35 Comments

• seanomelbourne | Sep 09, 2011, 10:05 PM EDT

  The unchristian right teaparty represents about 50% of GOP voters and loosing ground.

• peterson | Sep 09, 2011, 02:09 PM EDT

  You sound like a liberal ----enough said !!

• jamieLM | Sep 07, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT

  I would like to be a member of a new party that would be called the "SANITY Party." People in this party would have economic and commonsense. People would be rational and cooperative in their approach to the issues. The party would elect people who would set term limits on Congress and cut out their pricey healthcare and pensions. The party would elect people who would quit talking about it and actually reform Wall Street. The agenda would include redoing the tax code and eliminating fraud in Medicare & Medicade, and cutting govt. waste in every area, including the military. Healthcare would be reformed in a step-by-step process. No 4,000 page bills, filled with pork, could be passed that no one has read. Yeah, like that party is ever going to happen. Right now, the choice is dumb and dumber. That's why I'm a registered Independent who doesn't like many of the choices on either side.

• rgray222 | Sep 07, 2011, 10:16 AM EDT

  It seems that Cahir is not up on current events. It was Obama that bailed out the bankers without condition. Lets include the insurance companies and the car companies. It was Obama that passed heath care on the premise of cutting $450 Billion in medicare cuts. Bush did help the bankers in the way of TARP but that was a loan and it has been paid back. Obama offered stimulus and many banks still have not paid back the government and are not expected to! The Constitution tells government what it "cannot do" not what it can, Obama has come out (its on video) and says he does not like the Constitution for that exact reason. Once someone gets caught up in their party politics (like Cahir) no amount of reasoning or the truth ever seems to make a difference with them! What a shame!

• AengusOg | Sep 07, 2011, 10:13 AM EDT

  There are problems that are endemic with government programs. Is the purpose and funding of Social Security the in line with the original concept? It has become bloated by extending coverages beyond its original intent, and has been bankrupted by paying today's costs with tomorrow's dollars. Medicare, medicaid, Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac, and the USPS are all failing or failed. This example is twenty-five years old from NYC Health and Hospitals, but is apocryphal. The state oversees this institution and has 'unannounced' inspections. But six weeks before the 'unannounced' inspection takes place, additional workers from other hospitals show up to help prepare for the inspection. The state can't afford to actually remedy what needs to be addressed, so it finds everything AOK. Visit the 125th St. Ind. station and view a failure of the NYC MTA to maintain a major Manhattan subway station. Aside from the armed services, which have four academies designed to train their future leaders, government programs are unsustainable. This is true because the temptations involved are greater than the incentives for responsible management. There is no direct ownership and no increased profit with the success of the endeavor. This is why I am a participant in the only movement that recognizes the failure of government to manage programs. Government cannot even regulate effectively. For movie goers, see 'Inside Job', for researchers, see 'Friends of Angelo'. What? Some Republicans were equally guilty. Well, after all, they are not only Republicans, they are politicians.

• hwodunnavent | Sep 07, 2011, 10:01 AM EDT

  To lastshovel: Strange that I have heard the same comparisons to the Third Reich applied to Obama and the Democrats with the take over of private business and the demonizing of people with money, but only those who are Republicans--never the monied Democrats. Looks like mainstream Americans are caught between the Devil and the Deep blue sea! I read and hear a lot of complaints but very few solutions to the many problems in this country. One side wants the government to handle all the country's ills and the other side wants the government out of their business so the country can move on. It comes down to who do you want to handle your money--the government or yourself? What is your definition of freedom? What is your definition of responsibility? They must go hand-in-hand!

• hwodunnavent | Sep 07, 2011, 09:05 AM EDT

  To tomdoh345: I understand your viewpoint. However, your last comment about stupidity has been used by both sides of many arguments. There was a time in US politics that the two sides of an argument were able to find common ground. What happen in the 1930's and FDR's policies was what the country needed at the time and the first steps toward government intervention in the private sector which had become over-bearing. In the ensuing years both sides struggled to have their point of view heard. These are the same points of view that we struggle with today. Since I am more familiar with the Union struggle, I will address that issue only, but these points apply to many other political struggles as well. I have spent years arguing with my brother about Unions in the work place. If workers had full control over business, what would be their reason to work hard? If Management had full control, what would be their reason to treat workers fairly? If Management can't make a profit, which is their goal, why have a business? I have been affected by a company closing because the Union asked for so much the company could not operate. Do the Unions think that they must make more and have more benefits than the clerks in the front office who handle all the "behind the scenes" work? The Unions are shooting themselves in the foot by not taking into account the operating needs of the company. Yes, many executives make too much money; but many Union executives make way too much money for pushing their power to the extreme. The basic problem is greed at the top for both parties. This basic feral instinct was left unchecked when religious principles like fair play were deleted from the American culture beginning in the late 1950's. Now both sides are seen as studid by the other side. Neither side can see their effect on the whole. There was a time when a middle ground was taken for the benefit of both, a direction that did not destroy the other side or the whole.

• walleyeman | Sep 07, 2011, 09:03 AM EDT

  There are millions of Americans who subscribe to the main tenet of the Tea Party, smaller government, who have never been to a Tea Party Event. It has become obvious that the Democrats have realized that their party has no counter for the Tea Party so they are doing they best to demonize it. There are many factions within the RepublicanParty unlike the democrat party that marches in lockstep. There are however marching right off a cliff following a very flawed leader who has not a clue.

• lastshovel | Sep 07, 2011, 07:18 AM EDT

  How quickly it is forgotten. History, I mean. I respectfully suggest a THROUGH reading of Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich." The 1960 Edition is available to read online at the University of Michigan for free. After my latest (6th) reading I cannot help but see the parallels of the Republican Party to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. To wit: 1. SturmAbeilung = Tea Party, fit, form, purpose. 2.Reichminister Gobbels took over all forms of German life; this coincides precisely, precisely mind you, with the "7 Mountains" of the Dominionists who are so closely tied with Gov Perry. 3. Muslims "ist der neu Juden". 4.Homosexuals constitute a "grave" danger to the continuity of the state since they don't reproduce. 5.Minorities and the poor are the new "useless eaters". 6.Several prominent Republican office-holders have publicly have declared their intent to make the Democratic Party superfluous, i.e., a single party state. There are more parallels equally true, READ THEM FOR YOUR OWN ENLIGHTENMENT. And if that doesn't scare the bejeezus out'a you consider that 90% of the weapons in my country that are held by civilians, are held by registered..............Republicans.

• jamthecat | Sep 06, 2011, 11:21 PM EDT

  America's always had lunatics in positions of power here and there (read some of the vile things being spouted about Kennedy by Texans in the 60s and about FDR by Republicans in the 30s) but now the GOP has been taken over completely by maniacs and selfish fools. They honestly cannot comprehend just how totally they are destroying everything they claim to stand for and are incapable of compromise in any way, shape or form. The sooner they are all removed from office the better this country's chances are to become great, once again, instead of continuing its slide into totalitarianism.

• patrickesq | Sep 06, 2011, 11:07 PM EDT

  I agree with most of the comments in the article. The current batch of Republican presidential hopefuls are a scary bunch for their unprincipled zeal to toe the extreme teaparty line to win primaries. Romney has to disclaim any credit for the Massachusetts health care reform that provided health insurance to many of its citizens. Texas under Perry has the distinction of having the highest percentage of uninsured residents. All of these candidates are against the Affordable Health Care Act, even though it is the only real hope of making health insurance affordable for millions of Americans, and make it available to people with preexisting conditions. The Republicans have no plan to help anyone obtain affordable health coverage. Instead they are champions of abstract rights not to mandate any one to invest in their health, even if that dubious freedom will result in millions of people lacking proper health care, with many ending up in emergency rooms and hospitals, to obtain necessary care at the expense of taxpayers and people who are able to obtain coverage. Too many of your readers who do not agree with your comments are unable to articulate any serious reasons for doing so, but have to resort to meaningless labels and name calling, to express their opinions. A lack of any serious dialogue, based on facts, will only continue to contribute to a deepening polarization of our country and a failure to reach reasonable compromises.

• seanomelbourne | Sep 06, 2011, 07:04 PM EDT

  The teaparty are a disillusioned lot with no soul or respect.They hide their racism behind a facade of unchristian metaphors.They are an ignorant lot who have no idea how government works and the Mitch McConnells of this world are gutless to defend constitutionalism because of the power of the Koch brothers and their cohorts in the teaparty. The U.S. is on a highway to hell led by the ignorance of people like Bachmann and co.The world needs a great and democratic America.I am not an American,I'm just on the outside looking in and I am sad at what I see.The demonisation of the POTUS seems to be the "raison d'etre" of the unchristian GOP right wing. DeMint and the rest of them fiddle whilst America burns

• tomdoh345 | Sep 06, 2011, 06:50 PM EDT

  Nice job Cahir. I enjoy reading the nutcase comments of the Irish Tea Party and GOP members. I wonder if the older ones were asleep when the horrors of pre 1937 US history was taught. In the US in the early and mid 30s unemployment was higher than the 25% un or under employment that we are enjoying now. The wealth gap was as high as it is now ( making a case that a countries wealth gap causes depressions ). There was no Social Security so you starved or became homeless in old age unless some one took you in. Union had to fight continuously since 1850s for what these ignorant TP and GOP members take for granted ( I can only assume that Irish TP and GOP members have never seen the movie "Molly Maquires" or if they have a did not get the message than we know why other ethnic groups think the Irish TPs are the stupidest of the stupids ). I observe that the average TP member can only make 1 statement in 10 that may have a grain of truth in it. The average GOP member may have 1 in 7. The TP and GOP even hate Obama when he is in step with them. For example the misnamed by both Obama and his critics "Pay Roll Tax Holiday" ( which is in reality the collection to fund the Social Security )is a very bad idea which the GOP has wished for. At the same time the MAX Salary CAP has remained at $107,000 ( which means that most US workers pay (before 2011) 6.2% of their salaries to the SS Fund while people like Gates and Buffett pay .000062% ) This underfunding of the SS Fund is playing right into the hands of the TP / GOP. About the stupidest people I know on the face of the earth are older Irish Americans collecting or about to collect Social Security in the next ten years who can not connect these dots and belong to the TP even when blessed with a history of Irish American union struggles and discrimination. These rants by ignorant TP / GOP members is a showcase of Stupidity and make me remember my father's words " You can not argue with Stupidity".

• 2BorNot2B | Sep 06, 2011, 06:18 PM EDT

  In fact, if my posts keep disappearing I'll have to go to Da MAN hisself and ask for justice. You know, he asked me to put him on my LinkedIn roster, that ought to count for something, ya think?

• 2BorNot2B | Sep 06, 2011, 06:10 PM EDT

  Whatssamatta Cahir, don't you like my posts? Don't you like the fact that Maureen Dowd is finally coming to her senses? -- Don't you believe in 'free speech' unless the speech agrees with your fascist guidelines?

• 2BorNot2B | Sep 06, 2011, 06:07 PM EDT

  To continue, Says Dowd "..Obama sent out a mass e-mail to supporters Wednesday under the heading “Frustrated.” echoing "a November 2010 parody in The Onion with the headline, “Frustrated Obama Sends Nation Rambling 75,000-Word E-Mail.” And we should reply, We knew you fooled them, so in all honesty -if you have an once of it- you should get the H out, because you're in over your head and you know it! -- The subsequent paragraphs penned by Dowd are an unabashed ode to the total disenchantment we knew was coming from the moment he stepped between those Greek columns at Mile High. You owe it to yourself to buy, beg, borrow or steal that issue because it’s cathartic! And here are some more teasers: “You know you’re in trouble when Harry Reid says you should be more aggressive." "If the languid Obama had not done his usual irritating fourth-quarter play.." -meaning he's always 'leading from behind.'- "How will he up the ante next time? A speech from the space station?" "Obama is still suffering from the Speech Illusion.." And this is a thing of beauty: "The days of spinning illusions in a Greek temple in a football stadium are done. The One is dancing on the edge of one term." "The White House team is flailing.. It’s repugnant." Ending with flourishes: "Maybe Obama was not even the person he was waiting for." - Wow! I think I'll just turn over and...smoke a cigarette. Thanks Dowd, that was orgasmic!

• 2BorNot2B | Sep 06, 2011, 06:06 PM EDT

  In reply to the headline here I'd offer the following from the hallowed halls (to Cahir) of the NYT. Pay attention folks because this comes courtesy of one the local IC heroines: Maureen Dowd.--Given that under most circumstances Cahir would be lapping at her feet and citing chapter and verse from his bible: the NYT, wherein she dazzles her lefty devotees with scintillating prose, it's a bit disconcerting to see why Cahir did not comment on Dowd’s op-ed piece of Sept 4, pgSR11. -- It is aptly titled: "One, and Done" - So here are a few of the gems this über-lib regales her public with: Referring to a comment made by O during his '08 campaign, she says that maybe about now he "is wishing that he had thrown the game."-- After 3 years of ".. zero job growth, using the same line of attack Hillary used in 2008: Enough with the big speeches! What about some action? --Then she offers: Americans ".. may no longer have faith that he’s a smarty-pants who can fix the economy." Actually, we KNEW he wouldn't, and yes, we take pleasure in rubbing it in!-- Their strategy for the never-ending campaign? "Obama’s re-election chances depend on painting the Republicans as disrespectful." -So people, wise-up and flip them off when you hear the usual mud flinging! --She states the obvious: "Obama can’t turn into F.D.R. for the campaign.. and he can’t turn into Harry Truman because he lacks the common touch. He has an acquired elitism." Umm..ya, it’s definitely 'acquired taste,' because his family lived among pigs, in mud huts, but he's gotten used to vacationing on 50K/wk Martha's Vineyard and Hawaii huts as many times as he wants to... cont'd!

• eiriamach | Sep 06, 2011, 05:40 PM EDT

  "How did it come to this?" Several answers. I'll suggest just one. As a nation, we failed to heed the warnings of the 1983 report from Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education. Its title: "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform," available on the 'Net. It warned of distress in the economy resulting from poor math, technical, and even literacy skills in the work force. It warned of deterioration in the political process as public schools "dumbed down" the curriculum to graduate the laziest and least interested offspring of a diffident generation. Youngsters were leaving school without an inkling about how federal or state government worked, what rights they had under the Constitution and federal and state laws, and how to safeguard their democracy! What has happened since 1983? No improvement has happened. In places like Texas, science teachers must present creation myths alongside facts of geology and biology, and history teachers eliminate whole population groups, ethnic minorities and immigrants, from the American narrative. In short, the failure of a once-great public school system that assimilated millions of immigrants and empowered the children of the poor to 'move on up'.... Oh! Right, that's WHY states' funding was pulled from education and the curriculum dumbed down. The last generation that learned history took to the streets with protests and changed history! 'Can't have that kind of thing, can we?

• hollabackgurl | Sep 06, 2011, 04:52 PM EDT

  The champagne bonanza being enjoyed by America’s super-rich is directly related to the drop in their tax rates - and as they prosper the public purse empties, so the nation faces devastating budget squeezes and the slashing of vital public services for the middle class and the poor.

• kelauggie1 | Sep 06, 2011, 02:33 PM EDT

  Mr. O'Doherty, your blog is so full of holes that I can scarcely know where to start to refute it - except to say that in total it is so left-leaning that you will topple over soon. What is causing the reactions you note is the belief that we can save our country before it is lost forever to socialism. You should really try to think independently instead of regurgitating the leftist drivel that drives your very weak arguments. Try reality - I know it's tough for your ilk, but once you get used to it, you'll see that it is better than your fantasy.

• Nicomax | Sep 06, 2011, 02:28 PM EDT

  You can't be surprised by GOP willingness to cut social programs while not negatively impacting those well off in anyway, since they have continually stated rewards go to the 'makers' and penalties are assigned to the 'takers', since that is what our economic system is all about, almost to the point of 'winner-take-all'.

• peterson | Sep 06, 2011, 02:09 PM EDT

  Ireland could use a Tea Party !! Don't point fingers at the Republicans, -- look at what has happened to the Democrats and what they have done to the USA !! AND they can't blame that on Bush !!

• Jamcelt | Sep 06, 2011, 12:44 PM EDT

  The Christian Taliban has weeded it's way in there. America is in serious trouble unless it curbs the Christian right.

• hollabackgurl | Sep 06, 2011, 12:41 PM EDT

  Nonsense, not one Republican cares about the enviorment, they believe that global warming is a hoax - even after a year of the worst bad weather our nation has ever seen. Tea Party supporters hold signs saying “Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare.” The gap between the rich and poor is now so extreme that the U.S. is now the 42nd most unequal country in the world, below Cameroon and the Ivory Coast, and only just above Uganda and Jamaica.

• AengusOg | Sep 06, 2011, 12:16 PM EDT

  This article is merely divisive rhetoric. It is replete with hit and miss accusations without any reasonable examination of the points and counter-points. One difference between Democrats and Republicans that fits this article very nicely is that Democrats care more about the trees and Republicans are more concerned with the forest.For example, Democrats see the benefits of Medicare to individuals and Republicans view the red ink, fraud and mismanagement as an economic albatross. Both parties care about the same things, but emphasize different solutions to these problems. There really is very little difference between us. We are mainly separated by the strident name calling from both sides. I am proud to be a Tea Party participant.

• hollabackgurl | Sep 06, 2011, 12:08 PM EDT

  Rick Perry wants to end Social Security; Michele Bachmann wants to end the Department of Education; Rand Paul wants to end the government; Mitch McConnell wants to end the USA.

• hwodunnavent | Sep 06, 2011, 11:19 AM EDT

  First of all, the Repubs are not trying to dismantle the Constitution, but are trying to return power to the states where the Constitution first gives it, an example being the Dept. of Education. The Federal government has grown too large! Most recently added jobs were government jobs to run new government programs. Where is their income coming from? From the private sector taxes. Yes, government employees pay taxes too, but the percentage of tax return is quite small in relation to the amount of other's tax money needed to pay them. Business owners are fearful of hiring because of the uncertainty of new government regulations. Secondly, Repubs do not want to destroy the Social Security system, just eliminate some of the waste and huge expansion of recent years. It will take a long time to revamp the thinking of Americans who have been lulled into relying on Social Security for their retirement. Keep in mind there are millionaires in both political camps. Repubs do not hold all of those marbles. Thirdly, there are several gravy trains--the biggest being the one for people on government assistance. Why would anyone vote their source of income out of office? Why work when you can collect just as much by sitting at home. Many of those on assistance are legitimate claims, but there are thousands of able-bodied persons out there collecting assistance who could work if they had to. The other gravy train at least requires some work and perhaps wise investments. Maybe we could get more money in our system if we cut foreign aid to all those countries who are trying to destroy the American Dream they are so fond of. Now wouldn't that create a stir!

• RayGordon | Sep 06, 2011, 11:11 AM EDT

  The Republican Party has been hijacked by two very dangerous groups: a mostly Jewish Zionist neoconservative group of pro-Israel Likudniks and a group of Christian Zionists who support Israel for biblical attachments. Both groups support U.S. wars against all of Israel's enemies: Iraq, Iran, Syria, no matter the terrible costs in lives and dollars. Only Ron Paul can save the Republican Party and America with his philosophy of limited government, fiscal responsibility and a non-interventionist foreign policy.

• phinsman | Sep 06, 2011, 11:10 AM EDT

  Cahir, I completely agree with you... I don't understand why so many people only focus on the benefit of themselves, and not toward helping others in the their country and around the world.

• cathy/marty | Sep 06, 2011, 10:35 AM EDT

  YOU ARE A TRUE LIBERAL WITH ONE FOOT TOWARD SOCIALISEM.YOU CASTRATE THE REPUBS. FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE AND SAY NOTHING ABOUT THE CLOWN IN THE WHITE HOUSE WHO IS DESTROYING THE COUNTRY. SPOKEN LIKE A TRUE LIBERAL CAHIR

• eileend | Sep 06, 2011, 10:34 AM EDT

  Colkelley--considering the right has Limbaugh, Beck, the entire Fox network and controlling interest in the Congress, I'm not exactly sure how you can say that the left has made you shut up. I would also seriously like to know how Obama is rewriting the constitution. Because if he is, I would object. I agree that what I'm hearing from the Tea Party sounds as if they are the ones who want to dismantle the constitution in order to protect it.

• The Waltons | Sep 06, 2011, 10:10 AM EDT

  Once again, the typical Libtard journalist finds it impossible to comment on the positive aspects (LOL) of his party so his only alternative is to bash the opposition.

• colkelley | Sep 06, 2011, 09:51 AM EDT

  Lincoln was NOT known for "extreme honesty"...he was known for being the first Professional Politician. Asking Cahir to write objectively about the Republican Party is like asking Obama to reveal his college records...ain't gonna' happen. You forget that the Democrat/Left-wing concept of "freedom of speech" is that they are free to speak and you are free to shut up if you do not agree. The Dems/Liberals are the ones talking about rewriting or - as Obama has been doing recently - simply ignoring the Constitution. Cahir simply proves once again that, in his near-total ignorance, he is the smartest man he knows.

• JamesDempsey | Sep 06, 2011, 09:49 AM EDT

  Cahir, a very well written piece and some of the same questions that have boggled my mind when it comes to the USA. I wish I could answer them for you but I cant. I am coming to the conclusion that there are a great number of wealthy americans involved in politics who a are firstly crazy and secondly religious fundeMENTALISTS or just a mixture of the two. My biggest question and the one that sparked my interest into the likes of republicans is why does the USA "land of the free" arm and so strongly support a criminal nation like Israel ? Unbelievable

• TheOldPerfessor | Sep 06, 2011, 09:40 AM EDT

  The Republican Party was started by a man justly noted for his extreme honesty. Today's Republicans have to check the Spin Room every day to find out what they believe. True that they can't stop talking about their love for the constitution, but in their next breath they want to change it to fit their agenda of hate and intolerance. True that they won't ever let you forget how pious they are, but listen to their "religion." All they talk about is the Old Testament. All of that peace and love and turning the other cheek just doesn't fit their style. They ran on the platform of "getting jobs," but the only trick in their bag is the tired old "trickle down" chestnut, so they haven't really created any jobs. They are a wonder. Make way for the new "Know Nothing" party.