The Daily Show has one of the most biting coverages of the increasingly petty and jaundiced policy of the Republicans. This time it is GOP rejecting the 9/11 First Responders Bill – which would pay for the health care expenses incurred by the New York’s 9/11 first responders. The total cost is estimated at $7Billion. The House has passed the Bill so once again it along with a dozen other major bills was killed in the Senate, because a 60 vote majority is required, and the Democrats have only 58 votes. There were no crossover votes from the Republicans. Sound familiar?
Jon Stewart Skewers Senate Republicans
The satire is justifiably biting. Republican Senators as diverse as Orrin Hatch of Utah, Olympia Snowe from Maine to Chuck Grassley of Iowa among many others are shown in speeches praising the 9/11 first responders lavishly – and then the kicker – none of these Senators bothered to speak before the vote to explain their and their party’s blanket nays on the vote to cover the mounting medical and rehabilitation costs.
One is reminded of the appalling conditions found at the Walter Reed and other Veterans Hospitals back in 2005-2006 when the Bush administration was found totally wanting in providing care for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. One would think the GOP would have learned its lesson. Not so. What Jon Stewart rightfully shows is that the Republicans have severed their link to 9/11 and any notion that GOP party has acted with courage, compassion and determination to right the wrongs perpetrated on 9/11.
Ever more often, my and my father’s Republican Party of Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln is showing itself to be such a nauseating mix of duplicitous, sanctimonious, and near-treasonous motives. One can see why the GOP is still leaderless 2 years after defeat in the 2008. What combination of Viper, Machiavellian, and Mac-the-Knife Shark will be able to control these deviants and win popular approval? Take a 5th if you can find such a Republican “Leader”.