I have a rather depressing view of the Republican Party of these United States. I see it as authoritarian, reactionary, anti-science, anti-woman, theocratic, racist, militaristic, paranoid and cowardly. On occasion, I have looked at this perspective and have reviewed my view of this group of people and have yet to see any reason to change. The actions, statements and behavior of the tea party has done much to verify my view and the Primary season with Santorum's rise in prominence within the GOP has simply confirmed it.
These are all fairly negative and harsh evaluations of Santorum and all Republicans, but completely justifiable.
Starting at the top, authoritarian; A love of having control form above and having the ability to impose a collective will on the individual. Santorum's choice of faith (The Pope rules and everyone else follows) is indicative of a person who embraces a top down power structure and his view on the birth control issue is a second clear indicator that he thinks the decision on this issue should not lie with the individual, but someone enpowered above them. This point of view can also be seen in his view on the debate over SOPA and PIPA he again favors striping the individual of the choice, and delivering the power to higher levels.
Santorum is the perfect example of a reactionary. He seems to want to teardown society and remold it into some fantasy Leave it to Beaver land. He is completely disappointed in our modern reality and truly desires to lead a forced march back to a simpler time.
Racist is a very impolite charge, but based on last year’s Tea Party signage and some of Santorums clearly racist statements it is imposable to deny, racism is a central pillar of the right and the fact that it draws votes just confirms that the racism is found attractive to the followers of the individual and the party.
The last three points, militaristic, paranoid and cowardly, are both tied together and more of a personal impression. Republicans are defiantly pro military (well at least as far as hardware and the military industrial complex are concerned, for the vets, well there is a clear drop off in interest). They love the power and having over 50% of the world’s total military power under our control is a point of pride. Pride but not comfort and this is where both paranoid and cowardly come in. We need more guns, bombs, tanks, troops etc because they are all out to get us (maybe some are, but what the heck can any of them do about it) and without that extra bomber we may risk getting a boo-boo.
This fear based reflexive behavior of the right was a major factor in keeping Bush in power and it still moves votes within the GOP.
Santorum's rise from failed and evicted Senator to favored candidate of the GOP says a lot about the modern Republican Party and the people who are its members. And what it says is rather unpleasant. It is clear that Santorum is authoritarian, reactionary, anti-science, anti-woman, theocratic, and racist, the fact that he has become more than a fringe candidate confirms a lot of negative notions about those who consider themselves Republicans
And confirms my views of the Republican Party and its members.
Tags Republicans, Santorum,theocratic
These are all fairly negative and harsh evaluations of Santorum and all Republicans, but completely justifiable.
Starting at the top, authoritarian; A love of having control form above and having the ability to impose a collective will on the individual. Santorum's choice of faith (The Pope rules and everyone else follows) is indicative of a person who embraces a top down power structure and his view on the birth control issue is a second clear indicator that he thinks the decision on this issue should not lie with the individual, but someone enpowered above them. This point of view can also be seen in his view on the debate over SOPA and PIPA he again favors striping the individual of the choice, and delivering the power to higher levels.
Santorum is the perfect example of a reactionary. He seems to want to teardown society and remold it into some fantasy Leave it to Beaver land. He is completely disappointed in our modern reality and truly desires to lead a forced march back to a simpler time.
Anti-Science is another undeniable aspect of both Santorum and the modern GOP. They hate the reality of evolution, the Big Bang and Climate Change. If a science discovery conflicts with their religious mythology or short term corporate goals, well then clearly science is wrong and must be attacked, the very same science that has made modern life possible.
The Anti-woman and theocratic points needs to be discussed at the same time since the one is a result of the other. The view that a woman’s role is secondary to the male is well established in most of the reactionary faiths (Including the ex Senator's). Santorum has made it clear that he thinks barefoot and preggers is the proper state for adult females. He bases this on his inerpation of the bible and thinks that this is the standard Government should enforce; His own little land of christian Sharia, based on what he thinks the bible says. The Theocratic view of how government should work is one he wants and will try to impose.Racist is a very impolite charge, but based on last year’s Tea Party signage and some of Santorums clearly racist statements it is imposable to deny, racism is a central pillar of the right and the fact that it draws votes just confirms that the racism is found attractive to the followers of the individual and the party.
The last three points, militaristic, paranoid and cowardly, are both tied together and more of a personal impression. Republicans are defiantly pro military (well at least as far as hardware and the military industrial complex are concerned, for the vets, well there is a clear drop off in interest). They love the power and having over 50% of the world’s total military power under our control is a point of pride. Pride but not comfort and this is where both paranoid and cowardly come in. We need more guns, bombs, tanks, troops etc because they are all out to get us (maybe some are, but what the heck can any of them do about it) and without that extra bomber we may risk getting a boo-boo.
This fear based reflexive behavior of the right was a major factor in keeping Bush in power and it still moves votes within the GOP.
Santorum's rise from failed and evicted Senator to favored candidate of the GOP says a lot about the modern Republican Party and the people who are its members. And what it says is rather unpleasant. It is clear that Santorum is authoritarian, reactionary, anti-science, anti-woman, theocratic, and racist, the fact that he has become more than a fringe candidate confirms a lot of negative notions about those who consider themselves Republicans
And confirms my views of the Republican Party and its members.
Tags Republicans, Santorum,theocratic
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