Understand the nature of Republicans

Why do we tolerate the so-called Beltway as such an atypical place? It's 1 a.m. as I write this and we're seeing the Republicans do their thing in the U.S. Senate. The bill relating to taxes, whether you call it "tax cut" or "tax reform," has just passed. We see a group of men in their 70s and 80s with white hair, wearing suits and ties, celebrating.
The Senate will not have the last word. There is still time for resistance to build up against the Republican donor class. It is the phantom-like donor class that is pulling all the strings. The elected people just try to weave populist rhetoric to justify these actions. Are people going to wake up? Will my generation of the boomers wake up belatedly to realize what the GOP really does when it has power? Thomas Frank has written a book about this, called "The Wrecking Crew."
Republicans cannot handle the real responsibility of government. They don't believe in government. The boomers are this huge wave of people entering the non-productive (or post-productive), senior phase of their lives. Tucker Carlson of Fox News has described AARP as a far-left political organization. What AARP is, of course, is an advocacy group for people who are going to need government assistance to get through their twilight years, like it or not.
European-style socialism has it right. In America, the problem is that the well-funded right wing uses rhetoric that appeals to so many people. As the impact of this GOP tax measure slowly sinks in, I feel there will be an awakening process. My boomer generation had better realize that as the deficit balloons, Republicans will use that as justification for attacking and cutting Social Security and Medicare. Republicans would love to virtually dismantle those programs. Jeb Bush has said he'd like to see Medicare "abolished."
Republicans push for this stuff and they don't even care what people think of them. The check on Republicans would be for the electorate to wake up and produce what has been called a "blue wave." Simply elect Democrats. Let's push for younger people and more women to be sent to D.C. as our representatives. Let's make that bizarre "Beltway" a place that more genuinely reflects America. John Conyers is 88 years old? Why have we allowed this to happen? Dianne Feinstein is 84 and seeking re-election? Why has it come to this? I'm pointing my fingers at Democrats here. What is it about our system that allows some of these representatives to hold these positions in apparent perpetuity?
Let's push for younger and more vigorous people to assume those roles while the elder folks can go into retirement.
Heaven help us, the boomers and the public at large, if we don't get that "blue wave." Just vote for anyone with a "D" next to his/her name. "Conservatives" with their deep pockets will use their media arms like Fox News to go on the attack vs. progressives. They will use "oppo research" which can make anyone look bad, because we're all human beings who have made various missteps. It is common to hear attacks on progressives in terms of "embellishing his/her resume." The problem is that anyone trying to report on a life story covering many years might misremember some little detail. Look at that guy from St. Cloud who tried challenging Michelle Bachmann. A nit-picking misrepresentation of his background with the United Way was used as fodder for attacking him as a "liar."
I am waiting for the worm to turn. I am waiting for the "blue folks" to be the ones getting the benefit of the doubt on matters like this. Democrats have to learn to be more assertive and to start intimidating the other side, just as the Tucker Carlson crowd has assaulted their adversaries. More people need to recognize the right wing media for what it is. Go ahead, Project Veritas: try to get some video footage that embarrasses the pro-blue crowd. Go ahead because I don't even care - we simply must elect representatives who really advocate for "people" causes and not just cater to the Republican donor class.
Are we awakening too late? I expect to see Star Tribune coverage that deconstructs what the Republicans are doing with their tax bill. I expect to see Star Tribune coverage that reveals what the Republican Party is really trying to accomplish at the expense of the American people. Thank God for the likes of the Star Tribune and the "mainstream media" (so derided by the conservatives).
The mainstream media have actually gone too far in trying to be courteous to the political right wing. When I see Chuck Todd bending over backward this way, I wonder what's really going on in his mind. We are at the point where Republicans won't even allow Democrats to argue in official proceedings that Republicans "only care about tax cuts for the rich," because, Republicans argue, such statements "attack the character" of Republicans. Elizabeth Warren was told to sit down and be quiet when she tried to present an argument against Jeff Sessions as attorney general.
Democrats need to fight back more and not worry so much about courtesy. Is Donald Trump courteous?
Leon Panetta says the current doings in Washington D.C. indicate we may be in decline as a nation, that we are losing our ability to govern ourselves. We could have Hillary Clinton as president governing from the middle. Of course there are aspects of Hillary Clinton that I'm not terribly fond of. But she would have kept alive the basic decorum and dignity of the presidency. She did beat Trump in the popular vote. I resent that she was the supportive wife of a man who coaxed an intern in the White House to perform oral sex on him, in the White House. Bill Clinton could have resigned and allowed Al Gore to take over. Wouldn't Democrats have been relieved for that to happen?
Didn't James Carville chafe at you by constantly talking about how it was "just sex." We seem more enlightened now. Kirstin Gillibrand makes that clear.
My fellow boomers, you had better wake up and smell the coffee soon. Republicans always try to dismantle the New Deal. And now they have all the power.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com