The Party of “No!”

January 19, 2010 – by Gregory Franklyn

Rudy Giuliani

“In an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Former New York Mayor and Republican Presidential Candidate Rudy Giuliani said, “We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We’ve had one under Obama.” This, the Old Media claims, is an example of Rudy “somehow” forgetting that 9/11 occurred.” (News By Us January 17, 2010)

I’ve done a lot of public speaking in my time and I can attest that there are times when you accidentally let something slip out that you didn’t intend. Rudy Giuliani’s nickname in political circles is “Mayor 9/11” for crying out loud. He didn’t forget that the 9/11 attacks occurred on the Bush Regime’s watch. I could easily see this Giuliani quote as one of those moments when his mouth simply got a sentence ahead of his brain. It happens!

I could believe it was a slip of the tongue if not for watching news programs from a number of outlets during that same week. Liz Chaney insinuated as much that Sunday Morning on another talk show. Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Dearth Chaney, the tall skinny Fox Views & Friends guy and a few others all made similar comments while discussing the failed Underwear Bomber attack on Christmas Day. Given the chorus of other conservative voices parroting, essentially, the same line, I’m not so sure it was a slip of the tongue. It looks a lot like a talking point from the RNC now!

All of these Conservative Republicans blame the Obama Administration’s policy on terror for this failed attack, while at the same time, glossing over the most horrific, SUCCESSFUL, terrorist attack on the United States that has ever happened. They complain that Obama is inviting terrorist attacks by not following the Bush Regime’s “Shoot First and ask questions later” approach to keeping our country safe. They fail to realize that the very presence of Barack Obama in the White House and his policy of including diplomacy in our arsenal of weapons against terrorism has reduced the threat of attacks at the source. Not eliminated, mind you, but reduced! People who want us dead are not quite as pissed off at Obama as they were at Bush. That’s a fact!

All of these conservative folks blaming the Obama White House for the failed Underwear Bomber attack conveniently forgot that an identical attack, the Shoe Bomber, was thwarted in the exact same way under the Bush Regime! They also forgot about the Anthrax Attack, the smuggling of explosives at the Canadian Border and the Shampoo Bomber. There were others, but I trust you get my point. The record for the most terrorist attacks both foreign and domestic against the United States is still held by the Bush Regime by quite a wide margin. I believe it has a lot to do with the Bush Regime’s response to terror. Which was to be terrified and to act out of terror!

These criticisms of President Obama aren’t about their belief that our President doesn’t care about the safety of Americans. They know he does! The criticisms coming from the Right are about Barack Obama being the President of the United States, they are about confronting terror without fear and insanity, they are about conservative disagreement with the idea that diplomacy is an effective weapon and should play a starring role in our foreign policy. It is also, at least in part, about the posibility that Barack Obama’s approach to fighting terrorism just might work.

Conservative Republicans disagree with the concept of a government that works. When in power, they remind me of the scientist who backs a lab rat into a corner and pokes a stick at it until it attacks the stick and then writes in his notes, “Rats are Violent”. They WANT government to fail and dedicate a great deal of political action, rhetoric and votes to insure that it does, because a failed government proves a central point of conservatism. “Big Government cannot solve our problems, Big Government IS the problem!”

A perfect example of what I mean is the yearlong circus we’ve just endured about Health Care Reform. Conservative Republicans have a vested interest in the failure of health care reform because if our health care system is reformed to the point where it works, a central philosophy of conservatism will be proven faulty. Towards that end, Conservatives in both parties have been able to include amendments and remove components that are all carefully designed to prevent it from achieving any of its intended goals! And when it comes to a final vote, Republicans will all, every last one, vote against it because they’ve trashed it so badly that it can’t reform anything.

A reformed health care system that includes a public option strikes at the very jugular vein of conservatism. Publicly funded health care works. There are 36 other countries in the world, Medicare, Medicaid and the Veteran’s Administration that all serve as living examples of the fact that it works! If they allow a publicly funded health care option to work, conservatives are faced with living breathing proof that a core principle of conservatism has no foundation. Given that no one in the Republican Party or the Conservative movement has been able to come up with a better idea to reform health care their only remaining option is to be the party of “NO!”

Much Love,
Gregory