Scared Of A Girl
The GOP debate yesterday featured a pathetic display of grown men blustering like grade-school boys on the playground while desperately trying to convince us we should all be afraid of a girl.
Yes, they would all like us to believe that Hillary Clinton is a fire-breathing she-demon who bites the heads off puppies, not the mild-mannered centrist and cautious politician she appears. Hillary, Hillary, Hillary, they cried. She's so scary!
Mike Huckabee, who appears as the most charming and reasonable of the candidates (as long as he doesn't talk about any policy issue) had a truly choice comment.
The greatest threat this country's ever faced? Islamofascism? Really?
Maybe I'm just a naive fool, but I just have to wonder how a relatively small movement of stateless radicals, even if armed with a hypothetical Iranian nuke or an actual Pakistani one, could be more threatening than the Soviet Union, which had hundreds of much larger nukes aimed at us at all times, as well as controlling a massive industrial base, vast natural resources and a network of client states.
That would be the one that a Democratic president went 'eyeball-to-eyeball' with almost exactly 45 years ago, in what has been called "the most dangerous moment in human history"? I guess Mike was only 7 at the time of the Cuban Missle Crisis, but you'd think he'd at least have seen the movie.
(By the way, Mike, Russia, still has most of those nukes and there is an increasingly anti-American and scary former KGB man in charge.)
I suppose Huckabee can be forgiven for discounting China, since, though it has the largest army in the world, and a passel of nukes itself, it would probably prefer we continue to exist, so that we can pay off our debt, eventually, when they get tired of selling us the stuff that is paying for them to industrialize. Selling us the rope with which they will hang us, if you will. So, at the very least, China is a different kind of threat.
But, while we're talking about nominees for greatest threat, there are plenty of people alive who remember the threat of the original, non-Islamo-, fascists. They also controlled enormous industrial resources, and they had some of the top scientific minds on the planet. They also had, at least for some time, a philosophy that appealed to a number of American elites, and financial dealings that enriched some including the father of one US President and the grandfathers of another. Inasmuch as they had actually conquered most of Europe and Asia (and not just talked about it), I think one has to think they were a great threat.
Of course, Huckabee didn't just say "greatest threat in our lifetimes", he said "ever", which forces a naive, reality-based fellow like myself to wonder about the threat this country faced when a world super-power with a military and navy that dwarfed ours, cut off our young nation’s trade, and then invaded on multiple fronts, forcing the President to flee to Virginia and burning the White House. (Shout out to all you War of 1812 fans!)
And, if we're thinking about historical threats faced by this nation, I (as a descendant of generations of New Englanders) must also recall the threat posed to this nation by a certain secessionist movement that included Huckabee's own state. Certainly the Confederate States of America killed thousands and threatened the existence of the United States of America. Given the state of politics in South Carolina, recent events in Jena, LA and the GOP's infamous 'southern strategy' I sometimes wonder if that threat is as far behind us as it seems.
I guess we've already discovered that Mike's not too good with history, even when it happened during his own lifetime, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he overlooked that little unpleasantness. But, threat-wise, are we really supposed to believe that more Americans will be drawn to the idea of an Islamic caliphate than are drawn to white supremacy?
As we approach Halloween, I guess it's only natural that we should be hearing more stories of scary monsters. But it's important, boys and girls, to remember what is real, and what are just scary stories. Mikey and Rudy and Johnny and Mitt sure like to get themselves all wound up and frightened, but we're not little kids like that anymore, are we? Imagine, being so scared of a girl. Ha!
You know, I have to wonder if there is a huge overlap between the people who go to see horror movies and the GOP base. Both groups seem to have a powerful desire to live in a state of fear, and envision elaborate scenarios for the purpose.
As I read over Huckabee's description of what awaits us in a Hillary Clinton presidency, I can almost hear the music from Psycho, can’t you?
BOO!
Yes, they would all like us to believe that Hillary Clinton is a fire-breathing she-demon who bites the heads off puppies, not the mild-mannered centrist and cautious politician she appears. Hillary, Hillary, Hillary, they cried. She's so scary!
Mike Huckabee, who appears as the most charming and reasonable of the candidates (as long as he doesn't talk about any policy issue) had a truly choice comment.
There's nothing funny about Hillary Clinton being president. Let me tell you why.Ohmigawd! If Hillary gets elected it will suck the soul out of every living American, destroying our military morale, and leaving the nation without courage, will or resolve! She's not just a fire-breathing demon, she's a soul-sucking vampire-thing that will suck our souls right out our noses! (Or something.) And this, in turn, will keep us from fighting ...
If she's president, taxes go up, health care becomes the domain of the government, spending goes out of control, our military loses its morale, and I'm not sure we'll have the courage and the will and the resolve to fight the greatest threat this country's ever faced in Islamofascism.
The greatest threat this country's ever faced? Islamofascism? Really?
Maybe I'm just a naive fool, but I just have to wonder how a relatively small movement of stateless radicals, even if armed with a hypothetical Iranian nuke or an actual Pakistani one, could be more threatening than the Soviet Union, which had hundreds of much larger nukes aimed at us at all times, as well as controlling a massive industrial base, vast natural resources and a network of client states.
That would be the one that a Democratic president went 'eyeball-to-eyeball' with almost exactly 45 years ago, in what has been called "the most dangerous moment in human history"? I guess Mike was only 7 at the time of the Cuban Missle Crisis, but you'd think he'd at least have seen the movie.
(By the way, Mike, Russia, still has most of those nukes and there is an increasingly anti-American and scary former KGB man in charge.)
I suppose Huckabee can be forgiven for discounting China, since, though it has the largest army in the world, and a passel of nukes itself, it would probably prefer we continue to exist, so that we can pay off our debt, eventually, when they get tired of selling us the stuff that is paying for them to industrialize. Selling us the rope with which they will hang us, if you will. So, at the very least, China is a different kind of threat.
But, while we're talking about nominees for greatest threat, there are plenty of people alive who remember the threat of the original, non-Islamo-, fascists. They also controlled enormous industrial resources, and they had some of the top scientific minds on the planet. They also had, at least for some time, a philosophy that appealed to a number of American elites, and financial dealings that enriched some including the father of one US President and the grandfathers of another. Inasmuch as they had actually conquered most of Europe and Asia (and not just talked about it), I think one has to think they were a great threat.
Of course, Huckabee didn't just say "greatest threat in our lifetimes", he said "ever", which forces a naive, reality-based fellow like myself to wonder about the threat this country faced when a world super-power with a military and navy that dwarfed ours, cut off our young nation’s trade, and then invaded on multiple fronts, forcing the President to flee to Virginia and burning the White House. (Shout out to all you War of 1812 fans!)
And, if we're thinking about historical threats faced by this nation, I (as a descendant of generations of New Englanders) must also recall the threat posed to this nation by a certain secessionist movement that included Huckabee's own state. Certainly the Confederate States of America killed thousands and threatened the existence of the United States of America. Given the state of politics in South Carolina, recent events in Jena, LA and the GOP's infamous 'southern strategy' I sometimes wonder if that threat is as far behind us as it seems.
I guess we've already discovered that Mike's not too good with history, even when it happened during his own lifetime, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he overlooked that little unpleasantness. But, threat-wise, are we really supposed to believe that more Americans will be drawn to the idea of an Islamic caliphate than are drawn to white supremacy?
As we approach Halloween, I guess it's only natural that we should be hearing more stories of scary monsters. But it's important, boys and girls, to remember what is real, and what are just scary stories. Mikey and Rudy and Johnny and Mitt sure like to get themselves all wound up and frightened, but we're not little kids like that anymore, are we? Imagine, being so scared of a girl. Ha!
You know, I have to wonder if there is a huge overlap between the people who go to see horror movies and the GOP base. Both groups seem to have a powerful desire to live in a state of fear, and envision elaborate scenarios for the purpose.
As I read over Huckabee's description of what awaits us in a Hillary Clinton presidency, I can almost hear the music from Psycho, can’t you?
BOO!
posted by Paul at 10:29 AM |
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