Not content with their last moral failure, Republicans yesterday also shot down the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Oh, yes, a majority of Senators supported the bill. No problem with that. But majority rule apparently means nothing these days, not when 40 Republicans can hold everything hostage.
Oh, for the record, one Republican voted with the majority, and one Democrat, newly-elected Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, joined the filibuster. And get this: Manchin says the policy "probably should" be ended, but for some strange reason he's objecting to the "timing" of it. And for that, he doesn't simply vote against the bill itself - which would be wrong, but not completely insane - he joins the filibuster to keep it from coming to a vote at all! Jebus, with Democrats like this, who needs Republicans!
But for the most part, it was Republicans who did this. These days, they don't even have to filibuster. They just say that they will, and that's apparently enough (though I still wonder if that's constitutional). I thought this disgraceful act deserved a selection of political cartoons, so here you go. As you can see, most are aimed at John McCain, who has lied time and time again, moving the goalposts whenever supporters of civil rights met his earlier requirements.
McCain used to be a war hero and then, supposedly, a "maverick." But now, he's just an embarrassment. It's sad, but that was his choice.
Here's how Chan Lowe puts it:
I am deeply disappointed by John McCain.
Yes, ten years ago, when he was running in the Republican primary against W., I thought (as did many Americans), “Here is an honorable man. I might not agree with his politics, but he appears to have the integrity I find lacking in so many pols today.”
Somewhere between then and now, Big John sold his soul to the forces of darkness. We won’t even talk about his rank opportunism in plucking Sarah Palin out of obscurity—an act for which the nation still suffers.
Formerly a moderate on immigration reform, he demonized aliens in a craven - albeit successful - attempt to beat a rabid conservative in his recent reelection bid.
Now he plays the spoiler as ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, using one dilatory tactic after another to block the open integration of gays into the military. He called for a study. It was completed, but the results did not comport with his wishes. He wants another study.
Two-thirds of service members surveyed say they don’t care about the sexual orientation of their comrades. The Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs want DADT repealed. They attest such an action won’t harm the military in the long run. An overwhelming majority of Americans favors repeal. What dwindling group of troglodytes is McCain fronting for at this point?
But that's what I'm wondering about all Republicans these days. What dwindling group of troglodytes are they fronting for? Ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is actually a popular position in America. And in the military, too. If you can't do what's right even when it's popular, what's wrong with you?
And then they hold all legislation hostage until the very wealthiest Americans - millionaires and billionaires - get another huge benefit at the cost of greatly increasing the federal deficit. That's a tiny group, pretty much by definition. So why do they do it? Because they can? Because they haven't been punished at the ballot box for this kind of thing? (And why not? How can we Americans let them get away with it? What has happened to us?)
Unfortunately, that dwindling group of troglodytes controls the Republican Party. McCain, the former "maverick," started running to the right as fast as he could in 2008, and he's been running ever since. And he still faced a serious primary challenge - from the right, no less! - this year. Frankly, I'm ashamed that he ran away, instead of standing up for what he believed. That's pretty cowardly for a war hero, don't you think?
A minority of far-right extremists controls the Republican Party, but why do rank-and-file Republicans let them? And why don't the rest of us punish them all for veering so far into right-wing cloud cuckoo land? No minority can exert control like this unless the majority lets them. So what is wrong with us? Are we that ignorant, that bigoted, that gullible? Or are we just that lazy? What's happening to this country is our fault. If we continue to let it happen, we'll rightly be despised by future generations.
Obviously, I don't meant just this particular issue. This is just an example. I really don't understand what's going on in this country, but it's a very bad time for the American people to lose their courage and their common sense, don't you think?
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