Will the GOP Destroy Itself Before It Destroys America?

[EthanAllen]

by Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=11009

As everyone except for a dwindling band of Bush supporters now knows, the U.S. is in a terrible situation in Iraq from which it cannot extract itself. For Bush and Cheney, their own pride and delusion are more compelling than U.S. casualties, the destruction of Iraq and its people, and the inflaming of sectarian strife and anti-American violence throughout the Middle East.

Congress is complicit in the great strategic blunder. Republican flag-wavers led Americans like lemmings into the abyss. The Democrats have already abandoned the electorate that gave them control of Congress six months ago in the false hope that the Democrats would corral the White House moron and lead America out of the abyss.

Like the Republicans, the Democrats serve the few special interest groups that benefit, or believe that they benefit, from the war. By now we all know who these groups are: the oil industry, the military-security complex, and the Israel Lobby, AIPAC. This contrived war, based on lies and deception, serves no other interest.

There is no longer any question whatsoever, not a single sliver of doubt, that Americans were deceived into this disastrous war. The president of the United States lied to the American people, as did the vice president, the national security adviser, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the deputy secretary of defense, the undersecretary of defense, and every neoconservative in the Bush administration, think tanks, and media.

The fact that the American people were lied to and deceived does not absolve them from blame. The lie was transparent, the logic nonexistent, the true facts available and easy to discover.

America failed because the American people failed. The American people failed because their self-righteousness and hubris made them easy saps for deception.

Even now after five years of a disastrous policy, Republicans cannot accept the facts about the U.S. invasion and failed occupation of Iraq. At the recent "debate" between Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina, Rep. Ron Paul dared to tell the truth. Paul said that our difficulties in the Middle East are "blowback" from our government's determined attempts to exercise hegemony over the Middle East.

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, a person who sank so low as to frame innocents while serving as U.S. attorney in order to boost his name recognition, played the self-righteous card to extreme. How dare Ron Paul suggest that U.S. policy toward Muslims has anything whatsoever to do with attacks on the U.S.! With all the outrage he could muster, Giuliani asked Paul "to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn't really mean that."

The thunderous applause from the Republican audience to Giuliani's put-down of the only honest person present underlines that the Republican Party is incapable of leadership to end a futile and lost war that under international standards is a war crime, an unprovoked, naked aggression based entirely on lies, deception, and a secret agenda.

At other times, the Republican audience applauded in support of torture and greeted John McCain's protest against the practice with cold silence.

In the opening years of the 21st century the Republicans have made it clear that they are willing to sacrifice the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights in order to wage "war against terrorism." This willingness makes the Republican Party a more dangerous threat to Americans than Muslim terrorists. Muslim terrorists cannot destroy our country's reputation, trash our civil liberties, and wreck our system of accountable government, but the Republican Party has done a thorough job of it.

The Democratic Party is complicit in the Republican Party's crimes, but unlike the Republican electorate, the Democratic electorate does not support the occupation, the domestic police-state measures, and the Bush administration's decision to send more combat troops to Iraq. Although none of the current front-runners for the Democratic presidential nomination are independent of the special interests that benefit from the war, it might still be possible for a Democrat to emerge who will represent the Democratic electorate instead of the special interests.

Republican support for Bush's contrived war against Iraq has diminished the Republican Party. Intelligent and decent people have abandoned the party, which has morphed into a Brownshirt Party with which fewer people are willing to be associated. The diminished Republican ranks will make it difficult for the party to steal any more elections.

If we are fortunate, Republicans will complete their self-destruction before they extinguish the Constitution and destroy America.

[CNHT]

Considering several Republicans have created and/or signed on to legislation to end it, I don't see as there is much truth to your title.

[EthanAllen]

Considering several Republicans have created and/or signed on to legislation to end it, I don't see as there is much truth to your title.

Not my title. It is Paul Craig Robert's title. Mr. Roberts served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration earning fame as the "Father of Reaganomics".

[CNHT]

Considering several Republicans have created and/or signed on to legislation to end it, I don't see as there is much truth to your title.

Not my title. It is Paul Craig Robert's title. Mr. Roberts served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration earning fame as the "Father of Reaganomics".

Thanks to Dr. Paul lots of Republicans are starting to act like they live in a republic and are beginning to break with the administration on their bad foreign policies.

[EthanAllen]

Considering several Republicans have created and/or signed on to legislation to end it, I don't see as there is much truth to your title.

Not my title. It is Paul Craig Robert's title. Mr. Roberts served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration earning fame as the "Father of Reaganomics".

Thanks to Dr. Paul lots of Republicans are starting to act like they live in a republic and are beginning to break with the administration on their bad foreign policies.

"Lots" is a subjective term. Exactly how many are you referring to in the Senate for instance?

[CNHT]

Well to have Snowe, Hagel, Domenici, and Lugar, as well as Gregg and Sununu, that's good isn't it? Gregg and Sununu are representing NH.
These are all R's.

Not only is it politically expedient for the sake of winning in '08 but I think they truly think that now it's the right thing to do...and I think this would never have happened if not for Dr. Paul who they know is serious.

There was a great article I read today online about how the Democrat candidates are all talk -- they have no intentions of getting us out...and Hillary and Edwards are plotting to get rid of any lesser candidates who mention it.

[EthanAllen]

Well to have Snowe, Hagel, Domenici, and Lugar, as well as Gregg and Sununu, that's good isn't it? Gregg and Sununu are representing NH.

Snowe is hardly a Republican. Hegel has been opposed for a very long time. Gregg and Sununu?

Let's see how they wiggle out  of the vote next week on legislation in the Senate that would order combat troops to be out of Iraq by next spring. Up until this point, Gregg has just been giving cover to Sununu.

I think this would never have happened if not for Dr. Paul who they know is serious.

Serious about what?

about how the Democrat candidates are all talk -- they have no intentions of getting us out

The next president will have to get us out and it will be a Democrat.

[CNHT]

Snowe is hardly a Republican. Hegel has been opposed for a very long time. Gregg and Sununu?

Snowe is a Republican - I may not be spelling her name right. Warner is also on the bill. Hagel is the correct spelling for that name...

Let's see how they wiggle out  of the vote next week on legislation in the Senate that would order combat troops to be out of Iraq by next spring. Up until this point, Gregg has just been giving cover to Sununu.

Um Gregg and Sununu both co-sponsored the bill....where have you been? I doubt they'll wiggle out of a bill they themselves sponsored.

The next president will have to get us out and it will be a Democrat.

You are delusional. No Democrat is independent enough to do what Ron Paul would do, and who means it, or we'd be out by now...

Democrat congress has 14% approval rating despite the communist media pushing their compadres, the Democrats.

[Russell Kanning]

The next president will have to get us out and it will be a Democrat.

that is funny ... have any of them said they will get the US out?

[Russell Kanning]

I will have to run this in the KFPress.

[EthanAllen]

Warner is also on the bill.

Talk about confused. Warner and Lugar are co-sponsoring a bill that is separate from Gregg and Sununu's. Warner and Lugar are calling for a new strategy by mid-Oct., after Petraes reports to Congress, that would restrict the mission of combat troops.

Um Gregg and Sununu both co-sponsored the bill....where have you been? I doubt they'll wiggle out of a bill they themselves sponsored.

Gregg and Sununu's bill is about the Iraq study group - another "bill". The bill I am referring to passed the House 223-201 (Hodes and Shea-Porter voted for it) that would require the combat troops to be withdrawn by the spring of '08. Let's see how our Senators vote on that.

[CNHT]

I understood that Gregg and Sununu had one too....

I haven't read them all, I know there are numerous ones, but they are not gung-ho with Bush, that's for sure.

So the Democrats, who could have ended it by now and haven't, are full of crap.

I wish I'd saved that article...

[EthanAllen]

I understood that Gregg and Sununu had one too....

They do - as I said to implement the Iraq study groups recommendations.

I haven't read them all, I know there are numerous ones

Neither have I but it doesn't take reading them to know who has sponsored what before claiming you do.

the Democrats, who could have ended it by now and haven't, are full of crap.

If the DP is full of crap what does that make the RP AND their supports? Full of shit?

[David]

AHHHH, the treadmill of politics. 

Neither side wants to close the permanent bases in Iraq.  Neither side wants to get out of middle eastern affairs.  Ron Paul is the exception, and I am uncertain of Dennis Kucinich, but Paul is a strict non-interventionist.  And he is as ignored in gov't as Kucinich is. 

My understanding of the polling numbers is that as a group congress scores very low, but that as individuals the congress critters score rather high in many areas.  Which is why no one in congress is very worried about the total congress poll numbers, as long as they remain somewhat popular, the odds of reelection is high, in the incumbents favor, by I believe an 80 percent margin.