REPUBLICANS AS VICTIMS

Historically, right-wingers always love to play victim. They are always being beset by forces trying to take something away from them, their guns, the honor, their virtuous women, their religion, and, most of all, of course-- harkening back to the meaning of the political right, their money. Even when they control virtually everything they still want to cry and whine that they are being victimized. And they have always used this tactic to very good effect (for themselves). Although the French and Russian Revolutions dealt with the reactionary right rather well-- and even the very moderate U.S. revolutionaries sent a good many of the most extreme rightists packing to Canada, the West Indies and London (at least for a while)-- most of the time even set-backs for the Right are like water off a duck's back. After the U.S. Civil War, the most extreme right-wingers in the South were able to thwart any meaningful-- and short-lived-- attempts by progressives to enforce racial equality or even to begin the process of bringing African-Americans a semblance of human dignity. And now they control the White House, both houses of Congress and the Federal Judiciary! And they're still crying "victim!"

Just this past Monday, one of the most extremist right-wingers in the U.S. Congress, John Hostettler (R-IN), worked himself up into a lather and a state of righteous indignation on the floor of the House about how Democrats persecute Christians! Although Hostettler has proven to be psychologically unstable, even deranged, in the past, this tactic is more venal and premeditated than loony. Tom DeLay, still not in prison and still Majority Leader of the House, admitted that "Hostettler may have
said it unartfully" but went on to insist that "Democrats are constantly attacking people of faith." What "Crazy John" Hostettler had raved, by the way, was that "like moths to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians."

Mind you, this all comes out of Howard Dean's comments-- blown out of proportion by the GOP media echo chamber lead by fake journalists and partisan hacks like O'Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity-- that the GOP represents the interests exclusively of white Christians. He mentioned that although he himself is also a white Christian, the modern Democratic Party represents a wider set of interests that transcend races and religions. The outcry from the Far Right was so gigantic that one had to wonder if they were not only unaware of their own policies and the implications of those policies, but also on little facts Faux News certainly would never bring up, like 100% of the Republicans in the 2 houses of the Texas legislature-- the most out there and fascist-oriented GOP government in the U.S.-- is white and Christian. Is that "bad?" Not necessarily (although in a state with such a diverse population, it is a little odd) but it IS THE TRUTH.

Today the Associated Press ran this piece under the headline "Bush Promotes Funding for Religious Groups:

President Bush on Tuesday told the Southern Baptist Convention a compassionate society would rely more on religious groups to provide social services and oppose expanded embryonic stem cell research.
Bush renewed his call for Congress to pass a law that would allow religious groups with federal contracts to consider questions of faith when making employment decisions. With such legislation long stalled, the president has bypassed Congress and made more money available to such groups through executive orders and regulations.
"Congress needs to pass charitable choice legislation to forever guarantee equal treatment for our faith-based organizations when they compete for federal funds," Bush told the Baptists meeting in Nashville, Tenn., via satellite.
Quoting the hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," Bush said, "Thy compassions, they fail not."
On "culture of life" issues such as stem cells, the president said, "A compassionate society protects and defends its most vulnerable members at every stage of life."
Bush opposes a House-passed bill that would lift his 2001 restrictions on public funding for research on newly developed embryonic stem cell lines. The Senate is now considering the matter.
Bush also reiterated his intention to nominate conservative jurists to the federal bench.

Poor Christians; they still think they're a persecuted minority. I guess it feels somehow better than feeling like a persecuting majority! And as for Republicans, well, here's a great example: when Ohio's demonstrably corrupt GOP Governor Taft was called out on the hundreds of millions of dollars stolen by his contributors and appointees from the State Workmen's Compensation Fund his immediate reaction was to play... what else?-- victim. It was all about a vengeful press and unfair Democrats. Although he now seems to be headed in the direction of a nice long stay in a Federal Penitentiary, Taft still blames everyone but himself and his fellow Republicrooks.