For weeks now the American people have witnessed The Republican Party seize upon and opportunity to strong-arm The Democratic Party into accepting laws through the use of BLACKMAIL. Never done before, they hold a raise in the Debt Ceiling hostage oblivious of the harm they are doing to governments around the world. Or, perhaps, they know and do not care. BLACKMAIL is too ugly to be used in American government. There must be an outcry from the public-at-large before it can be excised from The Congress!
I turned to Wikipedia for a description of BLACKMAIL:
“In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true and/or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats for the purposes of taking the person’s money or property…”
“Blackmail may also be considered a form of extortion. Although the two are generally synonymous, extortion is the taking of personal property by threat of future harm. It is the use of threats to prevent another from engaging in a lawful occupation and writing libelous letters or letters that tend to provoke a breach of the peace, as well as use of intimidation for purposes of collecting an unpaid debt. Some US states distinguish the offenses by requiring that blackmail be in writing.”
As I listened to Sen. John Thune (R-SD) this morning on “Meet the Press(NBC),” I found it shocking how Republicans feel no guilt for and excuse themselves from MANUFACTURING OUR CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS! There is no requirement that spending cuts be linked to a raise in the Debt Ceiling. It seems that on both sides of the aisles, BLACKMAIL is an accepted means of doing The Congress’ business…formerly “the people’s business.” Regrettably, we have developed a legislative class which operates out side of the way we live our lives as a Christian nation. One might say, “The Congress is not supposed to be Christian.” Well, shouldn’t it be moral? Shouldn’t The Republican Party let its agenda advance on merit and not BLACKMAIL?
No, Democrats are not angels. But, clearly, Democrats did not push our economy into default and all along they tried to get Republicans to compromise which is anathema to them. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE KNOW WHO TO BLAME FOR WHAT HAPPENS MONDAY OR TUESDAY.