THANK YOU DONNA, for this. Definately right on target!! . Donna Rodgers Have you ever seen The Shawshank Redemption? Its one of my favorite movies. The drama, the intrigue, the sense of hopelessness surrounding the injustice of a good man wrongfully sent to prison, followed by the ultimate triumph of justice and the much-deserved punishment of the antagonists. Anyway, theres a particular scene that the political events of the past two weeks have reminded me of. Theres a character in the film named Brooks. Hes the elder statesman among the inmates: He is the oldest and he has been behind Shawshanks bars the longest. He has spent decades there, serving a life sentence for a horrible crime he committed when he was a much younger man. But one day, Brooks gets word that he has come up for parole, and been approved to live out his days on the outside. Most prisoners, of course, would have been thrilled about finally achieving freedom, but not him. See, Brooks knows that after decades behind the prisons walls, the outside world has passed him by. The culture has changed, and so has the technology. Hes a relic of a bygone era and he knows he wont make it in the modern world, so he does the only thing he thinks he can do to keep things the same: take an innocent man hostage. Read why the Republican Party is like Brooks below the fold. At the outset, Brooks thinks that the only way hell be able to stay in prison, the place he knows best, is by committing another horrible crime—and he puts a shiv to the throat of a dear friend of his as two other inmates intercede. Look at his neck, one of them says. Its bleeding. In the end, Brooks cannot make himself cause that sort of harm to someone he cares about. Despite his threats, he puts the knife down and accepts that he will have to at least try to make his way in a world far beyond his zone of comfort. Todays Republican Party is much like Brooks. They know that the world is changing around them. Demographic patterns are shifting in ways that are drastically unfavorable to them. Cultural norms are shifting toward acceptance, equality and inclusion, rather than the prejudices that conservative stalwarts have always held dear. And most to the point, the country is just starting to implement a program that in scope and scale is similar to the long-hated conservative bugaboos of Medicare and Social Security. Despite the majority in the House of Representatives that they enjoy through gerrymandering rather than the popular vote, the increasingly radicalized conservative faction no doubt feels the walls closing in around them, with the only outlet being a future in which they have no place. And like poor old Brooks, they have resorted to taking innocent hostages as an extraordinary measure to circumvent change that would otherwise be inevitable. But also like Brooks, their hostage-taking ended with a whimper. Despite the fact that over 60 percent of House Republicans voted to continue holding the both the government and its full faith and credit hostage to their economic and social agenda, the partys leadership and a solid block of more reasonable members chose to end the crisis, at least temporarily, with only a minor concession beyond what Democrats had already given up when sequestration was placed into effect. Meanwhile, popular opinion of Republican actions has gotten shockingly low, and the Cook Political Report, which monitors which House race are likely to be contentious, recently moved its evaluation of over a dozen races in the direction of Democrats. Now, the bill to end the shutdown and avoid defaulting on our debt only keeps the government funded through Jan. 15 of next year, and raises the debt ceiling through February 15. One would figure that the political hit Republicans just took during the most recent shutdown would lessen the likelihood that they go back to the same well come January. And indeed, its hard to see Speaker Boehner letting that happen: after conceding defeat to end the most recent shutdown, its hard to imagine him revving up for another fight. But the conservative wing isnt done yet, and fully expects another shutdown battle—meaning that the only thing guaranteed to continue is more intra-Republican civil war. The sad truth for the Republican Party is, it doesnt matter what they do. If Boehner accedes to the far-right demands to shut down the government for the second time in three months, he will further alienate the Republican Party to the American public, and put it at severe risk of losing the House in 2014. But if he doesnt, he will incur the ire of the significant bloc of the far right and the 144 members of the House who vote with them, convinced that they really can defund the Affordable Care Act as long as they refuse to give in, keep the government shut down, and perhaps click their heels three times while saying theres no place like home. For Republicans, keeping the base happy requires accomplishing a policy goal that is both far outside the American mainstream and ultimately unachievable given current political realities. As long as Democrats stand firm and refuse to give in to hostage-tactics, Republicans will be left with two choices: betray their base and seek to recoup their losses with the majority of Americans; or further sacrifice their reputation among the mainstream and end up betraying their base anyway when the shutdown finally ends. There really is nowhere to go from here.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 02:56:51 +0000
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