And Joe McCarthy was Right...

Reuters has a summary of the "official, but non-binding" Rethuglican Party Platform.

First, the "official, but non-binding" thing: what the hell is THAT supposed to mean? In an era where Clintonian parsing of 'is' drew such derision from the knuckle-walkers on the right side of the aisle, it's now acceptable to draw up a party platform that isn't? Well, considering that Bush has waffled so goddamn much over the past four years that you might as well pour ten gallons of syrup on him, I guess that's part and parcel...

Let's see: there's the resolute support for spitting on our soldiers, also known as "support" for the Iraq war--I wonder if, I don't know, they'll include a plank that might actually provide adequate funding for equipment--or veteran's programs. Nah, probably not. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they adopted the position that not only will they spit on our soliders (they're doing the moral equivalent already), but will also kick the ones who need health care, or money for college, or help in obtaining home financing, etc. etc.--you name it. Their position seems to be "thanks for serving the country--now get the hell away." How compassionate.

And why just spit on the soldiers when they can also do the same to women? Yep, that's right, the GOP's official (but non-binding) position is that women shouldn't be able to control their bodies. The flip side of this coin is that the economic policies they endorse will dramatically increase the number of dingy back alleys...

Then they diss the gays. On that note: I've been spending the day catching up with a week's worth of blog entries, and it looks like the Rethugs have opted for such a charming person to deliver the opening invocation--someone who equates support for gay rights with support for Hitler. Goddamn if they didn't manage to dredge up the spirit of grass eaters like Willie Rainach...

So, I guess all this week there will be a sort of Rethuglican "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" dog and pony show, with prime-time slots for Ahnuld and Rudy and Zell (in my mind, he's already crossed over--the Democrats ought to send him official walking papers), while the low-rated daytime hours are devoted to the Jurassic-age membership of the GOOP--who've apparently been knitting their collective brows in poolhall concentration (to use a Tom Waits line) to actually put together some writin' n' stuff.

Well, as one of my really good friends told me the other day, nerf bricks are for things like watching GOOP TV. Hell, if I can drag myself to work every day, I guess I can devote some time to listening to the other side's pathetic rantings...

And, off topic, but: I noticed something while off line--one, the regular print media, as well as the cable broadcasters, really are full of it. But I also noticed something about my own stuff that troubled me: it seems that I often get caught up in the daily spin, trying to keep up with the latest attack points spread by the Rethugs like so many lit matches in a bone dry forest (while the media follows with gasoline and fans). I'm going to TRY to spend a little less time responding to each non-point of theirs, and a little more time researching, and hopefully have better, if fewer, posts. The GOOP tends to adopt a sort of Mike Tyson approach to political rhetoric--a fury of early round punching, with the hope that the sheer volume alone will generate points. But this style leaves the person using it vulnerable to someone with patience and stamina. If you hold off the fury with good solid counterpunching, they will eventually run out of steam. Then you've got to hit them with all you've got. And, let's face it, they're WEAK. The ridiculous war in Iraq CAN'T be justified, the economic policies of Bush are a joke--listen to their 'defense,' which has more excuses than a college junior filing for a term paper extension, then there's the assault on civil rights, and indeed, the entire constitution. Kerry is at least right on one thing: Bush doesn't have a record to run on--he has a record to run away from.

And that's what needs to be focused on for the next eight weeks or so--four years of Bush is four years too many. The damage is done. But we can at least get the vehicle to the mechanic before it's totaled.