Marc YachtRepublican antics may play well to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and their listeners, but can such bleating muster the votes to win a national election? Judging by the latest GOP effort to embarrass Hillary Clinton with another Benghazi investigation, the 11-hour marathon found itself out of step even with some of its own party faithful.
All the air time for Hillary and her cool response to the “same ol’, same ol,” elevated her stature beyond her Democratic followers. Responsible Republicans could only scratch their heads and wonder what GOP buffoonery could follow. The chairman of the Benghazi Committee, Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, admitted that after 11 hours of testimony, “Nothing new was learned.” Clearly their efforts to embarrass Hillary backfired.
The latest mantra among Republicans must be to drop Benghazi from the GOP vocabulary. If there is one thing Republicans can do, it is march in step; but who will they follow: Trump, Carson, or Rubio? What’s a poor Republican to do to get respect from intelligent voters?
Well, the intelligencia was never a GOP target, more like the enemy. They have to count on the likes of Limbaugh and Beck to bring the uninformed to the polls. Not to forget the hate groups.
Hillary e-mails must be dropped from the talking points. The RNC has to find another distraction to smear Hillary since they have never been a party to talk about issues. Maybe the leadership should return to denigrating Bill. It appears Hillary has left them all bleeding in the Dumpster.
Yes, there are important Republican issues. Perhaps they will focus on undermining women’s rights. Women should be at home cooking and having babies. They certainly should not expect equal pay or even the vote for that matter. After all, it’s a man’s world. The anti-choice movement will be spotlighted; that should bring in the vote. End Planned Parenthood funding: There’s a hopeful priority!
Gun rights must be protected. Those nasty Feds want everybody’s guns. Say no to gun control in any shape, size, or form! How can there be another Civil War without firearms?
Of course, taxing the rich must be stopped along with raising the minimum wage. And what’s this nonsense about family leave? Why the GOP’s corporate friends might have to give up a yacht or an estate or two. The continued slashing of government jobs and moving tax dollars to the private sector through privatization to GOP allies is important on the to-do list. Party movers and shakers cannot forget the need to crush banking regulations and those troublesome environmental standards.
Public schools must give way to good Christian education through charter and private schools. The godless federal government and those liberals want a homogenized society. As for those pesky immigrants; send them back where they came from!
By walking carefully through such an agenda, the next step could be, hallelujah: segregation. After all, the Christian South always gave food and shelter to those poor impossible-to-educate black people. The real racism was up North among those Yankee heathens.
The Grand Old Party will continue its efforts to undermine Social Security and Medicare and try for the 54th time to end Obamacare. There’s a popular platform.
Gerrymandering and some sleight of hand will help on Election Day. George W. Bush got elected president that way in 2000.
More stringent ID requirements and the like should assist disenfranchising blacks at the polls. After all, it’s more about who counts the votes than the actual votes. The GOP must win, after all, just like during the Civil War: God is on their side!
The GOP is clear in their overall message: “Back to the Future!” Yes, and get those votes to elect a Republican president. God bless America!
Marc J. Yacht M.D., M.P.H. is a retired physician. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
