After watching the recent Republican presidential debate in Iowa, I am sure millions have been convinced more than ever that the Republicans must be defeated in 2012.
This motley crew of right-wing fanatics are not in favor of giving any concessions to the working class, the poor or the victims of systemic racism.
They have no regard for historic levels of poverty, unemployment, home foreclosures, hunger and homelessness that people of color suffer.
They don’t care about the youth and children who attend run-down, understaffed and underfunded public schools every day.
The fact that tens of million of youth who should be going to college or starting their first real job but instead face the prospect of years, decades, perhaps even a lifetime of joblessness, underemployment and incarceration is a non-issue to them.
They didn’t get the memo on global warming and the health care crisis.
The Iowa debate convened the real “death panel,” because if the GOP policies prevail a whole lot of people won’t survive.
In their debate, the war hawks pushed for more war, more squandering of blood and treasure while claiming to support the troops.
With the addition of Rick Perry, the political debate among the Republican contenders has moved even further to the right. The process of picking the next Republican “fuehrer” shows a party whose time has long past.
The GOP candidates oppose the concept of people before profits. As Mitt Romney put it last week, “corporations are people.” Their uncompromising priority is protecting the wealth and privileges of the super rich, which means they are uncompromisingly against the general welfare of the people, particularly multiracial working majority.
They say they’re opposed to big government, but that is a cover up.
By opposing raising taxes on the super rich and cutting the military budget and subsidies to big oil, they oppose jobs for the unemployed, rebuilding the collapsing infrastructure, ending the foreclosure crisis. Theirs is not a noble cause.
The very premise of their policies is a fallacy. If the dominant policies of the current Republican contenders prevail, our nation will be driven into a far deeper crisis economically, socially and politically.
The truth is that the crisis will not be overcome without increasing the wellbeing and buying power of working people. And that is what they are fighting tooth and nail.
The racial dynamic of their policies are something that should alarm all democratic minded people.
It is no accident that the tea party’s largest base is among southern whites, who according to a recent Notre Dame study, continue to be highly influenced by the ideology of racism.
They considered black people inferior before Obama, and they continue to be motivated to defeat Obama because he is African American.
The driving force for progressive activism in the coming 2012 election is not how serious one can criticize Obama’s concessions to the right but the grave historic danger from the right. The Republicans must be defeated.
Having just watched the movie The Help, and as the son of a mother and father who grew up in the Jim Crow South this writer is reminded of what is at stake. If the Republican-Libertarian-tea party Axis thinks we are going back to the days of Jim Crow, they are mistaken.
The extreme right has done enormous damage to the national spirit of unity and hope. And it is true that Obama didn’t fight hard enough and succumbed to the enormous pressure from the right on too many occasions. However, the democratic forces have to take our country back from the fanatic right-wing minority.
One has to be impressed by the new militant spirit of fight back that is gaining momentum cross the country. Grassroots folks from people’s and labor organizations are confronting tea party elected officials at their town hall meetings.
Labor is gearing up for the big fight for jobs and decent contracts. The immigrant rights movement is on the move.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus and Black Caucus are holding hearings on the issue of jobs creation through public works to repair our neglected infrastructure.
Taxing the rich has become a majority demand. Tens of thousands are lining up at job fairs organized to get corporations to step up and hire the unemployed, veterans and youth.
Peace forces are pushing to bring the troops home and transfer the money to create jobs and stop the massive number of foreclosures.
This is a crusade to put the people first.
Before the announcement of Hurricane Irene on Sunday, tens of thousands were planning to come to Washington to welcome the now postponed opening of the monument to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
What are they demanding? Jobs. Jobs. Jobs!!
Despite their correct criticisms of the president, they understand that the main danger comes from the right.
If the GOP regains all three branches of the government, the crisis of human suffering can and will become far more severe.
The majority of the American people understand that the reelection of Obama is not an option. It is part of what is necessary to win this epic battle.
Photo: Rick Perry. Ed Schipul // CC 2.0
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