Mean, Nasty, and Brutish

It's official: America is a nasty place.

As President Obama toured the country to drum up support for his jobs bill in an attempt to help the economy, the voters of the reliably Democratic congressional district in New York City's outer boroughs formerly represented by Anthony Weiner give Obama a drum beating not unlike Keith Moon's full-frontal drum assaults. The Ninth Congressional District sent a Republican, Bob Turner, to the House of Representatives for the first time since the 1920s. Voter dissatisfaction with Obama over the economy was cited as a primary reason for voting for Turner.

These Turner supporters were seemingly unfazed by the rightward drift in the Republican party, which crested to an all-time high in terms of heartlessness when presidential candidate Ron Paul, debating his Republican presidential nomination opponents in Tampa, suggested that a thirty-year-old man without health insurance who has a horrible accident and goes into a coma should be aware of the risks to life that come with freedom and that the government shouldn't be obliged to guarantee him health insurance. Whether or not Paul meant to suggest that the weaker and poorer among us should be allowed to die is irrelevant; the Tea party audience at the debate interpreted his comment as being an endorsement of such an idea, and that same audience subsequently applauded.

This all happened as a recently census report showed that poverty has risen steadily since 2001. One out of six Americans live in poverty now, and the unofficial (i.e., "real") numbers are likely higher.

My friend Karen Hunter suggested that the Democrats lost the New York congressional seat over local issues such as support for Israel - the ninth Congressional District is 40 percent Jewish - but when local voters cite anger toward Obama as a reason to vote for a Republican, you have to wonder how unpopular Obama is, whatever the locale.

My prediction: A combination of anger toward the Democrats and Tea Party hatred for Obama will bring a huge Republican victory in 2012. Obama will be the last Democratic President. The Democratic party will cease to exist.  New opposition parties will form, but Republicans will disenfranchise enough voters to give themselves a permanent majority. And America will become even more mean, nasty and brutish than it is now.

And then things will get bad.