Romney and the GOP: the other side of the grimy coin

*taps mike*
Is this thing on??
Just thought I'd drop some thoughts into the pot here. The steam-whistle of the pressure cooker brewing up the November stew is fogging up my brain. ..... and irritating me.

These points I want to make, and hope someone is interested; possible 404 or mod-closure may happen. But maybe, just maybe, I can help one person through the maze of voter-hood with some reminders:

From the NY Times OpEd a few days ago:
Mitt Romney, Class Warrior

Everything about Mr. Romney’s characterization of this mythical slice of lazy, shiftless Americans was wrong. A vast majority of Americans pay federal taxes, either income tax or payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare — or both — as well as other federal fees. They also pay state and local taxes and sales taxes.

The government’s revenue problem does not start with the poor but with the richest people, through the Bush tax cuts and other changes. The tax cuts for the richest people should expire now, and the middle-class cuts should do so eventually. But that will not happen as long as people like Mr. Romney protect the rich by turning the working poor and middle class into the enemy.

Mr. Romney may have been talking about electoral tactics: those people are going to vote for Mr. Obama, so let’s concentrate on our kind of people. It’s also possible that he was mouthing the words of the extreme right without really believing them. But all the possible explanations say terrible things about Mr. Romney’s character.

The right wing has long been whining about people who don’t pay taxes and who, therefore, don’t deserve a say in government. They have it backward. The shame is not that those people don’t pay income taxes. The shame is how many poor people there are when the top 1 percent can amass uncountable fortunes fed by tax breaks and can donate tens of millions of dollars to political candidates to keep it that way.

From on OpEd on CNN this morning that links back to the above source:
Republicans risk being the party of mean

Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and of the new book "Governing America."
Princeton, New Jersey (CNN) -- The release of a secretly recorded tape of Mitt Romney speaking to campaign donors highlights a risk facing the Republican Party -- of becoming perceived as the party of mean.
After a vicious assault from Democrats that portrayed Romney as a vulture capitalist who cared little about saving middle-class jobs, his remarks to a group of campaign donors about the 47% of Americans who don't pay taxes being dependent on government handouts only intensified the perception that he represents a party that is uninterested in protecting average Americans. A New York Times editorial characterized Romney as a "class warrior" seeking to "protect the rich by turning the working poor and middle class into the enemy."........
Without a positive message, conservatism faces the risk of seeming primarily like a harsh creed, an ideology for those who are intent on disciplining people who have supposedly become dependent on government.
Unfortunately for conservatives, that includes a huge array of Americans, from the elderly to defense contractors to young children in schools. If this rhetoric continues, the GOP is at risk of becoming the party that takes away government services, takes away immigration rights, takes away social rights, but doesn't offer anything back.

Folks, there has been a lot of mudslinging and Obama-bashing lately, but not much about Romney's foibles.

I feel it is important for both sides' weaknesses to be addressed here. I realize there are MANY conservative GOP fans and Obama-haters on ATS; there are also those of us who detest the Republican platform.

Recently, a 42-year old software engineer, (currently gainfully employed after nine months of joblessness, and that after 1.5 years as a contractor who was abruptly "ended", preceded itself by 6 months of joblessness) and I were in a conversation about politics and parties (he was not the one who brought it up). I asked him what he felt about the two different schools...he told me he doesn't pay attention, doesn't know the basic political differences between the two parties' policies and general platforms, doesn't really care to know more about it, and will just write in None of the Above because both candidates are crummy.

I started to bring up the major issues: foreign policy, abortion, social programs, the deficit, the dearth of good jobs and global outsourcing, tax breaks for the wealthy, etc.....

This person is an educated, highly intelligent, productive member of society. He, I think, represents what most Americans thought could be achieved by anyone who applied fanny to chair and brains to classes...a stable job. He's not interested in management, wants just to earn enough to support a modest lifestyle without worry and WITHOUT DEBT. Pays taxes, a veteran of the National Guard M.P.s and a private security officer for some time.

He has outstanding moral character and a dilligent work ethic, though he refused to hand his life and soul over to a corporation that will insist on 24-hour call, not leaving the city, and pressure to move into upper management.

This brought to mind that there are perhaps many, many ATS members who similarly have only a glancing awareness of which party stands for what, what color or mascot they use, and to which the candidates "subscribe."

I myself was relatively unaware of the intricacies of policy and infrastructure on this nation until I was in grad school at age 40. Sometimes we forget that we all "didn't know" at one time, and had to learn about it, which ain't easy.

So, in rebuttal to the smear campaign going on by some well-respected and prolific members, I am posting this to try to level the playing field a little bit.

Folks, if you're going to vote, PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH before signing on to the rhetoric and opinions of ATS members (myself included!). While I respect everyone's right to voice those opinions, I worry that even those most outspoken might not REALLY have a firm grasp on the issues, the diffs and the histories of these two "parties" and what they stand for.

The terms "liberal", "conservative" and "progressive" and "traditional" are not easily defined, and must be taken into context depending on the topic in which they are used as adjectives. If we want to dispell ignorance here, it behooves us a community to see to it that Politics 101 is covered for members. We know there are young, inexperienced members of society as well as long-retired alumni of the School of Hard Knocks.

Please, let's try to remember that we DO PERHAPS sway people's opinions, and let's not take advantage of their possible naivete while we're spewing voting adverts across the boards.

I'm not trolling; I'm asking that everyone take a deep breath and remember that no matter who "wins", there's not really going to be much change over the next 4 years.....or possibly even 40 years. We need to pick a leader (as if we have that power, which is arguable) who is a moderate, educated, experienced person who has a SOLID understanding of what it is to live a NORMAL AMERICAN LIFE.

Please make your vote speak of your conscience.

/soapbox

Great OP s&f I hope these message boards reach some people on here because there is a difference between parties although at a glance it is hard to spot. Unfortunately I doubt many people will be swayed from one party to another most have already made up their minds. Be ready for someone to post it doesn’t matter who you vote for there seems to always be a few they just do not understand how wrong they are I used to be one of them years ago. I guess you learn with age.

BTW I hope you liked the cartoons on the other thread.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Thanks. Yours is excellent as well. I'm glad to see Romney being exposed today...