Today's Republicans Make Me Ill

They really are a messed up bunch. Lying sacks of shit, the entire lot. No matter how much I might say that there is an occasional one who might be worth something, the way the Republicans in Congress are acting is despicable and absolutely against what is best for this country. And beyond that, you have the lying liars not even trying to hide that they are liars. You have that vile John Boner, er, I mean Boehner, with his unadulterated two-facedness talking about the deficit build-up under Obama when he never made a peep about it under Bush. And then there's John McCain, who we know has gone to the Land of the Lost ever since he selected that loony tune from Alaska as his running mate, talking about how unit cohesion will be lost if Don't Ask Don't Tell is repealed, the very day that the head of the military - both heads, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - testified before Congress that it was a wrong-headed policy and beneath the military to continue with it. And there are so many more examples in the Republican political establishment: Sarah Palin (what kind of a mother would dangle that poor child around like that?), Eric Cantor...well, there's too many of them to count. And then there is the Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Kristol crowd, who will coo the party line when the truth, which is nearly always opposite of what they spout, is self-evident. It is bad enough that the politicians and the pundits on the right are nuts. There is a new survey that shows that the voters on the right are just as insane. It's referenced by a short post by Bruce Bartlett at Capital Gains and Games here:

http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/bruce-bartlett/1467/why-i-am-not-republican

Here are the questions and the responses. Remember, these poll questions were asked of 2,003 self-identified Republicans nationwide:


Now don't forget, this is the party that is against repealing DADT. Sure, there are some of the other party who also oppose repeal and there are some in the Republican party that want repeal. I couldn't name any of these people off the top of my head. But keep in mind that the people who do not want gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces of this country are standing with the following countries who also disallow homosexuals from serving in their armed forces:

Cuba
China
Egypt
Greece
Iran
Jamaica
North Korea
Pakistan
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Singapore
South Korea
Syria
Turkey
Venezuela
Yemen
United States – Don't ask, don't tell

An interesting list, yes? As a whole, I'm thinking most of us as Americans do not want to be thought of in the same breath as a lot of these countries. This is likely an incomplete list, too. Just as the list of countries that do allow gays and lesbians to serve openly is likely incomplete. That list would be:

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bermuda
Brazil
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Lithuania
Luxembourg
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Romania
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Uruguay

This is just a rant, but I think the comparison is obvious: do we as a nation really want to follow the path of these wing-nuts? Do we really want to side with countries like Cuba, China, Iran and Yemen? We know from a previous post of mine that we're right up there - or, rather, down there, actually - with countries like the Czech Republic, Hungary and Mexico life expectancy versus the total dollars per person spent on healthcare in this country. How proud the right must be pushing back and fighting a change that is so sorely needed. It's a first step people; nobody said that the first attempt at bringing needed reform would be the end of it all.

I think there is absolutely no likelihood of any consensus with this Party of No. How could there be when their sensibilities on questions like those above are so wrong?