Mare, dog and pony

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

All during the Bush administration I rarely watched or listened to the Democratic response to his speeches — mostly because I knew they wouldn't be nearly as insane nor entertaining in a horrifying way.

But tonight? Ooohhh, boy! On the heels of Barack Obama's informal State of the Union we can expect some fun from the Republican Rebuttal. (Although I often wonder why these are necessary, and why we don't hear a response from any other parties.)

The Republicans, having destroyed their own party from within over the last couple of decades, are desperately trying to find a way to present themselves that won't shoot them in the foot. Their idea? Wallpaper! Yes, the same old rich white men who have run the party and the country into the ground while diverting as much money as possible into the pockets of their cronies are expanding their plan from the 2008 election — you know, the one where they say "Hey! The Democrats are running a women, so WE'LL run a woman!" "Hey! The Democrats elected a black man, so WE'LL elect a black man!"

Tonight, they take this one step further by saying, "Hey! The liberals love the Indians, so WE'LL show them an Indian! After all, that movie did so well, didn't it?"

This sudden transformation — on the surface — to an "inclusive" party is whiplash-inducing. And yet, when one looks at any gathering of the GOP it is remarkable how the room contains a sea of white faces. The "inclusive" part is reserved for the carefully controlled media.

Is it just possible that a woman, a black man, and an Indian man could hold conservative views? Well, of course. And it would be ridiculous to infer otherwise. Is it odd that they have never been so prominent on the GOP's national stage until the devastation wrought by a truly diverse Democratic party? Nope. Not in the least.

The GOP's attempt to plaster on a veneer of diversity is too little, too late, and too insulting to anyone with a modicum of intelligence.

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You know, I thought that after the Obama administration took the reigns I'd have to start writing about the Democrats. I should have known better: the Republicans continue to be such a rich pile from which to mine comedy gold.

After Obama reaches out to them repeatedly (in what appeared, at least, to be a sincere desire) and made compromises they demanded, they slapped away his hand of friendship and then claimed that he wasn't bipartisan.

In a calculated political move to ensure their future deniability, they voted, in lockstep, against stimulus... then went home and claimed credit for the spending the bill brought to their districts.

A GOP senator chomps at the bit to be Commerce Secretary and implores the president for a bipartisan gesture... then humiliates the president by changing his mind and withdrawing his bid on ideological grounds.

Obama, possibly not having learned his lesson, invites these same asses to his Fiscal Responsibility Summit, where they continue to slap away at him like jilted lovers while criticizing him for decisions made by his predecessor.

The irony of all this? The Republicans don't seem to have figured out that Obama is simply giving them opportunity after opportunity to show a willingness to unite in the face of crisis, and instead they are taking opportunity after opportunity to show the public that divisiveness is still all they have to offer.

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