Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A Method to Republican 'Madness'

By Robert Parry
March 31, 2010

Washington’s conventional wisdom for explaining the intensity of Republican obstructionism toward President Barack Obama breaks down one of two ways: either it’s a philosophical disagreement over the role of government or a desperate need to stay in line with a radicalized right-wing base.

Read on.
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14 comments:

Tao Dao Man said...

This is mostly about power. They were great at creative destruction. But they do not want to rebuild their own failures.

Wed Mar 31, 02:36:00 PM 2010
Unknown said...

The Republicans are just losers. Let them TRY to repeal healthcare, I DARE them to try. They'll never get a supermajority in the house and senate so Barrack will simply veto ever move they make toward repeal. The Republicans can't stand the fact that middle class and poor Americans are now covered by health insurance. Every step they make is designed to hurt the middle class and the poor.

Thu Apr 01, 01:03:00 AM 2010
casey said...

Hello Robert Parry,

I enjoy your writing wherever I find it. On the article "A Method to Republican Madness" I believe that we have passed the point of keeping/saving the Republic. The people who warned us of loosing it were prescient/prophetic. We are similar to the Roman Empire in its decline but not yet reached the fall/destruction. At the present time we can tinker around the edges but not make any change of significance. As you can tell I have a very negative point of view but it has been long time coming but before it arrived I had the feeling that things were not going well for us as a country.

Thu Apr 01, 07:09:00 AM 2010
Margherite said...

Hopefully, the Republican strategists have overplayed their hand this time. The hateful element of racism is new, since they couldn't employ it against previous Democratic presidents. Now they have a double-edged sword in hate-mongering both Obama's heritage and the Latino emigration, legal and illegal. Surely, they must fall upon it.

Thu Apr 01, 08:47:00 AM 2010
Anonymous said...

The saddest thing is not that the right is doing this, but that the spineless American "left" does nothing to stop it.

If any of you had even one ounce of backbone, you'd be meeting tea party armed thugs with armed protests of your own. You'd be meeting militias with militias of your own, and bombers like McVeigh with bombers of your own.

Until you do this, you DESERVE to lose, and I, as a Revolutionary Socialist, will stop laughing only long enough to say I told you so.

Fri Apr 02, 01:20:00 AM 2010
jerryt said...

Mr Parry,
You've shown us the problem, what is the solution? Far Left liberals are vocally contemptuous of the Obama administration's seeming play into the hands of the Right, as you've described. The administration, rather than choosing to harness the outrage of the left sends Rahm Emanuel to beat them down. Rahm, the ineffectual attack dog doesn't seem to be able to control politicians in his own party and is not respected by those on the far Left. Is this really Obama's answer to the problem or is he really "playing Chess while we children play Checkers" as we're told? I fear the Left is right.

Fri Apr 02, 11:04:00 PM 2010
eileenleft said...

to jerryt: I think that Rahm has been made into a straw man- courtesy of the the RW media. I would question any negative press about him - At any rate, with his experience in the Clinton administration he has plenty of experience with the RW noise machine. It is just a lot louder than it was in the ninties, but still the same players. It remains to be seen if the President can navigate the complex obstacles discussed in this post. I plan to do whatever I can to help in the mean time. But it is clear that the stakes could not be higher this time around. Everything makes sense to me now....it is good to read something that so consisely puts it all together. Thanks for the post. I am glad to discover this site.

Sat Apr 03, 10:04:00 PM 2010
Twodogswalking said...

This apparent historical method of underhanded power sharing between the Rep's and Dem's described in "A Method..." makes a mockery of our two-party system. And while it seems plain to see in practice, it would seem that Obama, or Axelrod, knowing this also, could use this Republican "Madness Method" as a political campaign to call out the hypocracy and destructive intent of the Republicans, by demonstrating the cost in human lives, money, and time wasted for the public good across the history of Democratic presidents. Likewise, a real Tea Party, or a Third Party, could demonstrate legitimacy by calling out both the Dem's and Rep's. There's obviously a game being played here at the public's expense, and a nonpartisan "truth in governing commission" should examine all the hoary details.

Sun Apr 04, 03:03:00 PM 2010
Steve Brant said...

Impressive analysis. I will repost it to my lists.

This is, to me, the "abusive husband / battered wife relationship" taken to the ultimate level. Even when the battered wife (Democrats) regain control of her life (governing the country), the husband (Republican) denies that her having that power has any validity... .and never stops demanding that she "come home and be with him".

Her solution would be to divorce her husband. But the Democrats are stuck in a permanent "marriage" to the Republicans.

The only difference.. Isn't it treason to intentionally sabotage the workings of the American political system???

It sure is interesting to see how all that dysfunctional, abusive family stuff in the lives of so many Republicans (think about Gingrich asking his wife for a divorce when she was in the hospital, on her death bed I think) come in handy in their work

Mon Apr 05, 05:30:00 PM 2010
Anonymous said...

Robert Perry is absolutely right in his thesis of Republican Sabotage. It was obvious they were laying the economic minefields and IEDs as they left the Halls of Power.

The economy began to collapse under Bush and imploded after President Obama's inauguration. He faced a no-win quagmire on every front, Afghanistan especially. These were no inept accident.

Then adding insult to injury, the media-propagandists blamed it on Democrats ---- who were too stupid and naive to see what was happening, and are still too "nice" to respond, assigning responsibility where it belongs.

Arrrrrrgh, when will folks wake up, this is war upon the people.

Mon Apr 05, 09:25:00 PM 2010
Unknown said...

God, I just hope that Sarah Palin is the ReFlublican nominee. I just love watching her lose and the right squirming with their racist fears. Thanks Barack! Now keep going!

Tue Apr 06, 03:38:00 PM 2010
Bill from Saginaw said...

I like Robert Parry's thesis about the GOP using an "inside out" strategy when the Republicans are not in formal control of the federal government: sabotage the ability of the other major national party (the Democrats) to ever effectively govern through a combination of hard ball obstructionism from within, and extreme right wing agitation of the grassroots in the mainstream media and in the streets, fomenting social unrest even to the point of violence. Over time, this tenacious whipsaw tactic eventually turns enough of Main Street against the Dems to enable the GOP to recycle back into power.

The dynamic works because corporate economic power remains a solid fixture of the Republican base. If the federal government is weak and ineffectual, the big boys win by default. When the electoral cycle swings back in the GOP's direction, the big boys win even bigger.

Unless a true multi-party political system arose (which I find unlikely to happen in the United States), the only way I can see to break the pattern is for the Democrats to very deliberately broaden their party base - bringing in and sharing power with disenfranchised segments of the population who want effective government that works to enhance the quality of American life. Unfortunately, rather than making such a fundamental comittment, most of the leadership of the Democratic Party inside the DC beltway would prefer to keep play acting out a good cop/bad cop triangulation routine and let the revolving doors of power keep revolving.

Thus, the technique is rewarded and the system drearily self-perpetuates .

Bill from Saginaw

Tue Apr 06, 04:12:00 PM 2010
Anonymous said...

After reading this, all I can say is "why bother?" All this does is tell me that the progressives have no chance to do what needs to be done. Americans are too busy and/or sorely lacking in critical thinking skills to know what is really going on. They are spoon fed the Fox Lies 24/7. I just don't see how we can compete against them.

Wed Apr 07, 03:25:00 PM 2010
Unknown said...

To the Anonymous poster who asked "why bother?" I would like to remind you that 1. Not everyone watches FOX (faux) news 2. Americans are NOT sorely lacking in critical thinking skills to know what is really going on. 3. When you say "I just don't see how we can compete against them." you basically quit, and accept defeat, which is not only a pitiful position, but just plain wrong. The people that put Barack Obama in power are watching and we will rally, when needed, to keep our hard-fought gains. To quit now, in the face of rudderless Republican mayhem and chaos would be very shortsighted.

Wed Apr 07, 03:48:00 PM 2010

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