the republican party and the betrayal of means

Nonduality in politics is like playing Monopoly with real money. No matter the transaction, the houses are still plastic.

But using Gandhi’s precept that the means and only the means are important, there is some basis for discussion for politics as well as life in general.

For eight years, the Republican Party played it loose with the budget, taxes, and war (including torture). Now they find themselves on the outs, and suddenly they’ve rediscovered their “principles” of conservatism.

In other words, for eight years, the ends justified whatever means possible. Defending liberty through repression. Paying for tax cuts with deficits. The list could go on, but the point is one and only one. The means were sacrificed to the end.

The result was disastrous for both the party, and more importantly, the nation and world.

I am not arguing the worthiness of the goal. I am speaking only to the means.

Historically there was a time for the turning back of the liberal pendulum that had begun in 1932 and had for all intents and purposes lasted to 1980, and the election of Reagan. The Great Communicator didn’t lie; he tried to convince, using his own belief to convince others.

It appears the pendulum is swinging again.

But after eight years of malpractice, the Republicans are attempting to turn back the clock. But it’s not the time; the day has changed.

The result is now a hollow rhetoric, playing loose with the facts, and arguing for quiet when the house is burning down. Now is not the time to drink the Kool-Aid, but to hose the plastic houses down with water.

But when a life has been lived playing loose with the means, the soul will tend to atrophy. What remains is a zombie capable of nothing positive.

They need to go into the desert. Well, they’re actually there. They just need to recognize that fact, realize how they got there, and understand they can't go back the way they came. Before they can ever find their way out.

~Peace to All and One,
Son Rivers