Dead Wild Roses

As far as concise descriptions of the state of the GOP in the US go, this is fairly accurate and sadly amusing all at the same time.

“It is important to bear in mind that the Republicans have long abandoned the pretence of functioning as a normal parliamentary party. Rather, they have become a “radical insurgency” that scarcely seeks to participate in normal parliamentary politics, as observed by the respected conservative political commentator Norman Ornstein of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute.

    Since Ronald Reagan, the leadership has plunged so far into the pockets of the very rich and the corporate sector that they can attract votes only by mobilising sectors of the population that have not previously been an organised political force, among them extremist evangelical Christians, now probably the majority of Republican voters; remnants of the former slave-holding States; nativists who are terrified that “they” are taking our white Christian Anglo-Saxon country away from us; and others who turn the Republican primaries into spectacles remote from the mainstream of modern society—though not the mainstream of the most powerful country in world history.”

-Noam Chomsky, in discussion with Vijay Prasad on Counterpunch.

It would seem that the GOP has just said ‘fuck it’ and have laid bare their plutocratic intentions – yet people who are clearly not Plutocrats vote for them.  Consider the amount of propaganda required to dupe the poor into voting for the rich.

On a related note, the Canadian election is whirling along.  The people who are engaged in politics remain engaged, those who don’t care still don’t care – regardless of how long parties have to campaign.    A big thank you to the current conservative government for extending the election period for no other reason than their own political advantage.  :/