JUDGE YOU OWN POLITICAL AFFILIATION

JUDGE YOU OWN POLITICAL AFFILIATION

It was not just campaign rhetoric. Candidates for the Republican Nomination for president often list government agencies they would destroy. The agencies listed for annihilation-ranged form the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Education, among others. It is interesting to speculate about this rhetoric from several points of view. The first and most obvious is the correlation between the audience and the department they would obliterate. In front of energy executives, it was the Department of Energy; in front of church leaders, it was the Department of Education; in front of industrialist, it was the Department of Environmental Protection; etc. Finally, in front of their Republican base (the more Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck elements in the party) the candidates would freely name any agencies of government starting with IRS; a vote getter because no one wants to pay taxes. What they were saying is vote for me and I will give you what you want. The real message is that if elected the candidate would give the interested groups control of the section of government that most interested them. The churches can’t wait to get control of the minds of the little people in the country. The energy industry would love to control where and when they could strip mine and drill for oil without having the government interfere with them.  All industries would swear to put the environment first over profits but we all know that is a lie.

The next level is not the specific audiences but the most important in this context is the Republican base. I often refer to these folks as the radicals. I use that term because they true are out side the main stream of American thought. They have as their objective to destroy the American Government using the Vietnam village concept: we have to destroy it to save it. For as many years as I can remember, Republicans have been screaming about how bad the government really is. How bad it is to pay taxes. How bad it is to have regulations.  How the government is going to come for your guns. How complicated it is to create and run a business because of government regulations. The antigovernment list seems endless. Read all of the above and come to a simple conclusion; they really do not what anarchy, they want organized government but to them that means they can do anything they want but you can’t. If you think it is possible, you are a Republican but if you think it impossible, you are a Democrat.  If you think the country must fall between the extremes, then you appreciated what the Constitution and Bill of Rights mean.  Judge you own political affiliation then join in the political debate.