Tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com

Just a little thought on this Presidents day weekend. 

Radical is a word that we are likely to hear on right wing media. It is a word that the right has spent years turning into one of those words that evoke a picture in the mind of those that hear or read the word. When we hear the word Radical we immediately concur up an image of someone with a bomb looking to bring down the government.

Over the years the right has trained the public to think of Radicals as always left wing, perhaps a person of color or possibly a member of a non-Christian religion. This is a response the right wing media has worked on for years so that without going into a long explanation, these will be the image your mind conjure up much as the saliva Pavlov’s dog responded with at a ring of the bell meaning he would get fed.

It is one of many words that the right has worked on to get specific responses. Words that are loaded with imagery without having to give any explanation. Ronald Reagan gave us Welfare Queen.” Other words that you will recognize are “Communist,” “Socialist,” “Hippy,” “illegal immigrant” and so on.

This is a good day and age to be skeptical. Questioning things that are fed o you by the media is always a good idea. Today I would like to encourage you to question the imagery of the word Radical. 

The definition in the dictionary for Radical:

1.

(especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.

“a radical overhaul of the existing regulatory framework”

When you look back on especially the past 5 years, but also the administrations of the Bush family and Ronald Reagan, we can easily see that the Republican Party has been the truly radical party. From the union busting days of the Reagan Administration, the pardoning at the end of Bush I, the unnecessary wars of Bush II and where to start with the former guy?

Through all these admins were huge tax cuts for the rich, wage stagnation for the working class, and the running up of HUGE deficits in an effort to “starve the beast.’ We have also seen radical, radical voter suppression at the state level. 

Along with voter suppression at the state level, we also see union busting, huge tax cuts for the rich and gerrymandering to a computer honed precision. 

Meanwhile, the Republican Party continues its unrelenting stalking of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA. These are programs that are hugely popular, yet are the top targets for the radical Republican Party. Let’s not forget their attacks on unemployment insurance.

And for the final acts of radicalism we have the turning of a PANDEMIC into a political issue and the encouragement (and probable planning) of an attempt to overthrow the government of the United States. This in an attempt to overthrow the constitutional processes that have been in existence for 230 years.

By the way – why was no extra security deployed to protect Trump on January 6th? Do you think he had inside information that he would not be harmed by the insurrectionists?

Is that enough to give you a different idea just who is the radical in this country? 

Most of problems these days stem from this radical party pushing their agenda through ownership of the media, through physical intimidation and violence and through misuse of power in office.

tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com