LA Progressive

Smart Content for Smart People

  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Us / Copyright Info
    • Privacy Policy
  • Topics
    • Animal Rights
    • Climate Change
    • Economic Justice
    • Education Reform
    • Elections and Campaigns
    • Environment
    • Community Calendar
    • Healthcare Reform
    • Immigration Reform
    • Labor
    • Law and Justice
    • LGBTQ
    • Progressive Issues
    • Social Justice / Racism
    • The Media
    • The Middle East
    • War and Peace
  • Authors
    • All Authors
    • Steve Hochstadt
    • Charles D. Hayes
    • David A. Love
    • Diane Lefer
    • Dick Price
    • Jerry Drucker
    • John Peeler
    • Joseph Palermo
    • Tom Hall
    • Sharon Kyle
    • Sikivu Hutchinson
  • Events
    • Left Coast Forum
    • Event Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

The Republican Anti “Anybody But Us” Attacks

gop woemn's issuesWhen John Boehner replaced Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker January 2011, the Republicans promised America a Shangri-La with never ending sunshine and the pleasant sound of birds singing. Instead what we received was a concerted team effort by his Republican cronies to discredit the President and push through anti-labor, anti-women, anti-poor, anti-student, pro-corporation, pro-elitist legislation. When those efforts stalled, the Republicans gridlocked Washington and for the first time in our nation’s history threatened not to pay our national debt, which resulted in our global credit rating being downgraded.

When the American public began to wake up, the Republicans utilized tactics from Joseph Goebbels Nazi propaganda playbook to attack the President and “his failed policies.” not mentioning the historical fact that every situation they optioned to criticize was created by George W. Bush. The Republicans allege they want to reduce the deficit while drastically increasing it through tax breaks for the extremely wealthy. When the Democrats point this out, they have been called Socialists and more recently “Communists.” These tactics have successfully worked in the past, but as of late they have lost some of their sting.

The Republicans claim they are for small government; but new legislation, not only in Washington but states controlled by Republicans, is obsessively concerned with what women can do with their reproductive systems. Of course, the men writing such restrictive legislation have never addressed the male reproductive system. What do female reproductive organs have to do with democratic government? This is a smoke screen to force fundamentalist “Christian” beliefs on the rest of us; but, whether or not this Stone Age legislation is actually Christian in nature can be debated.

As far as government not having a role in anything that affects corporate America (but everything relating to women), the recent Republican assault on students must carefully be scrutinized as well. I am a product of the old G.I. Bill. I received the vast majority of my university education with taxpayer dollars. During my working career, I taught secondary school in low-income, minority areas (one year my salary was under $12,000). Later I taught at the community college and university levels.

As a corrections officer, I established several inmate educational programs. During the political period of time in my life, I was an alternate delegate at the 1976 Democratic Convention in New York City. In California I held public office as a Republican, which is never remembered by my critics because they choose to selectively remember my time as an organizer for the Socialist Workers Party in San Francisco.

Unlike self-serving politicians, when I retired I did not receive an immediate and huge pension. Instead, my wife and I did years of unpaid volunteer service that concluded last year when I accepted a Fulbright educational assignment in Vietnam.

Because I applaud public educational funds spent on veterans and now all students in school, I am appalled at the Republicans lack of insight regarding educating our nation’s future leaders. The mere fact that they want more tax breaks for their political benefactors while at the same time attempt to balance the budget by drastically raising the interest rates on student loans is beyond insane.

The following countries — not an all-inclusive list — provide FREE COLLEGE education for their residents (some include foreign students as well). The United States will not follow suit because here the extremely wealthy are opposed to any form of taxation regardless of the benefits to the nation:

Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Barbados, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Kenya, Morocco, Malta, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Brunei, Turkey, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago

At the bottom end of the educational scale are the poor Baha’i students in countries like Egypt, who are oppressed by fundamentalist Islamic laws forbidding the religious minority to any form of education as well as securing employment and having property rights. Under their interpretation of Islamic law, Baha’i marriages were not recognized, placing married Baha’i women in the category of whore or prostitute and thereby subject to Islamic law.

Because of the so-called “Arab Spring,” the situation for the Baha’i religious minority in Egypt has somewhat improved, but not in Iran where Baha’i students are forbidden to seek out private or foreign educational opportunities. Even today individuals providing educational services to the religious minority are imprisoned. Sadly, Iran has a detailed history of Baha’i persecution and executions; however, depriving this minority segment of all education is something new.

jim rhodes[dcA[/dc]s extreme and horrible as the Iranian situation is, if one looks close enough and substitutes “Islam” in that particular situation with “fundamentalist Christian” and “Islamic government” with “Republican, ” I would be worried. As far out and ridiculous as this may sound, we must realize this is the road they would lead us down. Republican policies have already discounted and diminished minorities, the poor, labor, gays and other “undesirables,” alleged socialists and other “anti-Americans,” non-Christians, women, immigrants and people who do not “look like us,” and now our students. How much more do we allow them to get away with?

Jim Rhodes

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

By James Rhodes posted on May 2, 2012

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LA Progressive, its publisher, editor or any of its other contributors.

About James Rhodes

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Thank You For Supporting Independent Media. The LA Progressive cannot publish without your support. Please donate. Thanks....

This Weeks Featured Posts

articles of impeachment

Impeachment: What Is It, What Does It Mean, Where Do We Go From Here?

The Afghanistan Pentagon Papers

The Afghanistan Pentagon Papers

trump impeachment

Articles of Impeachment: Impeaching Donald John Trump

Bernie Consistency

Warren vs. Buttigieg Clash Offers Contrast with Bernie’s Consistency

Nationalize Facebook

Is It Time to Regulate or Nationalize Facebook?





Impeachment TrapIranian American RelationsKerry Endorses BidenHolding Trump AccountableMatt Bevin DepartsDan BrotmanTrump the Anti-ConservativeMoral InjuryUnited World



Sponsored

Principles of Law

The Principles of Law that Americans Should Understand

Best Wedding Photographer Surrey

The Best Wedding Photographer Surrey

More Posts from Sponsored

Book-A-Bus



Article Categories

Africa | Animal Rights | California
Climate Change | Defense | Economic Justice
Education Reform | Elections | Environment
Events | Foreign Policy | Gay Rights
Healthcare Reform | Immigration Reform
Juvenile Justice | Labor | Latin America
Law and Justice | Los Angeles | Prison Reform
Progressive Issues | Science & Religion
Sexism | Social Justice | Terminal Velocity | The Body Politic
| The Media | The Middle East | Veterans
War and Peace | Wellness

Los Angeles

Organizing in South LA

Rethinking 27 Years of Organizing in South LA

Elect Loraine Lundquist

Let’s Elect Loraine Lundquist, a Breath of Fresh Air for City Council 

More Posts from Los Angeles

The Middle East

If Americans Knew

The Most Enduring Media Cover Up

Trump and Netanyahu

Trump and Netanyahu: How the Far Right Subverts Democracy Globally

More Posts from The Middle East

Economic Issues

Race to the Bottom

“Booming” Economy Means More Bad Jobs and Faster Race to the Bottom

billionaires and capitalism

Why Billionaires Don’t Really Like Capitalism

More Posts from Economic Justice

Copyright © 2019 · Dick Price and Sharon Kyle · Log in