David Sirota: GOP Ticket Puts Zealotry First

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GOP Ticket Puts Zealotry First
By David Sirota

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On national security, the Republican Party advocates continuing to force thousands of young Americans to risk life and limb refereeing Iraq's civil war. Though the party's slogan hearkens back to conservatives' "America First" isolationism, the GOP nonetheless supports spending $12 billion a month on the war - money needed at home.

Same story on economics. In 2004, the Republican White House called outsourcing "a plus." In 2006, the Republican commander in chief OKd the sale of critical infrastructure to foreign dictators. And today the Republican presidential nominee is demanding more NAFTA-style trade pacts that eliminate American jobs. This, says the GOP, is putting our country first.

But who is the "country"? According to the Census Bureau, it will soon be mostly nonwhites. That is, the demographic groups whom the alleged "country first" party regularly disparages, whether Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., yearning for a return to segregation, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., scapegoating Latinos, Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., celebrating Japanese internment, President Bush genuflecting to Bob Jones University's white supremacists, or Ronald Reagan echoing bigoted rallying cries at the scene of Mississippi race murders.

Maybe, you insist in your post-convention fervor, I just don't get it. Maybe "country first" really does mean refereeing foreign civil wars, spending billions overseas while cutting domestic programs, exporting jobs and bashing ethnic groups that will soon comprise the majority of the nation.

But I don't think so. More likely, Republicans have simply taken the famous parable to heart - the one about patriotism being the last refuge of scoundrels.

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http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/gop_ticket_puts_zealotry_first.html