The "Pledge to America"

I wonder how many people actually have read all twenty-one pages of the 'Publican party's new "Pledge to America." It's an extraordinary document — not in its ideas, which are just the same old shit, but in its rhetoric. Read just the introduction, and you will hear the 'Publicans yelling, "Hey! Tea Party crazies! Lookie here! The Republican Establishment is on your side!"

"America is an idea – an idea that free people can govern themselves, that government’s powers are derived from the consent of the governed, that each of us is endowed by their [sic] Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America is the belief that any man or woman can – given economic, political, and religious liberty – advance themselves [sic], their [sic] families, and the common good."

Apart from the grammatical errors, it sounds rather like the Declaration of Independence. Hmmm... Did the Declaration of Independence mention "economic liberty?" Well, yes, in a way. There is a strong inference that only an elected government should have the power to tax. Was the current government elected? Uhhh... Hey, can anybody remember back as far as 2008?

"An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn their votes and their values, striking down longstanding laws and institutions and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people."

The last "unchecked executive" I can recall was the Bush/Cheney administration, which rammed through the totally unnecessary Iraq war by telling not-especially-believable lies to asshole Democratic senators afraid to appear "soft on terrorism." The legislature Obama has had to work with has not been especially compliant, thanks to the "Party of No." As for an overreaching judiciary, well... think "Citizens United."

"Like free peoples of the past, our citizens refuse to accommodate a government that believes it can replace the will of the people with its own. The American people are speaking out, demanding that we realign our country’s compass with its founding principles and apply those principles to solve our common problems for the common good."

Sadly, that's not happening. Democrat or 'Publican, the plutocracy remains firmly in control. As Lefty Frizzel advised us in 1950, "If you've got the money, honey, I've got the time." Well, if I have the time, honey, I'll get on with the money aspects of the "Pledge to America" in a future post.