Domestic Terrorism

Al Qaeda could learn something from the Republican Party: how to hold a country hostage. To the extent that the 9-11 terrorists failed to bring down our institutions, the far right seems intent to finish the job. It smells like subversion to me. Is their goal not to de-fund the government and shut it down? Any utterance of that obscene word, “taxes” warrants duct tape over one’s mouth. Over 200Congressmen have signed the blood oath.

Tea Party Libertarians led by Bachman and Palin, Tweedledum and Tweedledummer, are marching the country down the sinkhole. If Michelle Bachman gets on the Republican ticket a village in Minnesota will be missing an idiot.

The Democrats have almost given away the keys to the store. As David Brooks put it, “The Republicans already have the deal of the century.”…..and yet it isn’t enough. There is no enough until the clock is re-set to 1880. Welcome to the Gilded Age.

They have set the agenda or as we now say, the narrative. Even though polls show that job creation is the number one concern of Americans, this mindless minority of corporate puppets have created a scenario in which long-term deficit reduction takes precedent. The best prescription is just the opposite: a massive investment in infrastructure projects.The country would be better served if the Liberal media would get off Obama’s back and re-write an alternative narrative instead; one which reveals how our fiscal woes are a function of the Bush era abuses and can be reversed with public/private infusion of capital.

Strange how Conservatives didn’t give a hoot during the Dubya years when they ran up the numbers with un-funded wars, unregulated banks and unconscionable tax breaks for their clients.

If they succeed we shall be witness to a coup d’etat. Osama bin Laden’s work will have been done. Our credit will dry up, seniors and the disabled will be left to fend for themselves and interest rates and inflation will soar. Let it be.

My wish is for Obama to hold fast and let them play out their doomsday script. It would be a lesson in the essential role of government. Our president, whose instincts compel him toward reconciliation, needs to see that his opposition is all bluster and bloated rhetoric. When the Republicans bring their heavyweights into the ring Obama must not enter as a referee.

This is one of those teachable moments he talks about. In the poker game of Washington he must call their bluff, save Medicare and Social Security and insist on meaningful tax reform along with some budget trimming measures already in place. The surest way out of the deficit is the restoration of the economy. It is good politics, good governance and good sense.