Every day, 10,000 U.S. women are assaulted by their husband or boyfriend. Most often they do not leave, and the violence continues; psychologists call it battered women's syndrome. On Nov. 2, we're likely to see the political counterpart, where American voters -- despite a history of egregious Republican abuse -- decide to give the Grand Old Party one more chance.
The American Psychological Association reports, "Nearly one in every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood." Roughly four million U.S. women are assaulted each year. Often the assaults are repeated and follow a pattern: drinking or drug use; insults and criticism; physical violence; and apology. Most adults know someone trapped in an abusive relationship; a woman who despite the advice of her friends and family can't find the wherewithal to leave the abuser.
A larger percentage of Americans have been the victims of abuse by the Republican Party. We've seen our neighborhoods destroyed, our air and water fouled, our jobs shipped overseas, our children denied health coverage and decent schools. We've watched the looting of America, seen the riches of our country diverted to the offshore bank accounts of the wealthy.
The GOP assaults follow a familiar pattern: manufactured resentment; insults and criticism; financial violence; and false remorse. The Republican violence typically begins with their propaganda machine spewing hate messages: "Democrats want to subvert America, turn it into a European-style socialist state." "Obama isn't a citizen -- he's a terrorist." Next the GOP criticizes Democratic politicians, blaming them for Wall Street bailouts and "robbing our children's future" by creating a massive federal deficit. They cover their lack of concrete proposals with clever slogans: "Return government to the people;" "Put adults in charge." But underneath the agitprop is financial violence: handouts to the wealthy, destruction of our infrastructure, desecration of the environment, and abandonment of the needy. Occasionally there's an instance of remorse -- towards the end of his regime, George Bush seemed guilty about ruining the American economy -- but then the cycle of abuse restarts.
Psychologists say the typical battered woman is "depressed and anxious, with low self-esteem, a poorly integrated self-image, and a general inability to cope with life's demands." If that sounds familiar, it's a profile that fits many Americans in these difficult times. TIME political correspondent Joe Klein recently completed a 24-day, coast-to-coast trip across the U.S. What he found was anger and anxiety; a pervasive sense of powerlessness.
There's a growing consensus that America's best days are behind it; that we have lost our way: we're hemorrhaging jobs and they're never coming back. Klein observes: "The Republican position on jobs is clear; stimulate the private sector with lower taxes and fewer regulations. The Democratic position on jobs is inexplicable."
Perhaps Klein's observation explains why Americans want to give the Grand Old Party one more chance. Psychologists tell us that victims of battered women's syndrome are often afraid to leave their abuser, as real change is perceived to be more painful than the familiar pattern of abuse.
The poster child for Republican abuse is Arizona Senator John McCain. Like most abusers, McCain was himself an abuse victim -- in 1992, during the South Carolina primary, the Republican establishment, led by Karl Rove, turned on him. McCain learned his lesson and jettisoned his image as a "maverick" and independent thinker. This year, when faced with a Tea-Party primary challenge from Neolithic former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, McCain blew him out through a combination of money ($20 million) and extreme conservative positions. Hayworth observed that McCain had become "a political shape-shifter." McCain admitted, "I've always done whatever's necessary to win."
Despite his reputation as a curmudgeon and the senator most disliked by his colleagues, McCain was once revered as the "conscience" of the GOP. In the past he co-authored the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill and backed climate-change legislation, as well as comprehensive-immigration reform. Now, in his frantic scramble to retain his Senate seat, McCain has abandoned his former positions. In an insightful Vanity Fair article, political writer Todd Purdum observes that, if reelected, McCain's dominant objective will be to work against Barack Obama.
The most recent Arizona senatorial poll shows McCain with a 28 percentage-point lead over his Democratic opponent. Despite his abusive behavior, many voters believe staying with Job McCain is preferable to change.
Psychologists tell us that many victims of battered women's syndrome are confused. Some believe they deserve to be assaulted.
Perhaps American voters are confused. Perhaps they believe they don't deserve anything better than the dreadful Republican policies that have shafted America. Perhaps they believe that politicians like Bush, McCain, Palin, and Boehner are the best they can expect. Perhaps they've internalized the classic blues song: I've been down so long that down looks like up to me.
Perhaps midterm voters are like the battered woman who justifies her decision to return to her abusive partner by saying: "He's all I have and says he's sorry. I'm going to give him one more chance."
Jon O'Brien: Five Myths About the Catholic Vote in Election 2010
Mik Moore: Jews For Justice Present: God, Yoda and the Election-Year Fear Monster
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20101022barney_grabs_bank_execs_____despite_vow_to_shun_bailed-out_lenders/srvc=home&position=1
We have never mastered rational thought. It remains an acquired taste, damaged beyond repair in a culture that spends 24x7 programming our appetites for consumption (beyond our means) under the influence of the pseudo-logic of advertising. At another level Americans remain in a hypnagogic trance, induced by Reagan's soothing stories about cities on hills. American "exceptionalism" remains the biggest con job of all.
Average people also have a lottery mentality, feeling on the verge of all becoming billionaires any minute. This is a variation of the Lake Woebegone Phenomenon, where everyone is above average. Thus many voters remain aligned with their plutocratic captors despite the utter disaster of their holding office. All my Republican friends hold the strange belief that taxes should be raised on the poor and dropped for the rich--because they see themselves as wannabe/gonnabe plutocrats. None of these spouters of fiscal slogans can summarize the federal budget and show where the deficit can be eliminated. This is truly the most surreal future I could have imagined during my feverish experiences of the 60's. Sic transit gloria Americana.
To those in WI--vote Feingold on the 2nd!
“Here is a little dose of reality about where we actually rank today,” says Vest: sixth in global innovation-based competitiveness, but 40th in rate of change over the last decade; 11th among industrialized nations in the fraction of 25- to 34-year-olds who have graduated from high school; 16th in college completion rate; 22nd in broadband Internet access; 24th in life expectancy at birth; 27th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving degrees in science or engineering; 48th in quality of K-12 math and science education; and 29th in the number of mobile phones per 100 people.
Quite simply, from a fiscal standpoint you can't slash your way to greatness. The Republican leadership really doesn't care about all this. They get their orders from the likes of the Koch Boys and expect to be well cared for long after we're officially a Banana Republic. Their pseudo-austerity plan does not extend to their masters, who have embraced a zero sum economy and are quite content to expand their wealth at the expense of the "bottom 99 percent." J. P. Morgan would burn with envy.
GOP, you mocked Democrats for being soft on defense, so they became more hawkish...
GOP, you mocked Democrats for being protectionists, so they became free traders..
GOP, you mocked Democrats for being soft on welfare recipients so they ended it....
GOP, you prodded and poked the Democrats rightward for 30 years....
And each time you did, you had to move further right and develop even more radical policies to distinguish yourselves, until finally you moved too far and lost it all...
Your good ideas? Co-opted. Your bad ones? Finally rejected.
Now all you have is fear. Fear of imaginary things.
What will a party with no ideas eventually do? What will a party filled with sociopaths for candidates eventually do?
Go extinct.
Get on with it.