Republican Candidates in Denial (Scarecrow @ firedoglake)

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http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/05/04/10-republican-candidates-in-denial/#comments

Watching the Republican candidates “debate” — or rather, respond separately to questions — on MSNBC last night, I was struck by how few serious problems the country has. The candidates were quick to remind us we don’t have enough vetoes of spending bills, but these men all assured us they love nothing more than vetoing Democratic spending bills; that problem will be solved the moment any of these men becomes President. With a few more border fences to keep out those brown people, things are pretty good in America. Republicans are still dreaming it is 1980, the world is as simplistic as Ronald Reagan believed and all we need is to be optimistic.

You’d think questions about Iraq would be problematic for these men, but except for Paul, the lone non-interventionist, no one suggested that invading Iraq was a mistake; there was only a problem in execution — so criticizing the execution was safe territory. We just need to keep fighting; changing course or strategy is not necessary, because as McCain observed, we already have a new General and new strategy. And because Iraq was not a mistake, there are no lessons that apply to Iran, so we can be as belligerent towards them as we want.

If you listen to these men, it appears we do not have a credibility problem with the rest of the world, so we don’t need to worry about how we will restore America’s honor or prestige or repair alliances or international institutions. Torture was not mentioned, nor the Military Commissions Act, with its denial of habeas corpus (except for Paul), nor restrictions on attorneys, nor use of secret evidence or evidence extracted through torture. Kidnapping and renditions weren’t mentioned either, so I guess Canada, Europe and the Middle East are not upset about that; there was no mention of secret prisons, nor Guantanamo, nor indefinite detention without charges or trials, nor warrantless wiretapping, misuse of national security letters by the FBI, and so on. Only Paul, now just a curious anachronism in his own party, a true believer in the limited government credo of what used to be the Republican Party but not longer is, could offer a few lines about the continuing expansion of executive powers — and then only in reference to Terry Schiavo.

No one brought up problems at the Justice Department, nor concerns about politicizing justice, or interfering with prosecutions. Matthews asked about Karl Rove, but no one took the opportunity to say anything bad about Karl. When asked which of the Bush mistakes (unnamed) he would avoid, Huckabee said he’d avoid sending US jobs overseas.

According to McCain, Republicans lost the 2006 elections because Congress spent too much money. It had nothing to do with the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the loss of over 3000 US troops and no end in sight. No one said it’s a mess. In fact, Huckabee said it’s too early to give the Administration a grade on the war. Republican corruption was also not a factor in the elections, and apparently doesn’t matter now either; after all, Democrats keep money in their freezers, so it is a bipartisan sin.

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1. seems all is well in la la land of the Repugs