A TALE OF TWO DICTIONARIES

Welcome to the English language! This is a wondrous place where words can have many different meanings or interpretations. It seems that Democrats and Republicans don't see eye to eye on nearly everything these days. Each has such a widely differing perspective on the world it seems almost as if each was IN a different world! I thought it might be fun to explore these different perspectives in a unique and original way. I therefore now present you with two books: a Democratic Dictionary and a Republican dictionary. A series of words are presented below. Under each word, D:= the Democratic definition of that word, and R:= the Republican definition. For each word, see which response most closely portrays YOUR world view! As you do this, you may even experience a chuckle or two...

abortion
D: 1 early termination of a pregnancy 2 an act, protected by law, undertaken as a matter of a woman's choice
R: 1 murder of a fetus 2 an act of supreme irresponsibility legalised by an activist Supreme Court

activist
D: 1 a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct, vigorous action especially in support or opposition to one side of a controversial issue 2 one who takes action on behalf of a minority or the downtrodden
R: 1 one who favors the lazy 2 an undesirable characteristic of a Circuit Court Judge or Supreme Court Justice

big government
D: 1 a government with many departments or agencies working on behalf of the people 2 a bad thing when Republicans run it
R: 1 an oversized, costly, inefficient, meddlesome body of oppression 2 a perfect body when controlled by conservatives

bipatisan
D: 1 referring to, or involving, two parties 2 involving cooperation, agreement, or compromise between two political parties
R: 1 referring to, or involving, two parties 2 an act performed by one political party with as few as one member of another political party going along with it

conservative
D: 1 tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions 2 one who favors government regulation of social actions 3 one who favors government aid to business but not individuals 4 one who favors his country's domination of the world 5 a cheapskate 6 a wing nut
R: 1 a red-blooded American who follows the principles of Ronald Reagan 2 a hard worker who opposes government aid to those who won't work 3 one who believes in a strong national defense 4 one who believes in Christian family values 5 a thrifty person who doesn't believe in the unnecessary spending of money

corporation
D: 1 a classification of privately or publicly held business created by state charter, with elected officers, which is given specific taxation and bankruptcy protections 2 a greedy, malignant, profit-at-all-costs form of business which typically exploits workers, takes unfair tax advantages, and cheats the public, for the benefit of its own stockholders and board of directors
R: 1 a business refuge, and form of protection, from excessive taxation 2 a model way of structuring a business which affords insulation and protection from all outsiders 3 an organization geared to producing massive profit for its board of directors and shareholders 4 a shining example of "the American Way"

Democrat
D: 1 a member of the Democratic Party, the oldest existing political party in the world 2 a person who believes in the political and social equality of all people
R: 1 a member of the Democrat Socialist Party 2 a liberal 3 a bleeding heart who believes in throwing money at problems 4 a politician who favors taxation, and is weak on defense and therefore endangers our national security

extremist
D: one who holds unusual, twisted, or threatening ideas, or engages in such actions
R: 1 anyone who disagrees with conservatism 2 any Democrat Socialist

fact
D: 1 an undeniable truth 2 something which can be supported by solid, tangible, empirical evidence
R: 1 something which is always open to an alternate explanation 2 something which can be altered for own's own benefit 3 something to be ignored

Fascism
D: 1 a system of government led by a dictator with complete power which uses the state to reward business and military with large contracts 2 the antithesis of socialism
R: 1 anything President Obama or any other Democrat does 2 socialism

free trade
D: unlimited trade between countries free from government restriction or duties 2 a form of trade developed to exploit cheap foreign labor, escape environmental or safety regulations, to destroy labor unions, and to overcome the power of government to regulate business 3 a form of trade which enriches huge multinational corporations at the expense of labor in all countries involved
R: 1 pure, laissez-faire capitalism as capitalism should be ideally practiced 2 a form of trade devised to maximize profits to the fullest extent

illegal immigrant
D: 1 a person who has entered another country without proper papers or who has snuck across a border undetected 2 an alien fleeing oppressive conditions or poverty in their own country
R: 1 a stranger from a strange land to be very wary of 2 a desirable source of very cheap labor 3 a person who can help an employer break the backs of pesky, expensive labor unions 4 one who will do jobs Americans won't do 5 an employee you pay in cash and hide from the government

Liberal
D: 1 one who favors progress or reform in matters of the economy, politics, or religion 2 favorable to, or in accord with, maximum amounts of individual freedom, civil liberties, and equality protected by law 3 one who believes the government has a duty to protect the people as a whole from the excesses of concentrated capital 4 generous
R: 1 a weak person who hates America, does not have Christian values, wants to tax you heavily, and will take your guns away from you 2 a Democrat Socialist 3 wasteful with money

Medicare
D: a humane U.S. government program of hospitalization insurance and voluntary medical insurance for the elderly and certain disabled persons
R: a costly bleeding heart Democrat program of socialized medicine

patriot
D: 1 a person who loves and supports his or her country with strong devotion 2 a person who defends his or her country from those who wish to attack or limit the legal or social freedom of others
R: 1 a person who loves and supports his or her country with strong devotion 2 a person who supports limiting individual freedoms during wartime 3 a person who enthusiastically supports or fights for anything a conservative Republican President wants, says, or does

preemptive war
D: 1 an illegal military strike against another country to prevent a perceived military strile by that country 2 an aggressive act of war undertaken by an unstable, paranoid government against another sovereign country
R: 1 a wholly justified military strike against another country to prevent a certain military strike by that country 2 a preventive military strike against another country justified by false propaganda and then lied about ever after

President
D: the elected, titular leader of the country who serves as commander in chief of the military and head of the executive branch of government
R: the leader of the country, who can do anything he or she wishes without question or oversight, and must be supported by all if he or she is a conservative Republican, but if he or she is a Democrat, must be opposed and questioned unendingly on everything

Republican
D: 1 a member of a rapidly shrinking, ever more exclusive, ever more extreme, ever more intolerant, ever less relevant political party who supports reactionary social and economic values 2 one who supports strong government regulation of social behavior 3 one who favors big business and the wealthy over all else, and who who cares nothing about the poor or anything else 4 a paranoid who constantly sees threats to his or her country all around him or her 5 an advocate of military action whenever possible
R: 1 a member of the most righteous and morally responsible political party of all time 2 a true Christian 3 a supporter of business who hates government regulation and taxes 4 one who is suspucious of foreigners and supports a strong military to keep the rest of the world in line

Social Security
D: 1 a government system to provide a guaranteed supplemental income for all citizens who are retired or disabled 2 a safety net to provide economic security for old age or those with disabilities
R: 1 a pension plan forced on you by the government 2 a way for the government to take money from you without your approval

spin
D: untrue, distorted or exaggerated statements made to bolster or protect an argument, position, or political figure
R: any fact or statement spoken by a Democrat

eaxation
D: 1 a system devised to pay for the costs of providing government 2 the dues people pay for belonging to a civilized society
R: 1 theft from the individual by government 2 a fine imposed on those who produce profit or wealth 3 a fee to avoid paying at all costs

teamwork
D: the act of individuals working together to realize a common goal or accomplishment
R: when a Democrat cooperates with you to give you what you want

terrorist
D: 1 one who uses acts of terror to gain attention or coerce for a cause 2 a member of a radical Islamist sect dedicated to the destruction of western culture
R: 1 all Muslims 2 anyone who opposes or takes up arms against any American military venture

torture
D: 1 to punish or coerce by inflicting tremendous psychological or excruciating physical pain 2 an illegal act of coercion including, but not limited to, waterboarding, sensory deprivation, or severe physical pain 3 a war crime
R: 1 an act undertaken to obtain intelligence for national security 2 an act that is legal if ordered by a conservative Republican President or Vice President 3 not an act of waterboarding, no matter what anybody says

welfare
D: financial or other aid provided to people in need
R: 1 tax money undeservedly given to lazy people who won't work 2 improper income redistribution 3 a desirable and recommended form of government financial support given to large corporations


Confused? So was I, until I remembered that most of what Republicans have been saying the past ten to fifteen years has not been in English, or necessarily true, and that most of their current political thought is irrational nonsense. Revealing and interesting, isn't this?

GRIEVOUS GOP MISTAKES: A CHRONOLOGY

"Four fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still."
- Calvin Coolidge -

"The United States of America does not have friends; it has interests."
- Dwight Eisenhower's Secretary of State John Foster Dulles -

"The press is the enemy."
- Richard M. Nixon -

With the exception of its very earliest days, just before and during Abraham Lincoln's administration, and for a brief time at the turn of the 20th Century during Teddy Roosevelt's terms in office, the Republican Party has acted mainly in the interests of big business and social conservatives. It has advocated a minimal role for government, preferring to let business and industry (particularly their owners) determine much of the course of the nation's affairs. As such, the party has not generally supported the needs of the majority of the country who were workers and small farmers. This minimalist approach to government and the support for a small minority of the wealthier, upper elites has led to an undeniable pattern of the Republican Party being consistently on the wrong sides of many, many issues and/or mismanaging the country's affairs. Below, in chronological order, is a listing of numerous grievous mistakes the Grand Old Party has made since the end of the Civil War in 1865.

1867 - Radical Republicans take over the party. They immediately turn their backs on assassinated President Lincoln's desire to mercifully reassimilate the Old South back into the Union. They enact harsh policies against ex-Confederates (many of whom had been southern Democrats before the war). These penalties included stripping them of voting rights and the ability to hold public office. They instead set up unqualified newly-freed blacks and corrupt northern businessmen to govern the South under the banner of the Republican Party. While they did free poor blacks from slavery, they provided no education or training for them to enable a seamless merge into white cultural society. Now free, buth with their former masters bankrupt and powerless, most blacks migrated to urban centers and settled into slums, barely being able to eke out a substandard living doing unskilled and often backbreaking labor at very low wages.

1869 - Republicans begin to become increasingly allied with and dominated by big business and banks. Bribes and extortion run rampant, culminating in the Credit Mobilier scandal of 1872.

1870s-present - Republicans and conservatives begin to side with big business against the formation of labor unions, and, once unions are established in 1935, actively try to suppress them.

1880s - Huge corrupt trusts are set up by big banks, big business and industry, and are supported and aided by Republicans.

1919 - GOP Senators play a heavy hand in preventing the US from joining the League of Nations, leaving that body weak and ineffective. Its eventual failure helps lead to World War II. Social conservatives in the party push through Prohibition, one of the worst and most impractical laws ever passed in the history of the human race.

1920s - Republican pro business, laissez-faire, anti regulatory policies (especially concerning the stock market) lead to terrible rural poverty and lay the seeds for 1929's Great Depression.

1935-1937 - Republicans oppose the adoption of government programs like Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Welfare, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the National Recovery Act (NRA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) - basically, any government-sponsored program designed to provide federal aid or employment to needy individual citizens. The GOP took the standpoint that government had no jurisdiction in those areas and that only private enterprise did. The problem was, of course, that businesses were too broke to provide those opportunities and SOMETHING had to be done for millions of hungry citizens. Thank God the GOP's numbers in Congress were too weak to prevent passage of all this beneficial legislation!

1947 - The GOP passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which weakened and restricted labor unions.

1950 - Republicans strongly support Sen. Joe McCarthy's infamous anti-communist witvh hunts, painting many Americans (especially Democrats) as soft on combatting communism. They use these accusations as a political tool to unseat Democrats and get themselves elected. These witch hunts wrongly accused many innocent people, ruining their lives and destroying their careers.

1953 - Ultra-conservative Secretary of State John Foster Dulles directs the CIA to help overthrow the democratically-elected pro-Islamic Mossadegh government in Iran, replacing it with the brutally repressive, pro-western Shah of Iran. This turns many Iranians against the US, the negative effects of which will become repeatedly evident years later.

1954 - John Foster Dulles again engineers the overthrow of a democratically-elected government, this time a leftist government in Guatemala, replacing it with a right-wing government more to his liking. Coincidentally (?), his brother, Allen Dulles, just happens to be on the board of directors of American Fruit Company, which had large holings in Guatemala and felt threatened by the leftist government. Dulles also prevents Vietnam from holding a national election, fearing that leftist nationalist Ho Chi Minh would win. So Dulles maneuvers to get Vietnam split into two countries, with Ho Chi Minh ruling the north and US-installed pro-western playboy Bao Di controlling the south. This lays the seeds for America's future bloody 15 year involvement in Vietnam.

1954-1965 - Many Republicans ally themselves with conservative southern Democrats to oppose and filibuster against major civil rights legislation.

1965 - Republicans oppose LBJ's Medicare and Medicaid programs and the entire War on Poverty program in general. These programs have benifitted millions of needy citizens since their inception.

1970- present - Republican Presidents, beginning with Richard Nixon and his Supreme Cort appointments Warren Burger and then William Rehnquist, begin their long attempt to pack the Supreme Court with conservative, pro-Republican justices. The Republicans call these types of justices "strict constructionists", who interpret the law strictly on precedent and Constitutional principle. But what justices like these have really done is strengthened the Executive Branch of Congress, effectively weakening the power of both the Legislative Branch (Congress) and the Judicial Branch. This has resulted in an erosion of civil liberties. It has also enabled corporations and special interest groups to exert more control over government and the population as well. The Nixon-Kissinger CIA overthrows the neutral Cambodian government of Norodom Sihanouk in favor of a pro-US military junta headed by Gen. Lon Nol. The US also begins illegal bombing and military incursions in Cambodia in an effort to choke off North Vietnam's military supply lines to the south.

1971 - Nixon orders a break-in at the Brookings Institute and attempts to steal files of anti-war critic Daniel Ellsberg. Nixon also approves illegal secret wiretapping of political opponents.

1972 - The Watergate era begins when Nixon operatives are caught breaking into Democratic Party national headquarters during this election year. Nixon is implicated in a massive deliberate cover-up, but is strongly supported by a hardcore group of conservatives and Republicans all the way up to his resignation in 1974.

1981 - Republicans, led by Ronald Reagan, break the power of labor unions by firing all striking air traffic controllers and by engaging in numerous union-busting activities. They also begin passing tax cuts for the rich.

Early 1990s-present - Republicans launch support for various unrestricred "free trade" initiatives, resulting in millions of high-paying American jobs being shipped to Mexico and Asia. This lowers our wage levels, increases pollution levels in foreign countries, and produces massive and record trade deficits. In effect, we become slowly poorer and the other countries become richer.

1993-1994 - Republicans spread disinformation about the Clinton national health care plan, effectively killing it.

1995 - A new breed of radical Republicans, the ultra-conservative neo-conservative (Neocon) faction, gains control of the Republican Party and both houses of Congress.

Late 1990s-2005 - Republicans begin a push to privatize Social Security and force through rollbacks on regulation of banks, mortgage companies, energy speculators, and many other businesses.

2001-2009 - Republican President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney unconstitutionally expand the powers of their respective offices in a deliberate effort to make them barely accountable to Congress. Congressional Republicans act as their rubber stamp and do little to stop them. They appoint business leaders as the heads of agencies designed to regulate their businesses, ensuring that government regulation will be for the benefit of businesses rather than for the public as a whole. Bush awards unqualified Texas loyalists and old buddies important administrative jobs. Cheney meets secretly with energy industry representatives and fuel prices skyrocket. Bush politicizes the Justice Department by stocking it with right-wing ideologues. Both Bush and Cheney refuse to comply with legal Congressional attempts at oversight. Republican congresspersons do nothing.

2002-2005 - Bush and Congressional Republicans pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations (including oil companies), and very little for the rest of the country. Torture, and rendition (kidnapping and transferring to secret locations in other countries) of Afghan and other prisoners of war begins. US military outpost in Guantanamo, Cuba, is set up as a holding and torture center for captured enemy combatants, in clear violation of the 1954 Geneva Convention. Republicans pass the so-called Patriot Act, enabling the government to illegally wiretap and obtain personal information on private citizens. Habeas Corpus rights are suspended. Opponents are branded as unpatriotic or aiding terrorism.

2003-2005 - Bush, Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld push for pre-emptive war with Iraq, wildly supported by congressional Republicans as well as a number of coerced Democrats. They greatly increase the number of private contractors supplying military services, awarding non-bid contracts to friendly contractors like Halliburton and Blackwater, who have previously been large campaign donors. Bush, again with overwhelming congressional Republican support, begins intercepting cheaper Canadian pharmaceutical drugs at the border, a move which hurts the elderly on fixed incomes but benefits giant US pharmaceutical companies selling their goods at a price double that of foreign countries.

2004 - Republicans, courtesy of political strategist Karl Rove, utilize a wide variety of divisive wedge issues to isolate and defeat their opponents in the general election. They also employ the use of deliberate disinformation about their opponents, deliberate LIES, a process repeated with less success in 2006 and 2008.

2008 - In the final months of his presidency, Bush grants leases to permit drilling for oil in previously protected wildlife areas and weakens government regulations over a number of industries, resulting in relaxed pollution standards. He also implants a number of right-wing key employees in regulatory agencies, making it difficult for future Presidents to gain effective control over rechanneling of these agencies once he leaves office. At their convention, Republicans jubilantly chant "Drill, baby, drill!", in support of more oil consumption rather than endorsing conservation, higher gas mileage requirements, and development of alternate energy sources.

From nearly day one, the history of Republican rule has meant favoritism for concentrated capital and less-than-desirable results for many ordinary citizens. This chronic favoritism and pattern of devastating mistakes and mismanaged governance have not spoken well for the Republican Party. They have demonstrated a repeated pattern of inability to effectively govern. They should therefore never again gain power without first undergoing a massive transformation in their philosophy and method of governing!

WHY I CAN'T BE A REPUBLICAN (II)

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
- John Stuart Mill -

"The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good."
- John Locke -

Last week I gave my economic views on why I can't be a Republican. This week I will cover other areas, such as the Republicans' inherent fear, rigid adherence to ideology, contradictory behavior, and faulty logic.

Republicans, especially those of the conservative persuasion, are a fearful, cynical, and suspicious lot. They are determined to keep things as they are (or return them to what they once were, in what they perceive were simpler, and therefore better, times). They generally support strong authority and control (EXCEPT in the area of economics, where they want absolute, unquestioned freedom to make money however they see fit). As such, in areas of economic pecking order, social mores, and the legal system, they usually always support the status quo. They are suspicious of all but the tried and true. In my view, a consistent viewpoint of that type breeds ignorance, complacency, and even regression. Republicans often cynically attack new ideas and perpetrators of such with sinister-sounding names in an attempt to convince others that these purveyors of change are bad and undesirable, and so are their ideas. Indeed, the old adage "only ants and savages kill strangers" could easily be amended to say "only ants, savages, and Republicans kill strangers." This is why they once called the aristocratic FDR "a traitor to his class" for launching innovative and badly needed New Deal reforms during the Great Depression in the 1930s. It is why they are calling Barack Obama a "socialist" today. For Republicans often prefer to do nothing, or take small, limited action when the times and situations demand bold moves. In doing so, they often fight that which is fair and just, illogically defying progress.

Ronald Reagan once advised Republicans that, "the 11th Commandment is, thou shalt not criticize fellow Republicans." John F. Kennedy once likened the party to a herd of compliant circus elephants, each perfectly content to follow the other by the tail in a circle under the circus tent. Both men illustrated a serious flaw in Republican mindset. Their rigidity and hostility to progressive chasnge has not served them well. In the 1930s, for example, they were horrified to see the federal government enact measures like Unemployment Compensation, Social Security, and permitting labor unions to come into being. They opposed ANY effort by government to aid individuals rather than institutions. In a time of great need, with the public desperately clamoring for any kind of help, the Republicans were dead wrong in clinging to the old, failed ways by opposing the new. In the 1960s, they were so glued to the idea of states' rights that it led them to oppose long overdue federal implementation of fair, just, and much-needed civil rights legislation. Their short-sighted stubborness caused them to place adherence to an abstract principle before the combatting of abuses on blacks and other minorities, or ensuring their rights as citizens! Stupid is as stupid does, I guess. In the 1990s, the Republicans fought the Clintons' desire for a fair and universal national health care plan. Even today, with fully 1 in 7 of us not insured, or severely underinsured, these same Republicans and conservatives will fight Obama's universal health care plan tooth and nail. They will place as a priority instead the need for pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and the medical establishment to continue making exorbitant profits before the need of individuals to receive equally good health care. The United States is the ONLY major industrialized country in the world without universal health care. Even poor CUBA has such a system! So once again, the Republicans are dead wrong on this issue and I cannot support their folly.

Republican and conservative paranoia has repeatedly led to violations of guaranteed citizen rights all through our history. Today's wiretapping, secret surveillance of private bank records, and illegal forced imprisonment of those suspected of "terrorism" without charge or trial are horrible overreactions to 9/11 and far exceed the similar witch hunts of the anti-Communist 1950s McCarthy period. Again, give a paranoid Republican an inch and he will always take a mile. Today's batch of conservative fools has surely confused patriotism with repression, and there is no place for this kind of mindset or actions like these anywhere in America, now or ever!

The Republicans love to consider themselves the party of morality. Time after time, this pompous attitude has led them, in fact, to IMMORAL actions of hate, bigotry, oppression, and fostering greed. They have, in their own twisted application of the book of Genesis, recreated God in THEIR own image and likeness. The Rev. Jim Wallis, publisher of Sojourners magazine, accurately and eloquently points out that "God is NOT pro-rich, pro-war, and pro-Republican." The problem is, today's conservative Republicans are ignorant of all of those truisms. They actually believe it was right for us to attack and invade Iraq without provocation, murdering millions of innocent Iraqi citizens as a result. They actually believe it was right for us to impose democracy on the Iraqis at gunpoint. In my view, aggression is aggression, and murder is murder, so this is where I definitely part company with the Republicans. Their insane economic policy of rewarding the rich and effectively penalizing the poor and everyone else runs directly counter to the Bible's repeated exhortations to look out for and care for the poor. Many conservatives' and Republicans' hatred and mistrust of Muslims, gays, liberals, various minorities, and women having abortions also runs counter to biblical teachings. The Republican inaction on abortion is a huge example of hypocrisy. From 2001-2007, Republicans and conservatives controlled most statehouses, the Congress, the Presidency, and had a working majority on the Supreme Court. Yet they passed NO laws and made NO legal pronouncements banning abortion, even though they repeatedly publicly proclaimed that is what they stood for. They didn't even TRY to outlaw abortion. Instead, they cynically USED abortion as a political tool and a weapon against social liberals and Democrats in order to gain office and maintain political power. They fired up and used well-intentioned religious people all across the country to do their bidding and cement their power. Yet their shameful opportunism led to nothing. Absolutely reprehensible!

These are more solidly good reasons why I can't be a Republican. I will lay out even more next week.