Remember the Republican White House and the Dog on the Roof

By Grey Wilson | Op-ed

Has the American psyche already forgotten the anxiety attacks brought on by the past Republican White House?

Remember the Republican White House (Photo: Flickr by Flood)

Has the American psyche misplaced recent memories of a Republican controlled White House? Like PTSD, it can be a long climb up the deep and dark hole to recovery while trying to decide whether it is best to forget or to recollect the past.

Having gotten their way and taking no responsibility for past actions, it is no surprise that Republicans want to return to the first part of the 21st Century. It is foreshadowed at every turn.

Republicans gleefully promise to dismantle the ongoing corrective steps (as evidenced by slowing down the hemmoraging job losses, reversing the DOW’s 6000 point drop and ending the troubling Iraqi War) once they gain power over our government . They attribute blame and shake their fingers at others while denying responsibility for their past actions. They promise a continuing onslaught of blame on the Obama administration while insisting on going back to their old ways, the ones that got us into this situation. They will even redefine poverty in Republican terms to make it easier for them to not address the problem.

“…not a …nation of haves and have nots; we must always be a nation of haves and ‘soon to haves’ ” (Republican official response to State of Union January 2012)

Putting the wealthy one percent back in charge is the key ingredient of their final solution. While claiming that too much regulation and safety nets are the problem, they pilfer and pillage the middle class as documented in “Retirement Heist” (Ellen Schultz from the Wall Street Journal) through various schemes which raid employee’s retirement plans. The degradation will accelerate when they demolish the remainder of our health plans. They simply want more of the action.

Republicans also practice their tactics during their own primaries. Remember the 2000 Republican Primary when the questionable Vietnam-era, draft dodging former National Guard candidate Bush falsely accused his opponent, McCain (a POW during the Vietnam War) of being un-American through a relentless advertising effort? More recently during the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary we watched a disgraced Republican, womanizer, and former Speaker of the House, Gingrich, attack candidate Romney for his values. However, the real learning experience came when it was revealed that Gingrich was endorsed by the Christian family values group, The American Family Association..

It is fair game for President Obama’s campaign to look into Romney’s Mormonism. Many right-wing Christians have termed Bishop Romney’s Mormonism a “false” belief. “Don’t go there!” Republicans warn and Democrats retreat. In the meantime there is no stopping “the Donald” who is unleashed in his on again, off again, on again attacks on President Obama’s birthplace. Democrats need to enter with full forces and insist on a conversation covering every bit of Romney’s being.

Is there something to be learned from Republican election season tactics, from their expertise in controlling the message and denying the responder in advance? Perhaps we must learn to remember — to remember the past Republican White House and the dog on the roof.

Suggested reading: “Retirement Heist, How companies plunder and profit from the nest eggs of American workers.” Ellen E. Schultz, Penguin Group Publishing, 2011

“Retirement Heist: on Amazon

“When Retirees Are Shortchanged”, New York Times Book Review, by Brian Burrough, September 17, 2011

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