[Peace-discuss] Teapartiers & the Left

Mon Apr 25 11:54:52 CDT 2011

I should have thought that we'd had enough of candidates who appear to be 
against the war - and garner votes on this basis - and then aren't.

The fact is that anti-war and anti-Wall Street objections to the incumbent 
administration are coming from a variety of directions.

That has two particular effects: (1) counterfeits, like Robert Kennedy's 
candidacy during Vietnam (to avoid repeating recent examples); and (2) frenzied 
divide-and-conquer efforts by  the incumbents.

The task is to avoid these traps and make the broad and multifarious opposition 
to the administration's policies effective.

On 4/25/11 9:59 AM, Robert Naiman wrote:
> Even Raimondo, who clearly has a pike against Gary Johnson and wants
> to discredit him in favor of the "pure" Ron Paul whom Raimondo
> supports, concedes that Gary Johnson is against the war in
> Afghanistan, which is the central story at the moment. Obviously folks
> for whom Ron Paul's goldbug and anti-abortion views are central may
> not accept Gary Johnson as a "counterfeit" for Ron Paul; but I suspect
> that this is a small number among libertarian-leaning Republicans;
> after all, Ayn Rand supported abortion rights:
>
> "One method of destroying a concept is by diluting its meaning.
> Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving,
> the anti-abortionists obliterate the rights of the living: the right
> of young people to set the course of their own lives."
> - Ayn Rand, "A Last Survey — Part I", The Ayn Rand Letter Vol. IV, No. 2, 1975.
>
> P.S. Raimondo makes much of the fact that Gary Johnson has indicated
> openness to supporting "humanitarian interventions" in principle; but
> Raimondo neglects to inform us that Gary Johnson is against the
> military intervention in Libya.
>
> On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 9:07 AM, C. G. Estabrook<galliher at illinois.edu>  wrote:
>> These views among Republicans obviously resemble those among teapartiers
>> (often the same people).
>>
>> But could Justin Raimondo be right in his view (characteristically
>> expressed) that Johnson is "a cheap knock-off" of Ron Paul?
>>
>> "...I doubt many will fall for the counterfeit ... It is all too clear to me
>> what the Johnson campaign represents: the attempt by the so-called
>> 'cosmopolitan' (cosmotarian?) wing of our movement [i.e., libertarianism] to
>> create 'the next Ron Paul' – and dump all that antiwar, anti-Federal Reserve
>> 'kooky' stuff, which the Beltway libertarian organizations funded by the
>> so-called 'Kochtopus' look down their noses at..."
>> <http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/04/21/gary-johnson-caveat-emptor/>.
>>
>>
>> On 4/25/11 8:23 AM, Robert Naiman wrote:
>>> Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post: the majority of
>>> Republican voters want to raise taxes on the rich and the majority of
>>> Republican voters want to see a substantial withdrawal of combat
>>> troops from Afghanistan this summer; half of Republican voters say the
>>> war is not worth the cost.
>>>
>>> If Gary Johnson's candidacy for President prospers, these anti-war
>>> sentiments among Republican voters could get significantly more
>>> attention...
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 8:02 AM, C. G. Estabrook<galliher at illinois.edu>
>>>   wrote:
>>>> Poll: 70% Of Tea Partiers Oppose Cuts To Medicare, Medicaid
>>>> Jon Terbush | April 20, 2011, 3:05PM
>>>>
>>>> ...In a McClatchy-Marist poll released this week, 70% of registered
>>>> voters
>>>> who identify with the Tea Party opposed making cuts to either Medicare or
>>>> Medicaid -- the government-run health programs for the elderly and the
>>>> poor
>>>> -- to help reduce the nation's deficit. Meanwhile, only 28% of tea
>>>> partiers
>>>> said they'd be willing to cut spending on those two programs.
>>>>
>>>> Tea partiers were not alone in opposing Medicare and Medicaid cuts. An
>>>> overwhelming 80% of all respondents said they opposed such cuts, with a
>>>> majority of every demographic measured in the survey lining up against
>>>> them.
>>>>
>>>> ...The Tea Party has led the charge to slash government spending, but the
>>>> Marist poll suggests they're loathe to touch what amounts to about 20% of
>>>> the entire federal budget.
>>>>
>>>> The Marist poll was conducted April 10-14 among 1,084 registered voters
>>>> nationwide. It has a margin of error of 3.0%.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/poll-70-of-tea-partiers-oppose-cuts-to-medicare-medicaid.php
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Paul Ryan Gets Booed By Constituents For Opposing Tax Hikes On Rich
>>>> Benjy Sarlin | April 20, 2011, 2:37PM
>>>>
>>>> Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), architect of the House GOP's budget, drew a
>>>> resounding chorus of boos at a town hall appearance in his district after
>>>> touting the benefits of tax cuts for the wealthy.
>>>>
>>>> In a video posted by ThinkProgress, an attendee at the event this week
>>>> told
>>>> Ryan that he believes the rich should pay higher taxes to help close the
>>>> deficit and strengthen Social Security.
>>>>
>>>> "The middle class is disappearing right now," he said. "During this time
>>>> of
>>>> prosperity, the top 1 percent was taking about 10 percent of the total
>>>> annual income, but yet today we are fighting to not let the tax breaks
>>>> for
>>>> the wealthy expire?"
>>>>
>>>> Ryan protested that "We do tax the top," before being drowned out by the
>>>> audience's jeers.
>>>>
>>>> Polls have shown increasing taxes on the wealthy enjoys strong public
>>>> support across the political spectrum despite near-universal opposition
>>>> from
>>>> GOP lawmakers ... Ryan's budget proposal ... cuts taxes for the rich
>>>> while
>>>> making major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/paul-ryan-gets-booed-by-consituents-for-opposing-tax-hikes-on-rich-video.php
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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