For anyone unfortunate enough to witness an animal that has been exposed to rabies, they likely saw dramatic behavioral changes starting with lethargy progressing to foaming at the mouth, and ending with unexpected aggression, seizures, and eventual death. The word rabies comes from the Latin and means “madness,” and any American watching the Republicans in Congress can certainly agree that they are exhibiting symptoms of the final stages of rabies. Republicans are rabid to eliminate programs for the poor and particularly the Affordable Care Act, and yesterday the depth of their madness was revealed when one of their champions suggested shutting down the military if President Obama and Democrats fail to acquiesce and kill the ACA.
When Speaker of the House John Boehner stepped down and handed power to the teabagger caucus last week and passed a continuing resolution to fund the government under the condition that the Affordable Care Act is eliminated, he effectively unleashed a group of mad dogs on the government. Realizing that the crazy caucus was in charge of the House, teabagger Ted Cruz (TP-TX) issued a stern warning to Senate Republicans that if they failed to filibuster the CR defunding the health law, they were “voting for Obamacare” and if they allowed Democrats to send the government funding bill back to the House without defunding the ACA, he advised House Republicans to “defund the military.” Cruz’s intent is forcing Democrats to choose between the nation’s security and giving 30-40 million Americans access to affordable healthcare insurance. It is the truest expression of madness a sitting congressman has likely ever displayed, and it is proof the GOP is in the final stage of rabies.
Cruz said, “If Harry Reid kills the bill in the Senate, the House should begin passing smaller continuing resolutions one department at a time. It should start with a continuing resolution focused on the military. Send it over, see if Harry Reid is willing to shut down the military.” If Cruz’s plan was just one crazed teabagger’s off-the-wall statement, he would be laughed out of the Senate, but since the GOP is controlled by unreasonably crazy teabaggers and extremist conservatives, Americans should tremble at the level of damage these malcontents are preparing to wreak on the nation. At some point Americans are going to have to comprehend that Republicans are not just insane, they are criminally insane.
As the nation inches closer to shutting down and defaulting on its debts due to crazed Republicans laser-focused on inflicting harm on the people and government over healthcare reform, it appears this nation is on the verge of serious trouble. Republicans wreaked havoc on the nation’s economy two years ago over protecting tax breaks for the rich and domestic spending cuts that cost a credit downgrade, a million jobs, $19 billion, and a devastating sequester, but there was a semblance of sanity in the Republican leadership. Republican leadership is so paranoid of inflaming teabaggers, the Heritage Foundation, and Koch brothers over defunding the ACA they are little more than figureheads doing the bidding of ideological lunatics who have no qualms decimating the United States government.
It is important to remember that just threatening to default on the nation’s debt drove credit rating agency S&P to downgrade the country’s stellar credit rating. One of the reason’s S&P gave for taking the unprecedented action was that “political brinkmanship of recent months had shown evidence of America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable.” Doubtless, all three major rating agencies are watching Republicans in Washington become even less stable, less effective and certainly less predictable, and it will be a miracle if they do not downgrade the nation’s credit on grounds of insanity in the Republican Party. With less than a month before the government hits the debt limit and facing a shutdown, combined with a Republican Party that shows no signs of sanity, there is little hope the nation will escape another serious economic crisis unscathed. However, there may be a silver lining over the long term.
Americans are watching crazed Republicans threatening to shut down the government, default on the nation’s debt, and possibly defund the military that will validate President Obama’s contention that Republicans are controlled by an unrestrained and dangerous minority. Last month it was revealed that even senior citizens, a dependable Republican voting bloc, were turning away from the GOP in droves because they viewed them as “out of touch,” “dividing the country,” and “too extreme.” It is likely that seniors, or sane Americans, consider threatening to shut down the government, default on the nation’s debt, and defund the military an extreme tactic just to eliminate a law passed by Congress, signed by the President, and ruled Constitutional by the conservative Supreme Court. The frightening aspect of the affair is that although it proves Republicans are off-the-wall crazy, they appear fully prepared to follow through with their threats if for nothing else than to make a point that they will not be dissuaded from their ideological conservative purity; even if it means inflicting more damage on the American people.
It is normal for the party out of power to seek leverage during budget negotiations to fund and pay the government’s bills, and after the 2011 debt ceiling crisis it appeared that the country had seen the worst the criminally insane Republicans had to offer. However, as evil as the 2011 Republicans were to threaten a default to punish the American people and preserve tax cuts for the rich, the current iteration seems Hell-bent and duty-bound to wreak immeasurable damage on the country over a dangerous obsession with the Affordable Care Act.
Despite in-fighting in conservative ranks between the establishment Republicans and teabagger extremists, America is facing a significant danger if only because the GOP leadership ceded power to the radicals who will take the country down a dark economic hole if for no other reason than their ideological libertarian bent. Many pundits are certain that sanity will prevail in Republican ranks and they will pull back from the economic precipice, but they fail to recognize there are no sane Republicans in Congress. It is important to remember that there were teabaggers in 2011 who opposed raising the nation’s debt limit, and wanted to send the economy off the fiscal cliff in 2012 “just to see what would happen.” Now, extremist teabaggers control the House and Republican caucus in the Senate, and 66% of Republican voters want their representatives to shut down the government and default on the nation’s debt, and with all Republicans lusting to eliminate President Obama’s signature healthcare reform law, the chance of the economy falling victim to insane Republican criminals is a real and present danger.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn't look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
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