Saturday, July 30, 2011

As July Ends With America On The Brink Of Default ...

... I finally post something for the month.

Obviously, the completely manufactured crisis over the so-called "debt ceiling" has been the dominant issue this month.  Brought to you by the same people who couldn't wait to raise it for Republican Presidents, unaffordable tax cuts, and unfunded wars--the three key ingredients behind our exploding national debt, not Social Security, Medicare, and social programs generally.

If you have the stomach for it, and you've been following this story, you know that (as usual) Democrats have been making endless concessions, and Republicans have responded by asking for more concessions.  No news here:  Democrats want to be liked, and Republicans want to rule--and everyone suffers as the country's credit rating goes off the deep end.

Given that the dynamic is the typical one, some people have wondered what the Republican end-game is, and whether the goal is to deliberately smash the economy once and for all, and then use the smashed economy against Obama in 2012.

Would that it was that simple.

I personally believe that the United States is the ultimate "too-big-to-fail" entity.  As bad as our debt and deficits are, we're still in every measurable sense the richest country in the world.  Not to mention the one with the biggest military arsenal; the international community is not going to let a country with as much nuclear hardware as we have fall into chaos.

And the Republicans in Congress know this, too.  That's why their debt-ceiling strategy has another purpose:  to serve as impeachment bait.

If Obama is forced to rely on the Fourteenth Amendment provision that requires the credit of the United States to not be questioned, the GOP House will use that to introduce articles of impeachment--and then attempt to force the first African-American President in our history to resign.

And the last part of that sentence contains the hyphenated reason that they want him to resign.  Theirs is not the party of limited government, personal responsibility and a strong national defense.  Theirs is the party of privilege.

And, since race has always been connected to privilege throughout our history, theirs is also the party of race.

We have a few more days in which to see whether they get their way.  Here's hoping, and praying, that they don't.

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