Toot! Toot! All Aboard the GOP Train Wreck!

By Deb Equality Della Piana on October 2, 2012 • ( 0 )

I’m definitely not gloating here. It’s waaaaay too soon to gloat. There’s plenty of time left before election day, and the times are decidedly weird. How anybody in this country (who isn’t millionaire status) could even be considering voting for this crop of GOP nit wits is beyond me…but there are millions undecided. I’m still worried about whether or not women will get out their and flex their majority muscle. But I have to confess that I am enjoying watching the GOP’s version of a clown-loaded train wreck. And maybe somewhere deep down inside I’m allowing myself to gloat just a little bit. We can start with the GOP’s lead clown, Mitt Romney. Has there ever been a more unpopular presidential candidate? If there has, I don’t remember it. And I remember Richard Nixon vividly. I’ve written pretty extensively about Romney’s flip-flops and lying, as well as the fact that he is the candidate of the one percent. I won’t belabor those points here. Let me just focus on the more recent stuff.

While Romney wants you to believe that he intends to be everyone’s president, the fact is that he has great disdain for anyone who is poor and middle class. Now, Mitt can tell everyone that he didn’t speak “eloquently” when this secret video was captured (in a private session with his millionaire donors), but the fact is that he spoke quite “eloquently.” It’s clear that he’s already written 47% of the population off. This is indeed how he truly feels. He truly believes that 47% of the people of this nation are lazy and no-account and that they feel entitled. He also made it clear that they are not worthy of his attention. They are written off. Now, some people — like Joe Scarborough, a conservative newsman and a Romney supporter — says Mitt Romney is a terrible politician. Scarborough made this remark on-air after a video clip from a rally where Mitt Romney couldn’t get the crowd to chant “Romney-Ryan.” If that event proves he is a terrible politician, the secret 47% video proves this: Mitt Romney is a terrible person.

I’ve been saying that his plans and policies indicate that he doesn’t give a shit about anyone but the wealthiest Americans. In this video, you’re actually hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth. You know, I’m not a fan of the Catholic Church, even though I was born and raised a Catholic. In fact, I have an aversion to organized religion at all levels and in all denominations, mostly because I feel that they are infringing their beliefs on legislation and government. They don’t belong there. However, I do have a great deal of respect for Sister Simone Campbell and Nuns on the Bus because they are out there helping those in need, and she is absolutely correct when she says that candidate Romney “has no idea how hard it is at the margins of our society.” Sadder, Romney doesn’t care to know how hard it is. And neither does his vice presidential pick, Scrooge McRyan.

Never before has the gap between the “haves” and “have nots” been so wide in this country, and it has been created by corporations and the wealthy not paying their fair share. And I include Mitt Romney in that group. He boasts that he has never paid less than 14% tax on his income. I’d like to remind the candidate that it is nothing to boast about, since the majority of working class Americans pay anywhere from 15% to 17.5% on their modest incomes. And I’d also like to call him a liar once again, since his 2011 return shows he paid a grand total of 13% on an income of about $13 million. It’s disgraceful. This is the GOP…the party that claims to know so damned much about our Founding Fathers. Let’s note here that our Founding Fathers spoke quite a bit more eloquently than Mr. Romney about the dangers of corporations having unbridled political influence in this country. That’s where we are right now.

Here’s the world according to Mitt: The “middle class” earns $250K a year. Really? When did that happen? It’s actually about one-fifth of that — more like about $50K. He’s living in Mitt’s world. The rest of us are living in the real world. Personally, I’m earning about $20K working at a minimum wage job. At the age of 58, I don’t expect that to change. But even when I was earning more than $100K a year and taking home about $7500 a month, I was paying about half that in taxes across the board.

If you need more proof about the arrogance of Mitt Romney, here it is. In a round table discussion about our failing education system, he just about tells a teacher to shut up when she tries to give her input. Again, more GOP hubris. Don’t bother to listen to those who are out there working in the education system every day. The GOP has all the answers, and the solution lies in abandoning the public education system in favor of private schools and vouchers. Period.

Is this the kind of president we should be electing? Here’s a man who doesn’t listen to the American people at any level. This is a man not only willing to write off 47% of the population, but the nation’s educational system. It’s easier than trying to fix it and make it better for American children.

And here’s even more. In America, nearly 50 million people are without health care coverage, and about 123 people die daily because they have no access to quality affordable health care. What’s Mitt Romney’s solution? The hospital emergency room. What was once identified as the problem with health care in America is now apparently the solution.

Mitt has plenty of sidekicks

Mitt’s not the only one riding the train wreck. He has plenty of sidekicks. Take Mr. Vagina himself, Todd Akin. His latest complaint is that his Democratic opponent, Senator Claire McCaskill wasn’t “ladylike” enough during their debate. That’s the GOP “women problem.” Women aren’t supposed to be aggressive or outspoken. They’re supposed to be “ladylike.” In other words, Senator McCaskill shouldn’t point out Akin’s obvious idiotic positions on “legitimate rape.” No sir. Women need to know their place, and that means that men know what’s best for women. Remember that old Virginia Slims ad, “You’ve come a long way, baby?” Well the GOP is intent on rolling all that back and keeping women “in their place.”

Ann Romney, that simple little stay-at-home mom also has some advice for us dumbass women:

“Women, you need to wake up,” she urged them. “Women have to ask themselves who’s going to have and be there for you. I can promise you, I know, that Mitt will be there for you. He will stand up for you, he will hear your voices.”

The last thing I need is an entitled little twit telling me to wake up and vote for a man whose policies shaft women from the ground up. Ann Romney has never worked a day in her life, and has never struggled to put food on the table. She’s had maids and housekeepers, is married to a man whose net worth hovers around $250 million, owns three houses, and takes a $77,000 tax deduction for a dancing horse. In short, Ann Romney can STFU. It’s not we women who need to wake up. It’s Ann Romney who needs to wake up. According to her husband, women who stay at home, raise their children and keep house have no self respect. They need to go out and work to gain that. How about women who stay at home, don’t raise their own children, and have never taken care of their own house? You know, like Ann Romney.

Ann wants we women to believe that if we don’t vote for her husband, we’re all in trouble. Screw that. If we vote for Mitt Romney, we women are not only in big trouble but we’re more stupid than I ever believed. If we don’t get our asses out in November and flex our majority muscle, we might as well pack it in. This is the candidate who wants to deny women control over their own bodies by allowing employers to deny women health coverage based on some amorphous moral grounds, defunding Planned Parenthood costing millions of women access to their only source of health care, and supports a personhood or “sanctity of life” law that bans abortion across the board with absolutely no exceptions.

In my home state of Massachusetts, we have Scott Brown who — because the liberals and progressives went to sleep in 2010 — managed to take the late Ted Kennedy’s seat to the other side of the aisle after 46 years. I went to the second debate last night between Brown and his challenger, Elizabeth Warren. To say that it was absurd would be a gross understatement. The moderator, David Gregory, spent too much damned time talking and moderating. It should have been less about him and more about the candidates. To add insult to injury, his opening to the debate focused on Elizabeth Warren’s heritage. Again, this is my problem with the lamestream media types moderating these events. I’m pretty sure a student debater could have done a better job. If those involved in these events paid attention to what the people are saying, nearly 70% of Massachusetts voters want this issue to go away. It’s a non-issue. Yet, the first 18 minutes of a 60-minute debate were devoted to this issue, and Scott Brown was only too happy to continue on with this line of questioning now that he is behind in the polls.

While he vowed not to make an issue of this during the campaign, Brown’s recent ad focuses on Warren’s Cherokee heritage. In fact, at a Scott Brown rally at Erie Pub in Boston his staffers were caught making tomahawk chops and chanting war whoops. Those participating in this bush league (pardon the pun) activity include Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard and Mass GOP operative Brad Garnett. Of course, Senator Brown said he doesn’t condone such activity, but the real offender is Elizabeth Warren. He’s full of shit. With all due respect (a favorite line of Senator Brown’s during last night’s debate), Scott Brown has hit Warren over her Cherokee heritage at every turn. Why? Because he can’t stand on the real issues. It starts at the top. He sets the tone for his campaign.

He’d like to paint Warren as a liar with no character when it comes to her heritage, but let’s talk a bit about Scott Brown’s claims. He cares about the economy and jobs. That’s why he voted in lockstep with his GOP counterparts to kill three jobs bills that would not only have created jobs across the nation, but also in his home state. He claims to be pro-choice and for equality. Yet Scott Brown co-sponsored the Blunt Amendment that would allow employers to deny women health care coverage based on moral grounds. He also voted against the Fair Pay Act. Let’s talk about lying where it matters. In case I forget this one, when he was asked last night at the debate who his ideal Supreme Court Justice is, Brown’s reply was Antonin Scalia. That should speak volumes. Scott Brown is yet another clown aboard the GOP train wreck.

Finally, there’s Paul Ryan. There’s plenty to say about him. You have to wonder about Ryan when he stands up in front of an AARP meeting and proudly announces that he’ll lead the battle to repeal Obamacare. Did he expect everyone there to rally behind him? Now there’s a report of a public rift between Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and I say it couldn’t happen at a better time to a couple of nicer guys.

Your next stop: The Twilight Zone

Now we move into the Twilight Zone. Mitt Romney is a 65-year-old man with two advanced degrees who doesn’t understand why airplane windows don’t open. No shit. And I thought George W. Bush was stupid. My sometimes clueless teenage daughter knows that if an airplane window is opened, everyone dies. Basic scientific fact: The cabin is pressurized. Those who are not sucked out would soon die because the temperature and oxygen level would drop dramatically. Seriously, Mitt? Now, of course, Romney’s supporters are passing it off as a joke on his part. I’m not convinced. If it is a joke, it’s in pretty poor taste while his wifey is standing right there with him after a scary airplane incident. I’m thinking it’s stupidity, for which there is no cure.

Unless you were all in a coma between 2000 and 2008, the last man who was this utterly stupid got himself elected. Let me show you the graphic here. For that period of time, the entire nation got stupid and turned into Dumbfuckistan:

Remember this? It could happen again, mostly because we Americans have very short memories. In closing, let me send out a few reminders about voting for the GOP come November:

Ladies, the GOP-led Congress sent itself on vacation without reauthorizing the Violence Against Women’s Act, which pretty much means that it’s okay to beat the shit out of women. Remember that, along with their ever-oppressive position on your reproductive rights. To veterans, who seem to illogically prefer the GOP every voting cycle, remember that the GOP got you into these endless wars, yet they managed to filibuster the Veterans Jobs Act. If you’re working class, remember that the GOP managed to kill the Buffet Rule, which basically holds the premise that millionaires should pay more taxes than their secretaries do. Also remember that the GOP wants to continue the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy while they want to allow Obama’s tax cuts for the middle class to expire. You should also remember that while Corporations are buying the election, they are paying about 9% tax on their profits right now (when they’re paying anything at all). .

If you are one of those oxymoronic LGBT Republicans, here’s a word to the wise: The GOP wants to repeal the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The GOP also wants to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution by banning gay marriage nationwide. If you think the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is going to pass under GOP rule, think again. So, technically, it’ll be okay for your employer to fire you just because you’re gay.

If you’re retired and/or elderly, remember that they want to slash, burn and privatize Medicare and Social Security so that you can pick up more of the burden. Oh yeah, while the GOP loves to call Medicare and Social Security “entitlements,” I prefer to call them “earned benefits.” Americans have paid taxes all of their working lives to fund these programs. The programs belong to the American people. Here’s how we can solve the mythological demise of Social Security: Stop raiding the funds to pay for other things — like wars and unnecessary tax cuts for the rich — without ever paying the fund back. And how about millionaires paying more in Social Security taxes instead of paying the same rate as someone earning $110K a year? That would pretty much solve the problem. Do the math.

Don’t slip back into that coma. And get away from that crack pipe. We’re not talking about a few rogue GOP bad apples here. We’re talking an entire party hell bent on creating a nation that serves the elite few while screwing over the vast majority of Americans.