A Noot Point

Since Osama bin Laden’s death on May 1 it’s been a slow news month. As evidence I offer the media’s obsession with the Newt Gingrich “candidacy.” If I hear one more time about his implosion I’m liable to explode. By my calculations he imploded a long time ago. I also fail to understand all this interest in other names that we know won’t be heading the Republican ticket next year, specifically Palin, Bachman, Giuliani, Paul and Santorum. Where is Harold Stassen when we need him?

Still Newt has been a barrel of laughs, particularly in connection with his appearance on Meet the Press with David Gregory. I liked his protesting that “quotes,” of his statements, slang for quotations, were “falsehoods.” I may be missing something here. But is seems to me that by definition a “quote” can’t be a falsehood regardless of what is being quoted. 

But let’s give credit where credit is due. The statement in question was quite reasonable by Republican standards. He said that right wing social engineering is as bad as left wing social engineering. The significance is in the reaction by the Republican establishment. For years they have been complaining of precisely this by Democrats, along with “redistributing wealth” from which it’s usually inseparable. In dismissing Newt as a heretic they are virtually saying that social engineering is alright, but only if it’s done by the political right.

I’m sorry righties, but social engineering, for better or worse, has been with us for our entire history. Emancipation, Women's Suffrage, Prohibition, Social Security, Civil Rights, Medicare Bush tax cuts and Citizens United, are a few of many examples.  

What I find interesting is that, as with privatizing Social Security, Republicans are backing away from the Ryan plan’s attempt to turn Medicare into a voucher system. This bill has passed the House and Harry Reid is understandably eager to force a vote in the Senate, which would put GOP members in an uncomfortable spot. While I look forward to this I don’t rule out the possibility that Senate Republicans will filibuster a bill their party passed in the House.

We should take comfort in the fact that Republicans have learned from the error of their ways. Now we can vote for them secure in the knowledge that they will never again attempt to tamper with Social Security and Medicare. If you are if this opinion you might answer “yes” to a question put to me by my son when he was a toddler. “Is Santa Claus up in the sky with God and Superman?”