Stains on Democracy: A Dysfunctional GOP

Here is the essential problem in America – the GOP has chosen to become nearly totally dysfunctional  and deceitful. On deceit, GOPers know they can say with confidence that Democrats shade the truth and outright lie too. All they have to do is say “Benghazi” and “Obamacare will allow you to keep your healthcare plans if you choose to do so” [unqualified promise courtesy of the President]. Then they have their own Fox News TV Network to trumpet this with imbalance outrage not seen on any other national network. So this becomes the GOP’s essential  line of defense – “we step over the line more grossly and more frequently but but the Dems do it too” And the GOP can rely on a radicalized Base and a tuned out public to not consider looking into the details for whose right or wrong on the issues.

Second, GOPers know that the public is barely paying attention to their Federal Politicians, so they can a)issue more  callous deceits more often to their base and b)only have to issue a few moderating disclaimers to save themselves from being hung and quartered by the press or populace.
So when a major political party

a)abandons its progressive roots from Abraham Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt to Dwight Eisenhower; b)embraces a Base of one issue voters [guns, abortions, prayer in schools, no gay rights, etc] ;
c)sets up a propaganda network with Fox News plus radio and paper Shills that echo GOP output  with stunning rapidity and unquestioned venom to play to that Base;
d)adopts a broad strategy of NIHILISM [Ignore this link at your peril as NO to anything proposed by the President with no need to offer any viable alternatives started at Obama’s first inauguration] – well then you have the current political gridlock.

And this Federal Gridlock has a GOP Design – just as their “Starve the Beast” policy of gross overspending by Republican Presidents by over  3 to 1 in the past 30 years has incurred the GOP-induced Deficit Crisis which the new Tea Partyers callously and  sanctimoniously claim was not of their doing. So likewise they are out now to prove  with their Congressional sabotage and  the GOP/Business line that “Government does not work”. Or invoke the GOP South line that “President Obama is the worst President since George W. Bush – really worse than George W. “.

So how does this  House of Deceitful Cards  work? A combo of a rabid Base and otherwise a John Q. Public frustrated, tuning out and/or giving up. Oh, and a malformed interpretation of  law that makes the elite of corporations equivalent to people and now permits business elites to spend however much they want to purchase  the people and policies they want.

In short when you have such a malignant political player as the GOP and the Public tuning out, the US now effectively allows other countries to become economically and educationally ascendant, while such deviant player as Russia, Iran, North Korea, the Taliban reap  great advantage.