Stumbles on the Right

Have the excesses of the radical Republicans and leaders of other far right organizations finally caught up with these extremists?  The GOP members of Congress have refused to seriously negotiate with their Democrat counterparts regarding the national debt limit and by doing so has threatened to put the U.S. into default on its monetary obligations, regardless of the potentially disastrous outcome of such a lunatic stance. President Obama has offered  egregious concessions that he had no business making to the point that he sounds more like a Republican himself, but to no avail. Republicans have demanded that the Democrats accept all of their terms or they will pull the plug. .

On the other hand, Obama's apparent willingness to give away the store, such as placing the burden of deficit reductions on the backs of those Americans least able to afford it in order  to meet the Republicans' approval, may have been a calculated risk in which he gambled that the GOP would still refuse to co-operate and that he could then claim the high ground for his attempts to be reasonable in the face of Republicans obduracy.  Yet after all this now the Republicans may finally be ready to compromise after all.  The alternative of course is that they would wind up taking the blame for potentially disastrous consequences to the American economy if the debt limit is not raised.  Incidentally, if during the negotiations they have been counting  on public opinion to support their intransigence, that is a big mistake. A survey showed that 71% of those polled rejected the congressional Republicans stance in the budget talks. Significantly, over 50% of Republicans in this survey also disagreed with their own party's approach in this matter.  

The other instance of the conservative right taking a hit was the exposure of Rupert Murdoch's  and his mega company News Corp engaging in wiretapping and bribery.  Murdoch and his company have strong ties to the far right wing via his ownership of Fox Broadcasting, which includes the extremely partisan Fox News. and as publisher for evangelical Christian preachers such as Rick Warren who have become wealthy via their association with Murdoch's.publishing house. These so-called men of God have no qualms about dealing with Murdoch whose business practices and personal morality are utterly depraved. Lie down with dogs and you get up with fleas.

In light of these developments that revealed the sleazy tactics of the Republicans and  the criminal behavior by the owner of Fox News, maybe the American voting public will begin to understand the threat that the far right poses to the nation. In this regard the 2012 presidential election will likely be even more pivotal than that in 2008, which thanks to Obama's failure of leadership was not a change that we could believe in after all.  He should stand aside next year and let a real progressive candidate run instead.  Dennis Kucinich, are you listening?