A Dreary Slog

Rain. And more rain. Tropical Storm Lee is providing the much needed rain for my yard. Unfortunately I spent three days under it at the beach, only to have it follow me home. Sometimes, you just have to endure.

On the bright side, it provides me a lot of time to read. Even if the reading is a dreary slog. Yes, I know you see it coming. But trust me. It’s important. And if you don’t trust me, trust James Fallows.

'People Don't Realize How Fragile Democracy Really Is'

”Two days ago I mentioned the "Goodbye to All That" essay by Mike Lofgren, a respected (including by me) veteran Congressional staffer who had worked for Republican legislators on defense and budget issues for nearly 30 years.

If you have not read his essay yet, please read it now.  And then, please return!”

I followed his advice. You should too. It’s long, so I’ll be short. I won’t even ask you to return. At least not for the day, anyway. Here’s the tease.

Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult

”I left because I was appalled at the headlong rush of Republicans, like Gadarene swine, to embrace policies that are deeply damaging to this country's future; and contemptuous of the feckless, craven incompetence of Democrats in their half-hearted attempts to stop them. And, in truth, I left as an act of rational self-interest. Having gutted private-sector pensions and health benefits as a result of their embrace of outsourcing, union busting and "shareholder value," the GOP now thinks it is only fair that public-sector workers give up their pensions and benefits, too. Hence the intensification of the GOP's decades-long campaign of scorn against government workers. Under the circumstances, it is simply safer to be a current retiree rather than a prospective one.

If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren't after your Social Security and Medicare, I am here to disabuse you of your naiveté.”

(Emphasis added)

Don Brown
September 6, 2011