David Williams To The Louisville Courier: "[With Republicans] It Would Appear The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum." Oh, Yes, Indeed! *SIGH*.
What fate for us?
Paranoia now seems to have become an official policy of the Republican Party. When some Republicans see dark conspiracies in a simple speech the President of the United States wants to give to schoolchildren to encourage them to do well, and otherwise intelligent leaders like Sen. McConnell refuse to disavow them, it would appear the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Can total irrelevancy be far behind?
This is, of course, what happens when any group succumbs to demagoguery. In the case of Republicans, when they chose to be guided by such inflammatory rabble rousers as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and ignored the insights of leaders like Gerald Ford, basic civility became a casualty. But what could we expect? The clowns with the most outlandish makeup, loudest horns, and greatest girth always get the most attention.
These days, some historians have begun comparing this country to the late Roman Empire, but that image is flawed. A more apt comparison would be to Athenian democracy. When demagogues took control of public debate and shouted down intellectuals like Socrates, its high cultural achievements became threatened. That needn't be the fate of all democracies but, as we may be seeing here in the United States, it often is.
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DAVID WILLIAMS
Louisville 40208
Paranoia now seems to have become an official policy of the Republican Party. When some Republicans see dark conspiracies in a simple speech the President of the United States wants to give to schoolchildren to encourage them to do well, and otherwise intelligent leaders like Sen. McConnell refuse to disavow them, it would appear the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Can total irrelevancy be far behind?
This is, of course, what happens when any group succumbs to demagoguery. In the case of Republicans, when they chose to be guided by such inflammatory rabble rousers as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and ignored the insights of leaders like Gerald Ford, basic civility became a casualty. But what could we expect? The clowns with the most outlandish makeup, loudest horns, and greatest girth always get the most attention.
These days, some historians have begun comparing this country to the late Roman Empire, but that image is flawed. A more apt comparison would be to Athenian democracy. When demagogues took control of public debate and shouted down intellectuals like Socrates, its high cultural achievements became threatened. That needn't be the fate of all democracies but, as we may be seeing here in the United States, it often is.
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DAVID WILLIAMS
Louisville 40208
Labels: GOP, Keeping them honest, Republicanism
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 12:12 PM
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