cracking wise
Let's get drunk and fight.
What's the Conservative Equivalent of 'Moving to Canada'?
In truth, there aren’t many places where upset Republicans could go without giving something else up. Chile got some love from Herman Cain early in the Republican primary for its privatized pension system, which appealed to fiscal conservatives until they realized the “Chilean model” is built on an individual mandate not unlike the one propping up Obamacare. It also doesn’t help that Chile’s president last year floated the idea of recognizing same-sex civil unions…
Singapore — or Hong Kong, which ranks first on the Heritage Foundation’s index of economic freedom — could be an alternative, at least for members of the 1 percent…But for the Tea Party’s more libertarian wing, Singapore would be a no-go: It has a public health-care system and a relatively restrictive government…
The lack of an obvious post-electoral-defeat “Conservative Canada” may stem just as much from principle as from practicality…Republicans tend to talk about American exceptionalism as though it were an absolute, intrinsic characteristic. If disaffected members of the GOP were to say they’re giving up on America, they’d undermine the notion that only in the United States can you find the peculiar mix of personal liberty, religiousness, and faith in free markets that makes it the greatest country on earth. If you’ve already accepted that premise, then there’s naturally no other place on the planet you’d rather be — even under President Obama.
They should move to Ireland. For one, abortion is illegal there, as evidenced by the recent death of Savita Halappanavar. See also:
"Well the correct answer is: [Barack Obama] is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no—that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven year old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"
(Source: cognitivedissonance, via cocknbull)
Abortion Tactics and Conflicted Moral Ambivalence
If the Republicans had wanted to prevent abortions, they would have…
- Funded a thorough and mandatory sex education initiative from the earliest grades in all schools and combined it with the distribution of free contraceptives in all high schools, public and private (religious schools included)
- Legislated generous family leave for both mothers and fathers
- Provided federally funded day care as a national priority
- Expanded adoption services, including encouraging gay parents to adopt children, and they would have encouraged gay couples to marry and adopt
- Provided a generous tax incentive to have children and direct financial assistance and educational opportunities for all families, including single parents
- Raised taxes to pay for these programs
- Never have equated stem cell research with abortion, much less with murder, thereby making the anti-abortion position patently ridiculous
- Above all, they would have addressed the injustice of the growing gap between the superrich and everyone else and fought to raise the living standards of poor people. (Forty percent of all women seeking abortion live on $10,000 a year or less.)
The stubborn refusal to face a new world is why conservatism is inherently stupid to me.
If you ask me, the real winner of tonight’s debate is Ronald Reagan.
The Tea Party forced the Republican Party’s hand during the recent debt negotiations, commanding them to be rigid and inflexible in their dealings with President Obama over the debt ceiling. It got to the point where conservative radio talk show host and Tea Party mouthpiece Mark Levin even called a debt plan, reached by Republicans and announced by Speaker John Boehner, a “scam,” urging his listeners to call and condemn GOP members of Congress that supported the agreement.
And now, we’re suffering the consequences: a 600-plus-point drop in U.S. markets (that have recovered, somewhat, today); world markets roiled; America’s credit rating downgraded; and just about every single American citizen set to feel the pinch in the form of higher interest rates, tougher credit requirements, and higher prices for any and all consumer goods, from milk to cars and everything in between. (The “job creator” rich, of course, will be immune from these effects, since — thanks to the Tea Party — they got to keep their tax cuts.)
All because the Tea Party didn’t want to compromise? All because spineless Republican leaders like John Boehner and Eric Cantor didn’t want to lose their jobs by standing up to these bullies?
This is why we’re in a world of shit right now?
Conservative talking-point generators like Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh will run headlines like “Barackalypse” and talk up blame for the current economic crisis on “Democrat-run Washington” while completely ignoring the Tea Party’s role in leading us to this sad point in our nation’s history.
The Tea Party claims to have America’s best interests at heart. But really, they’d rather drive a stake through it. In the name of what, exactly? Fewer taxes? Less government regulation? We’re not even sure anymore exactly what it is the Tea Party wants, other than to get Obama out of office — and if the country gets destroyed in their wake, then so be it. That is just fucking insane.
Tea party’s over, folks.
(via ipomoeaj)
