In
that sense, Republicans and their Tea Party masters have succeeded in transforming
American politics from rational choices among human beings into litmus tests
for wall-to-wall prejudice.
Those
with old-fashioned sensibilities may see a difference between Scott Brown and
Todd Akin in the Senate next year. Indeed Brown has called for Akin to quit his
race, but Brown’s opponent Elizabeth Warren makes a hard-to-dispute point:
“What
he [Akin] said was dangerously and deliberately ignorant. But it did not fall
out of the sky.
“There’s
a large Republican agenda here that has to do with access to birth control,
with access to health care screening, to the ability of women to determine
control over their bodies, to the definition of rape.
“He [Brown]
is part of that agenda. He is working to get Republicans in control of the
United States Senate so they can pursue that agenda.”
Warren’s
contention gets instant credibility from the Republican Platform Committee’s
stand against abortion even in cases of rape and incest or to save the life of
the mother. Even if he disagrees, reelection of Scott Brown will be another
vote to give such people control of the Senate.
As we
reach that point this election year, it is the saddest commentary of all on the
state of American democracy.
Update:
To confirm the dilemma, Tom Friedman muses over what might happen if
“conservatives” retook the Republican Party from Tea Party “radicals” and
started real debate on policy.
His “conservatives”
include Sen. Tom Coburn on fiscal policy, along with NYC Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch on immigration.
In
this world, there are no centrists.
1 comment:
Every single Republican and TEA Party group called on Akin to step aside. What he said was not only incredibly ignorant but the absolute opposite of what actual conservatives believe. Ask yourself, instead, why the DNC spent $2 million to help him beat his primary opponents, including the one that Sarah Palin endorsed (note she did NOT endorse this throwback to the neanderthal age).
Warren is a horrible horrible person, and I can't believe that you support her.
It's funny. I was watching All the President's Men last night, and I thought about you. It was almost surreal to hear the editor of the Washington Post demand facts, evidence, and actual proof before running a story. Remember when ethics and truth mattered? I do.
Post a Comment