thoughts from a brokenSoldier

Reading through an article about McCain’s campaign and their Paris/ Britney smear ad against Obama, I was again reminded of a truism that reflects the Republican Party’s true motivations.  This could hold true for any party, but in recent years the GOP has been the party most at odds with the American public when it comes to judging the success of policy.  The article was from the Huffington Post:

Paris Hilton Ad Helped Internet Fundraising, McCain Campaign Manager Says

In the article, McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis outlines why he thinks the overtly negative and disrespectful ad was a success for his candidate:

"Many of you all know the [Hilton] advertisement got more hits on YouTube than any other YouTube video," he adding [sic], noting that that was a "first" for the McCain campaign. "We definitely saw an uptick in internet receipts" as the "Celeb" ad reached one million hits, Davis revealed.

Their view on this reflects their larger view on policy and its criteria for success or failure.  Simply put, the only criteria they judge to be relevant is whether or not it puts money in their pockets.  This goes for campaign ads as well as policy matters concerning energy, foreign policy, and any number of other issues facing our nation.  A lot of their policies are advanced in lockstep with the religious right, who enjoy an disproportionate amount of monetary and political influence.  For example:

The US Supreme Court’s Abortion decision on 18 August 2008:

John McCain:

"Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary."

Mitt Romney:

"Today, our nation’s highest court reaffirmed the value of life in America by upholding a ban on a practice that offends basic human decency."

You’d think that people who pontificate so profusely about the "sanctity of life" and "basic human decency" would not go around making statements like this:

John McCain:

Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, "Maybe that’s a way of killing them."

Or, concerning a place that has been documented thoroughly as a site rife with human rights abuses, this:

Mitt Romney:

"I am glad [detainees] are at Guantanamo. I don’t want them on our soil. I want them on Guantanamo, where they don’t get the access to lawyers they get when they’re on our soil. I don’t want them in our prisons, I want them there. Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is we ought to double Guantanamo."

The answer, of course, is that these positions - as contradictory as they are - are parrots of the positions of the religious right, which are major contibutors to the Republican cause.  It doesn’t matter that their "sanctity of life" and "basic human decency" arguments are not consistent with their other positions, because the people who dole out money to them don’t care that they don’t add up - they just care about their agenda being advanced by those they fund.

Many Americans see the Bush administration’s policies as failures, and can’t understand why more Republicans don’t see the situation the same way.  It is - at its core - because their criteria for success includes only how much said policies benefit them, regardless of their effects on the country.  Do you wonder why McCain and Bush are trying to force the expansion of domestic drilling down our collective throats?  Do you wonder why so few Republicans stood up to say that Bush’s methods in his handling of the Iraq war needed to stop?  Do you wonder why McCain has prostituted his convictions - especially on things as heavy and personal to him as torture - in his bid for the Presidency? The reason is simply that these policies - while faulty in most of our eyes - has put an inordinate amount of money in their pockets.  Thus, these policies were a hit for them, and they see no reason to change course.  The only reason some of them are doing so now is because they’re facing the spectre of an election in the coming months. 

All of this talk about Bush’s "failed policies" among the GOP members was largely muted until we entered an election year.  McCain, as has been pointed out many times before, has jumped the fence numerous times on issues that had previously made him the "maverick" that he fraudulently still claims to be. (See my "Paging Dr. Freud Post, with this link, to see how McCain’s own stances have radically changed in response to his chances of winning the White House.) It is ironic that the GOP can still tag the Democrats with the label of "flip-flopper," considering how many times their presumptive nominee has switched his positions in this year alone.

When it is all said and done, it comes down to the fact that policies that adversely affect the people of America are still being pushed by the Republicans, and the only reason for that is that they do not consider them to be failures.  They could give a damn if their policies harm us as citizens, as long as their coffers and pocketbooks remain filled.  Even though many people have pointed out that McCain’s Celebrity ad is both lacking in substance and seriously disrespectful to a family that donated the maximum amount to McCain’s own campaign, this ad is considered by that campaign to be a success, simply because it brought in the dough.

Imagine what McCain will consider a success if he attains the highest office in the nation…  As long as it keeps him and his henchmen in the upper strata of our economy, it will be fine by him.  As long as he can maintain his 10 family homes, his family’s jet-setting lifestyle (excluding half-siblings that reside in the lower classes, of course), and his exorbitant personal expenditures like his $500+ imported Italian loafers, then he’ll be all for it. 

This is how they gauge success, and this is how they would run our country.  It does not bode well for us as a nation, but then again, they just don’t seem to care.  What a strange way to put "Country First."