Their Vision Needs Correction

Coal ash sludge in the Dan River

The Republican governor of North Carolina is a former executive for the utility company Duke Energy.  He and his state's Republican-dominated legislature rewrote and relaxed the state's environmental laws such that when Duke Energy recently polluted the Dan River with a 70-mile long, 39,000 ton spill of toxic coal ash, the company now can avoid both large fines and clean-up responsibility.  The North Carolina Republicans see nothing wrong with this arrangement, and say they're just being "business friendly."  A federal investigation is now underway.

When asked her thoughts on legislating equal pay for women via such measures as the Lily Ledbetter Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, Beth Cubriel, the Executive Director of the Texas GOP said, "Men are better negotiators.  I'd encourage women, instead of pursuing the courts for action, to become better negotiators."  Texas Republicans see nothing wrong with her statement.  They do not see pay inequity as workplace discrimination.  They just see an entire gender with weak bargaining skills.

Ohio Rep. Andrew Brenner

Andrew Brenner is a Tea Bag Republican state rep from Powell, Ohio.  He recently wrote on his wife's wingnut website (she's on the Powell City Council) that "public education in America is Socialism."  He would like to "bust up [public education] and privatize everything."  Public schools in America date back to the 1600's, but Brenner saw nothing wrong with expressing his urge to destroy the whole thing.  When many people criticized his views, he just couldn't see their point and again took to the family website to deride his critics:  "I'm guessing those people had a public education."  By the way, the Brenners' Brief News website also posted an article entitled "Was Sandy Hook a Hoax Designed to Advance Gun Control Laws?"  Neither of the Brenners saw anything wrong with that, either.

(How can a clown like this get elected?  I know I have a few Buster-readers in Delaware County.  I sure hope this crackpot asshole is not from your district.  If he is, don't ever let me hear that you voted for him.)

The Change-Agent

Chuck Todd interviewed RNC Chairman Reince Priebus this morning, and reminded him of the party's desire to change its image, to reach out to women and minorities, and to stop being the "stupid party."  Then he played Ms. Cubriel's quote and asked Priebus for his reaction.

Priebus tried to dismiss her words as those of an insignificant "staffer", but Todd reminded him that Cubriel is the party's executive director for an entire state.  So the peeved Priebus said, "Well, one side doesn't have a monopoly on these kinds of comments."

Yes they do, Reince, and it's your side.  But you just don't see it!  Your party keeps looking in the mirror yet somehow never sees itself.  You need a vision correction.  Only then will you see what is obvious to everyone else:  that at every level, from lowly staffer to RNC Chair, the GOP is all about exclusion, discrimination, game-rigging, unfairness, meanness and greed.  It's who you are at your core, and no amount of re-branding or focus groups or marketing whiz kids is going to change that.