You might remember Wurzelbacher from the 2008 presidential campaign when he was dubbed "Joe the Plumber." He became a favorite of Sarah Palin's and others trying to attach themselves to middle America, apple pie and the struggle of the working class versus the big, bad government.
I am not familiar enough with Wurzelbacher's campaign to comment extensively on his primary win last night. However, anyone standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Cain, and who is in the good graces of people like Palin, raises suspicions that the sappiest of Americans have once again gravitated towards the candidate with virtually no qualifications and perhaps a questionable IQ.
This was once a fairly heavy political blog. In recent months, the GOP presidential primary has made me all too aware of the fact that politics can be hazardous to my mental health -- particularly Republican politics, which now peddles nothing but absurd lies and champions the goal of turning back the clock on a whole host of social, scientific and educational topics. From Virginia, with its new abortion laws, to Ohio, with Joe the Plumber, what is the point in following this clown car around? If my fellow citizens are going to keep electing people who not only cling to their Bibles and guns but also embrace a false notion of what it means to be American, who are we bloggers to try to reason with them?
This is no longer my fight. I'll vote and give my opinion on occasion, but the political battle must now be waged by younger people, and by women and others who are losing their rights every time Republicans take over a state house or gain a majority in Congress. This is a fight for the unions, the teachers and doctors to take on with greater gusto than the Baby Boomers alone can muster. I don't have as much skin in the game as people who will still be around in 40 or 50 years or folks whose professions have been stripped to the bone by right-wing governors and misguided, union-busting legislation. So out of self preservation, my political comments here will probably be few and far between in the coming months. Yes, I know the prime political season is upon us, but trying to make sense of this theater of the absurd could land me in the insane asylum. Instead, I will write about other things -- subjects that don't make my blood boil with each keystroke -- because it is clear to me now that we are in a place in our history where we are no longer willing to listen to each other or have intelligent, let alone constructive, disagreements.
Where I see measured and smart progress under President Obama, others see something very different, very ugly that I simply can't understand, let alone agree with. Where I see self-serving, dark hearts in Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santorum, others see plain-speaking patriots. Rather than try to explain this Mars vs. Venus political contrast, I am choosing a different path for this blog, but not without a few more parting words. Maybe more than a few.
No matter who wins the GOP presidential primary, about half of Americans will vote for the Republican candidate in the general election. That means half the people walking around America support things like going to war with Iran, cutting off unemployment benefits and getting rid of health-care reform, even though most people don't truly understand the ramifications of any of those actions. It's astonishing to me that people can actually vote against policies and laws created to protect them and their loved ones, but that's where we are at now. We live in a partisan society so dumbed down by talk radio and entertainers posing as journalists, so drawn in by snake oil salesmen and bumper sticker merchants, that a guy like Mitt Romney can be a leading candidate for the White House. Despite years of fighting a fruitless war in Iraq started by another intellectually challenged and obscenely wealthy Republican, Americans right of center are once again showing signs of doubling down on hawkish and heartless stupidity.
I can't figure out Americans anymore. I can't make excuses for us to my friends from overseas. We have lost our way. I know it; the world knows it. Doesn't mean we can't reclaim our status, but it's going to be a heavy lift in the current political climate. Are we still better off than a lot of countries? Absolutely. Yet, the gap is closing. More and more Americans are retiring to foreign lands, partly for economic reasons, and partly because the quality of life here has been degraded in the last couple of decades. It's gotten that way because the political system seems to only work for one group now -- the ultra rich. For most everyone else, life has become a struggle to varying degrees.
Even if voters come to their senses and elect Obama in a landslide, 40-plus percent of the public will still favor what the privileged conservatives are peddling. The new brand of conservatism preaches that anyone who supports higher education is a "snob" and that forcing transvaginal ultrasounds upon women seeking abortions is a right of the state. And it doesn't stop there.
I used to think it was my civic duty to be an informed voter and to not just blindly punch the ballot next to an R or D. That was when politics was an arena for serious ideas from serious candidates. I bounced back and forth, from left to right, prioritizing whatever was important in any particular election year and voting for the best man or woman to address those concerns. Nowadays, however, the Republican party has moved into such an absurd, uninformed and manipulative territory on essentially every issue, that I can't even view it as a legitimate alternative to the Democratic Party. Everyone I vote for, by default, will now have to have a D in front of their names whether I like them or not. I don't care if it's an election for county dog catcher, I am voting Democrat because Republicans have forced me into that corner. I don't like not having choices, but such is the state of our political system and a party that used to be far more concerned about the middle class than it is now.
Regardless of how I prioritize what is important, the corrupt Republican Party has nothing left to offer me. Right across the board, from the economy to the environment, from energy and defense to the arts, the GOP doesn't have a progressive idea on its plate. Not a single thoughtful approach to solving problems or creating new, smart opportunities in a changing world. Time and time again, the Republicans answer is to move backwards, to put our clean air and water in jeopardy in order to earn a few extra bucks today (the Hell with tomorrow), to pad the portfolios of the the one percent, to use clever twists of words ("job creators" being one of the biggest hoaxes in recent years) to form trickle-down illusions that all too easily fool the people who long for opportunities or a return to America's prosperous past.
These Kool-Aid drinking "dittoheads" think a pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico will solve all our energy and employment problems. They never consider for a second what might happen to the economy if something seriously went wrong with that pipeline. They don't credit Democrats for wanting to take a careful approach to such a risky endeavor, for holding out for a better, safer deal. They want to plunge ahead, just like they did in attacking Iraq, without any discussion of consequences or honest studying of the evidence. They are the new Republicans -- completely ignorant of history, science and general facts -- and proud of it. These Republicans shoot first and ask questions later. They have short attention spans. They cut taxes on the wealthy and take on two wars, and then blame someone else for the national debt. They actually think the BP oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico had a happy ending. Remember, it wasn't the Republicans who forced BP into paying millions in damages. If the GOP had it's way, BP would have escaped with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, and people in that region would have been suffering more than they already have.
Yet, I am not sure Gulf residents appreciate the fact that it was Democrats who forced the big oil company to be accountable. There is such a short-sighted, right-wing mindset in that part of the country that people can't see who is actually on their side and who isn't. In the South, being conservative doesn't mean conserving the environment, unfortunately. Instead, conservatism now means preserving weak regulations and flawed thinking that are often detrimental to the folks who are actually fighting against the people who want to help them.
This is depressing stuff. None of these right-wing clowns should ever get a sniff of being in public office -- not with their current values and lack of vision. I can accept a small minority of mindless extremists living amongst us. However, this is no small minority that is backing lunatic after lunatic. In fact, most of the South and entire mid-section of the country, particularly rural areas where education isn't always a priority, is falling into the traps set by the right at an alarming rate.
I understand hard times and desperation. I've experienced both. I don't, however, get why people think fighting more wars and giving greater tax breaks to the wealthy are solutions to problems in their specific lives, especially when these policies have never worked before. What is the connection between invading Iran or cutting Social Security and helping a family make ends meet in Iowa? If you're unemployed in Virginia, does it help you in some way for your political leaders in Richmond to focus exclusively on taking away women's rights? Wouldn't it be better to elect people who are at least trying to unearth innovative ways to allow you to keep your home or create a climate that will help you find work instead of voting for politicians whose main agenda has to do with contraception?
Explain this to me, seriously. What is it that attracts you voters on the far right to politicians who have no intention of doing anything other than fighting social wars that were decided a very long time ago while today's problems go unattended? Why were some of you so high on Cain? Is it because he was a successful businessman and you think he can do for the country what he did for the pizza business? Is that the only qualification you require, because there are a lot of successful business people in America, and I don't consider many of them qualified to handle the wide range of issues a president needs to command. Or maybe you just liked Cain's style and inability to speak proper English. Perhaps some people want to feel intellectually on par with their leaders and don't require them to know much about international affairs or anything else.
Personally, I want my president to be far smarter and more articulate than I am. It gives me confidence in the president when he at least appears to be well versed on complicated and crucial issues. If he can craft his own speech, great. If he can actually read the words, even better. Am I just being a "snob" for expecting these things from the leader of the free world?
It's also reassuring that the guy with his hand on the button is a calm, measured person who doesn't think that negotiation is some sissy-like approach to dealing with dangerous countries, yet is also willing to take a well-calculated shot when the enemy is in his crosshairs. It is alarming to me to hear the GOP candidates talking about attacking Iran without a single intelligence fact about the situation at their disposal. It undermines the efforts our current president and the agencies responsible for making sure the Iranian situation doesn't spiral out of control. Yet, these candidates want us to believe they are wrapped in red, white and blue. Oh really? How many of them have had to go to Andrews Air Force Base and watch the caskets of fallen soldiers being carted away? Would they be so macho if their kids were in the line of fire?
These candidates are a joke and should be considered walking insults to anyone who truly cares about this country.
Why would anyone with a daughter, regardless of where they live, support comments and positions that come from the likes of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (the anti-abortion, invasive ultrasound guy) or Limbaugh (the radio talk show host who likes calling women sluts)? Still, these guys have their fans. McDonnell is said to be in contention for a vice presidential nod from whomever wins the GOP primary. Limbaugh, while losing sponsors after his latest tirade against women, doesn't appear to be losing his audience.
As I said earlier, following politics these days isn't what it used to be and could lead to feelings of utter despair if you are the kind of person who wants to believe we all live in a fair and just country, where our neighbors aren't eager to send our kids to war or take Medicare away from grandma. As voters, we should demand one thing of both parties -- that they work together for all Americans, not just lobbyists and the richest of the rich.
Unfortunately, the divide-conquer-and-deceive mentality is more in fashion nowadays than the collaborative, honest approach, which means nothing of any great significance will get done to improve most of our lives anytime soon.
Most likely there are people within your own family or on your own block who want to build massive walls along the border of Mexico, regardless of how much it costs, how bad it will be for the environment or how ineffective it will become (ladders and tunnels will easily defeat the wall). Dopey ideas rarely lead to positive results. Weak ideas are often appealing to those in search of a quick solution to a difficult problem. I have empathy for those who are negatively impacted by illegal immigration, but I have no tolerance for paying billions of dollars for some half-baked solution that is cartoonish in concept. Are we now incapable of coming up with a smarter solution than a massive wall? With all the technology available to us, a wall is the answer conservatives offer with such zeal and confidence? Should we also go back to horse and buggy in order to deal with rising gasoline prices?
The people in our personal lives who embrace these shallow ideas are most likely decent folks, I am sure, but they have taken the bait offered by not-so-decent politicians. The red meat that the right-wingers throw to our loved ones and other acquaintances is mighty tempting and doesn't require much thinking, but it is fill with false promises and plays to their emotions more than their minds. I am not sure it's worth losing friendships over modest political differences, but the more people move to the right, the more distant I feel from them because this is no longer just about politics.
There are people sharing office cubicles with you who think Cain, Palin and Joe the Plumber possess the intellectual chops to navigate us through complicated times. Some people actually consider the lack of intelligence and limited perspective in some politicians as an asset. Yup, in the modern Tea Party/Republican universe, being idiotic and reactionary scores you points with a large portion of the electorate. It's these people whom I steer clear of in my daily life as much as I can. There is no debating any of this with them. No matter what, they are going to support Sarah, Herman, Rick, and yes, even Joe. So whether I encounter these rabid, new conservatives at a party or in the office, my position is to avoid political discussions at all costs.
I can hear the drums beating already. "Run Joe, run ..." all the way to the White House. You know what, as absurd as that sounds, it's very possible it could happen. We could be looking at a President Joe the Plumber in 2016. Perhaps even worse, we could see President Santorum in 2012 if fair-minded but apathetic people don't vote because they think that Obama has the election in the bag. Look, as disappointing as Obama has been in being slow to address the economy and certain progressive causes, he's been a pretty good president so far, and the economy is getting better. He's worthy of a second term.
As bad as the current GOP crop of candidates is, don't rely on your neighbors, friends or family members to make the right choice in November. Get out and vote or else the whole country will begin operating like Virginia has since Republicans came into power this year.
In the meantime, I backing away from blogging about politics for a bit. I don't need to see or hear anything more from Republicans to know that I am no longer interested in whatever they have to sell. Watching the clown car is no longer entertaining to me.
