Making Us Proud to Be Americans

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Republicans have a way of making Americans look…well, stupid.  You know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, show me an informed and intelligent Republican and I’ll show you a liar.  It is difficult to see it any other way.  Facts and reality mean nothing to them.  Experts are ignored.  Seriously, I mean who has time for people like scientists and economists, right?

Two quick points then I have to go and lose money in a poker game.

First, the quality of leadership in the GOP clearly is in decline.  Even Republicans have a tough time supporting this round of  GOP presidential candidates.  Republicans are beholden to myth and superstition.  They answer to a political dogma that is illogical as much as it is against decades of progress in this country.  You might call them the real anti-Americans.

But second — and more importantly — these knuckleheads are supported by millions of American citizens living with the consequences of their political backwardness.  This is called cognitive dissonance, a fancy way to say stupidity.  Voting against your own best interest doesn’t seem all that wise, does it?

Take Herman Cain, for example.  He supports a tax plan that will raise taxes on almost everyone who is likely to vote for him if he is given the chance to stand as the GOP candidate for president.  The irony here exists at several levels.  Crazy contradictions in rhetoric and action.  Republicans claim to oppose tax increases, but even as Cain promises to raise taxes he remains popular.  He’s a tax and cut Republican.

And that anti-expert, anti-intellctual streak that runs through the Republican horde is likely serving Cain well, too.  Today, for example, Cain incorrectly suggested that the Taliban is in Libya and threatening to take over governing there.  Never mind the mistake.  Who cares?  Republicans do this all the time.  It’s almost a perverse form of due dilligence among conservatives to find a story and get it wrong.

I don’t know…the story about Cain’s misunderstanding of Libya really rubs me the wrong way today.  It is an enough is enough situation.  As a Democrat, I’m almost offended that the opposition has become so misguided and careless.  Where are the responsible grown ups over there?  Stop putting clowns on the stage and start taking things seriously.