| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
25 Jun 2005 01:42:24 PM |
| Object: |
When going gets tough, GOP House panders to patriotism |
What a concept!
When in trouble, stoke the emotional fires of patriotism.
From The Houston Chronicle, 6/24/05:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/3240182
When going gets tough, House panders to patriotism
By MARIANNE MEANS
Politically, House approval of the flag amendment is really pitiful.
Public approval of the Republican-run Congress is at a dangerous low
of 33 percent, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.
That's just one-third of the country.
And only 13 percent of voters think their elected representatives are
working on issues that matter to them.
Gee, it doesn't sound as though these elite guys and gals are in touch
with ordinary people.
So it's hardly a surprise that when it wants to restore our
confidence, the House of Representatives rallies around the flag.
What a concept!
When in trouble, stoke the emotional fires of patriotism.
This has worked for President Bush, but no longer nearly as well as it
did in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As the war in Iraq drags on with constant violence, his popularity is
down too.
Yet with approval ratings in the high 40s, the president is not as far
in the cellar as Congress.
The House tried to demonstrate this week that it was doing the
people's business after all by passing a constitutional amendment to
forbid the "physical desecration" of the American flag.
They took the time to do this even though the president's
high-priority agenda is stalled, including Social Security revisions,
permanent tax cuts, extension of the USA Patriot Act without changes
and health care cost adjustments.
Why hold serious, contentious hearings on major issues when you can
pull off an irrelevant, symbolic stunt that doesn't cost taxpayer
money?
Never mind that flag-burning is not exactly an imminent threat to
national security.
It was a popular protest tactic against the Vietnam War, but since
then has fallen from favor among young agitators.
Anybody you know seen one lately?
This was, as usual, mostly Republican doing.
_____________________________________________________
Aren't these idiotic political moments usually "Republican doings"?
Harry
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| User: "Tempest" |
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| Title: Re: When going gets tough, GOP House panders to patriotism |
25 Jun 2005 02:33:28 PM |
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Harry Hope wrote:
What a concept!
When in trouble, stoke the emotional fires of patriotism.
The 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make
constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other
paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on
clothing and in public displays.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people
are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate
a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious
minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
From The Houston Chronicle, 6/24/05:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/3240182
When going gets tough, House panders to patriotism
By MARIANNE MEANS
Politically, House approval of the flag amendment is really pitiful.
Public approval of the Republican-run Congress is at a dangerous low
of 33 percent, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.
That's just one-third of the country.
And only 13 percent of voters think their elected representatives are
working on issues that matter to them.
Gee, it doesn't sound as though these elite guys and gals are in touch
with ordinary people.
So it's hardly a surprise that when it wants to restore our
confidence, the House of Representatives rallies around the flag.
What a concept!
When in trouble, stoke the emotional fires of patriotism.
This has worked for President Bush, but no longer nearly as well as it
did in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As the war in Iraq drags on with constant violence, his popularity is
down too.
Yet with approval ratings in the high 40s, the president is not as far
in the cellar as Congress.
The House tried to demonstrate this week that it was doing the
people's business after all by passing a constitutional amendment to
forbid the "physical desecration" of the American flag.
They took the time to do this even though the president's
high-priority agenda is stalled, including Social Security revisions,
permanent tax cuts, extension of the USA Patriot Act without changes
and health care cost adjustments.
Why hold serious, contentious hearings on major issues when you can
pull off an irrelevant, symbolic stunt that doesn't cost taxpayer
money?
Never mind that flag-burning is not exactly an imminent threat to
national security.
It was a popular protest tactic against the Vietnam War, but since
then has fallen from favor among young agitators.
Anybody you know seen one lately?
This was, as usual, mostly Republican doing.
_____________________________________________________
Aren't these idiotic political moments usually "Republican doings"?
Harry
--
"Ignorance is an evil weed, which dictators may cultivate among their
dupes, but which no democracy can afford among its citizens."
- William H. Beveridge, 1944
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