Republican Bashing and My Semi-Admission of Guilt

Do I engage in Republican bashing?

Well, to be honest, I guess that I do.  It's a tough election year, and I hear much stuff and nonsense coming from that side of the aisle, and I find it hard to be quiet, or to give up the fight without even a struggle.  So some of the things I say are meant to be challenging and uncomfortable.

Living here in one of the most conservative counties in the country, I naturally have many more conservative and/or Republican friends than I do liberal and/or Democratic friends. On an individual level  I love, respect and admire virtually all of them.  Many of them are extremely friendly, open hearted and personally generous.

And there are many shades of opinion coming from people who vote completely or almost completely for Republicans.  Some are  instinctually Republican, but have trouble with individual issues that the current interpretation of Republican philosophy may express, a recognition that in some ways the Republicans might be going too far.  Others have no trouble with the current state of the Republican party.  Others feel that the Republican party has not gone far enough.

Most people are not a monolith of one thing or another.  It may not seem like it, but I'm hardly a monolith of Democratic support.  I have positions where some are to the left of current democratic Party thinking, and some even to the right.

Given this variation of the individual, it should be noted that my wrath is reserved for the Republican philosophy as currently expressed.  Wealthy billionaires, big corporations, Christian Right extremists and even Ayn Rand devotees are pushing the party further and further to an unworkable and uncompromising extremism.

Republican philosophy has led directly to a ruined, defective economy,  It has contributed to the current denial and inaction on the gravest threat facing the world, global warming.  It is busily engaged in voter suppression  turning backwards on women's rights, demonizing the poor and disadvantaged, demoralizing public workers, dismantling and weakening public education, rattling swords against the Middle East, and striving to deport massive numbers of migrant laborers without any thought to the weaknesses in the system that cause them to be here in the first place.  It has made the decision that it is strategically better to politically destroy the President than it is to try to work with him to make things better.

So with this level of destruction, with many of the things I care most deeply about under constant threat, it is hard for me to stay neutral.  Nevertheless, I will do this much.  In blog posts about politics, I will refrain from calling Romney Mittbot 2012 and other demeaning names.  I will accord him and Paul Ryan the same respect I give President Barack Obama when addressing them.  This offer not valid in sharing humorous items on Facebook, or in blog entries specifically designed to be political humor.

And, of course, I will not attack individual voting citizens.  This is easy enough to do in a blog entry, harder to do when people comment.  It is very difficult not to return fire with fire, especially when people get nasty and personal, such as in calling me a bigot.  But I will do my shiny best!