The Incongruence of the GOP & 34 Years of Trickle Down Economics has not helped Rural America

When politicians do not denounce hate within the ranks of their supporters it implicitly condones such thoughts through silence.

It long ago (in political terms) became fashionable for Tea Party types to believe that the President was not an American, was a Muslim, and is a Socialist hell bent upon depriving Americans of their perceived Freedoms.  None of this is, was or ever been true and the GOP leaders know it.

So what happens when Cliven Bundy gets together some gun toting domestic terrorists who want nothing more than to blow the head off some Federal Agents?  Republicans of various sorts, including Senators and Representatives, rush to praise these people as true patriots demonstrating (with automatic weapons) their right to fight for Mr. Bundy's belief that he does not have to pay grazing fees to the Federal Government for his cattle's chomping grass grown on Federal land.  The fee by the way is $1.30 per cow per month.

Why are gun toting white people more patriotic than me or any other white Democrat?  Why are they more patriotic than an African American or a Hispanic who joined the military or work hard and pay taxes?  Why are they more patriotic than an Asian who has fled here to avoid Communism, dysfunctional government or possesses a simple desire to achieve their life's happiness in the U.S.A. and manage to get a green card?

The Tea Party does not have a monopoly on patriotism and to support such beliefs without denouncing the hatred that underlies that is destructive to our society.

The GOP has long wrapped themselves up in the flag.  But the government has been after Cliven Bundy to pay his grazing fees for 20 years.  That includes the Bush II administration, which has been completely abandoned by the GOP for even the good things he tried to do.

The GOP says that the Democrats play the race card too often.  But the GOP is trying to shrink the African American voter pool with various gimmicks to discourage African American voting.  Charles Blow lays out how trivial GOP arguments are saying slavery wasn't so bad (which for some reason GOP supporters and some politicians keep discussing).  Charles Blow today nails why there is nothing they can say that is positive about slavery in the U.S.A. 170 years ago.

Link to Charles Blow column

Discussion of the Supreme Court decision on Affirmative Action in college admissions has caused me to rethink what colleges should be trying to do.  They need to be thinking how they get able students from the poor and lower middle class into a debt free college experience without regard to race.  Perhaps one reason why this Tea Party hatred for people of color exists is they do not see economic opportunity for their children in their rural community.  Rural America is largely struggling in almost every state and I think what the Democrats need to continue to do is focus the income inequality debate on the commonality between rural poor and urban poor.  ObamaCare is trying to bring health insurance to both communities over GOP objections.   We have had 34 years of trickle down economic policy and through out that time, rural America has just continued its economic degradation.  The smart kids move to bigger towns and their kids don't move back.