Monday, April 27, 2009

The Four Horsemen of Republicanism

There before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell was following close behind him. ~ Revelation 6:7
Given how religious Republicans claim to be and how attuned they are to Biblical prophesy, I'm surprised they haven't noticed how closely their politics parallel the heralds of the Apocalypse.

Red Horse - War: What is more Republican that war? The lust for war defines who they are as a people and a party. They will lie for it, torture for it, even kill for it.
You and me love war
Doesn't matter what it's for
Chop the tree down, burn the root
Vengeance can be such a hoot
Warriors love War, War, War
~ The Bitter Suite, Xena

White Horse - Pestilence: With the coming of the Mexican Swine Flu it is proper to remember that a scant two months ago Republicans demanded that funding to defended against pandemic flu be stripped from the stimulus package. Add in their opposition to universal health care and you have a political party that is as pro-disease as any in human history.

Pale Horse - Death: Which is the party of guns and the death penalty? Which party wants to allow concealed weapons in schools and parks?

Black Horse: The Black Horse rider carries scales and says, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

Traditionally the interpretation of this horse is famine and, to be fair, Republicans are not particularly pro-famine. But there are other interpretations. The color black for Jewish scholars meant the absence of knowledge, ignorance. Republicans are well known for wanting to teach mythology as science. A better interpretation of the scales is poverty, people barely have enough money to feed themselves. This is a Republican core principle. From anti-unionism to their hatred of Fair Pay to efforts to eliminate the minimum wage to rich conservatives teaching that poverty builds character, Republicans may not be the pro-famine party but the are definitely the pro-poverty party.

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