Troubadour
Banned
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 464
- Reaction score
- 181
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
Amid unprecedented levels of untraceable corporate funding, ceaseless lies and propaganda from GOP-affiliated media organizations like Fox News, and a general atmosphere of auctioneering on the part of conservative groups like the "US" Chamber of Commerce, it was widely believed and asserted in Republican circles that the GOP was poised to "sweep" Congress.
While it is true that Republicans have made large gains from their current position and flipped the House of Representatives to their control, their best efforts - which is to say, lowest tactics imaginable - have failed to win them anything close to the current Democratic House majority, and have also left the Senate in Democratic control. There are currently 257 Democrats in the House, and after the inauguration of the new Congress in January, the Republican majority will hold 239. Furthermore, most of the defeated Democrats were conservative Blue Dogs who voted against their party much of the time anyway, so the actual shift in power is not even as significant as the numbers.
It would have been a major achievement if pursued as a normal campaign cycle, but the introduction of unlimited (and probably foreign) corporate funding into GOP coffers thanks to the "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision makes it far less impressive. With the aid of a lawless decision that, it seems, was deliberately targeted by conservative Justices toward making Republicans unstoppable, there was every expectation in its ranks of a "tsunami" or "red dawn" that could transform American politics back toward the path of fascism pursued during the Bush years.
Now, however, Republicans will have to deal with the reality that they are largely limited to doing what they've already been doing - malingering and obstructing. The American people can expect two years where absolutely nothing is accomplished except within domains exclusive to the Executive purview, and during which the public trust is repeatedly disgraced with random, profligate, costly investigations based on nothing but Republican malice, innuendo, and psychosis. Only time will tell if the GOP has fallen far enough into insanity to immediately impeach President Obama upon assuming office, or if they will at least look for the shadow of an excuse before attempting it.
The GOP now has a choice, and either option yields defeat in 2012: To be guided by the fanaticism of its base, and totally destroy any lingering impression that they are capable of governing, or ignore the base and face the wrath of their own tools. The people duped into voting Republican in this election were not voting to see gridlock or listen to Jim DeMint investigate whether the President's dog is an Iranian spy, but that's all they're going to get from Republicans: That and a never-ending supply of gaffes and scandals. Sweet dreams, my tea-drinking friends.
While it is true that Republicans have made large gains from their current position and flipped the House of Representatives to their control, their best efforts - which is to say, lowest tactics imaginable - have failed to win them anything close to the current Democratic House majority, and have also left the Senate in Democratic control. There are currently 257 Democrats in the House, and after the inauguration of the new Congress in January, the Republican majority will hold 239. Furthermore, most of the defeated Democrats were conservative Blue Dogs who voted against their party much of the time anyway, so the actual shift in power is not even as significant as the numbers.
It would have been a major achievement if pursued as a normal campaign cycle, but the introduction of unlimited (and probably foreign) corporate funding into GOP coffers thanks to the "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision makes it far less impressive. With the aid of a lawless decision that, it seems, was deliberately targeted by conservative Justices toward making Republicans unstoppable, there was every expectation in its ranks of a "tsunami" or "red dawn" that could transform American politics back toward the path of fascism pursued during the Bush years.
Now, however, Republicans will have to deal with the reality that they are largely limited to doing what they've already been doing - malingering and obstructing. The American people can expect two years where absolutely nothing is accomplished except within domains exclusive to the Executive purview, and during which the public trust is repeatedly disgraced with random, profligate, costly investigations based on nothing but Republican malice, innuendo, and psychosis. Only time will tell if the GOP has fallen far enough into insanity to immediately impeach President Obama upon assuming office, or if they will at least look for the shadow of an excuse before attempting it.
The GOP now has a choice, and either option yields defeat in 2012: To be guided by the fanaticism of its base, and totally destroy any lingering impression that they are capable of governing, or ignore the base and face the wrath of their own tools. The people duped into voting Republican in this election were not voting to see gridlock or listen to Jim DeMint investigate whether the President's dog is an Iranian spy, but that's all they're going to get from Republicans: That and a never-ending supply of gaffes and scandals. Sweet dreams, my tea-drinking friends.