Defending Ourselves

Should We Fear Terrorists?

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 ~ The last two years on this Day of Remembrance I have written of fear, and of courage. Rereading those posts, the words still ring true to me.

Yet I am fearful now.

I won't call them terrorists, but our country is still under great threat, not so much from outside our borders, as from within, and by one of our institutions. The Republican Party has become so unhinged, so delusional, that it poses a threat to itself and to others—to all of us. If it were a person, society would have it committed.

Like author Kurt Eichenwald, I too have voted for Republicans in the past (doubtless a shock to some of my liberal friends) but could not remotely conceive of doing so now. Why? Simply:

The GOP has transmogrified into something ugly and vicious and, more important, something wedded to the politics of fantasy and ignorance. It has rushed so far from its moorings that I cannot conceive of voting for members of this party until, hopefully, they pull themselves back from the precipice of self-destruction, paranoia and delusion.

Today, for Republicans, up is down and front is back. Lying has become so ingrained into the conservatives’ national dialogue that they are now dangerously demagogic or, worse, severely unhinged. Blind rage at the election of Barack Obama has wrecked a once great political party. Its leaders have made so many deals with the devil in their almost pathological obsession with unseating Obama that they have pushed the GOP into its own version of political hell – unable to speak truths to their now-rabid and conspiracy-addled base and unable to right the party back onto a path of responsibility.

With ample historical and basis and contemporary examples, Eichenwald extensively details 5 key reasons why even conservatives (real conservatives, not today's radicals that call themselves that) should hope for the defeat of the GOP in this year's elections:

• They're liars
• They're demagogues
• They're economic arsonists
• They're a threat to American democracy
• They're a threat to America itself

Strong words, yes, but closely reasoned and fully supported by an abundance of examples.

This is a must-read for any who care about the future of America, regardless of political party.