Honestly, as I continue to moniter the political scene in America – as a school teacher – I have to wonder if “we the people” really are so stupid as to continue to “buy” the “kool aid” the republicans have been “selling” since the mid 1970’s.  As I’ve written on this site many times I believe the turning point that has turned America downward was the day Ronald Reagan was elected president back in 1980.  During the 80’s I was focused on my young children and not so much on politics (although I still remember the “me” orientation of all the “young republicans” back then and worrying about what would happen once they weren’t “young” anymore) – once the Viet Nam War  “ended” I was pretty much “done” with America’s “mainstream.”  However, like many others of my era, I slowly worked my way into a middle class lifestyle and year after year took the many benefits I was receiving due to the sacrifices of those who fought valiantly for working people during the preceeding 40 years for granted.  I was publicly educated, the roads I was driving on were relatively new, and jobs were plentiful (in fact, most corporations actually treated their employees with a sense of loyalty – until Reagan “broke” the Air Traffic Controller’s Union).  After the trauma of the Viet Nam fiasco wore off, and I recovered from “discovering” that my government had LIED to me (I was raised believing lying was REALLY bad), I slowly started appreciating the things I had learned in school about “MY” country.

The United States of America was the greatest nation in the world – not because we had all the weapons and military to threaten anyone who disagreed with us with total annihilation, but – because we believed in equal rights, liberty, human rights, and – in a summative sense – community.  I believed we were a nation whose actions were consistent with our words.  Of course, the more I read nowadays, the more I realize how naive I was – and, worst of all, the more I realize that those who’ve been leading us have been on a terrible downward trend for most of my adult lifetime.  Yet, my formative years were the 60’s and I still remember Dr. Martin Luther King and the movement he stood for and died for.  I remember Lyndon Johnson who became very unpopular because of his blunders in foreign policy – yet, he oversaw the “Great Society” which gave us Medicare and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which was a great step in the right direction for those of us who believe in doing everything possible to minimize the effects of discrimination in America.  I remember Robert Kennedy who was determined to fight organized crime and paid the ultimate price for his conviction.  And I clearly remember the 1970’s was a time when you could disagree with someone – like I did with Richard Nixon on many issues – yet, still expect progress to be made for the “general welfare of the American people.”  I believe it was the very forces of the republican party that are undermining the fundamentals of our government today who were responsible for Nixon’s downfall. (do you really believe the Watergate “burglars” [CIA operatives] were “caught” unexpectedly?)

Nixon had instituted a strong environmental policy and initiated the Environmental Protection Agency (that today’s republicans so much want to eliminate), Nixon broke foreign policy barriers with both Russia and (especially) China, and he instituted wage and price controls that ultimately led to a “Windfall Profits tax” on oil companies after he was gone from office (all things this republican CABAL I keep writing about hated).  In those days, as I remember it, mainstream republicans and democrats could “work together” and actually accomplish things that were in the interest of “Main Street.”  As I look back on those days, it becomes clearer to me that the “forces” which are behind today’s republican party were “there” – they were simply stealth – and they decided their party needed a strong push to the “right.”  Reagan was the first step.  These are the people I’ve previously referred to as the “Family” – as written about by Jeff Sharlet in the book of the same name – who have multiplied into a force of unknown numbers of “cells” around the country dedicated to the “overthrow” of the “New Deal” and the “Great Society,” plus those features of our government they find repulsive, put in place by both Nixon and Eisenhower before him.

When you think about it, there’s no logical reason for the LARGE MAJORITY of Americans to “turn away” from the ideals of the “New Deal” and “Great Society” because the benefits created in those era’s were (and still are) aimed at the vast majority of Americans.  It has taken a LONG conspiracy from those who were defeated by FDR in the 30’s to put themselves in a place where they are on the verge of not only reversing the social safety net created by Roosevelt and those who followed for the next generation, but in overcoming the “checks and balances” put into our constitution by the framers which would prevent the very “permanent republican majority” envisioned by Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, and the rest of the right wing CABAL (many who are unknown to the general public) that potentially is on the horizon.  As I watch what is happening, I have to give them credit for having a well thought out, disciplined scheme – despite the FACT that I find them deplorable people for “hatching” it. (sometimes I feel like they’re simply trying to prove the old adage that “everyone has their price”)  The question becomes, “How are they doing this?”

 I’ve shared on this “blog” at least a couple times a reminder of the “Big Lie” theory of Joseph Goebbels, the head of Nazi propaganda.  If you read “The Family” you’ll find that this CABAL of right wing republicans, in it’s infancy back in the 30’s, took much of their philisophical direction from the Nazi’s.  They believe in authoritarianism and they believe that the world should be governed by the rich and powerful – to put it in a “nutshell.”  Goebbel’s theory was that if you repeat a LIE enough times, it eventually becomes believable – this is the mechanism they are using to trick America’s working class into voting against itself.  Those perpetrating the lying must control the dissent, so that the general public only hears the lying.  Enter Fox “news,” Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Scott Walker and all the others who will say what people like the Koch brothers pay them to say.  And, for those of us who still feel a “kinship” to all those who fought against the Civil Rights abuses that were commonplace in my youth, it should be no surprise some of the things that come out of the mouths of these people (Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, etc.) because the Koch’s and their father were and are right in the middle of the John Birch Society which not only has a history of blatant racism, but still maintains to this day that Dwight D. Eisenhower was a communist spy!  These people are nuts and they are behind the “Tea Party,” people like Glenn Beck, and those right wing “water carriers” mentioned above.  They don’t think twice about the LYING that Goebbels preached for his propaganda “machine,” because – to them – “the end justifies the means.”  The “end” they are looking for is total control of America’s government in direct conflict with the intentions of our founders. 

If you’ve been listening to their “crap” for as long as I have, you’ve heard this “plain and simple.”  I started to notice this about the time Limbaugh hit the “scene” toward the end of the 80’s.  We started hearing the republican “talking points.”  I guess the terminology made it sound innocent enough, but what it means is a concerted and organized effort to get numerous “pundits” on the same page – repeating the same lie OVER and OVER again!  And, the really scarry thing is that it has worked.  I still remember talking to a psychologist about kids lying when I first started teaching.  He said, “You have to get ‘through’ to them by the time they’re 14 or lying becomes part of their character.”  Then he said something that really stuck with me and I’ve seen evidence of this many times in the ensuing 20 years, “After they’ve lied enough, they start believing their own lies.”  Wala, now we have a group of LIARS who actually believe what is coming out of their mouths is true!  That is how people like Beck and Limbaugh can do this with such “conviction.”  I’ve heard people use the term “spin” for many years, but in reality they have created a euphemism for the word LIAR.

Democrats have played an unwitting part in all of this, mostly because they are too disjointed to counteract the discipline of the republicans all marching in lockstep.  (does this give you a visual???)  One of the worst examples of this would be the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  As with much of the rest of America’s “big business” since the days of Reagan, we are experiencing “too big to fail” corporations – most notably the Wall Street banks who nearly bankrupted us (well, probably bankrupted us – the Treasury department is in the middle of a lot of creative “financing” that will probably come “due” some point in the not too distant future) – but, what many don’t think about is the contraction that’s taken place in the Telecommunications business since that disastrous decision.  America’s airwaves – you know, what the republicans have convinced America is our “liberal press” – has been purchased by less than ten right wing leaning corporations.  That decision is what has allowed Rupert Murdoch to seize control of a large portion of America’s media – despite the FACT he’s an Australian (right winger) and his top shareholder is a Saudi Prince who helped fund Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11.  This “Act” is what allowed the recent takeover of MSNBC by Comcast who immediately FIRED Keith Olberman, the leading voice of dissent to what the republicans are up to – just as Goebbels would have had it.

Now, as a teacher of 6th graders, I feel a sense of urgency to teach my students to research BOTH sides of any argument, to FACT check information, and to never lose sight of RIGHT and WRONG in their decision making.  I’m trying to teach them the importance of them being educated voters when they grow up, and I’m trying to give them a sense of the history of America which has made this nation so great.  I also teach them that when we take things for granted, we could lose them.  The way I put it often is “Freedom isn’t free.”  In the next couple of years we, in America, are going to find out how many adult voters understand these principles.  As I stated above, I believe I’ve been guilty of taking way too much for granted and thinking that certain issues were “off limits” from the politicians in Washington.  I still remember Reagan railing against Medicare in the 60’s, talking about how it was going to “destroy our freedom.”  Still, 80% support strengthening Medicare, yet should the republicans win in 2012, it may be a thing of the past.

Like I’ve said many times, these republicans are “cagy” and they have a “long term” plan.  They have been “whittling” away at the things they hate for many years and now it’s all coming to a head.  For example, under the reign of GW Bush, republicans, under the direction of the pharmeceutical industry, instituted the “Medicare part D” program.  This program, and I’m certain this is according to plan, has been funneling money out of taxpayer’s pockets into the coffers of those who designed the bill, creating the instability that is “at issue” today, and laying the groundwork for the republicans “wet dream” of putting the health of our senior citizens at the mercy of the FOR PROFIT “health care” companies.  Despite the FACT all of this is CLEARLY undermining the program, AND that large majorities of Americans oppose it, I feel the republicans feel they will be successful in repealing the program as it presently exists.  I believe they are secretly getting “minions” situated in all sorts of strategic places in the decision making hierarchy and, just as with the so-called “public option,” in the “health reform” debate, the will of “we the people” is irrelevent.

Republicans have a near stranglehold on the so-called “liberal media” and combining that with their willingness to implement Goebbels’ propaganda scheme along with their “the end justifies the means” belief, those of us who believe in the “New Deal” and the social safety net are facing a major challenge.  As I’ve also stated on this website, President Obama has not convinced me he will stand firm against this republican onslaught – so, the congressional elections of 2012 appear to be EXTREMELY consequential – one way or the other.  Several things are certain;  first, the lying will continue – from what I could tell from the first republican “debate” it’s going to be accelerated.  Second, the republican are already busy trying to limit the number of democrats who will be eligible to vote – they’ve got schemes going on as I’m writing this all over the country to make it difficult for disadvantaged voters to exercise their right.  Thirdly, I’m not convinced that ANYONE has thoroughly checked out the voting machine irregularities that put GW Bush in office and, in the last election, in South Carolina, nominated a person with NO CHANCE to run for the senate – someone who didn’t even campaign.  The reality is that the electronic voting machines are built by companies controlled by republicans and they’re EASY to HACK!  All of this stuff is information that’s available to the general public – but, the republicans continue to count on people not checking things out and getting their info from the republican controlled “news” media.  So, in my view, it all comes down to this: In the next election “We the People” will find out if we’re as STUPID as the republicans think we are.  If people don’t start talking this stuff up with each other and if liberals don’t start emphasizing to other liberals (just the FACT the republicans have made the word “liberal” something akin to a “dirty word” is a testament to how powerful the Goebbels propaganda scheme really is) the importance of participating in the process, we might find out how difficult it will be to overcome these thugs once they have TOTAL control of America’s government!  (remember, the definition of fascism is government and corporate interests working in concert)