Planks, Platforms, And Prayers

If we were the kind of people the Republican Party appear to be catering to in their official platform this year, we might be having a very different reaction to the weather hitting Florida right now. In fact, if we'd been the knuckle-dragging types the 2012 GOP Platform Committee seems to cater to, and it had been the Democratic National Convention that was delayed and curtailed by hurricanes twice in a row, you can bet we'd be crowing about how the wrath of God had brought the storms to plague Florida because the Liberals were in town.

Of course, we're not those people and it's actually been the Republican Party - the party that doesn't believe in climate change - that's had its big national shindig clipped by weather twice in a row, back in 2008 and again this year. We could have told the GOP that scheduling their presidential nominating convention in Florida during hurricane season wasn't exactly a bright idea. [Vacationing at an all-expenses paid resort during hurricane season, however, will net you 20% off regular rates, at least.]

When it comes to bright ideas, the entire 2012 Republican Party platform - the official document that is supposed to state the core values of what ALL Republicans believe - isn't exactly made of modern thoughtful planks. Their platform this year is more like a few pieces of rejected scrap ideas, tied to a female sacrifice, carried by insane Neanderthals, who are running at top speed off the thin end of the ideological wedge.

We wish we were joking when we say this - but we're not.

Take the plank on women's rights, the one brought to light by last week's Freudian slip by Missouri Republican Todd Akin. On the issue of abortion, the GOP's platform states there will be NO exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. Mitt Romney, the party's presidential nominee, disagrees with this position. At least that was his most recent position… subject to change. According to the head of the RNC, Reince Prebius, Mitt can basically ignore what he doesn't like on the platform. So much for party unity.

The hypocrisy gets worse.

For a party that claims to be all about tax cuts, the Republican platform now says they're no longer standing behind the Mortgage Tax Deduction. As MSN Money reporter James Rowley noted, "Republican platform drafters refused to put their party on record for preserving the mortgage-interest deduction, giving Mitt Romney more flexibility to promote his plan to lower tax rates paid by corporations and the wealthiest Americans..."

In short, you should give up your mortgage tax deduction so corporations and the wealthiest Americans can keep theirs. After all, only the little people need to make sacrifices - a technique GOP star Chris Christie has perfected as Governor of New Jersey.

The GOP even wants to put a constitutional ban on tax increases, except for war and national emergencies. We all know how well that kind of economic straitjacket has devastated government's ability to do its job in California.

From the insane idea to return to the gold standard, to letting a racist write the immigration rules, to letting a hate group leader write the LGBT rights plank, the Republican Party Leadership truly appears to be running headlong off the end of the ideological wedge.

We can only hope most of the sane, moderate conservatives take a good hard look at those crazies and realize that's what everyone else thinks of anyone who calls themselves a Republican.

It is our hope that the rational Republicans step up to reclaim the Grand Old Party at the last minute this year. We're not betting the farm on it though.

Friday Funday: There But For Grace...

It's been another long week for us, and there are a dozen more of them ahead this year, between now and the election - something most of our colleagues in politics and the media are also looking at with a mixture of excitement and dread.

The daylight has begun to be noticeably shorter, college and pro football have begun to ramp up, and other signs of the end of summer have also appeared. School's back in session, with all the standard worries and joys that implies, and "Fair season" is back in much of the country too.

It doesn't happen every time there's a change in seasons, but once in a blue moon - one of which happens later this month - the seasonal changeover hits us like a senior tackle who's been itching to give a solid hit all summer long.

Admittedly, we may be feeling the change more this year because of the very job we're doing for you right now.

Just look at what's going on in the news.

A new book by investigative journalist Michael Grunwald proves what many Americans have believed all along - that Republicans in Congress planned from President Obama's very first day in office to obstruct him and drive our federal government to a grinding halt.

Republicans and right-wingers have become dangerously paranoid, including threats of violence and revolution if they don't win this fall - an adult version of a three-year old's temper tantrum. Extremists on the right have not only ramped up voter intimidation techniques, they outright admit they want to prevent some Americans from voting.

Racism seems to be back with a vengeance, and misogyny too - even in the very document that spells out the deepest held beliefs of the Republican Party. None of that even touches on the insanity of some policy proposals promoted by leaders in the current GOP - or as it used to be called, the extreme right.

When the ridiculous nature of things in America right now drags down our spirits, we try to talk a walk, talk with some friends, and count our blessings.

Things could be so much worse. Instead of working longer hours than ever, we could be without jobs. Or we could be living in Syria right now, where a real civil war, being fought with guns and bombs and tanks, is killing real people every day.

We could be one of the 400,000 people still living in tent cities in Haiti, thanks to the earthquake back in 2010. Those people are directly in the path of Hurricane Issac - but most of them didn't even realize there was a hurricane on the way until yesterday.

There are piles and piles of reasons that most of us - and probably most of you too - could look at our lives and be less than thrilled with the challenges facing us over the next few weeks and months.

There's just one reason we shouldn't complain.

Things could be so much worse.
And yet, they're not.

We don't live in Haiti or Syria. We have enough money to pay the bills, keep roofs over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food in our bellies. Our loved ones are generally in good health, and we're not getting sacked by massive college or mortgage debt.

Plus? It's Friday, and we have the weekend to relax and recharge.

Count your blessings and breathe, folks. Eleven weeks to the election.

Character And Cowardice

It's always a sign of a person's character when we see how they react when faced with a difficult or personally embarrassing task.

A staff acquaintance and one of our regular readers, Randy Moody, showed exactly the kind of mettle this week that we expect to see in those we respect. A former lobbyist for the National Education Association, Moody also happens to be an old-fashioned Nebraska Republican - one with sense. What Moody did that was newsworthy was simple: he stood up for his principles.

Moody submitted a women's health care plank to the platform committee of the national Republican Party in Tampa. His proposal called for women to have the choice to control all their own health care needs - including abortion. As anyone who has been paying attention to American politics and the media must be aware, that plank was immediately tossed out of the debate in Tampa - no surprise to anyone familiar with the current GOP.

Even if the platform debates for either party are little more than a formality, at least the national Republican Party membership showed they know how to debate topics in public.

That's a trick Republicans should show their craven U.S. Senate nominee, Deb Fischer.

In case you've missed the news in the midst of the political firestorms caused by others in the Republican Party, the upcoming debate for the open U.S. Senate seat from Nebraska is the only debate scheduled for that contest so far.

It's not that Bob Kerrey has been avoiding debates. In fact, since Deb Fischer surprised everyone with her May primary win, Kerrey's camp has been attempting to schedule as many as seven faceoffs. He's even agreed to debate Fischer on Fox News, nationally - a hostile climate for any politician who isn't already bought and paid for by the billionaire masters of the far right, let alone a moderate Democrat like Kerrey.

Fischer, on the other hand, has deftly avoided debate - and also most media coverage. That would include many news organizations in the third district, according to our contacts and observation. Apparently, Fischer doesn't trust herself enough to correctly spout the kind of right-wing extremist nonsense that the fanatics of the GOP base love, but that scare the hell out of normal, sane Nebraskans.

In contrast, Bob Kerrey has been more than ready to face the tough questions, both in debates and in person. In fact, Kerrey's readiness to take on the tough questions, from whomever, wherever, whenever, earned him an unusual writeup by journalist Frank Bruni this week.  Bruni made the point that Kerrey is more than willing to address his consistent stands on gay rights, women's rights, debt and taxes - a bold stance dating back decades that many in both politics and the media seem to be stunned to see. Kerrey's more than willing to take a stand on his on ag policies too.

Sadly, since Fischer has been avoiding much of the Nebraska media, few unbiased critiques and interviews of her have been available to the voters of Nebraska. Apparently, she'd rather send out press releases and have her campaign flacks take calls and claim conflicts so she just can't appear at more than one debate.

This Saturday, at the Nebraska State Fair, Fischer will have to face the only debate crowd she's agreed to, so far. We hope neither candidate tries to hide from what we hope are brutally tough questions. We're fairly certain, from Bob Kerrey's actions, record, and history, that he will be ready to show everyone who he is, for better or worse.

As we've said previously, when they show you who they are, believe them. We hope Nebraskans are paying attention this Saturday.