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Title: Apocalyptic GOP Is Dragging Us Into a Civil War
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URL Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic ... g-us-into-a-civil-war-20110907
Published: Oct 16, 2011
Author: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blo
Post Date: 2011-10-16 17:15:03 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 152
Comments: 12
Apocalyptic GOP Is Dragging Us Into a Civil War POSTED: September 7, 1:07 PM ET Comment 338 boehner mccarthy ryan cantor GOP SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images Had a friend send me this article from Truthout by former Republican staffer Mike Lofgren under the subject line, "Informative reading for tonight's Republican showcase." I'm probably late in seeing it, but Lofgren's piece raises fascinating and terrifying questions about the future of our political system and the increasing possibility that we are headed toward something like a civil war, or a constitutional crisis. Lofgren, in describing the reasons for his defection from the Republican party, describes a Republican camp that increasingly acts not like a traditional peacetime political organization, but more like an apocalyptic cult or one of the authoritarian movements from early 20th century European history. In particular, the insane decision to turn the once-routine procedure of raising the debt ceiling (Lofgren notes it was done 87 times since WWII) into a political crisis revealed that the GOP party mainstream had sunk to the level of terrorism – holding our economic system hostage in exchange for political concessions. This was a form of violence, and a serious escalation even from the days of George W. Bush, when the party was mostly limited in its willingness to use human beings as pawns in homicidal ploys for political power. Bush and Rove were willing to sacrifice Iraqi lives, and the lives of American servicemen, for oil and votes. But this current crew of Republicans shook canisters of kerosene over the entire American population and threatened to light a match if it didn't get what it wanted. As Lofgren notes, this was insurrectionary, revolutionary behavior. Only the massive scale of the gambit prevented it from being easily identified as terrorism and criminal blackmail. If in exchange for not defaulting on our debt Boehner, Hensarling, Cantor and the rest of them had asked for a billion dollars worth of gold bullion deposited in Swiss bank accounts, or the release of a dozen Baader-Meinhofs from German prisons, it could hardly have been much different from what they actually did. I think most Americans can agree that reducing the public debt is a goal we can all share – and in the old days of thirty or forty years ago, when congress operated on a more collegial model that involved members from opposing parties getting together on weekends to achieve reasonable compromises over golf and highballs, the Rs and Ds could have found a way to press forward with reasonable deficit reduction plans without pushing us all to the edge of a cliff. But for the new GOP, compromise of any kind defeats their central purpose, which is political totale krieg. This party's entire reason for being is conflict and aggression. There is no underlying patriotic instinct to find middle ground with the rest of us, because the party doesn't have a vision for society that includes anyone outside the tent. I've always been queasy about piling on against the Republicans because it's intellectually too easy; I also worry a lot that the habit pundits have of choosing sides and simply beating on the other party contributes to the extremist tone of the culture war. But the time is coming when we are all going to be forced to literally take sides in a political conflict far more serious and extreme than we're used to imagining. The situation is such a tinderbox now that all it will take is some prominent politician to openly acknowledge the fact of a cultural/civil war for the real craziness to begin. Reading Lofgren's piece, and a piece by John Judis of the New Republic, makes one realize that we came pretty close to real chaos in that debt ceiling debate. Had Obama invoked emergency powers to raise the debt limit unilaterally – and I think he had good reasons to do that – we might have had a revolt on our hands. Most people aren't thinking about this because we're so accustomed to thinking of America as a stable, conservative place where politics is not a life-or-death affair but more something that people like to argue about over dinner, as entertainment almost. But it's headed in another, more twisted direction. I'm beginning to wonder if this election season is going to be one none of us ever forget – a 1968 on crack. Anyway, I hope I'm wrong, and I hope everyone reads this Lofgren piece, which is a rare piece of insider insight.
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#1. To: tom007 (#0)
And Ted Bundy murdered 30 times since 1974 . It was routine. Routine is good, right? A routine has to be good for it to be made into a routine. Jumpin' jesus christ how is raising the debt ceiling good? It's the main reason we are in this mess. It caught up to us and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it.
Elsewhere in Iraq, a Christian exodus was already well underway. Hooray for Western Democracy (Re: Kleptocratic terror). What a dangerous ideology - a proven failure. One buffer state is being removed at a time. First Ba'athist Iraq, a workable bullwark against the greater Middle East is removed and handed to Iran. Then the alienation of Turkey is enforced at the behest of Israel. Then Libya, another buffer state, thrown to people so shady that even their African neighbours are sweating. I'm sure Italy and Greece will be thankful of their inadvertantly sucking Islamic influence closer to Europe. Al Qaeda and/or Al-Qaeda like elements are now establishing a foothold in Northern Africa - where are the center-right conservatards who beat their chest over ousting Gadaffi? Where is the center-left who gushed over 'Human rights'? These morons will believe anything they're told, and thinking they're right, they will enable psychos armed with atomic weapons to run amok. Just how long before Hormuz is shut down and radiation plumes arrive, God knows where, because of an attack on Iran? Arab Spring is Christian Nightmare, democrats silent.....
Exactly how much oil did we get out of Iraq anyhow? Last I heard it was zero.
A people unwilling to use force, once diplomatic efforts have been exhausted, in order to preserve or obtain their liberty deserves the tyrants that rule over them.
hey mirage! good to see you again. how have you been?
Busy, busy busy ... :) A people unwilling to use force, once diplomatic efforts have been exhausted, in order to preserve or obtain their liberty deserves the tyrants that rule over them.
good busy?
Well I wasn't there, but I heard of the giant oil meters at a main refinery being "broken" for several years and billions of $ of oil slipped into the eather. Who got it I don't know, but George and Dick do come to mind. In the unlikely event that Republicans ever gain power again you'll notice that they'll have no objection to a PUB PREZ raising the debt ceiling.
The goal was to stop Saddam from selling oil in exchange for "unapproved currencies" and to protect the petrodollar monopoly. That they did.
It is probably all going to Israel through the probably now repaired Haifa pipeline. From 8/25/03: www.haaretz.com/print-edi...-haifa-via-jordan-1.98134 SolvoSermo.Com Free speech Video Hosting
Yeah. Good one Rolling Stone.
VERY good busy. Life-changing events going on. The kinds of things that you would cheer. I'll PM when its all over and done with. A people unwilling to use force, once diplomatic efforts have been exhausted, in order to preserve or obtain their liberty deserves the tyrants that rule over them.
In particular, the insane decision to turn the once-routine procedure of raising the debt ceiling (Lofgren notes it was done 87 times since WWII)
#2. To: tom007 (#0)
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#3. To: tom007 (#0)
Bush and Rove were willing to sacrifice Iraqi lives, and the lives of American servicemen, for oil and votes.
#4. To: mirage (#3)
#5. To: christine (#4)
how have you been?
#6. To: mirage (#5)
#7. To: mirage (#3)
Exactly how much oil did we get out of Iraq anyhow? Last I heard it was zero.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" 
#8. To: PSUSA2 (#1)
Jumpin' jesus christ how is raising the debt ceiling good? It's the main reason we are in this mess. It caught up to us and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it.
#9. To: mirage (#3)
Exactly how much oil did we get out of Iraq anyhow? Last I heard it was zero.
#10. To: mirage (#3)
"[Ron Paul is] the only one who understands our problems. For the rest of them, it’s like a geography bee — name the country, and they want to fight them,” - Jason Nunn
#11. To: tom007 (#0)
In particular, the insane decision to turn the once-routine procedure of raising the debt ceiling (Lofgren notes it was done 87 times since WWII) into a political crisis revealed that the GOP party mainstream had sunk to the level of terrorism – holding our economic system hostage in exchange for political concessions.
#12. To: christine (#6)
good busy?
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