GOP Denial Is Destroying The Party And The Nation

[sheshe2]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/12/25/1376051/friedman-gop-denial-is-destroy-the-party-and-the-nation/

The political obsessions of the Republican base — from denying global warming to defending assault weapons to opposing any tax increases under any conditions, to resisting any immigration reform — are making it impossible to be a Republican moderate, said Carville. And without more Republican moderates, there is no way to strike the kind of centrist bargains that have been at the heart of American progress — that got us where we are and are essential for where we need to go.

That’s NY Times columnist Tom Friedman in his latest column, “Send in the Clowns.” He notes:

… if Republicans continue to be led around by, and live in fear of, a base that denies global warming after Hurricane Sandy and refuses to ban assault weapons after Sandy Hook — a base that would rather see every American’s taxes rise rather than increase taxes on millionaires — the party has no future. It can’t win with a base that is at war with math, physics, human biology, economics and common-sense gun laws all at the same time.

Nor can we stop catastrophic climate change without a Congress that will support strong action. The fossil-fuel-funded Tea Party is apparently content destroy the GOP, the nation’s future, and the climate — though not necessarily in that order.



http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/10/10/206847/national-journal-gop-rejection-of-climate-science-ron-brownstei/

This article is old, however~

National Journal: “The GOP is stampeding toward an absolutist rejection of climate science that appears unmatched among major political parties around the globe, even conservative ones.”

Indeed, it is difficult to identify another major political party in any democracy as thoroughly dismissive of climate science as is the GOP here. Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, says that although other parties may contain pockets of climate skepticism, there is “no party-wide view like this anywhere in the world that I am aware of.”

It will be difficult for the world to move meaningfully against climate disruption if the United States does not. And it will be almost impossible for the U.S. to act if one party not only rejects the most common solution proposed for the problem (cap-and-trade) but repudiates even the idea that there is a problem to be solved. The GOP’s stiffening rejection of climate science sets the stage for much heated argument but little action as the world inexorably warms — and the dangers that Hague identified creep closer.

Snip:

Hague is the UK’s conservative Foreign Secretary William Hague, who said in a must-read speech last week, “You cannot have food, water, or energy security without climate security.” The point is, only U.S. conservatives are this uniquely self-destructive, embracing a position that will destroy food security, water security, and energy security for the nation and the world.

We need a party that will lead us into the future, not one that will drag us back to when the dinosaurs roamed.

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. This is not a hard thing to figure out

It seems conservatives have been too successful building up the gargantuan right-wing hate and lie media machine over the last few decades. Guys like Limbaugh and his army of local clones rain down lies on Americans 24/7. Add to that FOX News and the concentration of media ownership and it is hardly a wonder that so many Americans reject reality with such confidence.

[Doctor_J]

2. Nation? Yes. Party?

Keep telling yourself that - it's just what they want to hear

[Cha]

3. It's the Koch party. Sociopathic-Plutocratic rule; everyone and everything else be

damned. 1984 on steroids. They have made huge grabs on our government with the help of fox-limbaugh brainwashing techniques. Too many saps willing to let fox doing their thinking for them.

They spent 100s of millions of dollars in the 2012 Election to take over the WH but we held them back for now. We need a miracle to get them out of the House of Reps so we can move our Country Forward for our People.. not, koch bidding.

Thanks for the OP, she.

[Blue Owl]

4. Denial isn't just a river in which they can dump toxic waste

n/t