Friday, September 7, 2012

COLUMN: THE REPUBLICAN CONFECTION by John P. Flannery

Eastwood Unplugged

We’ve grown numb to the unworthy process of cage fighting pols busting each other with unsubstantiated slanders and impossible policy claims.

Romney’s campaign team has just finished regaling us with their “vision” of America as seen from Tampa, Florida. 

Congressman Paul Ryan, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, charged that a sensational factory closing in his home town, Janesville, Wisconsin, arose because of Barack Obama’s failed promise to keep it open; in truth, GM announced the closing in June 2008 because of sagging SUV sales while Bush was President.  

Ryan charged that S&P downgraded U.S. debt because of Obama when it was the Republicans in Congress including budget maven Ryan who refused to raise the debt ceiling until the last minute.
Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice claimed street cred’ for international neophytes Romney and Ryan.  She overlooked the war in Afghanistan.  No doubt that was because President Obama’s administration found and killed Osama Bin Laden when Bush and Rice could not find him or the chimerical weapons of mass destruction they posited as the reason to invade Iraq.

Romney needed an assist on his foreign policy acumen given how he botched what should have been no more complicated than a walk in Hyde park.  Romney dissed his Olympic hosts in Great Britain and couldn’t keep secret he had also met with British military intelligence.  In Israel, he eagerly signed onto Netanyahu’s forced march to Teheran, apparently relinquishing America’s prerogative to refuse another preemptive war.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christy, a bombastic blow bag, warmed to a litany of his own “accomplishments,” but could hardly bring himself to mention Romney, the presidential nominee.
Ann Romney talked about her husband, the nominee, because we don’t see him the way she does.   

And we still don’t see him that way. 

Frankly, who cares if Mitt is charming if he can persuade us that he’d make a make a difference for the better.     

Romney tells older American they won’t lose their social security, just the younger adults who fund their retirement, suggesting the Romney social security system is not so secure.

Romney tells the sick they should have planned better and must learn how to take care of themselves -- even though presidents, senators and congressmen don’t.

It’s hard to believe Romney’s policies will add a single job when he’s for firing public employees including teachers, refusing unemployment insurance, rejecting public job training, and resisting public works projects that would repair our declining national infrastructure and put men and women to work.

Romney repeats the cant that by collecting less taxes from the filthy rich, they’ll create the jobs they failed to create when Bush gave them an earlier tax holiday.

There is an abiding selfishness in the Republican platform disfavoring the middle class

By contrast, Democrats believe we are in this together to help each other.

Pope Leo believed that the role of the State was to promote social justice through the protection of rights.  The modern Republican party denies any such responsibility.

Pope Leo insisted workers have bargaining rights to defend against unbridled capitalism.  The Republican party doesn’t see it that way.

Leo said, “If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice.”  In this recession, we have seen families with jobs that paid less and suffered indignities by employers who knew their workers had few, if any, alternatives.

The current Republican Party compromises the working man and woman for their business’ bottom line.

We’ll do better with President Barack Obama.

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