If Liz were Queen

The more I read of the recent antics of the Republican Party, the more they remind me of a giant beast that has been mortally wounded and is flailing in the throes of its death–a death, I might add, of its own making.

I think in great part that this has come about because, like the dinosaur, the Republicans did not adapt to the changing times.  From 1994 until 2006 they had total control of our Congress and they did as they chose with wanton disregard for ordinary Americans.  They appear to have not noticed that they are not in control any more.

They talked their line about “Tax Breaks” for years!  It was their reason for being, but Americans are wise now as to who these “tax breaks” benefit.  Ordinary Americans may reap a couple of hundred dollars a year while multimillionaires get thousands.  But the couple of hundred that we get back doesn’t even cover things like the 78% hike in private health care premiums.

What the Republicans have not done that they should have is to change some of the basics of their conservative ideology starting with the benefits of privatization, one of the cornerstones of their conservative economic ideology.  Yes, privatization has its merits and is part of our free enterprise system  HOWEVER there are some social institutions to which it should never be applied.  HEALTH CARE INSURANCE and PRISONS are two which should be off-limits to private profit.  IT IS NOTHING BUT OBSCENE THAT WHETHER A PERSON RECEIVES THE CARE THEY NEED IS DETERMINED BY THE CORPORATE BOTTOM LINE THAT PAYS CEO’S OUTRAGEOUS SALARIES AND DIVIDENDS TO ITS PREFERRED SHARE HOLDERS.

and it is beyond belief that people, even adolescents are sent to private prisons in this country by crooked judges for no other reason than to support the corporate owners of these prisons.  If prisons were maintained by the state and federal government which they should be, we would not have this issue.

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36% of Texas are Hispanic and 12% are Black.  Then when you throw in about 12% of us who are progressive Democrats–you have a majority of 60%.  Republicans like Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn don’t seem to comprehend these statistics.

The behavior of these seemingly intelligent people is mystifying.  You can’t dismiss a Latina judge for the Supreme Court who is as qualified and experienced as Sotomayor and garner the Hispanic votes you need–not in Texas.

Maybe people like Baucus and jackasses like Grassley, because their states have about a 2% showing of minorities can get away with “not being sure” about Sotomayor–although even they are playing on a slippery field because people like me and people from other states through activist groups like  MoveOn will see that tons of dollars pour in to support their opponents.

And that is why the Queen predicts that if the Democrats in Texas run a strong candidate in the Fall of 2010, a fire brand, that we will have a new Democratic Governor on that crisp November morning after the voters have spoken.

I hope that in November of 2010 that they will remember that Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn did not vote for Sonia Sotomayor.  But not to worry, in case some Texans forget, there will be plenty of people to remind them.

In an article that appeared in AlterNet, Leslie Savan from THE NATION wrote that “. . . Watching the GOP morph into the National Association for the Advancement of White People should give us all hope, not despair. . .”

Another excerpt from Ms. Savan’s article titled “The Ugly Racism of the Right Will be Their Undoing.”

“, , ,It’s not only angry white male pundits who are waving the white victimhood flag. It’s also the chair of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who last Thursday called the kettle dusky by excoriating Democrats who’ve defended Sonia Sotomayor for “giving cover to groups and individuals to nurture racial grievances for political advantage. . . “