Monday, July 28, 2014
It appears that the narrative about the Republican Party's prospective Presidential field is going to be what a bunch of intellectuals they all are. As a rule, by the time the New York Times gets a hold of an idea it is already established knowledge, so the July 2 story about the new crop of Republican wonks was right on schedule. Slate chimes in today with a piece about what deep thinkers Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, and Bobby Jindal all are, and any story about Ted Cruz requires mention of his Harvard credential. All that's missing is a comeback from Newt Gingrich.
What goes unsaid in all of this is that even if you accept the notion that these new Republicans are brimming with fresh new ideas, all of them are lousy ideas, and actually most of them have been tried and found wanting. It is no coincidence that Republican Presidents leave office with the economy a smoking ruin. Kindly old Bob Dole snarling about "Democrat Wars" doesn't change the fact that it is Republican bellicosity which marks US foreign policy. The real bottom line is unchanged: as Louise Slaughter told us in our interview with her nine years ago, Republicans are bad at governing because they don't believe in government.
What goes unsaid in all of this is that even if you accept the notion that these new Republicans are brimming with fresh new ideas, all of them are lousy ideas, and actually most of them have been tried and found wanting. It is no coincidence that Republican Presidents leave office with the economy a smoking ruin. Kindly old Bob Dole snarling about "Democrat Wars" doesn't change the fact that it is Republican bellicosity which marks US foreign policy. The real bottom line is unchanged: as Louise Slaughter told us in our interview with her nine years ago, Republicans are bad at governing because they don't believe in government.
// posted by Bill @ 8:10 AM 
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