This. Sorry but I have to rant here. It's so damn infuriating to realize after all these years that integrity and a sense of fair play have not simply vanished from our political landscape - but in fact they've been purposely, methodically destroyed by a group who is all too happy to engage in and take advantage of the absolute least rational, least intelligent, and most hateful members of our society in order to lock down all the power they can.
Think Southern Strategy by Nixon - you might recall that when the Dems, in a sincere effort to address the miserable economic and social disparity between blacks and whites by passing the Equal Rights amendment and introducing Equal Opportunity initiatives, began scooping up the votes of "disenfranchised" southern whites by dropping "dog whistle" language (barely disguised racist terms) in order to appeal to many of the worst elements of our society (quote from Wikipedia):
<In American politics, the southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans.>
Yeah, how shitty can you possibly get? Is grabbing power so important that you are willing to sabotage the hopes and dreams of all "citizens of color" who have suffered for 200+ years under slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, social and educational ostracism, economic disparity, etc., etc.?
Add to that the fact that Nixon's crew of thugs actually broke into the offices of the Democratic Party in order to steal files that contained the dems political strategy!!! And the punishment for this incredible national embarassment? NONE. Nixon was immediately pardoned by Ford (in the name of allowing us to "heal" as a nation. Just fucking unbelievable. These assholes have diminished the most cherished values we hold as a supposedly free society by committing lowlife crimes and by engaging a bunch of ass-backwards white supremecists.
Can you just imagine the if it had been the Dems who engaged in this kind of criminal activity? This kind of behavior would never have been forgotten. The GOP in their self righteous, right wing religous ferver would have destroyed the Democratic party. They would never stop reminding us.
The GOP has turned the very serious business of electing our government representatives and guiding our nation into nothing much more than a game of sport...and now, it is apparently OK to engage the Russian government in collaborating in order to gain political advantage.
Enough, I know, but I just have to wonder how low they can go in their quest to secure power and to disassemble the very fabric of our national identity.
They support virtually everything that is wrong with this world...anti-evolutionary, creationist, anti-intellectual, anti-educational. Religion (theirs) in public schools and public offices. Climate change denial. Embracing racism in order to garner votes. Privatization of prisons, schools, etc. Elimination of efforts to address the economic plight of the lower and middle classes. Reduction or elimination of social safety nets (and you better believe this is going to affect most of us).
Good night, and good luck.