David Brooks, N.Y. Times Column: The Possum Republicans

David Brooks wrote a very insightful Op-Ed that appeared in print on February 28, 2012, on page A25, with the headline: The Possum Republicans. Mr. Brooks is a well respected Conservative columnist with ideas worth listening to.

The article speaks about what has happened to the Republican Party and is worth the read. You can find it at
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/opinion/brooks-the-possum-republicans.html?_r=1&src=recg
NOTE:I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO HYPERLINK IT, SO, PLEASE CUT AND PASTE, or read my cut and paste version here....



Politicians do what they must to get re-elected. So it’s not unexpected that Republican senators like Richard Lugar and Orrin Hatch would swing sharply to the right to fend off primary challengers.

As Jonathan Weisman reported in The Times on Sunday, Hatch has a lifetime rating of 78 percent from the ultra-free market Club for Growth, but, in the past two years, he has miraculously jumped to 100 percent and 99 percent, respectively. Lugar has earned widespread respect for his thoughtful manner and independent ways. Now he’s more of a reliable Republican foot soldier.

Still, it is worth pointing out that this behavior is not entirely honorable. It’s not honorable to adjust your true nature in order to win re-election. It’s not honorable to kowtow to the extremes so you can preserve your political career.

But, of course, this is exactly what has been happening in the Republican Party for the past half century. Over these decades, one pattern has been constant: Wingers fight to take over the party, mainstream Republicans bob and weave to keep their seats.

Republicans on the extreme ferociously attack their fellow party members. Those in the middle backpedal to avoid conflict. Republicans on the extreme are willing to lose elections in order to promote their principles. Those in the mainstream are quick to fudge their principles if it will help them get a short-term win.

In the 1960s and ’70s, the fight was between conservatives and moderates. Conservatives trounced the moderates and have driven them from the party. These days the fight is between the protesters and the professionals. The grass-roots protesters in the Tea Party and elsewhere have certain policy ideas, but they are not that different from the Republicans in the “establishment.”

The big difference is that the protesters don’t believe in governance. They have zero tolerance for the compromises needed to get legislation passed. They don’t believe in trimming and coalition building. For them, politics is more about earning respect and making a statement than it is about enacting legislation. It’s grievance politics, identity politics.

Of course, the professional politicians don’t want to get in the way of this torrent of passion and resentment. In private, they bemoan where the party is headed; in public they do nothing.

All across the nation, there are mainstream Republicans lamenting how the party has grown more and more insular, more and more rigid. This year, they have an excellent chance to defeat President Obama, yet the wingers have trashed the party’s reputation by swinging from one embarrassing and unelectable option to the next: Bachmann, Trump, Cain, Perry, Gingrich, Santorum.

But where have these party leaders been over the past five years, when all the forces that distort the G.O.P. were metastasizing? Where were they during the rise of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck? Where were they when Arizona passed its beyond-the-fringe immigration law? Where were they in the summer of 2011 when the House Republicans rejected even the possibility of budget compromise? They were lying low, hoping the unpleasantness would pass.

The wingers call their Republican opponents RINOs, or Republican In Name Only. But that’s an insult to the rhino, which is a tough, noble beast. If RINOs were like rhinos, they’d stand up to those who seek to destroy them. Actually, what the country needs is some real Rhino Republicans. But the professional Republicans never do that. They’re not rhinos. They’re Opossum Republicans. They tremble for a few seconds then slip into an involuntary coma every time they’re challenged aggressively from the right.

Without real opposition, the wingers go from strength to strength. Under their influence, we’ve had a primary campaign that isn’t really an argument about issues. It’s a series of heresy trials in which each of the candidates accuse the others of tribal impurity. Two kinds of candidates emerge from this process: first, those who are forceful but outside the mainstream; second, those who started out mainstream but look weak and unprincipled because they have spent so much time genuflecting before those who despise them.

Neither is likely to win in the fall. Before the G.O.P. meshugana campaign, independents were leaning toward the G.O.P. But, in the latest Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll, Obama leads Mitt Romney among independents by 49 percent to 27 percent.

Leaders of a party are supposed to educate the party, to police against its worst indulgences, to guard against insular information loops. They’re supposed to define a creed and establish boundaries. Republican leaders haven’t done that. Now the old pious cliché applies:

First they went after the Rockefeller Republicans, but I was not a Rockefeller Republican. Then they went after the compassionate conservatives, but I was not a compassionate conservative. Then they went after the mainstream conservatives, and there was no one left to speak for me.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on February 28, 2012, on page A25 of the New York edition with the headline: The Possum Republicans.

The Problem with Mitt Romney

Over the past few months, or longer, while watching one crazy right wing fanatic after another torch and burn, or what we in Canada call a Carolyn Parrish Mouth Before Mind Moment, I continued to be relieved.



However, after listening to one more, I'll do anything to be elected comment from Mitt Romney, I'm beginning to think that he might actually be the worst possible president.

Here's my logic. Let's take a narrow minded fellow like Rick Santorum as an example. In his case, if you don't think his way, it's the highway. Sounds terrible right, but, at least he's consistent. You know where he is going to stand on every issue and you know he will consistently stand there. So, you work around it.



In the case of Mitt Romney, he just wants to be president. Nothing matters to him as long as he achieves that end. With that in mind, to woo the right wing of the Republican Party and it's Tea Party fans, he's made statements like, he's a hunter, which he later clarified as a small game hunter, like rodents. Who hunts rodents? Then he claims that he really had nothing to do with health care in Massachusetts allowing birth control. He says the courts did it. Well he's no dummy and he certainly knew when the bill was written that if it said nothing about birth control being excluded, it wasn't. The courts simply upheld the law. What about immigration reform and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, or at the least, their children FLIP. And of course, his 'severely conservative remark'. That one isn't a flip flop, it's a slip. I am sure that in their backroom discussions, Romney and his advisers refer to the right wing crazies as the severely conservatives, sort of like severely ill, etc.


So, why is this so scary. Let's say for a moment that he wins the presidency. What happens next, he is faced with his first bill from a severely Tea Party House and it is severely scary. He doesn't care. He just passes the thing, because otherwise, no chance of re-election. This will go on for 4 years. YIKES.

Looking at it that way, I think I prefer a predictable crazy to a no scruples Romney. In either event, like in all elections, the severely normal pray that the severely undecided make a severely intelligent decision about re-electing President Obama.

Top 10 Rodent Predictions on Groundhog Dog 2012

We all know that what Wiarton Willy says about the weather forecast is always correct. And, this year, Willy said, EARLY SPRING. Excellent.
So, what did his brothers from other rodent mothers across North America have to say about the winter of 2012. Here is what you've all been waiting for, the Top 10 Rodent Predictions of 2012....



Enjoy!

Musings on Bob Rae, the Liberal's Marijuana Policy and the RCMP spying on us (just like we thought!0

It was quite a week for Bob Rae. First, we learned that "The RCMP spied on Bob Rae during his student activist days and likely amassed a personal dossier on the future Liberal leader, newly declassified documents reveal.

Mountie security agents, wary of late-1960s campus turmoil, kept a close eye on the University of Toronto student council —apparently relying on a secret informant to glean information about Rae and other council members." The Canadian Press, January 12, 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/01/12/rae-rcmp-file.html


Wow. Arlo Guthrie was right. They did have a file on every one of us, even the "last guy". Like where did the last guy get the 25 cents from to make a phone call? Listen to the Pause of Mr. Claus to refresh your memory. Oh, what fun.




Now, a wiser, more mature Mr. Rae concluded the Liberal Convention in Ottawa last night by telling us two important facts:
1. The Liberals intend to legalize Marijuana
2. You no longer have to be a card carry Liberal to vote in Liberal leadership conventions, you just have to "like their core values" (I think that means you have to like Marijuana, but, I'm not sure about that one. I had some trouble with Math Proofs in High School)

I thought Rae Days in the '90's was a brilliant solution to a very complex financial dilemma, even though it cost him his job. But this, to try and get the Liberal Party back from the brink of obsolescence, even better.
Is Canada not the most fun, greatest place on earth to be living?

Go Bob Go!!!

My 2011 Top Books, Authors, etc. Lists

December is always such a great month to see what the rest of the world thinks are the best of, and sometimes the worst of things. So far, I've gotten book lists from Chapters/Indigo, Amazon and in print, last week, came the Saturday Star's Best Books of 2011 as per the various book reviewers.
So, not to be outdone, here are my lists, in no particular order or sequence within the list.

Top Authors That I've Read For the First Time
1. Suzanne Collins
2. Cory Doctorow
3. Lisa Gardner
4. Sara Gruen
5. Ann Patchett
6. Kathy Reichs
7. J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)
8. S.J. Watson
9. Daniel Silva

Authors That I Read For The First Time, But Didn't Like So Much
1. Alan Bradley
2. Lisa Lutz
3. George R.R. Martin

Top New Technology Toys
1. Kobo
2. Intel core i5 processor running Windows 7

Top Road Trips
1. Pittsburgh
2. VIenna and Prague

Top Statue
1. Goethe and Schiller

Books On My Kobo (and one borrowed from Leslie) That I Have Not Yet Read
1. The Stand, Stephen King (the uncut 1000 page version)
2. The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
3. A Carra King, John Brady
4. 18 Novels by Jack London ( 0.99 cents and I read bits when I’ve nothing else to read, as most of these are re-reads)
5. Heirs of Mars: Preludes, Joseph Robert Lewis
6. The Invisible Man, H.G.Wells(another .99 center that I read when nothing else is holding my interest)
7. Neuromancer, William Gibson
8. Shock Wave, John Sandford
9. State of Wonder, Ann Patchett
10. The Other Daughter, Lisa Gardner
11. The Survivors Club, Lisa Gardner
12. The Real Story: The Gap into Conflict, Stephen R. Donaldson
13. The Ape House, Sara Gruen
14. The Mark of the Assassin, Daniel Silva

Books That Beauty and I Are Listening to Together While Driving
1. The Help, Kathryn Stockett
2. We Need To Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver

Author Whose Work I Loved and Read Religiously Who Passed Away in 2011
1. Robert Parker (it was really 2010, but he had a completed novel, Sixkill that didn't get published until 2011)
2. Lillian Jackson Braun, she really did pass away this year, and, while I stopped reading her books around 2008 because I got tired of them, I did read 25+ novels and all of her short stories (3).

While I am sad to think that some of my favourite writers, like for instance, Lawrence Block and Mary Higgins Clark are getting older and may not have many more great stories inside of them, as you can see, I still have a lot of great literature to get through that is waiting for me on my Kobo. And, with the new authors that I found this year, I probably have plenty more where that came from.

Luckily, Beauty and I are in the process of planning a holiday with nothing on the agenda but relaxing, and reading. That is when I hope to make a significant dent in my unread pile.

If you want to add authors and books that you love and think I must read, just let me know. I will give every suggestion a chance.

Thanks!

Not Only Is It Time To Raise the Age of OAS, But I Think It's Time To Correctly Define The Age of a Senior for OHIP Purposes

Old Age Security (OAS), in Canada, still kicks in at 65, unlike the U.S. (67) and the U.K. (68). And, there is a debate that we need to raise it, or else, we will be increasing government costs by $12 Billion in the next 5 years ( that's a 33% jump from 2010 costs).

I'm not sure that I understand this issue. I turned 65 in January, 2011. In February, I got a deposit from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) of approximately $500 into my bank account for OAS. In March, I got a 'nasty' letter from CRA saying I earn too much money to qualify for OAS and, they're not going to give it to me until or unless I can prove them wrong. My friend the Professor, who also turned 65 this year, got the same sequence of money-letter-no more money correspondence as I did. We laughed about the tone of the letter, but both agreed, we were glad that Canada wasn't wasting its precious OAS money on the likes of us, two working stiffs who didn't need it yet.

The other big change that occurred in my financial relationship with the government now that I'm 65 concerns who pays for my prescription drugs. I caught a cold from the grandkids (too much kissing!) and it turned into bronchitis. The cold was a cold, but, when it didn't get better in a week, I was finally diagnosed with bronchitis. It knocked me for a loop and I am just now feeling well enough to spend the day at my desk instead of watching daytime TV. (I couldn't even motivate myself to read, yikes). It wasn't a total waste of time, however, as I learned that God loves me (Huntley TV Show), that American politicians, read that Republicans, are still mostly crazy, and that Ellen really does have much more rhythm than I do. (I AM SO JEALOUS). I also learned that you can watch the same episode of Flashpoint on Bravo at least 3 times during the same day, and that the number of people who are murdered or caught in the cross fire, on TV in one day is competitive with Syrian Governments efforts to wipe out its citizens.

Back to prescription drugs. I have a health plan, I pay into it monthly, I am still employed, until I turned 65, about 80% of my drug costs (after a deductible) were covered by the plan. I haven't had a prescription filled in years, and can't remember the exact date of when I last required a prescription drug. (My heart belongs to the miracle science, Osteopathy and the miracle medicine Ibuprofen, which works better and has less side effects than my previous backache medicine , Canadian Whiskey). So, to cure my December bronchitis, I take the prescription for 3 different medicines, an antibiotic, a nasal passage opener, and a nasal passage steroid) to my pharmacist. Our pharmacist has not changed since 1981, when he first opened up shop in a strip mall which was within walking distance to our old house. I know him and his wife, and he really knows everything about our clan. I'm sure he knows things about my teenage daughters that to this date, my Bride still hasn't told me. Beauty and her girls share everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. Us boys are like spies in a Le Carré novel, we are definitely left out in the cold. And, while I can't speak for the other 3, I think I like it that way. I need a buffer between what really goes on in life and what a father needs to know. I certainly think that in my early years, my parents needed that buffer.

The cost of the drugs was over $100. Considering it was my first prescription being filled this calendar year, I probably would have paid all of it out of my deductible. Wrong. I paid ZERO. Why, I ask the Pharmacist. He explains, "Welcome to the club". "Now that I'm a senior, OHIP pays my prescriptions." That doesn't make sense.

I think OHIP for seniors should be like OAS. If I'm still working and have enough income to afford a health care plan, let me pay for it. Save the money for those who need it. I told that to Mr. Pharmacist, and he said, "I'm one in a thousand." The prevailing attitude is, I paid in all these years, it's my money. Oh please. When us sixty somethings started paying in, we were forced to retire at 65, and didn't have the medical technology to keep us alive for more than another 10 years after retirement (if we were lucky). Today, we're still working at 65, we probably will for at least another 5 years, and then, with the help of modern science, exercise, lack of cigarette smoke in our world, and a better understanding of diet, we intend to live another 10-15 years after that. So, we will be a much bigger burden on the system than our parents ever where.

Further, there are sooo many of us. Of course we're going to break the system if we aren't willing to sacrifice for the good of our kids and their kids, and so on.
So, in the new year, I intend to call my MPP, Harinder Takhar and tell him that I have an idea how the government can save a few bucks without cutting services to anyone who really needs them. You should do the same, not call Harinder, but, call your MPP.

Breaking News: The Many Proofs that Kim Jong-un is Jewish

I've been listening to the news about the death of Kim Jong-il, "Dear Leader", and I've observed a startling truth. The family is definitely Jewish! How do I know this for a fact, o.k., that's easy. Remember the old joke about how you knew that Jesus was Jewish:

1. He was sure his mother was a virgin, and his mother was sure he was God.
2. He lived at home until the age of 33
3. He went into his father's business.

Now, let's look closely at Kim Jong-un.

1. His family calls him The Brilliant Comrad and Great Successor
2. He's definitely in his father's business
3. According to the family personal chef, he was the favourite son because "he was exactly like his father"
4. His family has declared January 1 as a national holiday to celebrate his birthday (Note: Jesus' followers did the same thing for December 25)
5. Does he live at home? He sure does now.