Why the GOP isn’t talking about the economy

>> michael eric dyson , contributor and a professor of sociology at georgetown university . good afternoon, sir.

>> good afternoon, my friend.

>> we've had a bit of comedy there, but there is a political horse race . it appears the playbook has now changed. house and senate lead ears today assaulting the president over the contraception mandate. you'd almost think the economy was fine and the culture wars are back. maybe that's what republicans want. i mean, should we call this back to the future 4?

>> sure, i think you're absolutely right because i think they want to get on terra firma on better ground where they are more noble, they think, stronger and able to be attack the president without fear of reprisal. they figure the culture wars are the front they're able to exploit to the advantage of the republican and conservative agenda while ignoring the extraordinaire woes of the economy and the difficulties that most americans have at the bottom of the rung of the ladder of success.

>> and i guess it's also great, sir, having newt gingrich out there because he can quickly reprice his contract for america with america from the '90s. he could start a culture war alone in a phone booth , couldn't he, newt gingrich .

>> no doubt, except he wouldn't be a superman emerging from the clark kent booth. he's more like a guy who's a darth vader if we can mix metaphors bringing doom and gloom to the universe and the force be with us and certainly not with newt out there and ironically enough, telling mitt romney that the safety net is turning into a spider's web. well, the problem is that newt gingrich wants to put all the poor people to work as janitors and dismisses the necessity of dealing equitably with the issue of race. so the republicans have quite a melee going on over there, and the longer this he extend brother bashir, the longer obama forces and the president have to really gird up their loins and figure out a strategy to be able to beat them in the fall.

>> interesting, professor. newt gingrich is in ohio where he almost will literally went nuclear today. listen to this.

>> you think about an iranian nuclear weapon . you think about the dangers to cleveland or to columbus or to cincinnati or to new york. remember what it felt like on 9/11 when 3100 americans were killed. now imagine an attack where you add two zeros. and it's 300,000 dead. maybe a half million wounded. this is a real danger. this is not science fiction .

>> professor, is nuclear talk like nuclear weapons , is this not a sign of utter desperation by mr. gingrich?

>> he's going newtclear for sure. it's a chain reaction setting off some horrible thinking. now you're trying to reintroduce the bear and the cycle, trying to reintroduce the scourge of russia and the soviet union as the predicate for american fear. any boogeyman will do as opposed to focusing on the economy, talking about the ways in which the rich have to take care of the poor and bill yeas can't get escape clauss built into the contract with america . all of this is a diversionary tactic away from the central matters which is why i think the republicans are scrounging can around for the right person to carry their water.

>> i have to ask you about mitt romney now wanting everyone to know about his father's humble beginnings because the last time i read, his father was the ceo of american motors and a former governor. but now mr. romney only wants us to think of him as nothing but a carpenter.

>> that's right. he can't be like jesus and pull his 12 disciples together to change water into wine. the reality is, there's a great deal of revisionist history going on here. isn't it interesting, he says he's not concerned about the very poor and now trying to cast his father into the roots of the humble. it changes from week to week with mitt romney . the question is, where is the consistent center and the core of your values? where is your vision that regardless of taking a poll to see what tests well, you articulate to the american people what you feel is the right thing to do. every week it's changing. if the rich are in that week, he's going to stand with donald trump to receive his endorsement. this is quite interesting and quite intriguing and ultimately perhaps quite devastating and contradictory.

>> pro if fesser michael eric dyson . don't you ever chastise yourself for mixing metaphors. we appreciate them and welcome you every time you're on the broadcast.