Wednesday, December 17, 2014

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE OF THE RIGHT-WING

“ That's a bunch of garbage,” Graham said. “That's a complete bunch of garbage.” This quote from Republican Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina on the report that came out from his own party that was investigating Benghazi found nothing much to fault the administration's handling of the incident. This is a symptom of ignoring facts, and sticking with conspiracies theories that fit into his warped sense of reality.  Senator Graham is not alone in this thinking.  Fox News; Limbaugh, Will, Gingrich, and assorted right-wing wing-nuts fit into this category. They choose not to believe anything that doesn't fit into their perception of what is right and wrong.
This phenomenon isn't anything new.  You can find instances of this throughout history.
 In President Kennedy's time a congressman from Texas denounced President Kennedy on the house floor for assuming “almost unlimited power” and using “dictatorial tactics.” The right-wing also said that Kennedy's use of executive orders that by-pass Congress would transform our Republic into a dictatorship.
 When the Affordable Care Act was proposed you heard about all kinds of things that could happen, including death panels.  When Medicare was proposed the same term was used, of course that never happened, but it doesn't  stop the right-wing of doing it again.
Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater two of the icons of right-wing thinking had this to say about Medicare.
 Ronald Reagan: “If you don't [stop Medicare] and I don't do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was like in America when men were free.” 1961
Barry Goldwater:  “Having given our pensioners their medical care in kind, why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink.”
It's obvious that these two dove off the shallow end of the pool once to often and hit their heads. If these two guys and the other people who were against medicare or the
Affordable Care Act had legitimate arguments against them they sure didn't show up in the absurd comments made then and today. None of the things these people have
said has come true or has caused us as a country to suffer.  All it has done is make life easier and better for the elderly.
I used Benghazi and Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act as examples. There are many more things that have been said by these people that are out of touch with reality. I think this quote by former Senator, Vice-President of the United States Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota sums them up nicely.
Whole communities “can be afflicted with emotional instability, frustrations, and irrational behavior. That emotional instability that affects a significant but small minority in our midst that some call extreme right.  They still see the world in total black and white they are still substituting dogma for creative thought. They are angry, fearful, deeply and fundamentally disturbed by the world around them”

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

MINNESOTA WISCONSON COMPARISON

“Minnesota is ranked the second-most liberal state in the union a study by The Hill concluded.  How is that working for us?  By contrast, Wisconsin seems to get it right for the  most part.”
That is an excerpt from “letters to the editor” from the local newspaper.  I can't figure out how anyone could actually say that with a straight face.  If  you pay any attention to the facts, you would see that Minnesota's unemployment rate is almost a point and half better than Wisconsin's.  Job creation is much better in Minnesota. Wisconsin is trailing in jobs recovered after the recession.  Since this was suppose to be Walker's strong point, I guess you really have to hide your head in the sand to not see that.  The budget's are like night and day.  Wisconsin has at least a projected 1.8 billion dollar deficit. I think it actually is going to be worse than that. The state is floating  increases in transportation taxes do to a huge shortfall there.   Minnesota has a 1.2 billion dollar surplus which is being used to lower taxes on individuals and small business.
I am sure most of us have had the same experience with relatives and friends that send you emails that make fun of or state untrue facts about Democrats, a lot of them have so much misinformation in them it's ridiculous.  I have many times debunked the email with actual facts and send it back to the sender.  They actually get upset with me for doing that.  The thing is it doesn't deter them, they just keep sending me made up stuff.  These people are not stupid, so what is it?
 The question that needs to be asked and answered is how can Democrats get through to these kind of people.   It's obvious that people who spout this kind of misinformation have no idea of what's actually happening in the world, but they also have no intention of  finding out. Is it all ideology, or just a strong hatred for liberals?