A Sick and Broken Spirit
As I said in that video of mine that went viral, we are up against “a sick and broken spirit” in today’s Republican Party. What is most important in each issue that arises in our politics these days is to see and attack that dark spirit that the Republicans are expressing.
That spirit is visible behind their position on climate change, and on guns, and just about every other issue on our national agenda.
What’s important about climate change is not just the crucial issue of will we act responsibly to avert catastrophe, but also to perceive the grotesque Spirit behind this Republican Party –a Party that, during the election process just past, required its presidential candidates to assert to be false what science is declaring in a loud voice to be true.
What kind of party would not only allow, but insist upon, disagreement with 97% of the top scientists in the field who are sending our nation, and the world, an urgent message.
What kind of political party would endanger so much of our future in order to reap the political benefits of doing the bidding of the world’s richest corporations?
What kind of a spirit is it that would use a once-respectable political party to play Russian roulette with the lives of our children and grandchildren, and with the health of life on earth?
With the gun issue, we have the spirit expressing itself through a politics that deals in absolutes and spits on compromise and treats anyone who deviates from what they say as an enemy to be destroyed. The politics of the NRA are mean and they are dishonest. The NRA lies to make people afraid of phony threats to distract them from the real threat from the sick and broken spirit that’s working to degrade the lives of Americans and the soul of America.
The fight should be waged at a level deeper than just guns. It should be waged as a fight for the spirit of reasonableness, of mutual respect, and blessed are the peacemakers. The spirit of caring about the greater good.
The Republican Party, as a whole, has absolutely no soul now. They have sold their soul for power. Power at any price. Sold it to that power-hungry and destructive spirit. That spirit is what our political strategy should be designed to attack.
February 11th, 2013 at 1:47 pm
AS Andy says of the politics of the NRA, the GOP’s politics have been mean and nasty for decades. They are incredibly intellectually dishonest. For years, I taught my students that the ‘Rights’ values are misanthropy, misogny, willfull ignorance, racism, economic elitism, and military adventurism. These have killed and maimed many thousands of our fellow citizens and many, many more of the inhabitants of the world. Their support of nearly unregulated capitalism is destorying the environment for ourselves and our children, for the creatures of the air, land and sea.
This is indeed a spirit of death and destruction.
The attacks upon the poor, homeless, jobless and minority–i.e. the 47%
show the Republican’s true colors. Today’s conservatives, religious fundamentalists from all backgrounds are attacking not only our freedom, but the civilizations which truly nurture and respect our humanity and our God-given home, the Earth. These people must be opposed and defeated.
February 11th, 2013 at 4:01 pm
Kudo’s to Andy and Richard Randall, Major, USA, (ret.). One of the most disgusting signs of the type of party the Republicans have become was displayed for any to see at the debates where you had to raise your hand that you didn’t believe in the theory of evolution. They cheered the death of a man who couldn’t afford healthcare. They deny Climate Change and Geologic time. Even Rubio, recently implied that the time started very recently to appeal to that base voter and when exposed recanted. They adopted the University of Chicago Economic Model because it concentrated wealth in a few. We are living with the results of that wedlock although it has been imperfect. They still value power more and so can be deterred by the ballot box but only if the people speak loudly. Nice picture Andy associated with the soul or lack of sould of the Republican party.
It shows that they do not have values that cannot be bent to appeal to their base voter in their search for power.