Garrison Keillor: Note to Republicans - The Party's Over

[JPZenger]

NOTE TO REPUBLICANS: THE PARTY'S OVER
By Garrison Keillor

"...I see by the papers that the Republicans want to make an issue of Nancy Pelosi in the congressional races this fall: Would you want a San Francisco woman to be Speaker of the House? ... Will she be borne into the chamber by male dancers with glistening torsos and wearing pink tutus? ...San Francisco is a code word for g-a-y, and after assembling a record of government lies, incompetence and disaster, the party in power hopes that the fear of g-a-y-s will pull it through in November. ...it does draw attention to the large shambling galoot who is Speaker now, Tom DeLay's enabler for years, a man who, judging by his public mutterances, is about as smart as most high school wrestling coaches. For the past year, Dennis Hastert has been two heartbeats from the presidency... He has no apparent vision beyond the urge to hang onto power. He has succeeded in turning Congress into a branch of the executive branch...

...the Current Occupant goes on impersonating a president. Somewhere in the quiet leafy recesses of the Bush family, somebody is thinking, "Wrong son. Should've tried the smart one." This one's eyes don't quite focus. Five years in office and he doesn't have a grip on it yet. You stand him up next to Tony Blair at a press conference and the comparison is not kind to Our Guy...one of the basic assumptions of American culture is falling apart: the competence of Republicans.

You might not have always liked Republicans, but you could count on them to manage the bank. They might be lousy tippers, act snooty... but you knew they could do the math. To see them produce a ninny and then follow him loyally into the swamp for five years is disconcerting, like seeing the Rolling Stones take up lite jazz. So here we are at an uneasy point in our history, mired in a costly war and getting nowhere, a supine Congress granting absolute power to a president who seems to get smaller and dimmer ...It is painful to look at your father and realize the old man should not be allowed to manage his own money anymore. This is the discovery the country has made about the party in power. They are inept. The checkbook needs to be taken away. They will rant, they will screech, they will wave their canes at you and call you all sorts of names, but you have to do what you have to do."

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3922992

[joneschick]

1. thank you Mr. Keillor eom

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Prairie Home Curmudgeon.

God, I love that guy.

[Kolesar]

11. He's a great writer

that editorial has a lot of style

[longship]

3. Prairie Home Wordsmith is clued in.

Recommended and kicked.

[Boo Boo]

4. Ah yes, in service of making a point (I suppose), the Big Lie of

Republican competence gets trotted out again---albeit, only to be shot down. But, still, when has the federal budget, for instance, been competently managed by Republicans? Of the last four Presidents, we've had three Republicans and one Democrat, and only the Democrat has been able to balance the budget.

Republicans may (I stress "may") be able to do the math, but they've been lying about the results for decades.

[dcfirefighter]

5. It's all about perception

so many people think that the republicans are fiscally responsible, it's quite a chore to reeducate them.

[cliss]

8. I couldn't help noticing that, as well.

You might not have always liked Republicans, but you could count on them to manage the bank. They might be lousy tippers, act snooty... but you knew they could do the math.

Really?

Not from what I've seen.

[ElboRuum]

10. You know, I used to think that was the perception...

And I'm sure some still harbor that...

But I'm inclined to think its more a preconception of what a "responsible person" looks like. I mean most of the Republican leadership is a bunch of graying, balding men in expensive suits. Is it possible that it is this aging-father-figure thing which makes them look just a little more important to their supporters? Is their curmudgeonly, obstinate demeanor simply resonant with people who these remind them of their own fathers, and as such are just as likely to be deferent to and uncritical of them?

Even I'm impressed at how far I'm reaching here... :shrug:

[Lisa]

12. you raise a very important point ...

During the time that the US swung towards the GOP, this is what a long-term sociological study found.

http://erg.environics.net/news/default.asp?aID=456

"Nearly 20 years ago, my colleagues at Environics in Toronto and CROP in Montreal began a study of Canadian social values. In our first survey of Canadian values in 1983, we asked Canadians if they strongly or somewhat agreed or disagreed that: "The father of the family must be the master in his own house.""

"We found to our surprise that 42 per cent of Americans told us the father should be master, while 57 per cent disagreed and 1 per cent had no opinion. The gap between the two countries was a substantial 16 per cent.

"Meanwhile, we found that where 42 per cent of Americans believed the father should be master in 1992, the number increased to 44 per cent in 1996. We wondered if this was a statistical anomaly. We went back into the field in 2000 to find out if the frontal assault on patriarchal authority by U.S. president Bill Clinton and television icon Homer Simpson would bring U.S. numbers more into line with those in Canada and France.

This time, 48 per cent of Americans said the father of the family must be master in his own home; 51 per cent disagreed and 1 per cent had no opinion. We were stunned.

The details were even more stunning: Forty-three per cent of American women agreed with the statement -- up nine points from 1992. And among baby boomers aged 35 to 44, 48 per cent said dad should be boss, up 12 points over 1992. This was the biggest increase of any age cohort. (Only 15 per cent of younger Canadian boomers take this position -- meaning that the gap between younger Canadian boomers and Americans in this cohort is an astounding 33 points.)

[Demeter]

14. Damn! I'm Definitely In the Wrong Country!

Got to cross the Detroit River and find me a Canadian man who wants an egalitarian wife.

[katty]

13. exactly-and after all the lying, cheating & stealing they still embraceGOP

[eppur_se_muova]

15. It's the ones who keep two sets of books who MUST do the math best. nt

[Canuckistanian]

6. LOL

"...like seeing the Rolling Stones take up lite jazz."

[Texaroo]

7. And this from SALT LAKE CITY????!!??

My, my. Things are tough all over, aren't they?

[melissinha]

9. SLC posted it

He's from Minneapolis. The mayor of SLC is a Democrat though.

[Joe Chi Minh]

16. Great name!

[Kurovski]

17. "like seeing the Rolling Stones take up lite jazz"

:D!