In my column today I praise the very important book by two leading scholars, Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution, in which they suggested (and I agree) that both parties are not equally to blame for the negative politics and gridlocked government that voters detest.
In their book, It's Even Worse Than it Looks, they point the finger at Republicans. In my column I also mentioned an excellent review of that book by Robert Kaiser of The Washington Post. I commend that review to your attention. I will have more to say soon, but for now, I hope readers will read and consider Bob Kaiser's view of what I believe is the most valuable political book of the year.
Ron Paul has brought a sea change in American politics. Without Paul there is no Tea Party of substance. It is merely a populist howl without vision or direction and we have heard it all before. But Paul brought substance: states’ rights, constitutional government and sound money. Ideas which hadn’t been broached in either party this past century. These ideas have been amplified by Texas Gov. Rick Perry in his important book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington, and on Judge Andrew Napolitano's pioneering show on constitutional law, "Freedom Watch.” The Judge is, as he calls himself on occasion, the "night watchman" — an angel devoutly guarding our freedom as we sleep. That his show actually ran on prime time every night of the week for the past couple of years is tribute to the changes occurring in America. But for the moment, those times have stalled.
Not content to oppose efforts to promote pay equity for women, Republicans are battling against stronger efforts to protect battered women. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney, escalating his unsuccessful pandering to the right, has set his sights against Planned Parenthood. I assume the plan is for the GOP to seek votes from those who cheat women on salary and beat women physically. Bad plan. Republicans, like Ron Paul, will have to accept personal responsibility for their actions.
Republicans will claim they are all for women, but this is about ideology. Fair enough. So bet it. Let the debate begin. Actions and ideology have real consequences. The consequences for women under Republicans are severe, which is why women are voting for Democrats in huge numbers.
Conrad Black, the conservative editor of the New York Sun, says the first words Fidel Castro has ever uttered that he has agreed with are those recently published on his blog in which he opined that the current Republican race is one of the most inane and stupid events in modern world history. George Will says they should just let it go until 2016. And the editors of The Washington Post say Republicans can no longer avoid their Limbaugh problem.
Good news for President Obama, who remains at 60 percent at Intrade. Indeed, they may begin to ask if there will even be a 2016 for Republicans. The constant rant from Limbaugh and his mindless others on the radio waves suggest the tailwind of a lost cause, like the bitter wind that persisted following the Civil War with Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Ku Klux Klan, and the Brown Shirts after World War I.
It was a banner week for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who is brilliantly leading the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The GOP continues its war against birth control and pay equity for women. Rick Santorum continues his crusade against the separation of church and state. Ron Paul continues his retrograde crusade for Austrian economists. Mitt Romney continues to be the weather vane, even on birth control. George Will writes on Sunday that Republicans could face a 1964-magnitude landslide loss. Things are falling into shape for Democrats to keep control of the Senate and regain control of the House.
If Ron Paul is moving to position his son as his successor on the presidential trail, he should come out and at least acknowledge the point.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) himself should begin to echo the case of what his father stands for, and how he believes he could carry that mantle in his own unique fashion.
After all, the Tea Party movement is here to stay, and that’s several tens of thousands of instant supporters in his camp — some of the same ones who sent him as one of two of Kentucky’s favorite sons.
Metaphorically, it is huge; from the Tea Party to the Vote Party suggests a major political shift. The Occupy Wall Street Movement has traveled across American cities, attracted national attention, and is ready to move from gaining attention to influencing social action.
If the movement — I’d call it the embryonic V Party — uses its social media network to advance a national agenda focused on curing our excessive economic disparity, it could generate important social reforms, like the Tea Party did for its agenda. Recent press reports noted that the Occupy Wall Street movement has morphed into YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, wiki and Web presences with millions of followers and thousands of activists.
The Republican nomination and the 2012 election all comes down to this: South Carolina. Who wins the South Carolina primary will win the nomination. I think Mitt Romney can beat Barack Obama. I think Rick Perry can. I don’t see anyone else in the wings coming close. Romney is stuck at 24 percent. He will do well in New Hampshire. Not so well in South Carolina. The question now comes down to this: Can Rick Perry win South Carolina? Three months ago it seemed like a slam-dunk. Then Herman Cain awakened in the polls. So the question advances now: Will Herman Cain win the South Carolina primary?
I do not know whether Herman Cain is guilty or innocent of the allegations regarding his treatment of women, but he sure is having trouble giving a straight story — telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When he burst into song at a public event, he sure looked nutty and ridiculous.
Speaking of nutty and ridiculous, what is the deal with Rick Perry's strange and bizarre public speech in New Hampshire? I would not even speculate about what led to him to behave in such a goofy manner, but I suspect this story will emerge over time.
Republicans are right to draw a line in the sand. We have an obligation to say “no” to tax increases that do nothing to stem the profligate, big-government spending favored by the Democrats. Unchecked government spending is a road that, if traveled, will further plunge our nation into a downward spiral of economic weakness due to massive debt and uncontrollable entitlements, which Democrats will argue can only be solved by “redistributing wealth” through back-breaking tax increases that will erode the spirit and principles that distinguish our country, leaving only a shadow of past greatness. That is what is at stake; the stakes have never been higher.
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