Tea and Anarchy

      When map makers for television screens decided to color states red for Republicans and Blue for Democrats, their choice of colors seemed peculiar to me because red is usually associated with fringe groups like communist or Anarchist organizations.

     But now it seems to me that the red color fits Republican-leaning states, because it matches the neck color of the base of the amalgam of Republican/Tea Party voters, and some of their elected officials.  I read that redneck originally was a descriptive and semi-laudatory term used for those who farm or labor with their heads bent forward, so that the back of their neck get sunburned.  Today, comedians like Jeff Foxworthy (“You may be a redneck if . . .”), turned it into a name for ill-educated, know-nothing loudmouths.

     However, the Republican Party may have earned that designation in 2008 when they introduced their candidates for the Presidency of the United States.  That list included a governor (Mike Huckabee), a senator (Sam Brownback), and a member of the House of Representatives (Tom Tancredo).  In a televised debate this odd trio raised their hands when the moderator asked who does not believe in evolution.   The GOP also had the Governor of Alaska as a candidate for the Vice Presidency, and she was very shrewd but not exactly a fountain of knowledge.

     It looks like that the GOP+TP’s main interest is shrinking the size of government, abolishing universal health care and women’s rights to control their own bodies.  In order to achieve those goals they would like to make our government so small that it will fit into the reproductive organs of women.  This being the only place they believe that they have a right, and obligation, to poke their noses in.

     There always was a conservative wing in the Republican Party, but it was over shadowed by the more mainstream Eisenhower-Rockefeller majority.  However recently thing changed and the lunatics took over the asylum.  Since Reagan, the GOP was on the march to be the Conservative Party of this country, and by now it is mainly an egocentric neo-Neanderthal collection of mean-spirited people.  They not only insist on conserving the riches of the one percent of the wealthiest elite, but they also want to eliminate the social safety net that prevents the less fortunate among us from sinking into permanent abject poverty.

     It was said that Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party in England legitimized selfishness.  The same thing cannot be said of our ultra-conservative voters, because they are supporting people who belong to a party that works against our existential interests such as education, social security, Medicare and, yes, universal health insurance.  

     The lack of government-provided health care makes it difficult for our few remaining industries to compete in the global marketplace.  General Motors, for instance, figured that buying health insurance  for its employees and retirees adds more than 1500 dollars to the cost of each car.   One year GM bought over five billion dollars’ worth of insurance, more than it spent on buying steel.  Foreign car workers in Japan, Germany or England have coverage provided by their government. 

     But the amount that private sector companies pay to insurance companies for services that should be provided –- free -- by our government, is minuscule when compared to the costs incurred by state  and local employers of civil servants.  Costs that could be substantially cut, (and so would be our taxes), if universal health insurance -- like Medicare for all –- would be available.

     However, when the neo-Neanderthals are elected they would rather try to eliminate unions, impose their ill-will on women’s bodies, and give tax breaks to the richest Americans.

     So, if I am asked to help elect the likes of Governor Rick Scott, or Senator  Marco  Rubio, or Congressman Allen West, I prefer to act like the Republican Congress that  follows Nancy Reagan’s mantra and “just say no.”


5/18/2012