America, Can You Take A Hint?

By Cernig

There's a lot happening today. Study carefully, because there's a test coming up in '08.

The Bush administration has been using executive power to politicize the military and just about everything else in reach, all to help Republicans get elected and shore up floundering Republican narratives.

Nowhere is the Republican ability to lie, cheat and use dirty tricks to get what it wants more obvious than in the person of Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General and longtime Bush-pal. He's in the position of an inveterate liar who can't recall all the lies he's told anymore. So he's dropped the ball on the existance of more secret warrantless spying programs that even the last AG thought were illegal, pterended to be dumbfounded by unprecedented authority over the DoJ by administration officials when he signed the order for it, and generally left himself in a position where impeachment looks like the best option.

Meanwhile, back at the White House, the Cheney advisor who was doing Fourth Branch's dirty work in bacckstabbing Condi Rice and convincing people to talk Bush into attacking Iran is resigning - and finding it difficult to get a new job.

Despite all the soft-soap in administration PR about reviewing the situation in Iraq come September, they've already decided the occupation will continue indefinitely, making plans to stay past the presidential election in such a way that a new president would have difficulty backtracking those plans.

Cheerleaders of Republican economic policies are reduced to lies about their effects and cheerleaders for their turning healthcare into a profit-gouging enterprise for their campaign contributors are likewise reduced to misdirection to continue justifying human suffering making megabucks (not jobs).

Even the military no longer support Bush and the Republican agenda.

Yet leading Republican presidential candidates continue to prostitute themselves for the base even when it means flip-flopping on their past beliefs. Every single one from Rudy to Romney continues to promise more of the same. (Thompson is an actor pretending to be a candidate who has staff probelms even before he's declared his run.)

Which is why Republicans are suddenly doing so badly in fundraising - you can't fool all of the people all of the time (but empirical evidence confirms you can fool 26% of the people forever).

Rove once told a British reporter that he was planning to model the Bush Years on Margaret Thatcher's reign - which may well explain why so many Republican candidates want to prostrate themselves before The Handbag Lady in her role as guardian of the Reagan imprimatur.

He's succeeded. Like the UK's Conservatives, the Republican Party is staring at decades in the wilderness.

Update Chris Bowers has a Zogby poll showing how wide that wilderness is.

On Political Affiliation: When asked which political party most Americans believe to be responsible for many of the gravest problems facing the world:
War: 62% blamed Republicans vs. 14% Democrats
Global Warming: 56% blamed Republicans vs. 10% Democrats
Prejudice: 52% blamed Republicans vs. 22% for Democrats
Poverty: 49% held Republicans accountable; 29% Democrats
Corruption: 47% blamed Republicans vs. 31% Democrats
Crime: On this issue, respondents reversed the trend, with 42% blaming Democrats vs. 23% Republicans

and adds:

If the country overwhelmingly blames one political party for war, global warming, prejudice, poverty, and corruption, you seem like you are pretty much screwed electorally for the short term. Seriously, these numbers are incredibly bad for the Republicans. These are the worst numbers I have ever seen for a political party. The country does not blame the two parties equally, or anywhere near it, for the major problems facing the world...Bush has destroyed the Republican brand.