The Grand Old Rocky Party
tired of listening
the man walks away…
cicada on a branch
I like artful wordplay and advocacy, but over-the-top mendacity sets my stomach spinning.
Tonight’s RNC speeches left me with a bad case of agita, and no appetite for political propaganda from either party. So, I was surprised to find my weary self fully engaged in Christopher Lydon‘s latest post, It’s Rockefeller’s Party (Sept. 1, 2004). His thoughtful, urgent message on the nature of the Republican Party needs to be considered by everyone interested in the politics and future of our nation.
The GOP is not the heir to Reaganite conservatism, says Lydon. It is the Grand Old Rockefeller Party. This GORP isn’t fueled with raisins, nuts, and seeds grown in the soil of California extremism. It’s a mixture made from Standard Oil, Wall Street wealth, and Rockefeller instincts — spiced with arrogance and a sense of entitlement “compounded with secrecy . . . and a possesive outlook on the whole world.”
After quoting Ron Reagan, Jr. and Kevin Phillips, Lydon ends with Pat Buchanan‘s warning:
“Under the rubric of conservatism, the Republican party of Bush I and II has been reinventing itself into what conservatives would have once recognized as a Rockefeller party reciting Reaganite rhetoric.” Buchanan predicts a civil war within the Party. And, Lydon says the issue will be Empire.
standing dead center
in the downpour…
a blind man
— haiku by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue
