There’s been a lot of talk from the right lately about President Barack Obama and his policies hurting America’s global standing. Never mind that it’s simply untrue: The world-at-large’s opinion of America and our president stands at levels unheard of when one of their own occupied the White House. That hasn’t stopped would-be Republican presidential candidates like Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, and, of course, Donald Trump from saying otherwise.
But polls and statistics are just numbers; and numbers are tough, and rarely convenient for those on the right. So let’s just disregard those Pew (ew!) numbers I hyperlinked to above, and hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Enter New Zealand’s largest newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, which released a scathing editorial last Friday addressing the detrimental impact one political party is having on America and our perception in the world.
Only it’s not Obama, or his Democrats. It’s the GOP. In an insightful, searing, and often hilarious piece, columnist Paul Thomas takes the Republicans to task for going completely off the rails when it comes to matters of national security, diplomacy, and even domestic issues. Here’s how he kicks it off:
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz called it “the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history”. Was he referring to:
• The outbreak of the Civil War.
• The assassination of Abraham Lincoln or John Kennedy or Martin Luther King.
• The 1929 Wall St crash.
• Pearl Harbour.
• 9/11.
• The realisation that the immensely costly and destructive Iraq War was launched on the basis of a lie.None of the above: according to Cruz, America’s darkest day was when the Supreme Court decided not to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage. Thus the extension of health insurance, previously the preserve of the rich, and marriage, previously the preserve of the straight, is worse than war, depression, assassination and mass murder.
And what does fellow Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee believe will “bring death to America”:
• Bird flu.
• Climate change.
• Isis.
• North Korean nuclear missiles.
• Obesity.
• Psychopathic gunmen wrapped in the Confederate flag.Again, none of the above: Huckabee was referring to the just-announced nuclear deal with Iran. He wasn’t alone. It appears all 17 Republican presidential hopefuls believe the treaty painstakingly negotiated by the US, Russia, China, Britain and France is not merely not worth the paper it’s written on, it’s positively catastrophic.
Thomas goes on to describe the GOP as “a party of religious fundamentalism…taking their lead from Zionist Israel and Wahhabist Saudi Arabia,” and “the party of wilful ignorance: doctrinal purity is more valued than intelligence; tolerance has been supplanted by persecutory moralising; paranoia has replaced realism.”
It’s time for a reality check on the right because, no matter the official talking points, Obama’s not the problem when it comes to our standing in the global mind.
As an American I am deeply offended by those members of one of our political parties that are flagrantly hypocritical and would like to lead us into the next decade. They spew a rhetoric that is contradictory to their claims of being “Christian”. They would like to improve the image of the United States among our allies by espousing an attitude of arrogance and self-righteousness that our friends find repulsive. They just don’t get it. It is not our “Manifest Destiny” to rule the world as God’s surrogates with “Imperial Capitalism”.
Don’t even get me started on their stand that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by liberals to undermine these Capitalist aspirations they have.
Hey SJ–Thanks for the comment! As you can probably tell we’re right there with you. Curious as to how you stumbled upon this piece. We’ve been seeing unusually high traffic to this one specifically in the last 24 hours and no indication in our ISO as to where it’s coming from.
Spartan Jim is right on the money! We have many fundamental, Heavy on the mental! people here who think they are to rule the world by the will of god.These same people want to control everything!, including women`s right to choose what she can do with her body. I also know where the idea of ” Manifest Destiny” comes from, and its a shallow concept based on misunderstanding ancient documents, pictographs, petroglyph`s, myths, and an unwarranted understanding of the bible. If Jesus were here today they would kill him ASAP! due to what he would again tell them regarding this misunderstanding!
Since things in the United States are so bad (Republicans, Bush, Trump, Racism etc) would you suggest that we follow the historical example of New Zealand and the Maoris? Is it believable that there were Maori protests in the 1960’s? It couldn’t have racism, could it? After all, it’s the UNITED STATES that’s racist.
I agree that there’s too much racism in the United States. Would you New Zealanders have a solution based on things that have worked to give equality, and access to medical help? Tell us what your country has done to lift up its indigenous minorities. Maybe we can follow your example.
Or maybe we already are.