Republican

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Lying about Benghazi

Turns out there is a scandal after all.

The Republicans have searched for one since the incident happened. First they claimed that Obama never called it a terrorist act (like that is a crime). Turns out he did, the very next day. Remember how Romney tried to accuse him of that during the debate and instead just looked completely incompetent? That was fun.

Other than that, I haven’t been able to completely figure out what they’re saying. Apparently they are mad because the Obama administration didn’t have 20/20 hindsight to realize it was a terrorist attack. If there is something more, no one has been able to entirely explain it yet.

But one thing they said turns out to be true: Talking point memos were changed to make it seem that it was something other than it was.

Turns out though that those memos were changed by Republicans in their press releases to reporters, and not by the Obama administration.

Fake quotes. They just made them up.

So when people say that there is a scandal going on concerning Benghazi, you can reply “Yes, there is! I see it now!”

Editorial cartoon of the day

Editorial cartoon of the day

Editorial cartoon of the day

Editorial cartoon of the day

Editorial cartoon of the day

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How the GOP can win the presidential race

To follow up on yesterday’s editorial cartoon:

The Republican party has won the popular vote only once in the last six presidential elections (when Bush won by a razor-thin margin). They have a huge uphill battle, and it’s not getting any better for them. The population is changing, and the old angry white man vote is dying.

Look at the electoral college voting patterns. You need 270 electoral votes to win. If we count every state that has voted Democratic in the last six elections, the Democrats start off with 242 votes, and the Republicans have 206. If you count only the last two, the Democrats have 332.

This is bad news for the Republicans, which leaves them with two options: (1) expand their base by appealing to younger voters, women, and minorities; or (2) cheat.

As we have seen, they have decided to go for option 2. Republicans have instituted voter purges and intimidation, creating hardships for those in Democratic-leaning districts and causing long lines to discourage voting. They’ve fought against early voting and other methods which will encourage people to exercise their rights. They’ve gerrymandered districts in ways that keep Democrats from winning.

They’ve created a propaganda machine to convince people that voter fraud is taking place (quite ironically). They’ve passed laws making it harder for people to register and vote. And they’ve challenged the Voting Rights Act in court.

Because, let’s face it, the only other solution would be to actually listen to the will of the people.

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The Purpose of Government

So many arguments have ensued over a very basic question. What is the purpose of government?

Some of us feel that government should be used to promote the common good; that together, we can accomplish more than we can as individuals. We believe that it’s a good thing to take care of each other, and provide education, health care, and other social services. Government oversight of business is encouraged to make sure our food and medicine is safe and to provide for a living wage and safe working conditions. Let’s call this the “socialist” view of government.

Others feel that government should not infringe upon our freedoms and our liberties in any way, and should not use tax dollars for things like health care or unemployment benefits or other types of welfare. Government should not put so many restrictions on businesses or guns or our own personal lives. We’ll call this the “libertarian” view of government.

Most people fit somewhere between the two, and are completely inconsistent.

Democrats, for instance, believe in government involvement to regulate business and provide social services but are strong supporters of freedom in other areas (gay rights, abortion, etc.)elephant donkey

Republicans hate government involvement in business and social services but love to have the government regulate private behavior (what they consider “moral” behavior, which is primarily religion based).

Both the socialist view and the libertarian view are legitimate views. Both are valid. You can believe in either one of these views and be an absolute patriot who is being true to what America stands for.

And there lies the problem: There are people at either extreme who think that if you hold a view opposite from them, you are not just wrong, you are evil. You are anti-American, a traitor, someone who wants to destroy this country.

And that’s why we can’t get things done.

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Guns and Mental Health Cuts

I see here in today’s newspaper that Republicans think our problem with all the violent shootings we’ve had lately is with mental health, not with guns themselves.  There are just too many crazy people, and we need to deal with them.

Someone remind me, please — which political party was it that has cut funding for mental health services year by year since the days of Reagan?