The Radicals Are Back by Claire Conner Six years ago, I cleaned my office and turned off my computer. “I don’t have to do this anymore,” I said. “I can stop writing and researching. I can stop chasing old extremists and exposing their plans. My parents are dead. And, thank God, their ideas are dead, too.” I convinced myself that America had given up its on-again, off-again love affair with phony conservatives and right-wing radicals. I was wrong. My parents and their radical friends are back. Not only are they back; they’re running the Republican Party. They have a chokehold on the House of Representatives. They are gaining power in the Senate. Yes, the radical right is back. Here’s how I know– 1 Protests against healthcare reform as “socialized medicine” 2 Opposition to civil rights legislation from Libertarian Republicans 3 Calls to slash Medicare and Social Security and shred all safety net programs because they make Americans dependent and lazy 4 Accusations that a Democratic president is the “anti-Christ” and a socialist, Marxist, fascist dictator. 5 Efforts to dismantle unions 6 Rules restricting voting rights 7 Regulations limiting women’s access to reproductive healthcare and contraceptives 8 Refusal to pass any jobs legislation while insisting that the government can’t create jobs 9 Cuts to aid for the poor or unemployed while tax credits and tax benefits for the wealthy continue 10 Promotion of guns as the constitutional solution to government tyranny I recognize all of this because I heard it over and over from my father, a national leader of the John Birch Society, one of the most extreme political movements of the 1960s. For over thirty years, Dad preached the ideas that are poisoning American politics today. He and his John Birch Society friends spread anger, hatred, and paranoia; the same kind of anger, hatred, and paranoia that’s consumed millions of Americans and paralyzed our government. Please don’t dismiss the radical Republicans as harmless. Don’t laugh at men in colonial costumes waving copies of the constitution. Don’t dismiss the politicians who filibuster every bill and say no to every proposal that would help the economy. Don’t ignore the pundits who blame the poor for being poor while canonizing the rich as exceptional. The radical right has a radical plan for America. If we don’t wake up soon, we’ll find ourselves in a country controlled by big-money bosses, no-government libertarians, radical Christians, and old John Birchers. We don’t have a lot of time. The radicals are back and they’re winning. Book Claire to Speak claireconner Book Claire to Speak at Your Organization’s Event >> CLICK HERE to download Claire’s speaker information pdf.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 18:46:22 +0000
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