When Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 he told an aide "We have lost the south for a generation", anticipating the backlash that would follow. Well now it's 2008 and if the Republicans continue with their opposition of the rescue plan for the big 3 auto industry, then they will loose the mid-west for a generation. The Republicans are on retreat as it is. After the last election they no longer have any House members in the north-east and are relegated to being a mainly southern party with some representation through the conservative rust belt and out west. And if they continue with their opposition to saving the auto industry, after they wholeheartedly backed the bailout of wallstreet, they'll loose the remaining few seats they have in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. And they'll loose the precious electoral votes that come with those states as well.
And God forbid they actually succedd and block the bridge loan to the auto industry and it goes kerplunk. They'll be blammed for millions of job losses and for spurring into action the catalyst that turned our recession into a full blown depression. The ads will be so simple that they'll write themselves, "Republican Congressman X gave over a trillion dollars to wallstreet fatcats but nothing to mainstreet Americans".
And not only will they be handing over the economic arguments to the Democrats but they'll be giving up the national security argument as well. Just as we are beholden to the middle east because of our need for oil, we will become beholden to south asia for their technology and cars. The battery is the new oil, and the countries that hold the technology will hold the power. Yes the big 3 have made mistakes, and yes they have to change their ways, but now is not the time to put ideals before country.
8 comments:
Having those cars on stage during a church service is pretty, pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
Great political analysis, Brad. You should be getting paid for this.
Well until puttingthingsinplainsite starts stroking checks I guess I work for free. Damn sure do wish I knew a way to get paid for writing though.
Appreciate the compliment though. Always good to get props from the moderator.
As long as half the American people believe that Ghost Dad in heaven above wants us to hate gays and treat clusters of cells the size of a pinhead like human beings, I don't think the Republican party is going anywhere.
I'd love it if this was the deathblow to the Repubs, though, and it ended up slitting three ways: Huckabee Fundamentalists, Ron Paul Libertarians and Bloomberg Billionaires.
As a Christian myself I've never understood why Republicans think God is so Goddamn hateful and unforgiving. I mean wasn't Jesus the one who befriended a former whore and spent his time feeding the poor, opposing stupid wars, and speaking truth to power? And need they remember where Jesus was born, The Middle East. So why all the hatred for brown people when Jesus himself was brown?
Also if they want to read the Old Testament so literally then when do we get to start stoning adulterers, and folks who get divorced? I think adultery and divorce are more of a threat to marriage than a man putting his dick in another mans ass or a woman putting her tounge in another woman's muff.
nice
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/opinion/10friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
I agree with Friedman in that we have to improve the infrastructure of this country so that it can harness the new energies of the 21st century. The problem is that the man with the plan won't be in office to enact it until January 20th, hence the need to keep Detroit alive long enough until him and the new congress gets there. I would highly recommend referring to Part I, Chapter 2, of Barack Obama's "Change We Can Believe In" book that came out right before the election. There is 40 pages of highly detailed policy proposals about how we get to Energy 2.0. And not only how we get there infrastructure wise, but how we train the new work force for this new economy, how we help small businesses thrive in it, how we make clean technology affordable for all Americans, how we use it to create jobs and protect the enviorment, and how we sell this technology to foreign countries so that we become the new power holders for energy.
Also I'd highly recommend reading up on the upcoming Chevy Volt. It's E-Flex technology runs 40 miles on an 8 hour charge, but also carries with it a small fuel tank capable of holding E-85 ethanol or gasoline. Once the car runs out of charge and begins running on fuel, it conversely uses the fuel not only to propel the car but to recharge the battery, and once the battery is charged for a few miles the fuel cuts off and you're back to running on battery power. It'll go 640miles on a full charge and tank of gas before needing to refuel. And on top of that is the built in solar panels on the vehicle that help in charging the battery as well and you've got some mighty fine technology, and it's just a little over a year out from hitting showroom floors. Here's the Wiki link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Volt
you mean the 1982 DeLorean?
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