The Right Wing and Wag the Dog Politics

By Dr. Henry Flores, NewsTaco

A number of years ago there was a movie made starring some very heavy-hitting actors including Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman entitled “Wag the Dog.”  It was a movie about how political professionals create a fictitious war to manipulate public opinion.  It seems that in today’s political environment that has become the norm.  This is a tool used effectively by the right-wing-nuts that seem to have taken control of the Republican Party.

The Grand Old Party 

            Maybe I’m just being nostalgic but I miss the old GOP, the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Reagan and Eisenhower.  This party was the party of freedom pushing for the abolition of slavery and the creation of rules guaranteeing the inclusion of all citizens under a broader tent.  The old GOP championed the middle-class, supported certain types of social and economic programs for the under classes, and some programs welcoming immigrants.  At the same time though the old GOP was losing ground to the wing-nuts within its ranks who felt that the party was trending too far left. That party was undermined by the wing-nut elements that resided within both major parties, the Goldwaters, Wallaces, and Thurmonds.

The Wing-Nuts

             Wing-Nuts in American politics have always been around but they generally thrive and exist on the fringes of political parties and have always been considered paranoid, delusional, wing-nuts.  Hardly anyone paid attention to these individuals and groups except the media because they generally were and are flamboyant and deemed newsworthy.  For instance, “Tail Gunner” Joe McCarthy or Lyndon LaRouche.

The sad, pathetic, thing about wing-nuts is that they tend to create such a “ruckus” that their behavior garners media attention and heir lunacy gets a great deal of play.  They have become very influential within Republican Party circles to the extent that they have deleteriously affected that party’s public policy platform in areas important to the health and welfare of the nation.

Wagging the Dog 

For instance, in the area of voting rights they have championed voter identification card legislation in 32 states that make it difficult for poor persons, senior citizens, young voters and women to vote.  Now this may not appear to be too much of a problem except that in a state like Texas the voter identification bill was originally passed because it was designed to protect the integrity of the ballot box from fraudulent votes cast by the diseased, invading hoards of illegal immigrants spilling across our southern borders.  “Diseased illegal immigrants!!!!”  Yup, that is in the public record.  Logic goes out the window when the loonies start making noises!

Then you have the wing-nuts following Texas Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis around with “Abortion Barbie” signs because she had filibustered an extremely restrictive anti-abortion bill in the Texas Senate.  It was the filibuster that brought her to the attention of the party leadership and launched her campaign for the governorship.  Her opponent, Greg Abbott, refused to condemn the loonies for their absurd, rude, and disgusting behavior.

Then, we have the Benghazi probe that is being launched in Washington just as Secretary Hillary Clinton is launching her presidential campaign.  Seems like a coincidence to me but I thought all the questions had been answered on this issue concerning whether we knew that the attacks were coming, whether we could get there in time to rescue the ambassador, and what were the origins of the attack.  But, I guess the right-wing-nuts in congress just want to embarrass the former secretary of state.  What a waste of taxpayer’s money!

Now we have Senator Ted Cruz claiming that a proposed constitutional amendment to control unlimited campaign contributions from large corporations or extremely wealthy persons is the Obama Administration’s first step toward dismantling the First Amendment of the Constitution!  Really, really Ted?

What Can One Say?

             The wing-nut tactics are interesting because all they do is blow smoke, create a lot of noise, and waste a great deal of money (mostly our tax dollars) and hinder government.  The right-wing hates government, even if they are part of it (Ted Cruz is a federal employee after all), and particularly hate the administration currently sitting in Washington.  The right wingers only make noise.  But it is a hateful noise, it is a venomous noise, it is a noise that will eventually tear this country apart if not reigned in.

[Photo by Frank Vest/Flickr]

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