was wrong. I bet yours did too. But somehow, it seems undeniable that Republican parents did NOT teach their kids that lying is wrong, or if they did teach it, it didn't take.

Because those who register as Republicans, or who call themselves so, simply do not care what they say, do not have the slightest regard for the veracity or lack thereof of what they say or write, and further, have no regard for the damage to individuals or the nation that their untrue utterances cause. It's really that simple, and there is no room for equivocation any longer.

Let me give you some examples. This is a list from an article I ran across this morning at this website: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cf8_1311352141

1. Republican Leaders Agree U.S. Default Would Be a "Financial Disaster"
2. Ronald Reagan Tripled the National Debt
3. George W. Bush Doubled the National Debt
4. Republicans Voted Seven Times to Raise Debt Ceiling for President Bush
5. Federal Taxes Are Now at a 60 Year Low
6. Bush Tax Cuts Didn't Pay for Themselves or Spur "Job Creators"
7. Ryan Budget Delivers Another Tax Cut Windfall for Wealthy
8. Ryan Budget Will Require Raising Debt Ceiling - Repeatedly
9. Tax Cuts Drive the Next Decade of Debt
10. $3 Trillion Tab for Unfunded Wars Remains Unpaid

Ya see, faithful reader, there are NO Republican fiscal conservatives currently in office on a Federal level. They are too busy shovelling billions and trillions of federal dollars (read "your money") into the pockets of their reactionary right-wing contributors to be fiscally conservative.

And that is indeed where the money goes - to wars (who gets the bulk of the money that's spent on wars?), and to exTREMEly expensive stuff that the government does actually need, but not at those prices!!. We're being financially raped, repeatedly, and the lying Republicans are perpetuating the violation. I mean sure, Democrats want to spend money too - but by and large, Democrats want to spend it on the American people, most specifically those who need help.

Do you realize that Reagan nearly tripled the national debt. And the two Bushes combined nearly tripled it again. Obama has increased the national debt by a definable percentage, but with the Stonewall Congress of Mitch McConnell, he has been unable to do it to anywhere near the degree of the other three.

And yet, the Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility!!

Ya see, Americans, this is just the most blatant example of how the Repubs get away with such lies: they simply say the opposite of the truth SO MANY TIMES, that the lie becomes so ingrained in our thinking that it becomes widely viewed as the truth.

And lots of our fellow citizens - and perhaps even YOU!!! - cooperate in this self-throat-cutting!

So I ask you: could we be a little less stupid about these matters? Not only this one, but this is a supremely important one. If we learn nothing else from Greece's pain these days, can't we learn that it is indeed possible for an ENTIRE COUNTRY to default on its debts. And as they used to say back in the old communist-scare movies in the 40's and 50's, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

And to me, and to all of us.

And the first thing we need to do to prevent it is just totally humiliate and remove the Republican party. And then the Tea-Partiers. And then after that, if the truth be told, we probably need to get rid of the Democrats as well, and start over with new political parties with clearer goals and ideologies.

And we need to make sure these new parties are not so run by money, and not so beholden to the monied interests that now own them all.

Good luck on that, sez I.

But we can try, can't we?  I mean, doesn't a little bit of hope still spring eternal?