UPDATE: My post below created a stir on the Coffee Party main Facebook page. Before I begin, I am one of many voices in Coffee Party. I have never attempted to hide that I am what most consider left in my ideology. I became part of the Coffee Party because I do not believe that ideological difference should stunt dialogue or the attempt to meet somewhere in the political space. I blog from my own blog as just one voice, my voice within Coffee Party and not as an attempt to be the voice of Coffee Party as I believe all voices should be heard unfettered. Coffee Party must be inclusive without the attempt by ANY ONE to assume they hold the moral position on what is civil discourse. If the Coffee Party had one voice it would be nothing but a page expounding one point of view. That in itself is uncivil.
After complaints about this post the editorial board including me felt and accepted that I should have written this piece to encourage more dialogue on the subject. The graphic in retrospect I believe is ill chosen. As I write this looking at the graphic I do see that the noose is not only in-artful but distracts from the points I am conveying. I also erred in painting all Republicans with one brush. I should have specified it is “what the representation of the Republican Party has become while leaving moderate Republicans on the sidelines”.
We are humans and sometimes in the heat of a discussion, in my case it was a discussion with moderate Republican friends who want to take their party back and told me that this can only happen with strong opposing voices stating the facts about their own parties intransigence lest these moderates become nothing but a prop to moderation. Fired up from that discussion I did not leave the alley for ALL to join the discussion on the actual 5 issues below that I indicate materially hurt the middle class in our country and with that the viability of the country.
While many including some of Coffee Party board view the use of the word “treason” as uncivil, I do not as I think, and many Republicans think that what the Republican Party is doing to our country has crossed the line that characterizes that definition better than any word in the English language. That said, as continue to blog about the ills and what I believe are solutions we should all drive not only through dialogue, but through action, I will continue to be factual as I attempt write in a manner that the message is heard by all.
Our board member Jeanene Louden and a voice of reason we should all listen to wrote about our editorial response to this issue on the Coffee Party main blog post here. She is another voice in Coffee Party and described the process we use meticulously.
I want to thank ALL those that diligently read my blog postings. I value your time and commitment and my goal is to research and provide valid and factual information with an honest narrative. I want you to know that I am committed to not just dialogue for the sake of dialogue, but dialogue with factual information to empower our communities to take action in order to take their politics back.
1. : the betrayal of a trust : treachery
2. : the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign’s family
[source]
Treason is a powerful word. It carries with it a well-deserved stigma. Within any country there are differences in ideologies. There are differences in how one wants to effect outcomes. There are differences in the vision one has for the country. The one thing everyone within that country has however is love and respect for the essence of the country, love and respect for the institutions that defines the country, and love and respect in the aggregate for all those that comprise the country.
Except for everyone’s inalienable rights that are guaranteed by the constitution (The Bill Of Rights), all differences are settled in a more or less orderly fashion at the ballot box. Americans in general have been doing that. While moneyed interest (the banks, major corporations, etc.) have the disproportional ear of the politicians elected, Democrats and Republicans, Democratic policies have been more in line with the aspirations of the vast majority of Americans.
Even if they do not understand what supply side economics mean, Americans are becoming aware of the wealth and income disparity that it has produced. Even if they are themselves very socially liberal, they believe in allowing others the freedom of their choices. Except for times where they are overcome by apathy and the ills of gerrymandering that distorts the representative outcome of the vote, Americans have decidedly opted for a more liberal path.
The Republican Party, inasmuch as the will of the people are not with them, have resorted to obstructionist tactics that corrupts the real intent of the constitution and Senate rules that attempt to give the minority a voice. After-all, an absolute winner take all approach is never conducive to harmony. A losing side that gets respect and concessions from the winning side establishes trust and respect, thus allowing for continual debates, potential convincing, and changes in the future.
The GOP however has not seen it fit for civil and positive behavior. Their obstructionist actions have been called out to no avail. These obstructionist policies are tantamount to treason.
- Eric Cantor tells a foreign leader that the GOP would be the check on President Obama’s Administration to protect a foreign country’s interest.
- Republicans holding the entire country hostage during the debt ceiling debate had the potential to put both the country and the world’s economy though financial Armageddon.
- Republicans continue to block appointment of judges that allows the effective functioning of the democracy. The delay in cases effectively allows corporate interest to supersede national interest.
- Republican obsession with repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) continues to put citizens’ health and financial well-being at risk. This is no different than what war does to many, just without the guns and bombs.
- Refusing to negotiate in good faith to remove sequester while millions of Americans suffer creates a potentially destabilizing effect in the country that will be seen for years to come as the poor and affected middle class start becoming more reactionary. If you put a population in a desperate position, they do desperate things.
Any single one of the above issues taken to the extreme would make the GOP guilty of treason. They have taken it to the extreme. The obstruction has inhibited the functioning of the country and in the long term would affect the viability of the country. Bill Maher in his monologue gets it. Rarely do I hear the contempt that I personally feel for what Republicans are doing to this country expressed on our airwaves. For this, thank you Bill Maher and Michael Moore.
Bill Maher And Michael Moore On GOP Treason
BILL MAHER, HOST: What about trying to repeal it (Obamacare) for the 37th time? Is that a wise use of our resources and time? I mean, at some point obstruction becomes, I don’t know, treason? I mean they’ve also blocked Obama’s head of the EPA. There’s no head of the Circuit Court in DC. At some point, it just becomes more about hating him than loving your country.
MICHAEL MOORE: No, they hate America. That’s really what it is. Yeah, I think these conservatives and right-wingers really for as much as they say they love this country, they hate it. They hate the government. They hate people.
MAHER: Well those are two different things, aren’t they?
MOORE: Well it shouldn’t be. The government is supposed to be of, by and for the people, right? So, why is the government the big, evil bastard here?
MAHER: ‘Cause, Mike, it got taken over by a Kenyan socialist, that’s why. That’s why we need our guns. We might have to take over the government.
MOORE: Here’s the good news — I’m not as depressed about this as you are because as all the polls show the next generation coming up, they don’t agree with any of this nonsense. They don’t want to own guns — they’re not selling any guns to young people — they’re not bigots, they’re not haters. 81% of young adults support gay marriage, they support legalization [of marijuana].
MAHER: They support less religion.
MOORE: Bill, it’s going to get better.
MAHER: It’s going to get better, you’re right. We’ll be dead, but it will be better.
MOORE: No, we won’t be dead! What you hear is the sound of a squealing dinosaur coming from the Republicans. (HBO’s Real Time, May 17, 2013)
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