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It seems we have finally witness the metamorphosis of Republican ideals into “Neo-Republicanism” with the stunt pulled by Larry Northern. Neo-Republicanism represents a philosophy of hate, intolerance, and selfishness unlike anything seen so far. This has been going on for several years—even since the Reagan years and before. I remember attending Bill Clinton’s speeches in Independence, Missouri, and found a small but extremely vocal, anti-Clinton crowd of protestors both times. Both times I remember there were a couple of individuals who used bull-horns in an effort to make their message known to the majority of those who came to hear The Big Dog. I shrugged them off as small people with a small message who needed amplification to make themselves heard. The recent destruction committed by alleged vandal Larry Northern is really an extension of this kind of politics: small person with a small message who used “amplification” to make himself heard. In Larry's case, of course, that amplification was a pickup truck.
So here we have “Neo-Republicanism.” Republicans control the White House, both Houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, the Media, and yet, one grief-stricken mother mourning the loss of her son and her desire to ask "why?" of the man responsible for his death is met with hate and intolerance in an act of violence (luckily no one was in the ditch when he careened off the road to “make himself heard”). Even with control of all branches of government and the institution charged with maintaining a vigil on those institutions, the Neo-Republicans see the need to play dirty politics on deceased members of the armed forces, a solid bastion, one might think, for Republicans. But then, Neo-Republicans have a reputation for touting the American military while trashing its members. Just ask John McCain, Max Clelland, and John Kerry. But now it seems their contempt extends from live to dead veterans as well.
The rallying cry for conservatives used to be “My Country: Right or Wrong.” That has changed to “My President: Right or Wrong.” It does not matter that Bush himself is a military deserter, or that he lied this nation into war, or that he exposed a covert intelligence operation to the very enemy we are fighting in an effort to silence dissent of those who dared to speak out against his policies; "he is a Republican and a Neo-Republican at that, and, goddamn it, that’s all that matters!" We can only hope that in the coming days, “classic” Republicans will see the dangerous lies of Neo-Republicanism. We can only hope that the deranged behavior on the part of Neo-Republican Larry Northern and his contemptible act will cause “classic” Republicans to turn away from the seduction of Neo-Republicanism with its cocoon of “no muss-no fuss” politics. After all, it is so much easier to hate and remain ignorant that it is to actually look for truth and formulate opinions based on fact (absent in Mr. Northern's act is the slightest indication that he had any intellectual curiosity in what Mrs. Sheehan had to say). It is safe to say that tolerance and compromise will become political antiques with hate and ignorance taking such a prominent role in formulating political thought (the "I don't care" syndrome). We can only hope that enough Americans see the folly of Neo-Republicanism and turn against this disease. We can only hope that they will, like we do, see the need to hold this administration accountable for its crimes and treason, lest it happen again.
We can only hope.
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