I recently read an opinion column started thus:
And ended like this:
Here’s the complete column: Mr. Bush, have I got an exit strategy for you
Wow. But it isn’t the first time I’ve heard the opinion expressed that today’s Republican party has all but abandon it’s roots. And I’ve heard similar complaints (from Republican I would assume) that the neocons and radical religious right have hijacked the Republican party.
So what? More on the flip…
I certainly agree that political parties tend to swing more right or left depending on the mode of the nation, but it would seem that the current crop of Republicans have moved in a new and disturbing direction. Gus Stelzer, I’m sure represents the tip of an iceberg – there are a large and growing number of Republicans who are becoming alarmed and concerned. They are seeing a party composed of leaders who shirk duty, tarnish honor and place themselves above their country.
What has been most appalling to me is that Bush says things which are flat out lies. The man isn’t dumb, he’s gotta know he’s taken the Presidency to a moral dead zone, but I’m certain there’s a large percentage of Republicans who accept what he has said because they remain blissfully unaware that their party has been hijacked by pod people.
How do we help the Gus Stelzers of the Republican party? Or should we even try? I believe that we MUST continue to point out the moral abyss that the current Republican party is flushing itself down. The level of rancor, corruption and resulting political polarization which they have sown into the political process like so many poison apples is dragging everyone and everything it touches into the gutter.
I applaud Gus for speaking out, it’s long overdue. But it’s time for Gus (and everyone like him) to do even more. It’s time for you to help us get our country back.
I agree, its about time these folks wake up and see what they’ve let happen.
But I don’t feel pity for them, I feel pity for us.
After all, too many on our side are willing to do the same thing.
The Republicans were out of power for so long, they were willing to win at any cost. They assumed that the whole point was to gain power. Any Republican would be better than a Democrat, to them. And there were some good Republicans, and the Republicans they voted for seemed okay enough. They said enough of the right things, and delivered enough of the right things. Sure, they did some screwy things, but they were Republicans, and its better to get most of what you want than none of it, right?
Sound familiar? Eerily so?
The Conservative Agenda has been exposed as the rip off of America. But that’s hardly a reason to celebrate. The Schism is hopefully going to bring about a ‘revolt of the elders’ or whatnot — a return to saner Republicans. But there are still plenty of true believers who still love the agenda, but blame the current situation on the implementation (aka Bush/Frist/Delay).
Either way, the only way those folks join with the Democrats is to do a political enema to flush out the current crop of ‘bad’ Republicans, so they can start clean in 2008 with candidates that’ll push their agenda.
I wish Gus the best of luck. His old style of Republicans are infinitely preferrable to the current crop of ‘loot-and-leave’ Republicans.
The Democrats still need an ideology, a plan, a reason for the people to not just trust them to be better than the worst, but to want to see them in power.
Sure, a Hiliary or other centrist Dem would be infinitely preferrable to the current Republicans, and even preferrable to the old-school Republicans. But that’s the Left’s path to same problems the Right is just waking up from.
Who are these saner Republicans? They are the modern equivalent of the Nazi party propaganda machine from the 1930’s in Germany: tell the big lie long enough and enough ignorant citizens will vote for you. Reagan took our country from the world’s largest creditor nation to the world’s largest debtor nation; Dubya is burying our children and grand children under such an incredible mountain of debt that the only thing the fed. gov’t. will have money to do is pay interest (perhaps that’s the idea). But Republicans are the party of fiscal sanity. That’s big lie #1. You want to be secure in your backyard, your neighborhood, your country village or urban center or country you better vote for Republicans, the party of law and order. That’s big lie #2. Reagan sent marines to Lebanon and then ran away with his tail between his legs after his idiot policies turned them into a target instead of peace keepers. Bush 1, not Clinton, sent troops to Somalia with a humanitarian mission and then left them there with no direction after he lost the election. Dubya has mired us in a terrible war in Iraq that he started by lying, and has incompetently run because his only test of whether or not anyone is competent is an ideological one or one based on some Yalie buddy system so that we end up being governed by a bunch of “Chips” and “Brownies”. Big lie #3. Republicans are the party of a strong defense. If Republicans had been in power during the beginnings of World War II when England stood along against Germany, the U.S. would have been isolated and Europe would still be fascist.
The Republicans are uncanny at convincing people that they are something they are not. (Remember the trot out the “whackos” memo.) Unfortunately, in a democracy or republic, citizens (by voting like an ignoramus or not voting at all) get the government they deserve.
I have to agree. I am sceptical, but Gus seems to feel Reagan was the beginning of the end for the Repubs. So I would suppose that Ike was a good Repub by his standards. I would not really know since my first hand experience with Repubs starts with Ronnie Raygun.
As someone who has been aware of the war on terror long before W ever came along, I have stated that W has been an absolute disaster for the war on terror. 9/11 is the LARGEST SINGLE failure of the executive branch to defend our country. That tragedy and the subsequent compounding of disasters (by orders of magnitude) by Bush could leave one to argue that W policies and actions have advance the terrorist causes beyond their wildest dreams.
So I want my country back. And I’m looking for allies where ever I can find them. Perhaps an appeal to the Gus’s of the Repub party is a waste of time, but I will try at least once: Gus, don’t turn your back on your country because you’re disgusted with the Republican party. Work with us to get rid of them.