EDITOR:
Chicago lost the bid for the 2016 Olympics.
Cheers erupted at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, with the headline "Obama loses! Obama loses!" Rush Limbaugh declared gleeful. "World Rejects Obama," the Drudge Report gloated. These people are not patriots. The Olympics would have brought jobs, millions of dollars and world recognition to America.
The rebuff by the Olympic committee was trivial; it didn't do any real harm. But the same principle of spite has determined Republican positions on more serious matters, with potentially serious consequences - in particular, in the debate over health care reform.
Republicans oppose Democratic plans to extend insurance coverage.
Democrats opposed President Bush's attempt to convert Social Security into a sort of giant 401(k).
The two parties do, after all, have different philosophies about the appropriate role of government.
GOP line of attack is the claim - based mainly on lies about death panels and so on - that reform will undermine Medicare.
This line of attack is utterly at odds both with the party's traditions and with what conservatives claim to believe.
Think about just how bizarre it is for Republicans to position themselves as the defenders of unrestricted Medicare spending. All the while considering itself the party of Ronald Reagan - and Reagan was a fierce opponent of Medicare's creation, warning that it would destroy American freedom. Honest. Republicans have repeatedly decried the growth in entitlement spending - growth that is largely driven by rising health care costs.
How did one of our great political parties become so ruthless, so willing to embrace scorched-earth tactics even if so doing undermines the ability of any future administration to govern? Anyone surprised by the venomous, over-the-top opposition to Mr. Obama must have forgotten the Clinton years.
Remember when Rush Limbaugh suggested that Hillary Clinton was a party to murder?
When Newt Gingrich shut down the federal government in an attempt to bully Bill Clinton into accepting those Medicare cuts?
And let's not even talk about the impeachment saga.
The result has been a cynical, ends-justify-the-means approach. The GOP will seize anything which to beat the current administration.
It's an ugly picture. But it's the truth. And it's a truth anyone trying to find solutions to America's real problems has to understand.
These consertivive talking heads such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, trying to steer the GOP's direction. These noisiest parts of the conservative media machine have far less influence than the world thinks they do. These radio guys can't deliver a pizza, let alone a nomination or an original idea. So stand up get informed, read and speak your mind.
Jerry Denis Sullivan
Minden
