Politics Plus

Many on the extreme right, the Republican Party, look to Ayn Rand as the guru of the plutocratic corporatism that they call capitalism.  But like virtually all Republican leaders, the deprivations she would impose on others did not apply to her.  Republican belief in free enterprise applies to the poor and middle classes only, and is translated, “You’re on your own!”  For Republicans, only the rich get the benefits of socialism.

Ayn Rand was not only a schlock novelist, she was also the progenitor of a sweeping “moral philosophy” that justifies the privilege of the wealthy and demonizes not only the slothful, undeserving poor but the lackluster middle-classes as well.

Her books provided wide-ranging parables of “parasites,” “looters” and “moochers” using the levers of government to steal the fruits of her heroes’ labor. In the real world, however, Rand herself received Social Security payments and Medicare benefits under the name of Ann O’Connor (her husband was Frank O’Connor).

As Michael Ford of Xavier University’s Center for the Study of the American Dream wrote, “In the end, Miss Rand was a hypocrite but she could never be faulted for failing to act in her own self-interest.”

Her ideas about government intervention in some idealized pristine marketplace serve as the basis for so much of the conservative rhetoric we see today. “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand,” said Paul Ryan, the GOP’s young budget star at a D.C. event honoring the author… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

Does this remind you of Teabaggers screaming, “Get your government hands off my Medicare” during the health care debate?  Somehow it does not occur to these people that for a well-to-do author, or a Republican legislator for that matter, to demonize the safety net, but to avail themselves of its benefits makes it clear what arrogant hypocrites they are.

For most of the Bush/Republican regime, the US tried to spread Democracy from the barrel of a gun.  While Iraq is winding down, the Obama administration has done no better in Afghanistan.  Perhaps we are using the wrong tactics, since a small dose of truth, courtesy of Julian Assange, and access to social networks has overthrown the Tunisian government and spurred massive protests in other locations, especially Egypt.  The Obama administration has made the right move by supporting protesters’ rights, but the US has so ignored reform in our Arab client states, that we have no contingency on how to relate to a democratic uprising in the middle east.

The streets of the capital were engulfed with tear gas Chants of "Down with the system", "Down with Mubarak" and "From revolution to victory" echoed throughout the city.

"I am here today because I cannot afford to feed my family," said Maha Egadi, 50, a chartered accountant, as his nose streamed from the effects of tear gas. "We have come because we want our freedom, and we want to stop corruption and theft by the government."

By 2 PM, small knots of people were congregating in the streets urging onlookers to join them.

"Where are the Egyptian people?" they shouted. "Come and protest with us."

At first the teams of black clad riot police from the feared Central Security Forces tried to intimidate the crowds, firing tear gas into narrow alleyways, forcing people to flee.

"Has anybody got any onions?" asked one man, referring to a widely held belief that they could stop the effects of tear gas.

But as the crowds grew in size, the police seemed to hold back, forming lines across the streets rather than sending in snatch squads.

One senior officer told The Telegraph that they would only open fire with live rounds "if things went absolutely crazy, and then only on orders from the very top".

Crowds who gathered around Tahrir Square in Cairo city centre – the scene of protests earlier in the week – also staged mass prayer sessions in the streets, kneeling down in supplication for an end to US-backed regime of Hosni Mubark, Egypt’s long serving president.

Like earlier protests, today’s were coordinated via social networking sites, with activists telling people to gather for Friday prayers at mosques across the city before heading for their nearest public squares to demonstrate.

In an apparent effort by the government to stop the protests, mobile phone and internet services were cut from early on Friday morning, but the simplicity of the instructions meant it was impossible to stop the gatherings going ahead… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Telegraph>

I understand that Mubarak has called out the army, but that soldiers have not fired on the demonstrators.  Lets look at the broader picture.

It’s a sign of the times that some Arab journalists attending the gathering of international power brokers here were spending their free time scanning Twitter messages about political protests back home. It’s that kind of moment in the Arab world, when people are nervous about anything that is connected to the status quo.

The unrest that toppled a government in Tunisia has spread across the region, with big street demonstrations in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. It’s a movement that appears leaderless – more like a "flash mob." But it shares a common sensibility – the rising expectations of a younger generation that sees global change on the Internet and has momentarily lost its fear of corrupt, autocratic leaders.

"I think it’s overdue," says Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who runs the Alwaleed 24-hour news channel, speaking about the street protests in Egypt. "There were reasons for people to get angry 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and now it is here." Indeed, he says, "the Arab world has been seeking renaissance for the last hundred years" but has stalled the last several generations, caught between fear of authoritarian regimes and anger at their corruption.

It’s an easy revolution to like, and U.S. officials have wisely endorsed the protesters’ goals of openness and reform. But in truth, there’s little America could do to bolster the octogenarian Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, even if it wanted to. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may endorse reform, as she did Wednesday, but this is a post-American revolution, encouraged in part by a recognition of the limits of U.S. power.

The unrest follows a series of American failures in the region. President Obama promised change. But he couldn’t bring Israel and the Palestinians to a peace agreement, and he couldn’t counter Hezbollah in Lebanon or its patron, Iran. America is not the stopper in the bottle anymore, and the Arab man in the street knows it.

U.S. officials are encouraged by the fact that the protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries seem autonomous of the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical Islamic groups. But that may be false comfort; this process is still in its early stages.

History teaches that revolutions are always attractive in their infancy, when freedom is in the air and the rebellion seems spontaneous. But from the French and Russian revolutions to the Iranian uprising of 1979, the idealistic but disorganized street protesters usually give way to a manipulative revolutionary elite – the "Revolutionary Guard," as the Iranians like to call them… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

The best thing the US can do is throw more support behind the demonstrators, to maintain influence and act as a foil against extremists gaining control.  Although I have heard no specific Republican responses to this crisis, their position is clear.  The Chamber of Commerce is supporting the autocrats.  Can you imagine where we would be with this had McCain/Palin won?  Ugh!

Few people have been more unabashed in spreading hate and violence than the de facto head of the Republican Party, whose leaders have all made pilgrimage to kiss his holy ring.  When Limbaugh mocked the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, during a recent state visit, a Chinese-American Representative objected.  Because of Limbaugh’s vile response, that legislator is now facing racist death-threats.

Last week, California State Sen. Leland Yee (D) called on right-wing hate radio host Rush Limbaugh to apologize for mocking Chinese President Hu Jintao and the Chinese language by speaking gibberish “ching chong chang” Chinese on his radio program. Yee, who is Chinese-American and chairs the state Senate Select Committee on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, said Limbaugh owes the Chinese-American community an apology for his “pointless and ugly offense.” Naturally, Limbaugh did not apologize, and instead railed against Yee the following day on his radio, calling him out repeatedly by name.

Yee’s call for civility did not sit well with one Limbaugh fan, who responded by sending several racist death threats to Yee’s office this week. “Rush Limbaugh will kick your chink ass and expose you for the fool you are,” the faxes read, threatening him with “death” (warning, contains racial expletives).

As the San Francisco Chronicle notes, “The faxes include a drawing of a U.S. flag-adorned pickup truck towing a noose that is looped around what appears to be a caricature head of President Barack Obama.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

This is Republican civility in action.