CommentaryI had MSNBC on this afternoon, listening to David Shuster with the results of the latest Harris Poll....and to say this least, the results were really mindblowing.
In the past I have tried to refrain from "broadbrushing" the Republican Party and its membership- I have Republican friends and family; my late and beloved grandfather-and his brothers- all loyal GOP voters. But after listening to these results, and seeing them with my own eyes, I'm starting to wonder- just how many sane people are left in the GOP?
So here's some of the results, taken from
Jon Avlon's blog in
The Daily Beast. It deals with Republicans' thoughts about President Barack Obama.
* 67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.
* 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
* 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"
* 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
* Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."
I'm trying to figure out how a President, under who's watch the nation's financial institutions were bailed out and who's officers are raking in millions of dollars in bonuses, could be called a socialist. And today's signing of the healthcare reform act will be a windfall for the nation's insurance companies, with no public option as a fallback for the nation's uninsured.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is a socialist (and proud of it), was just on with Ed Schultz. The Senator more or less told the viewers that in no way, shape or form is Barack Obama a socialist. Sanders gave the example of Denmark, which is indeed socialist. In that country the citizens pay NOTHING for healthcare, and the tuition for the nation's university.....zero. As Senator Sanders explained, most American really have no idea what a socialist is.
And he's right.
Barack Obama is no more a socialist as I am the Fifth Beatle.
Nor is he a Muslim...nor is he foreign born. Then there are the 38% of the respondents to the poll who say Obama " is doing many of the things that Hitler did".
I guess that should send shockwaves to the throngs of Jewish and gay supporters Mr. Obama has....not to mention advisers, particularly Rahm Israel Emanuel, his chief of staff. Incidentally- Emmanuel's father was born in Jerusalem, and was a member of the
Irgun. You'd think he's know the Resurrection of Der Fuhrer when he saw it.
And no, Obama did not burn down the House of Representatives (as Hitler did the Reichstag) and blame it on enemies of the state. He is not accompanied around the nation with Brown Shirts. No political opponents have disappeared in the darkness of night. Labor unions are still legal, and the last I've heard there have been no organized book burnings. We have yet to annex Canada (just the English speaking provinces) or invade a defenseless neighbor (the Bahamas, maybe?).
The Obama critics seem to know even less about fascism than they do socialism.
As for the President being "the Anti-Christ".....I don't know. If he were really the son of the Prince of Darkness (and I don't mean Ozzie), do you really think he would have put up with all of that crap from John Boehner for this long? He would have dispatched him to that Great Celestial Tanning Booth months ago.
Granted, I've played some of the above for laughs....but the results of this poll- and the belief of some extremists on the right that the President is a threat, and as stated in Avlon's blog, a "domestic enemy"...there is some very scary stuff starting to happen in America. And its not from Obama...its from those who toss around these lies and half truths, and those who sadly believe them.
I agree with Republican blogger David Frum, who's lamenting that the GOP's elected officials are no longer calling the shots in their own party....its the voices of the Limbaugh's and the Beck's, and the mega beast called Fox News. There is no room for moderation in the GOP of the 21st century; to even considerate working with Democrats would lead to a raking over the coals by Limbaugh, Beck, and the rest. The tone of discourse has taken on an ugly racial edge recently- and I believe much of the Obama hatred comes from the color of his skin, not from his ideas or policies. Not all, of course, but we're starting to see the poison bubble to the top.
Before the Republican Party can even consider "taking back America", they have to take back there own party from the extremists who have taken over, who's only agenda is to keep the hate alive, and offering no constructive ideas other than creative ways to keep saying "no".
