As a fairly progressive Democrat, I find it really hard to believe that there are so many people in our country who are ignorant of basic facts. They think that our President may be a socialist, communist, or maybe a fascist! Ask them to define any one of those three terms and you'll see how much they know about the world around them.
You just can't carry on a rational conversation with friends who are under the influence of the loud, shocking conservative media, both radio and TV. The local AM radio station is impossible for me to listen to. From dawn to dusk all you can hear is hate, vitriol, misinformation, shockingly one-sided opinions, and shouting - all day long! I listen mostly to NPR, where you do get a relatively balanced view of the world - what a concept.
The Republicans in Congress are behaving abominably. On a report card they would get F's in participation and citizenship - they should also lose recess. Keep them there until they do something.
Today Dick found this perceptive list in a column of the Washington Monthly:
March 7, 2010
UPDATING OUR POLITICAL DICTIONARIES.... Josh Marshall had a very short item the other day that I've been meaning to mention. He was helping readers understand the new political "lexicon."
"Jamming it through": to vote on a bill.
It got me thinking about how we should all update our understandings of political terms that had fairly straightforward definitions up until fairly recently.
"Obstructionism," for example, only refers to Democratic minorities opposing Republican proposals.
"Tyranny" is found when an elected Democratic majority passes legislation that Republicans don't like.
"Reconciliation" describes a Senate process that Republicans are allowed to use to overcome Democratic "obstructionism."
"Terrorism" refers to acts of political violence committed by people who aren't white guys.
"Bipartisanship" is found when Democrats agree to pass Republican legislation.
"Big government" describes a dangerous phenomenon to be avoided, except in cases relating reproductive rights or gays.
"Treason" refers to Democrats criticizing a Republican administration during a war.
"Patriotism" refers to Republicans criticizing a Democratic administration during a war.
"Fiscal responsibility" is a national priority related to keeping our budget in check, which only applies when Republicans are in the minority.
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