Angry Republicans
Why are Republicans so angry? They don't argue with Democrats; they vilify them. Instead of disagreeing with President Obama's policies, they call him a Hitler, a Stalin, a terrorist, a socialist, a communist, the anti-Christ, someone who hates whites - the list is endless. Republicans spew the same kind of ravenous rage towards Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats. Why?
People say politics is a contact sport. Maybe it is. But the way Republicans approach it it is not a sport. In athletic sports we insist you follow the rules and that you respect the winner. Well, the winner is Barack Obama. At the very beginning of this administration, Rush Limbaugh, the titular hear of the Republican Party, said he wanted Obama to fail. All the luminaries on Fox News immediately followed his lead, spitting daily invective against Obama, Democrats and anything even remotely related to Democrats. Republican legislators in Congress followed suit.
Pundits say it has always been this way. No, it has not always been this way. Sure, during election season the parties would throw calamitous dirt at each other. But after winners were chosen, the mud-slinging would diminish. There was a certain amount of respect each side had for the other side.
But in the last decade or so, Republicans have become emotional and irrational. Since Obama's election, Republicans have become hysterical. Just listen to the ridiculous stuff spouted by Limbaugh's lieutenants: Palin, Beck and Bachmann.
Why are Republicans hysterically angry? Why do people, in general, get angry? Because things do not work out the way they expected. Or because they don't know what to do in a crisis. Or because they realize that what they believed all their life is not true; this is sometimes called congnitive dissonance.
It seems to me that Republicans are faced with cognitive dissonance. Ever since Reagan, they believed in 2 immutable "laws":
1. Deregulation will produce a booming economy
2. Tax cuts will increase government revenue
Although they may not admit it, those Republicans who have a brain can see that neither of these two "laws" is true. It should be obvious to them by now that adhering to these two "laws" was a big cause, perhaps the most important cause, of the current terrible depression.
When Democrats like me denounce deregulation and tax cuts for the rich, Republicans have no rational retort. Their emotions run wild and crazy. They go ballistic criticizing Democrats.
To my angry Republican friends I say, Calm down and start using your head. It may help you build a more rational Republican program.
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