Ya got nothin' ...

So, not to belabor a point, but I've been floating my way around the Caribbean the last two weeks with limited connection to the intarwebs. I did get the CNN feed aboard ship (the great thing about that is once we left U.S. waters, we got CNN International instead of the American version; wish we could get it here) and I had the distinct displeasure of seeing the Rethugs crying for the last 14 days.

I got to hear them whine about the lack of bipartisanship (maybe the Dems should have taken the tax cuts out of the bill when House Rethugs refused to vote for it), about how they "won" becuase they showed a unified front against the new President and the Dems (oh, the oppressed minority) and how Obama's presidency has "failed" less than a month into his tenure.

I got to see John "The Human Tan" Boner Boehner do a dead lift of the stimulus bill on the House Floor and Eric "Twelve year old girls whine less than I do" Cantor do his best Newt Gingrich impersonation. Thankfully, the ship had a nearly unlimited supply of alcohol for, if I had to listen to it sober, the TV would have been the start of an artificial reef somewhere east of Grand Bahama.

So, amongst all the bluster and outrage from Republicans, I tried to listen for something, anything, they put forth that is not a rehash of the same old shit they've been peddling for the last 8 years and longer. You know, the policies that got us into this mess to begin with. Just a scintilla of a new idea. Something.

Nothing.

Not a fucking thing but "the Dem plan is a disaster". Nothing more than the same old mantra: "tax cuts, especially for the rich". They whined and cried and stamped their feet, the Dems gave them a lollipop in the form of $300 bln in tax cuts (and also took out some public health initiatives out), and they still weren't happy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Republican Party has become an opposition party purely to oppose. They don't want what's best for the American people, they don't want to fix the economy, they don't want us to have affordable health care, and they don't want anything the President does to succeed. They will happily watch the American Republic go down in flames (we're smoldering and losing altitude now) as long as they get their way.

The Big Boner John Boehner was correct the other day (not that he meant to be, I'm sure) when he said "we don't want to be the 'Party of No'" and that's exactly right. They want to be the 'Party of Self'. They are like children who take their ball and go home. They are like the abusive guy who kills his wife when she finally gets up the strength to leave him because "if I can't have her, nobody can." You can understand the reaction of a child when he feels unwanted by his friends but the murdering husband is a criminal.

The Republicans aren't 10 years old and their actions are criminal. They have abused this nation in one form or another since '93 and, now that the American people won't take it anymore, they will destroy it. "If I can't have her, nobody can." It's disgusting and disgraceful and, judging from the polls, the American people are beginning to get it.

It's sad that it took financial catastrophe for the majority of us to notice but then we were never (as a people) quick on the uptake. What the Republicans don't realize (or refuse to see), it the public makes the connection now. We (collectively) understand now that it was Republican policy-making that got us into this mess. We understand, now, that continuing on the present course will undoubtedly end in a collision with an iceberg and they see the Republicans continue to demand just that.

The President's initiative passed without the Republicans' support and in spite of their opposition (the Collins, Snowe, Specter Triumvirate is an interesting side discussion and a politically savvy move on their part). He will sign it today in Denver (good political theater that). If the Republicans want to sign their death warrant, they will continue to oppose for opposition's sake. If they're smart, they'll change their tune soon enough. The signing of this bill today should be a flashing neon light for the Republicans to get with the program or wither away to nothing at worst, a shriveled, ineffective, vestigial organ of the American body politic at best. An appendix in the book of American history.

Let's hope this comes to pass quickly.

Off to work to see if I still remember how to fix cars ...