"GOP is a mummy-wrapped skeleton sitting in its own chilly mausoleum of bilious resentments and creepy sentimentality."
I am the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Hoosier Republicans who marched through Georgia with Sherman, endured jobs on the Pennsy, and then survived the Hitlerites from Omaha Beach to Berlin. My father is at Arlington now and would not at first be comfortable with my saying what he himself could see in his last years as he watched the Keystone State become solid blue. The Democrats win just because the Republicans have disqualified themselves as leaders with their greed, cruelty, and surprising clumsiness. From Herbert Hoover to Robert Taft, from the Bush clan to the ridiculous Tom DeLay, not one note of grace, not a convincing moment of understanding that the Republican Party is about honest liberty for honest, laboring people--not about Wall Street, the tax code, chasing Reds, or bullying the lonely.
Vigilant Democrats worry today that the Republican Party is only playing possum, or that it can be revived by extraordinary means such as a Martian invasion. In fact, the GOP is a mummy-wrapped skeleton sitting in its own chilly mausoleum of bilious resentments and creepy sentimentality. What remains to call themselves Republicans are baldly badly educated or just prankish Confederate re-enactors--chubby men in gray and butternut suits with gold buttons and feather-tipped hats, clanking down stairs with shiny sabers. A handful of them are just boors from the South who look poorly on horseback and wave unread Bibles while calling for Billy Sunday to rise like the gold market.
What about Ike and Richard Nixon and the worshipped California cowboy manqué Ronald Reagan? Not one of them cared a toothpick for the Republican Party of their time and each struggled mightily to remake it. Ike was indifferent to partisanship: His beating of the splenetic Robert Taft in 1952 for the nomination was the success of a conqueror over a sharpie. Nixon was a troubled, spiteful Quaker who despised the Republican Party as the "Eastern Establishment," and who governed as a liberal Democrat with the apostasy of wage and price controls, the EPA, and embassies to the mass-murdering Mao and the hollow Brezhnev. Reagan was a right-wing Democrat from homespun Illinois who, after years of failing in Hollywood and then charming California, swamped Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale with the passionate votes of the Democratic Party. I have long suspected that the Kennedys voted for Reagan twice.
What about 1994? Georgia's Newt Gingrich (born Newton McPherson in Pennsylvania to teenaged parents whose father immediately scrammed) was a gifted opportunist and compulsive gabber who asserted before the 1994 election that "Clinton Democrats" were "the enemy of normal Americans." Gingrich made other heated claims that left no Yankee Republican in doubt that this was a man who dreamed to be either Jeff Davis or his butler. The Gingrich-led takeover of the House, matched by the cranky Bob Dole's suzerainty in the lifeless Senate, can now be regarded not as a Republican comeback but as a transitional blip in which the baby boomers and Gen Xers established a new leadership of the Democratic Party.
As Speaker of the House, Gingrich wasted four years talking aimlessly about "normal Americans." Then, after he failed against Bill Clinton with the silly ploy of using Monica Lewinsky and her Inspector Javert, Ken Starr, Gingrich fled to Fox TV to ramble harmlessly about "moral tone" and his enemies, "the very small counterculture elite." Gingrich's talking points have attracted imitators over the last decade, chiefly the Gingrich mini-me Karl Rove and Rove's carny creation of George W. Bush.
There is much to explicate about Rove and Bush in the White House--their fearful temperament, their petty theories of governance, their inability to shoot straight so that, at firing at the lunatic bin Laden, they hit the cretin Saddam Hussein. But in terms of the death of the Republican Party, there is nothing original. The Rovian Bush midway was followed by the cartoon candidacy of John McCain, who spent months imitating both Popeye the Sailor and Sarah Palin's Uncle Sam. That McCain didn't claim to be more than an aviator, and that Palin didn't claim to be more than a moose hunter, demonstrated that neither had need of, nor interest, in the Republican Party's history or meaning.
What about the Republican Party right now? Isn't it on radio and TV claiming to be the party of fiscal responsibility and American power? Bypassing the stupidity of these claims, I am on radio, on what is called right-wing radio, and it is easy for me to see that my loudest colleagues, who compulsively repeat the cant of Conservatism for Dummies, are not sincere students of the Republican Party but rather barkers, hookers, establishmentarian jesters, cultists, and, in the worst instance, just thatch-headed whiners. Fox News is a parade of wet-eared Republican office holders, yet there is usually just one each allowed of the categories the Democrats own in multitudes: a Jewish-American, an Asian-American, an African-American, a Hispanic-American. Then there is the beauty pageant of fast-talking, rude Fox blondes--if they are not all the same woman in mood swings--who stridently mock the Democrats, yet have almost nothing to say about the Republicans, as if the party was a disappointing ex or mother's latest beau.
The party's death 76 years ago was never more obvious than over the last six months of the financial crisis. The Democrats sensibly blamed the feckless, bootless Bush administration for the collapse of the markets. Tongue-tied Bush and dyspeptic Cheney defended themselves with grunts and sarcasm before they surrendered to Congress by sending out the plutocrat Hank Paulson with a plan called TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). A breathing Republican Party would have brought out the flintlocks, boarded the windows, and settled down for a defense of the republic. Instead, the Republican leadership in the House and Senate rushed to grab the pork bribery and vote with the Democrats. John Boehner, Roy Blunt, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and Judd Gregg distinguished themselves as dhimmis and were later rewarded by the victorious Democrats by being granted parakeet cages for offices in the new Congress. The House Republicans now boasts that they voted a goose egg against the stimulus package, but this was just the twitching of the corpse. The truth about the House Republicans--cowards, sycophants, and snobs just like 1930's lot--is illustrated by the fact that 85 of them voted for the ludicrous AIG bonus-confiscation bill written on the back of a parking ticket.
The Republican Party's death doesn't really threaten anyone, and I puzzle why Democrats and independents who vote Democratic spend words and worry debating the look of the corpse. We few Republicans with long memories wander around the cemetery admiring the tombstones and enjoying the rain. I can hear you doubting that this could truly be the end. The final stage of grief is acceptance.
John Batchelor is radio host of the John Batchelor Show in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
If you're a grandson of the Republicans who marched with Sherman, you're more of a Democrat than a Republican. The names and labels have been changed. In the old days, the Southern Democrat was the most conservative of all Americans and Lincoln was the moderate-liberal.
As for the newer version of the Republican Party that we've been living with for generations, the demise had much less to do with the economy and more to do with (a) the Christian right's attempt to force its religion on the country via the ruling Republicans and, (b) the self-absorbed arrogance that led to first-strike wars and the adoption of torture as a legal tool, all the while sneering at the rest of the world. [Full disclosure = I am a Christian, but not from the religious right.]
The economy would probably not have done you in. This and all governments know that if you give "the people" enough morsels and circuses to keep them from revolution, they will work in your factories for crappy wages and diminishing benefits. They will ensure that you not only remain rich, but acquire more and more riches every year, and they will do so with little or no complaint because you have them convinced that without you they would have nothing. The best recent example of this is the mega-millionaires who destroyed the economy, but require huge bonuses to keep them in their jobs because ..... the whole thing will fall apart without them. They cannot be replaced. It's a new version of the same story, but people buy it in every generation.
"just"????? Surely there must be other reasons, such as...hmmm...perhaps lots of people disagreeing with the GOP, it's policies, what it stands for, its philosofies, etc.
or do you mean that the Republics lost "just" because they were greedy, cruel and politically clumsy- such trifle flaws, that are but a mere waste of the time it takes to mention them!
"The Democrats win just because the Republicans have disqualified themselves as leaders with their greed, cruelty, and surprising clumsiness."
As an independent that has voted more times for Republicans than Democrats I would wholly agree with the thesis of the article. The Republican Party is dominated by the likes of intransigent zealots like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Laura Ingraham. The Republican party used be a party of fiscal restraint, smaller government and less intrusion of your life by government. It has forgotten the majority of the silent middle value population. These people are as bad as the current group of ultra liberals like Maxine Waters, Pete Stark, Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers, Charlie Rangel, Nancy Pelosi and Chris Dodd. Why can't we elect a government that has middle of the road values such as personal responsibility, you get everything in life through hardwork, a good education and being kind to people; and the government is not the solution. The America of today wants immediate satisfaction, take no responsibility, blames some one else for their problems and wants something for nothing. These aren't Republican or Democratic issues; they are a change the values that made America the envy of the world.
It became evident to me in 2004 that the Republicans were on fumes and about to crash and burn. No one believed. But it was clear that all they had was fury and fear and that lasts only so long. Governing is about pace and responding to complex problems with verve and intelligence. It's just a plan fact that you have to pace yourself, which is to say act like an adult and not a child stomping its feet when there's a disagreement. During Ws first term, I remember there was a lot of talk that he was the new Reagan. Certainly, W wasn't the return of Ronald Reagan. The Republican idea of Reagan today isn't even Reagan. "Reagan" today, a mantle every conservative likes to appropriate, is merely a vanity mirror of "greed, cruelty, and surprising clumsiness" that they pick up and preen in front of out of insecurity, which the base responds to like a dog whistle.
You might say W's election was the clearest sign of the Republicans nearing demise. It's too bad they burned down they country on the way out the door.
But as for why Dems are poking the Reb's corpse with a stick? Hey, we've seen slasher horror flicks. Just making sure it's staying down. I suggest a dead check, a couple of bullets to the head. You can't be too careful.
We should probably wait a few years to see if the GOP is really dead, don't you think? The Whig Party didn't just crawl into the darkness, it was torn apart by a very divisive issue, slavery. I don't see anything on the current political horizon that resembles the looming catastrophe of 1861.
Besides, the problem has never been the GOP, the problem is voter ignorance and ideological groupthink. You can change the name of the party from the GOP to the Freedom Party or the Liberty Party or some such garbage, but as long as there's a solid block of Americans who willfully embrace hysteria and demagoguery, nothing will ever change in this country.
Both parties are ripe ready to reinvent themselves. The Dems, nearly have destroyed the US with their Multi-Trillion Dollar "socialistic programs" - Obama apologizing for America? Why, because he knows he just bankrupted our country - took away our freedom to make our own business decisions by having the EU (European leaders) decide what CEO salaries should be.
Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, so will the GOP.
scathing commentary -- but if I read or hear one more person make a claim that the US Army "survived the Hitlerites from Omaha Beach to Berlin," I'm gonna lose it.
It was the Soviet Union that fought the Battle of Berlin -- the US and the rest of the Western Allies wisely stayed out of that fight. (good thing, too: the Red Army lost 100,000 men in that battle)
If you're going to use historical examples, at least get your facts somewhat straight.
Oh, and BTW, my dad actually did fight the hitlerites -- in Italy, geting wounded twice in the process -- and were he still around, he'd be the first to call bullshit on historical ignorance like this...
A very astute analysis of what went wrong. GOP greed and subservience to Wall Street opened the door wide for what followed, a European-style socialism eager to subsume the country in what is called the "international community." Only when there are small degrees of difference between us and the rest of the world -- quaint national customs and the like will be permitted -- will the left be satisfied. George Bush nailed the coffin shut for the Republican Party.
VenusMuse - aka idiot. Please don't comment anymore. You are clearly out of your depth when it comes to intelligent, reasoned reponses to intelligent, reasoned articles.
Great commentary. I think it would be good for this nation and the GOP if more conservatives who felt like you spoke up and distanced themselves from the black helicopter crowd. The problem is, I don't know if anyone will be able to hear you over the screaming of those barkers, hookers, establishmentarian jesters, cultists, thatch-headed whiners, and wet-eared Republican office holders you refer to. Instead of putting emphasis on intelligent, rational discourse, we've become a nation that gives a megaphone to those who can say the outrageous things in the loudest possible fashion. There are ideas and beliefs in conservatism that I think the majority of Americans believe in, but the GOP is unfortunately becoming known less for that and more for being the party of the tinfoil hat-wearing crowd who are running out to the gun store to stock up because they think Barack Obama is going to try to declare martial law and put them in FEMA-run concentration camps.
I've seen this guy here several times. He appears to be a bi-coastal apologist who couldn't pick up a station out here in flyoverland. The fringe has hijacked both parties who are manned by members of the professional political class and ruled by the Lords or political royalty. Obama has taken the Democrats to such extreme territory that this may be the tipping point where real people take back the process and send the professional political class looking for real jobs. I think we see where partisans who only lust for power have taken us.
What is going to rise from the decomposition of the Republican Party is a Centrist Party, focused on the Constitution, which is essentially a conservative blueprint to limit government authority and protect individual liberty, a more radical notion today than in the 18th century. Why try to reinvent the GOP? With all its baggage, it deserves to go. And please let all the pseudo-Christians go with it (emphasis on pseudo).
So the GOP is dead?
I thought it was the "Republicans Smell Weakness in Obama"? http://tinyurl.com/cghkxr
That's what JB said here about 45 days ago?
I'm sorry but the cynic in me sees JB up to his old chameleon tricks taking positions that serve his career more than reflect his true thinking.
I guess JB is either betting that the "barkers, hookers, establishmentarian jesters, cultists, and, in the worst instance, just thatch-headed whiners" either don't know how to use The Google or that he and they will soon be parting ways and that he needs to do an ideological makeover to land the next gig.
If JB is so down on Fox, why does he go on it so often and publish those appearances on his web site so often? http://tinyurl.com/d57gzu
It is so refreshing to hear a true republican recognize that this is not the party of Lincoln, and in fact it has failed to live up to its true ideals for many decades. There was a time I could respect republicans. That started to decline during the Reagan years. Then they started to show the beginnings of the neo-con cancer that has infected the party and made it a blight on our nation. Obviously electing (and I use that word loosely) the idiot Bush and his band of pirates and pilagers truly was the high water mark of the descent into darkness by the republicans.
Ding dong the witch is dead! Oh, but she has an evil twin sister, oh my. As long as there are evil greedy people who care more for money than people, wrap themselves in the flag and tell us that those who don't agree with them are unpatriotic, who are blindly sefl-righteous to the point they would bring down the republic to satisfy their own naked greed, then there is a danger the neo-con republican party will re-emerge. As long as these base people exist in any significant numbers then I will hedge my bets. Let's hope that their demise continues. Listening to their idiotic and arrogant ramblings is certainly doing more to insure their party continues to be marginal than any other factor.
My great-grandfather didn't get to march with Sherman because he was marching with Phil Sheridan, and my father was born practically on the banks of the Republican River in souhwestern Nebraska, a GOP-founded state.
Their brand of Republicanism would be unacceptable and even offensive to today's Republican Party.
Lo, how the mighty have fallen!
The whole article is about what the Republican party ISN'T. It wasn't Reagan or Nixon, it wasn't Bush, Gingrich or Rove... well, what is it then? And are we supposed to care? Most of the people alive today only remember those people. If you are such a historian, then explain what you think a good Republican is, other than your grandfather. If the Republican party died out in 1933, then what is the point of your article? Become relevant.
VenusMuse,
I think you have a thin understanding of socialism out of knee-jerk fear of a cliched communism. Obama" apologized" for dragging Europe and the rest of the world into ruin, both economically and in Iraq. BTW, the reason we're starting to see something of a rebound on Wall Street (check Bloomberg) is because Obama had to make a necessary deal with the devil, i.e. Wall Street, the very essence of capitalism, to open up the credit flow so that investment begins again and people in small and big town America can get their jobs back. As for his other "socialists policies" that he recently passed, He promised every single one of them during the election. It's hardly a plot or a surprise, much less some deviant turn toward the dark side. He won. He has the votes in congress. His popularity is through the roof. It's an investment in the future, like taking out a loan to go to college. Suck it up. That said, my guess is that you're a young, under 30, fighting the good fight for the GOP. By all means. But if you're going to help it get its act together at least try to think reasonably about how that will be done rather than falling in line with hysterical talking points. For a fear clues read some William F. Buckley jr., the intellectual founder of the modern conservative movement who rebuilt the party last time. Buckely was man of courage and broad insight, who I didn't agree with, but who would tie Limbaugh to a tree in a backyard until he learned to stop pissing on the party.
Good luck with the rebuilding and try not to hit each other with hammers to often . . .
You got the wrong party in your statement, VenusMuse. It's the Republicans who have almost bankrupted the countries with trillions in debt. They have racked up trillions in debt since Reagan, in peace time, in bull markets, in periods of huge economic growth, they have spent, spent, spent. The only break in our huge run-up of debt since Reagan was Clinton, who actually cared about trying to balance the budget over the huge opposition of the Republicans who actually argued that "debt is good." What Obama has spent during a financial crisis, is a small fraction of the debt Republicans built up. They have been slowly bankrupting us for almost 30 years. And as for "socialist," it was a Republican Administration that gave over a trillions in public welfare to bankers, insurance men and car companies, with no strongs attached. Obama is spending money for actual projects that result in tangible products like bridges that won't collapse, improved hospitals and telecom infrastructure. That is capitalism -- you pay for a product or service -- as opposed to the pure socialism of the Republicans who give free money to already rich bankers.
flyoverland I have read many of your posts, and while I suspect we may disagree on many things I suspect we also have come common ground. I heartily agree with your observation that being governed by professional politicians is in large part responsible for many of our nations problems. We have career politicians who don't make decisions for the overall good of the people, but rather to further their own narrow political aims. I sometimes wonder if the bipolar political dialog we seem to have in this nation doesn't serve their cause. Keep us arguing about Dem vs Rep talking points so we can't get focused on the real problem, an entrenched governing status quo that seeks to further its own interests over those of the nation at large.
I think we can all agree VenusMuse is dellusional. It's a shame she takes up space on this blog when she has nothing of any substance to say. You can sum all his/her posts up as "I'm right and you're wrong, but don't ask me for any details please!" She is obviously a Limbaugh and Hannity fan, and probably even a member of the Savage Nation.
The G.O.P. is dying for many reasons but mostly it is that hypocrisy, Hate, Divide and conquer @ all costs game plan has come back to bite them. We can tit for tat and say that ALL politicians are evil but the G.O.P. has truly set a new standard. I am a life long Democrat but live on Oregon where we used to have moderate REAL world Republicans that received votes from all persuasions, but unfortunately to be a Republican today with any power one must kiss the back side of the likes of FOX news and Rush Limbaugh.
What's the Matter with Kansas is probably the most astute commentary of what the G.O.P. base is and how the like of Rove milk it all the way to the bank, errrr bankrupt I mean.
Venus Muse is a "Typical" wing nut that the G,O,P. calls the BASE; this truly small minority of the party has destroyed it. If it does RISE again it will not be powered by ignorant rubes like Venus.
I think someone on TDB is finally giving Buckley a run for the money in entertaining, verbose skewerings of American politics!
Hey Venus, less you forget it was a socialist program, the Tennessee Valley Authority, that actually SAVED the south. Before it's passage in the 30's the south was living 100 years BEHIND the rest of the nation pickiing their banjos in the dark. I suggest you educate yourself before you start typing
"The reports of my death have been greatly exagerrated." So said Mark Twain.
My fear: Even a corpse can bounce. As a good liberal I am ready to form a committee to cut off conservativism's head, sprinkle it with garlic and roach powder, burn it's morally bankrupt corpse, tie it to an old wooden door and send it over Niagara Falls.
It's the only way to be sure
The GOP is not fiscally conservative, except when it comes to spending for U.S. citizens and infrastructure. The GOP is fiscally profligate when it comes to making the super-rich richer, protecting large corporate interests and lining their own pockets in boondoggles camouflaged as military spending.
Not that I'm a true believer in the Democratic party these days, but at least they're not relentlessly assaulting us with outrageous cynical hypocrisy and lowest-common-denominator, fringe-inciting propaganda.
If the GOP is in its death throes, it's going to take out as many innocent bystanders as it can before it goes, with all the assault weapons it's been collecting.
I think 'hammer' said it best.
To add to that, the rampant nuttiness that made me historically shy away from the Democrats has now seemingly taken over the Republicans, so I no longer hesitate to vote for a Democrat, or some cases just not vote or vote for the Libertarian, which is much like not voting.
It seems to me, part of the reason anyway, that the population by the year 2050 will be half black, is the stance the Republican party has on abortion.
These folk are not likely to vote Republican. This is another way the Republican Party did it to themselves.
The problem is not ideological Republicans like Rush or Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity or Newt, etc. The problem was the corruption of the Abramoff/DeLay/Foley/Stevens sort, and the drunk sailor spending that was associated with them.
A thoroughly enjoyable ripping read. As for the G.O.P. forget R.I.P. I hope they R.O.H.!
One of the GOP's favorite sayings- and one which they totally ignored the philosophy of- is, "All that's needed for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing". Well, that's what happened to them. Their good people did nothing. They had complete control of two branches of government for 4 years- 2002 - 2006. They could have remade the United States in that time, including legislating and regulating abortion off the planet. They did nothing- except take all the money. So much for what the "GOOD" people could have done. Hopefully, they will never, ever get another chance.
Wow, you sure show what happened to the republican party. You put the blame right where it belonged.
I am not an independent. I am proud to be a Democrat. I am happy when people snarl the word "liberal" under their breath, or even better, angrily type it on this site.
The Republican party has openly been against the poor, the sick, minorities, and any kind of government organization except the military. They are a party of men who want war but never served, want no government aid but never suffered, and hate all minorities just for having the guts to try and stand up.
To pretend to lament the death of that is more than I can muster. I'm truly sorry some people in the party feel so sad. But the rest of America is feeling great. Like a huge weight has been lifted off. I hope the Republicans never recover.
Great article: both good analysis and a ripping good read.
Unanswered question: So what replaces the GOP? Democracy fails when there is no effective opposition. Look at Thatcherite Britain, or Japan under the LDP or India under the INC
Complements also to xbainx: When you are calm, you are wise. However, most of your other posts on this site have demonstrated neither quality. I must have hit the "flag it" button on at least 10 of your posts in the past.
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, l952-----
Thats the problem the Republicans have: they make a big fuss about "socialism" but Americans like the socialism they've got and will like more once they get it, like national healthcare. The Republicans won't dare cut it. Bush's downfall began with his gambit to defund Social Security.
I was entertained until the part where you did the gratuitious smear job on Fox's blonde anchors and their "mood swings". Really? Pull your head out of your a**. That was unnecessary, stupid, and 19th Century sexist.
I have been reminded that in 2004 after losing (Bush, 55 (R) Senators) Carville said the democrats were in a lot of trouble. Democrats like this clown Batchelor and others on this board seem to think they have seen the end of political parties and now a great Red Commnist lite Democrat paryt will rule the proletariat. It hasn't happened in America EVER and it won't happen now. It will mean that Republicans will make a comeback sooner than later as Democrats think they can run the country like the Soviet Union. That is something the voters will turn against very quickly and these accusations I see here at Daily Beast of the Republicans did this and the Republicans did that will seem pleasant memories to 70% of the voters. THE ONLY reason for Obama is it has been 28 years since Carter and in 4 years people will have buyer's remorse.
pga301-
Batchelor is no Democrat. You're the kind of person whose myopic stupidity has ruined what once was a relevant and substantive political party. You're the GOP Batchelor is running from.
If people do get Obama remorse, who will they vote for? Where is the alternative? Besides, when Obama grants amnesty and citizenship to the 30 million illegal aliens living in the US, he'll have a lock on 30 million votes.
Well said! The Republican Party especially since Reagan & then with W, went crazy & greedy with evangelical fervor to become exclusively the party that fought for the SUPREMACY OF THE WEALTHY!! As W said "the haves & the have mores, my base."
Oh, for pete's sake....
What did you do, Mr. Batchelor? Get a transcript of one of the right-wing radiohead rants, take out all the Republican/neocon buzz words and stick in contemporary Democratic/blue state words and phrases?
Except for the buzz words, rants from the Democrats and rants from the Republicans are interchangeable.
Really.
I hoped for better from the DB.
In 1976, I considered myself a liberal Republican; fiscally conservative, socially liberal. As a Republican precinct captain, I saw first hand how the religious right took over the Party, and that was it for me. I ended up voting for John Anderson for President. Since then, I haven't actually voted FOR anyone, but instead AGAINST; an awful choice in a democracy. Truth is, neither party is innocent of cowards, greed, cynicism, etc.... either now or historically. Where was the Democratic leadership when the Cheney/Rove puppet, W., waged senseless war, put the country in debt, and attempted to take away our civil liberties? The Republican Party was founded on noble ideals and intent, just like the Democratic Party. Both have moved far from those ideals, though at this point in time, the Republican Party no longer even remotely resembles the party of Abraham Lincoln. They can't go back, but only forward if there is hope. Nature abhors a vacuum. I think the Religious Right should have their own party, since they have only a few narrowly focused issues; they've screwed up the Republican Party enough, to it's likely death. Moderate Republicans and those who support them in middle America should create a new party, founded on the real traditional values of small federal government & fiscal responsibility and leave the social agenda out of it; leave the diviseness to the Religious Right.
I agreed with a lot of this article, especially with the sentiment that a lot of the pundits on Fox (and MSNBC for that matter) are just plain rude. When there are serious issues to be discussed it's okay to bring some levity but we should still be civil to the other side.
I just have to disagree with you about the stimulus, though. The Republicans only recourse was to come up with a good alternative idea, since they didn't have the numbers to block the bill, and they just didn't. If you're arguing that there should not have been any stimulus or TARP-like action at all, then you must lack a basic understanding of economics. Even publications with undying faith in the markets (i.e. The Economist) agreed that it just had to be done, and I haven't heard a no-stimulus option that wasn't a total fantasy.
It's easy to rant, John. Especially when you've had 76 years to gather your thoughts. The question is, what are we going to do about it?
Rowland, you missed PGAs point. In 2004, Carville (a democrat) was moaning about the Democrat's chances in the future, just like Batchelor (a republican) is moaning about the Republican's chances in the future, today. It's too early to make such a statement.
Mary50
Haven't you ever noticed that it's rather true? So many of the FOX female news anchors fit a certain profile. They are going after a specific demographic. (And they all have a specific personality type...)
************
I always take articles like this with a rather large grain of salt. Politics swings wildly. Just think... 9 years ago we elected an incredibly conservative (antithesis of we have now) Republican, and we now have a black liberal President named Barack Obama.
The author does bring up many excellent points. (He got a flair for the dramatic... or is a little "over the top" for my taste but "oh well"!)
Of all the "core" Republican values... where the HELL have they gone? They have become theocratic, big-spending, elitist, morally/intellectually bankrupt hypocrites. If FOX News is any indication of the state of the party and movement... God help us. It's as if the party has become bi-polar without any medication!
"Small Government"... Under the Republicans it has ballooned to massive proportions.
"Fiscal Restrain"... Under the Republican control the debt has reached new heights. It was only under a Democrat that we had a surplus... what is wrong with this picture? I used to vote Republican. Now I just shake my head...
"Fewer Taxes"... What? Yeah, for the top 5%... whoopi! That actually does the economy harm. If you've taken economics (this was also obvious in the Clinton years) the largest groups are the middle and lower classes and they are responsible for the majority of economic activity. It's like a poker game, when only one player has all the chips... games over.
"Small Business" Most of their support goes to Corporate America. (Not that supporting big business is bad, but not at the expense of everyone else... notice our current situation.) I mean come on... Give a poor man a little money and it's welfare, give a rich man billions and it's capitalism. What the hell is that.... This is the direct result of deregulation. (Deregulation isn't bad as a principle, but there is NO excuse for what happened here.)
"Less Government Intervention in Personal Life"... What? Who? Since when! They embrace a theocracy and form of Christianity on the extreme fringe (not all of them of course, but the fringe has far too much influence on the party as a whole) that would make Jesus Christ cringe. The seperation of church and state is a good thing.
I would love to have the Republican party return to its core values. At this point... I think we should retire the term "Republican" because it doesn't mean anything.
And to all the Republicans out there, we won't even start on the Democrats... my fingers are tired. I'm so sick of politics as usual.
Hey pga301-
If people do get Obama remorse, who will they vote for? Where is the alternative? Besides, when Obama grants amnesty and citizenship to the 30 million illegal aliens living in the US, he'll have a lock on 30 million votes.
That's pretty funny. I actually laughed. First time today. I agree, Obama remorse is a possibility, but is there anywhere else for voters to turn? I'm not sure about 30 million new voters by 2012, but certainly some portion of them.
Politics today and in the last half century has been about convincing voters who is to blame and for what. It's never about the pork or lobbyist influence or ethics (unless you're caught). It's always about following the leader.
Also, whenever we've had a change of the guard, it's usually about the charisma of the presidential candidate (as opposed to the less charismatic boob), promoted by the best, most vicious PR, supporting the one 'people can believe in'. Why did Gore (and many Democrats in congress) lose to GW? Not because Gore was a man of intelligence, class and integrity, but because he was boring! (Plus he was associated with that sex addict!)
Ya think Steele has a chance to pick up the GOP banner? His message is as boring and unoriginal as that of the GOP's answer to the democrat's incredibly charismatic black man and has as much chance as Sarah-straight-shoot'n-Palin of going up the ladder. How about the 'convenient catholic convert', Newt? Not a chance in hell! What were they thinking? I guess desperation makes political parties do some strange things to win support.
Timing (as at any time in politics) is a key factor. Last year when we heard the term TARP for the first time, the GOP had the best chance of sowing the seeds of, 'I've had enough and I'm not going to take it anymore!!', in a revolt against the incompetent and incoherent squatters in the GOP, but instead, they leaned forward and said, 'be gentle'. They should have shouted from the roof tops - 'they did this to you (voters) and we will make it right!'
Problem is, they have been a part of the problem as John pointed out and ring hollow, plus the press (no longer cowed by the Rove, Cheney, Rummy machine) took perfect aim in revenge for all of their 'leaning forward' in 2000-2005. The press is a powerful ally - screw with them, and it doesn't matter the message or political bias - you're screwed- eventually!
The voter doesn't give a rat's ass about or agree upon moral standards. Give them economic stability, is national and global security, lower taxes and not send their children home in body bags and you've got their vote. No one expects integrity in government anymore, least not ethics or morale leadership. That ship has sailed. The GOP at present is not able to convince voters they know how to lead and in fact are continuing the same rant as Cheney's croak from his legacy-coffin. Resurrection and reincarnation only occurs in religious doctrine; invention and originality happen when you start somewhere and demonstrating it to the masses.
You know what would be nice? Having three or four viable parties replace the Republicans, and a couple new ones sprouting up to the left of the Democrats. The Christian right could have its own party, the Christian left could have it own party too ( instead of all Christians having to be weird bed-fellows over one or two hot-button issues) etc etc.
Politicians would actually have to represent the people and have to compromise. Isn't competition an American value?
Oh, wait, this is how the rest of the democratic world does it..just not here in the US. Ok, so there would be some stale-mates, but doesn't it feel like the US has been in a stalemate since the late 80s at least?
I sure hope it's dead.
We just need to stuff and mount the body. Keep it in a closet to scare the Dems every 2 years. Otherwise they'll get sloppy.
Other than that the modern GOP serves no useful function.
"You know what would be nice? Having three or four viable parties replace the Republicans, and a couple new ones sprouting up to the left of the Democrats." wrote voteforgoat
This sounds good but doesn't work, after the election. If you want to keep the percentages for legislation the same noone can get to those numbers without a coalition govt (left/green, labor/right) to pool their votes. With a coalition you have stagnation.
Dropping the percentages to accomodate the splintered parties, means that as small a majority as twenty five percent of the nation can make the rules. You think politicans are flakes now? Wait till 24 percent of Congress decides to declare that trees should have civil rights, or that no other party can vote anymore. The lunatic religious contingency of the right usually hovers around 20 to 25 percent. No thank YOU.
"It's just two members of the same statist party fighting over whose friends will get the favors."
Richard Epstein on "The Big Two" American political parties.
shame on you, you are no conservative , you must be frtends with david brooks and his group who say they are conservatives, what a joke. must be one of those that loves obama in secret. well many are having buyers remorse now, he sure foolded some of these so called conservatives, they bash the party but obama is showing his true colors now, do you hear that buckley???
"Mary50. I was entertained until the part where you did the gratuitious smear job on Fox's blonde anchors and their 'mood swings'. Really? Pull
your head out of your . . . That was unnecessary, stupid, and 19th Century sexist. 1:25 pm, Apr 10, 2009"
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Mary - your railing suggests incomprehension. Have you ever watched the surgically-smiling bimbos on Fox? I have to do so professionally, and they have no pretense of depth, or breadth of knowledge, or intellectual foundations. There are several very bright ones, bless 'em, and their contract (the unwritten one) demands they show Clairol and cleavage instead of IQ. This is the edict of Dr Ailes, who probably missed a happy alliance in youth and now finds recompense for all unfulfilled American males who happen to be rabid ideologues. Thank you, Dr Ailes.
As for your smutty language, what _is_ the matter with you? You'd probably be happier at a different site.
One party rule - no checks, no balances. Rejoice comrades!! You have worked hard since the 1960s for this day. Destroy what is left of the opposition and we shall live in peace! Fear not of the Christians, for Islam will fill the vacuum preparing this world for the return of the 12th Imam الإمام محمد بن الحسن المهدى!!!