Republican Distractions of our Time

Today we take a stroll down memory lane as we look at how the Republicans have distracted us from the real issues over the years. After doing some research to refresh my memory, I found some chestnuts that I was probably better off having blocked from my mind. Oh well, here's the list:

• The "War Against Christmas"
  
• born. 2005 Bush's approval ratings are tanking, and hey, it's October, the start of the holiday season and we're out of non-issues
• died. Oh, it's still very much alive!

• Terry Schiavo controversy
• b. March 2005
• d. later in 2005, when Bill Frist's television diagnosis of Schiavo revealed that Frist probably got his medical degree not from an accredited institution but from the Evil School of Medicine. One of his fellow students was this guy:

• Gay Marriage
  
• b. 2004 campaign season
• d. when polls closed on Election Day 2004
  
• Boycott France
  
• b. 2002-2003 leading up to War in Iraq when France was not supporting the Bush Administration's plans
  
• d. when wealthy Republicans realized that a boycott of France would require them to forego that ski trip to the French Alps and the purchase of fine truffles from Maison du Chocolat
  
• Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and their attacks on John Kerry
  
• b. 2004, once it was realized that Kerry was a distinguished war veteran and Bush and Cheney, um...weren't
  
• d. certainly not when it was proven that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were telling some Swift Lieeees
  
• The multi-headed monster that was the Whitewater investigation
  
• b. November 3, 1992 a/k/a day of Clinton's election
• d. January 20, 2001 a/k/a the day Clinton transfers the office of the Presidency to George W. Bush
  
• Anti-Flag Burning legislation
  
• b. sometime in the 1980s when it was discovered that somewhere in the country, an American flag had been burned, making that the 6th flag in the country's history to be set aflame
  
• d. 1989, in a Supreme Court ruling against a Texas law that even Antonin Scalia found un-constitutional
• Flag burning Amendment
  
• b. 1989 after Texas v. Johnson strikes down a flag-buring law and the non-issue folks behind the legilsation realized the only way to keep the issue in the news was to propose an Amendment to the Constitution
  
• d. still aliiiive though fades in importance when Republicans seize onto newer, more cutting edge non-issues like gay marriage
  

Here I was beginning to wonder whether they were running out of things, but the War Against Christmas Campaign is proof that it is impossible to run out of material when one has no stronger a desire than to wallow in victimhood and no higher goal than to divert the American people from issues of real concern like high heating costs, decreasing student loans and higher tuitions, stagnant wages, increasing poverty, and our country's participation in a war that's costing us hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives. Uh-oh, the local Target just put up another Happy Holidays sign! Better get right on that!

Feel free to add more suggestions to the list!