Over the years I've written how wrong the Republicans have been when it comes to the big picture. During the 1980s they were so paranoid about the omnipotent Soviet threat that they dismissed signals that the center of the communist empire was collapsing. They claimed that the Soviets were cooking the books so the "weaknesses" we saw were really a ruse designed to catch us off guard.
Republican hawks called for more defense spending so we could stand up to Russia's evil empire, right up to the time when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Oops.
Then we had the arrival of the Bush administration in 2001. Many forget they were so focused on the Russian-Eastern European-China threat that they wanted to unilaterally dispense with the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty. They wanted to make the hugely expensive - and ridiculously impractical - missile defense system (let's call it "Star Wars II") the center piece of their administration's defense program.
Worse, the Bush administration ignored outgoing President Clinton's warnings on the growing terrorist threat, and busted anti-terrorist Czar Richard Clarke down to a sub-cabinet level position. This helped muffle Clarke's summer 2001 warnings about an imminent terrorist act on U.S. soil.
It also explains why Clarke's urgent call for all top officials to cancel their summer 2001 vacation plans was effectively ignored. Then 9/11 happened.
Oops, again.
Then we have the Bush administrations claim that Iraq had a WMD program ... and that Saddam Hussein was in bed with al Qaeda.
Sigh.
The point is that - at least since Dwight Eisenhower left the White House - the GOP has had a long history of getting the world wrong. And these aren't just little strategic errors, or simple ideological disputes on the margins. These are huge policy mistakes that suggest either analytical incompetence or ideological delusion - or both.
This helps to explain the foreign policy results that we all have to live with today:
But wait. It gets better (worse?).
GETTING IT WRONG ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT TOO
Back in April Rolling Stone magazine came out with this piece - "Six Studies that Show Everything Republicans Believe is Wrong." The article is well documented and makes it clear the GOP's domestic talking points, and their policy positions, are really based on a pack of lies. The article goes through 6 issue areas:
And let's not forget the GOP's Reagan-inspired claim that lowering taxes on the rich would reduce annual deficits, which would bring down our national debt. We all know how that worked out.
The reality is Republicans come up with ideas that make sense to them, but don't care to look at the policy results. More to the point, they don't do the math.
Then again, what more can you expect from a party that actually presented a budget with no numbers?
From getting caught off guard when the cold war ended in 1989, to pursuing a reckless war of choice, to erasing budget surpluses and collapsing the American economy, it's clear that the GOP has been getting the world wrong for quite some time now.
It's baffling that anyone still listens to the GOP.
- Mark
 |
| Soviet Union miliary parade in Red Square, at the height of the cold war. |
Republican hawks called for more defense spending so we could stand up to Russia's evil empire, right up to the time when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Oops.
Then we had the arrival of the Bush administration in 2001. Many forget they were so focused on the Russian-Eastern European-China threat that they wanted to unilaterally dispense with the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty. They wanted to make the hugely expensive - and ridiculously impractical - missile defense system (let's call it "Star Wars II") the center piece of their administration's defense program.
 |
| Strategic Defense Initiative ... Space based laser for intercepting ballistic missiles. |
Worse, the Bush administration ignored outgoing President Clinton's warnings on the growing terrorist threat, and busted anti-terrorist Czar Richard Clarke down to a sub-cabinet level position. This helped muffle Clarke's summer 2001 warnings about an imminent terrorist act on U.S. soil.
It also explains why Clarke's urgent call for all top officials to cancel their summer 2001 vacation plans was effectively ignored. Then 9/11 happened.
Oops, again.
Then we have the Bush administrations claim that Iraq had a WMD program ... and that Saddam Hussein was in bed with al Qaeda.
Sigh.
The point is that - at least since Dwight Eisenhower left the White House - the GOP has had a long history of getting the world wrong. And these aren't just little strategic errors, or simple ideological disputes on the margins. These are huge policy mistakes that suggest either analytical incompetence or ideological delusion - or both.
This helps to explain the foreign policy results that we all have to live with today:
But wait. It gets better (worse?).
GETTING IT WRONG ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT TOO
Back in April Rolling Stone magazine came out with this piece - "Six Studies that Show Everything Republicans Believe is Wrong." The article is well documented and makes it clear the GOP's domestic talking points, and their policy positions, are really based on a pack of lies. The article goes through 6 issue areas:
1. Minimum wage hikes will kill jobs? Studies make it clear this is flat wrong.
2. The Stimulus didn't work? This claim only works if you don't understand economics, or the scientific method (as I discuss here).
3. Raising taxes on the rich hurts the economy? The history on this makes this claim almost embarrassing. Check that. It is embarrassing.
4. Human activity has nothing to do with global warming and climate change? This is a flat earthers wet dream. The only reason this is an issue is because so many Republicans don't embrace (understand?) science.
5. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is not working? Check the numbers. Obamacare is working, on all levels.
6. The rich have earned everything they have while the rest of us peasants are too lazy to deserve anything more than what we have? This pseudo-Darwinistic interpretation of the world is actually quite sad (because so many want to believe it's true). Those who believe this claim have a wealth fetish built around a naive belief in free market myths.
And let's not forget the GOP's Reagan-inspired claim that lowering taxes on the rich would reduce annual deficits, which would bring down our national debt. We all know how that worked out.
The reality is Republicans come up with ideas that make sense to them, but don't care to look at the policy results. More to the point, they don't do the math.
Then again, what more can you expect from a party that actually presented a budget with no numbers?
From getting caught off guard when the cold war ended in 1989, to pursuing a reckless war of choice, to erasing budget surpluses and collapsing the American economy, it's clear that the GOP has been getting the world wrong for quite some time now.
It's baffling that anyone still listens to the GOP.
- Mark
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