Decision 2006 - Is The Republican 'cut, Run And Scare' Strategy Running On Fumes?

Over the course of George Bush's six years in office it has become abundantly clear that Mr. Bush and his cronies are in a state of "willful denial" about the worsening situation in Iraq….and so is a large chunk of the American public, willingly or due to misleading partisan information.

As the temperature rises and with less than 5 weeks left to the mid-term elections, some of the most zealous backers of this administration in the Republican Party are running scared leaving Mr. Bush trapped holding the "hot plate."

With the on-going "Sex & Pedophilia" scandal involving now resigned Republican Congressman, Mark Foley (R – FL), the focus on this administration has switched gears mid-stream—from a wanton catastrophe to a circus of "Catastrophilia."

A homosexual Republican Congressman with Pedophilic tendencies is like "manna from heaven" for the Democrats. They can't ask for a better gift so close to the elections—an opportunity to expose Republican hypocrisy. You can bet that mothers of all political persuasions will get an earful of this.

These revelations of the activities of Mr. Foley has prompted an all out "Circular Panic Shootout" amongst Republicans, with each and every one facing the electorate this November distancing himself/herself from Foley.

This "October Surprise" could be the final nail in the coffin for the Republican Party. The "chickens have come home to roost," and the "Values" and "Faith" Party is in deep trouble.

"I will not withdraw even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me,"—George Bush, speaking to a group of Republicans in the White House, according to Bob Woodward (Award Winning Journalist) in his new book: State of Denial. Barney is one of the Bush's two dogs.

In May 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld while speaking to a cheering congregation of U.S. troops in Qatar said, "So when people are writing the history books, you're going to be in it. Thank you very much."

The Vice President Mr. Dick Cheney in an appearance on September 14, 2003 in a "Meet the Press" weekly show with NBC's Tim Russert said, "My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) recently, sounding much like CNN's Lou Dobbs, linked immigrants to terrorist and criminal gangs by saying: "Illegal's crossing our borders are gang members who cross to injure our citizens. This is a daily struggle in some towns."

These four statements and many others I have not listed here sum up the dysfunctional, hypocritical and deceitful "Republican Mentality" that readily permeates the party from top to bottom.

If you read in between the lines, the intimation is that Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney have been fighting this war for the sake of "history," ....and that "illegal immigrants" and by extension "legal immigrants" are just a bunch of criminals and terrorists—dangerous and deceitful rhetoric expressly intended drive an "immigration wedge" to divide America, and instill fear all the way to the November ballot box.

Like seasoned predators Republicans have in the last couple of years skillfully capitalized on a basic human instinct of "fear of the unknown" to weave a national security policy of "fear" into the psyche of the American public, with incredible effectiveness.

A few weeks to the mid-term elections, the "Kings" of "Wedge Issues" and partisan smears are at it again, even though they are clearly on the ropes this time around.

While Bush has been choreographing the "Terrorist Fear Branch," the right wing of the Republican party led by xenophobes like Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, George Allen and James Sensenbrenner among many others have been "stroking" the locals by holding anti-immigrant town-hall style hate meetings to "rally the base" of the Republican party, a base comprising of maniacal extremists still hanging on to America's bloody and racially intolerant past.

The so called "House Republican Immigration Field Hearings" conducted in the recent months supposedly explored the "societal and governmental costs of illegal immigrants," use of health-care facilities, welfare and "the criminal consequences of illegal immigration." These meetings turned out to be "Distortion Dens" in which immigrants were mercilessly vilified. Manufactured videos of immigrants crossing in from Mexico superimposed with images of Osama bin Laden and Zacharias Moussaoui were played to "fearful" Town-Hall congregants, and are still appearing on TV screens in numerous family living rooms across America.

Needless to say that the "positive" contributions of immigrants (illegal & legal) have been totally blanked out in favor of blood-letting, high-stakes demonizing, irrational and rampant xenophobia aimed at "the disease carrying homeland invaders." Also, totally swept aside is the Senate bill that would have been a workable starting point from which to work on this complex issue, in order to reach a rational and comprehensive solution.

In order to placate their "base," the Republican dominated U.S. government has been conducting sweeping immigration raids across the country, inhumanely separating children born in The United States, who are constitutionally American citizens, from their immigrant mothers and fathers …. well meaning "Economic Refugees," from third world nations racked with incompetent and thieving governments…..some with the assistance of greedy U.S. multi-national corporations whose "colonial" and corrupt profit motive is legendary.

Even Tom Kean, former Republican Governor of New Jersey and a respected ex-911 commissioner has joined the fray for the sake of "Dear Party," pulling a "Michael Moorer" on Democrats. Sources indicate that Mr. Kean was hired as a pre-production consultant for the movie "The path to 9-11" a TV miniseries which grossly misrepresents the facts in the 9/11 Commission report and portrays the Clinton administration in bad light.

Clearly, a desperate attempt by Republican operatives in collaboration with a "ratings hungry" media powerhouse (ABC/Disney) to influence the electorate.

If this movie were not a sneaky political move why was an advance copy of the film given to right wing extremist radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh – a self-serving demagogue who has a penchant for monstrous distortions and extremist hyperbole.

Other reports from Washington indicate that the Republicans are planning to unload their significantly superior financial war chest on Democrats in the form of negative TV and Radio ads over personal issues and local controversies. According to these reports, the Republican Congressional committee has dispatched operatives to comb through personal records to find damaging information on their Democratic opponents.

Even though mud-flinging is a political staple for both parties and in-fact almost everywhere else in the world, the Republicans are masters at this game and can ratchet it up to ludicrous levels.

Look out for Republican candidates to become meaner and more twisted in the coming few weeks.

But will the moderate "swing" voters in both parties buy into this charade this time around?

According to a CNN Poll conducted on September 6, 57% of Americans without a high school education believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 911 attacks (a fact most recently denied in a news conference August 21, when President Bush said Hussein had "nothing" to do with the attacks), 54% of High School graduates believe likewise. Only 39% of college graduates believe the same. The number dwindles dramatically to 19% for postgraduates.

Are Americans that ill informed? If so then we should expect another Republican win this November.

Will red baiting terror, using politics of deceit, fear and hate work this time?

Will the Republican party successfully energize their "intolerant" right wing base and also scare the pants off moderate Republicans, Independents and even some Democrats….again?

Is the Republican Party running on fumes?

Cheap political scores that violate the core of internationally revered American values like hurriedly establishing military commissions that will utilize "alternative forms of torture" in order to claim the mantle as the "toughest in the war on terror" are very troubling, notwithstanding the fact that these measures have been implemented in other countries before with little or no success.

Piecemeal measures that are politically targeted and principally bankrupt, without any long-term solutions is not the way to govern this great nation.

Coercion, "bribery," and scare tactics have destroyed the good standing of America in the eyes of the rest of the world during this administration's tenure.

On moral, political and pragmatic grounds the Democratic Party or even better non-aligned independents should wake up and right the American ship, for the Republicans have failed miserably….they have bamboozled the citizenry, betrayed their trust and misappropriated their hard earned tax money in an unnecessary "imperialist" war.

Another Republican majority in both houses will be a disaster. America's standing as measuring rod for the rest of the world has been severely compromised and stands to diminish even further if Republicans are given a blank check to continue with their "pillaging sham."

The American people need to wake up too and send a strong message to both Parties, that partisan politicking without principle is damaging to all and sundry, party faithful or no party.

Perhaps we need a "rational" third party?