The GOP is dead on the Post of the Day
Note from Dan: Regular J.M. White posted the lines below on this thread and I didn’t want it to get lost there.
“The next few years are going to be a cannibal carnival within the GOP. Factions will congeal and dissolve. There may even be an outright revolt. It’s going to be like watching a really cruddy knockoff of “Survivor.”
This is great, Republicans. You have The Land of Milk and Honey right here. All you have to do is compromise and settle for it being The Land of 2% Milk and Locally-Farmed Honey. Instead, you choose to willingly walk into the wilderness, bickering amongst yourselves as you go. It didn’t have to be this way, you know…
This is the crop you’ve nurtured. You truly are reaping what you’ve sown. Like kudzu, the Tea Party is highly invasive and difficult to eradicate once it takes root. It smothers everything but itself, consuming ideology, tradition and integrity along the way. How this plays out in the end depends on the one thing you can’t seem to get right – compromise. Trees must sway with the wind or they will shatter and fall.
The cracks are showing and time is running out on you. 40 years is a long time in the world of politics. How long will you wander in your self-imposed exile in the wastelands? When you finally realize that 2% milk isn’t all that bad and locally-farmed honey is good for the welfare of your constituents, come on back to the table. We’ll keep a chair for you.
In the meantime, enjoy the show.”
January 5, 2013 - 2:27 PM
Like the post. If we are honest with each other, I think we can agree that our fiscal mess will require some sacrifices on our part. Higher taxes and lower benefits seem inevitable. But the sacrifices must be shared. The old, poor and sick should not bear all the burden of bailing out the country while the very rich get even richer.
J.M. White is not the only one who believes this.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/opinion/wolraich-gop-strategy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
The term spoiled brats comes to mind. I have a feeling Boehner will be shedding a lot of tears this year.
Keep on believing these stories. With newly redrawn districts that favor the GOP it going robbed quite awhile before they lose the house. They do though need to come together to be a force.
Was ment to say going to be awhile. Fun trying to type on a phone.
I long pondered the political relationships within the GOP. It chose to embrace the religious right as it’s base, which kind of seemed at odds with country club repubs who were more interested in fiscal and economic matters than the social agenda of Jerry Falwell. Now they have additional baggage of the Tea Party which seems to be an amalgamation different pots of political crazy.
I wouldn’t stick a fork in’m just yet. Stranger things have happened.
When mid thirties, Christian, white, rural, professional types like me are voting Libertarian instead of Republican or Democrat, both parties are beyond royally screwed up. The commentators on this blog are why I’ve stopped voting for either party when there is 3rd choice. The hatred and disrespect for fellow citizens & our country will only grow as long we have such “professional” politicians in office & spreading their lies through their respective media outlets. /end rant.
it heartens me to see the likes of J.M., Ron May, and Debbie (but only to an extent), smugly crow the way they are….
Always glad to hearten you, Frank.
Frank, both parties have been bitterly partisan and it’s a true shame that the citizens of this country are suffering because of it, but the fact that the Republican party has become the party of crazy is undeniable. Republicans with brains are admitting that.
I hold no illusions that the heavily gerrymandered districts will keep Republicans in some semblance of power for the foreseeable future, but the only thing that’s been holding them together this far has been their unity. If these newly awakened faults within the party rupture, that semblance of power will be tenuous, at best.
Frank, I’m not crowing at all. In fact, it deeply saddens me to see this happen to the Republican party. I still hold out faith that it’ll be good for everyone in the long run and I may even get my old party back, but I’m afraid it’s going to be a while.
Debbie@6:50
Republicans with brains isa rapidly becoming an oxymoron!
This GOP’er agrees. We have become the silent majority….and will soon become the silent minority. The democrats have had a brilliant plan and it worked to perfection…get the majority of the electorate dependent on the government and they will always have the majority of the vote. And…anyone that tries to take away anything, they (see: GOP) will be labeled as racist (this is wonderful for democrats in the current climate given an African America is president! Because clearly the only reason we would oppose government running our lives, deciding our healthcare, spending trillions of our money, ect… is because we hate black people!), and sexist, homophobic, we only care about the rich,ect.
Our friend, Dan Casey, is the perfect example of this liberalism. He plays all of these cards perfectly. He is a very smart guy but boy does he know how to hand out half-truths, spin information or give half the story while omitting information. In fairness, it is his job.
You will never hear a liberal tell you what percentage the “rich” actually earn vs. what percentage they pay of the taxes. Or share the fact that we could tax the rich at a 100% rate and still not pay our country’s bills. It just sounds so much better to throw out some big numbers, use words like “fair share”‘, and they know the dumb masses won’t question them.
So, yes, I have lost faith in our country and where we are headed. We watch the other countries fall apart…and then decide to do the same things they are…only it’s gotta work this time…right?!
JM White is right to a degree about the GOP being in trouble but dead wrong about the reasons, as leftwingers always are.
First, Romney only lost because of the freebie vote and the cheating. Romney probably wins a clean election. Secondly, it’s pure idiocy to claim the Tea Party is the problem in the GOP. 2010′s landslide demonstrated that. Leftwingers only say it because they know and fear the power of the Tea Party.
The real problem with the GOP is the establishment trying to “get along” with evil people. And that’s what the Democrat Party has become; the manifestation of evil. There is nothing good or noble or holy in any part of their agenda. It’s all about destroying this country from within. The Democrat Party has been 100% infiltrated by the Communists. The Communist Party manifesto of the 1950s and the current DNC platform are now indistinguishable.
but the fact that the Republican party has become the party of crazy is undeniable.
No, the crazy people are the ones saying we don’t need to cut spending after obama’s massive spending spree.
“A few weeks ago, former Reagan and George W. Bush adviser, Bruce Bartlett lashed out at his Party (which he has now been excommunicated from) saying, “The Republican Party was the Party of ideas and now it’s the Party of crazy people, ignorant Tea Party people – people who know nothing and are proud of it.”
“Earlier this month, Charlie Crist, who as recently as 2010 was a popular Republican Governor in Florida, switched parties and joined the Democrats saying, “What changed is the leadership of the Republican Party…I didn’t leave the Republican Party, it left me.”
“Republican Congressman Steve LaTourette blasted the Tea Party wing of his Party saying, “It’s the continuing dumbing-down of the Republican Party and we are going to be seen more and more as a bunch of extremists that can’t even get a majority of our own people to support policies that we’re putting forward.” He singled out, “40 chuckleheads that all year…have screwed this place up.”
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13581-republicans-are-the-ruling-party-of-billionaire-istan
OtherLaura, as a rural Christian you read as a stereotypical republican voter. That the GOP doesn’t get your vote is troubling for them, but I wouldn’t expect the democratic party to appeal to you. That doesn’t make them “royally screwed up”. Other things might, but not getting the vote of a self-identified “rural Christian” doesn’t.
Too bad the GOTP will look at a post like J.M. Whites as liberal drivel.
They truly will need to lose National Races by the dozens and be drug out of their rampart State districts before reality will set in on their childish actions.
It’s a shame too. Our system of Government requires 2 healthy political parties to function as the founding fathers envisioned. We need to have a addiction style intervention with the GOTP ’cause they just ain’t getting the message yet.
Who will McConnell dance with this time? Boehner has already abdicated his duties by saying he will not negotiate with the President of the United States directly. Do we the people have any recourse to remove the SOTH? If he refuses to speak with our President? Why did the House elect a drama queen for Speaker anyway? They sow the seeds of their own destruction without a doubt.
I fear this will not have a happy ending.
yeah, i get it Debbie, there are no crazy dems…only repubs. got it.
Now you know why I left in ’96. Saw this coming. The Republican Party had a good thing going until the nuts took over the party. Funny thing. The Republican Party isn’t saying much different than what Frederick Douglas, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X said, and what Black and Latino preachers preach every Sunday. 1) Believe in God. 2) Take care of your family. 3) Be personally responsible and don’t depend on government. 4) Don’t be a victim.
Here’s the problem. The nuts talk about “taking back their country” at the exclusion of others and believe a woman’s place is in the kitchen and the bedroom. You can be a conservative and believe in diversity.
You can be a conservative and still admit that America has a problem with social justice. You can still be a conservative and believe a woman is equal to a man.
I live in the real world where problems cannot be solved with a saying you can put on a bumper sticker and happy endings can happen like a 60 minute tv show. The nuts live in the 1950′S. I have no desire to return to the bad old days.
When you’ve lost Peter King, the party’s over.
Jeff Artis, welcome to the blog!
Wow, who knew? We managed to get “the majority of the electorate dependent on the government“? Did we do that all by ourselves?
Do any of you find any GOTP complicity in the way you drove them into our arms? No, of course not. As always, it is easier to blame us than look in a mirror. No news there.
Re: Jeff Artis @ 10:24 pm
Well said, sir.
And welcome the nut house — sorry, make that welcome to the blog.
Thanks Kristen @ #17 for the response. Because people try to pigeon hole people like me is why “I” think both major parties are out of touch/screwed up. I am a product of upbringing, education, environment and family life. However, I am also not the same person I was last year, five years ago or even will be next week, month or year. Neither major part gets that and die hard party kool aid drinkers will NEVER understand that people change. Yes, we have guidelines like the constitution, Hammurabi’s code, the 10 commandments, but until we All take responsibility for each other within those guidelines and quit following what the talking pretty boys tell us, then we will continue to have the mess of a political system we have now.
The Republicans have become the kings of the manufactured crisis. Can you imagine the howls if Democrats had opposed the Cheney regime with such fervor? Between 2000 and 2008 the GOP Congress raised the debt ceiling 7 times with no calls for budget cuts. Just four short years ago, Fox was telling us that anyone who opposed a sitting president in a time of war was a traitor. My how the times have changed.
I just love to hear people call the Tea Party (whose sole mission is to stop the out of control spending) crazy and extreme because I can imediately rule them out as a serious person. We are upside down as a country when we think racking up 16 trillion dollars of debt for our childern to payoff is normal and running for congress and voting to stop that trend is crazy. Sure, they’ve had some bad canidates that have said or done some really dumb things. But each party has that. I have nothing to do with the Tea Party. But watching from the sidelines, they seem to best represent what this country used to be when it was great. We’ve become that spoiled rotten kid who looks for his rich dad to bail him out everytime he makes a mistake. Nobody likes it, but we need some tough love right now. So call the Tea Party crazy and I will call you what you are: a crack addict who gets mad at the person who tells you you need to stop smoking crack.
19.yeah, i get it Debbie, there are no crazy dems…only repubs. got it.
Comment by Frank — January 5, 2013 @ 8:40 pm
Your words Frank, not mine.
“The Republican Party can’t stay exactly where it is and stick its head in the sand and ignore the fact that the country is changing.”
RALPH REED, a longtime Republican lobbyist and onetime leader of the Christian Coalition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/us/politics/big-battles-ahead-divided-gop-begins-soul-searching.html?pagewanted=all
There are nuts on both sides. Do we here in Roanoke want the same ideas as Nancy pelosi from S.F. I would say not. That fact remains that if you seen the congressional voting map on election night you would have to admit that the GOP in house house is going to control it for a very long time. Obamas wins in the battle ground states came from 3 or 4 counties while the rest of the map was red. That is telling me that unless the democrata live out of these areas the vote will stay GOP. Now they just need to get a backbone and stand their ground.
OtherLaura, we have a mess and we’re reminded of it constantly. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.
Now you know why I left in ’96. Saw this coming. The Republican Party had a good thing going until the nuts took over the party.,
Jeff,
What specific position of the GOP has changed since 1980, the year Reagan won on tax cuts and control of spending? Those are the two planks of the Tea Party.
You liberals always recite the standard talking points aboutthe GOP changing, yet none of you can tell us in what way their positinos have changed.
If you want a party that is unrecognizable from JFK’s era, look no further than the Democrats. JFK hated and fought against Communism. Now the Democrat agenda is indistinguishable from the CPUSA’s.
Well said, JM White. Unfortunately, the Republican responses thus far have been all too predictable.
- Gerrymandering will keep us relevant!
- Dems stole the election with Freebies; Dems are The Manifestation Of Evil; Dems are Communists!
- Dems won the Presidential election because their policies created dependency in a majority of the electorate, thus assuring Dems a majority of the vote. Dems paint Republicans as racist!
Hopefully, GOP strategists move past the paranoia inherent here and begin to craft a more reasonable strategy of inclusion. That Republican candidates have lost the popular vote in 4 of the last 5 presidential elections (from the excellent link offered by Debbie at 6:25 a.m. on 1/6/2013) should spark a review of their national persona. Here are a five observations that might help jump-start GOP introspection:
First, despite loud protestations to the contrary, a majority of people in this country favor a strong, reasonable national government. Shutting down this government is not a viable strategy.
Second, understand that the demographics in the US dictate a more tolerant and inclusive strategy. That Republicans
continue to complain about the poor as “takers” paints the Republican Party as insensitively biased against minorities.
Three, realize that women are, and will always be, a force in the electorate. Creating legislation that directly offends women is not a wining strategy – ever. And it is embarassingly biased.
Fourth, I suspect faith is very important to all Americans. Be keenly aware that how you define faith is vital. Attempts to
legislate faith go against the founding principles of this nation. Vociferous trumpeting of the Christian faith as superior,
again, paints Republicans as insensitively biased and unyielding. Embrace faith of all stripes.
Finally, citizens want to see their government work efficiently. Compromise is a laudable ideal. Rediscover that the
indomitable spirit of this country is rooted in its diversity and tolerance.
J.M. White is not the only one who believes this.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/opinion/wolraich-gop-strategy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Comment by Ron May — January 5, 2013 @ 3:30 pm
Great link, as usual, Ron!
Eddie,
The Tea Party was formed as a reaction to spending, but it has greatly expanded its mission since then. A lot of TPers are dumb and/or crazy.
Eddie, before you trot out the “The TP is all about spending” meme, do just a tiny bit of research into our local TP, which is nutty enough to have made the NYT. It’s got nothing to do with spending.
Comment by Suzie — January 6, 2013 @ 9:19 am
And the Lord spake, saying, “Yea, though you walk the valley of the shadow of Communism, you shall fear no pinkos. You shall lament them often, to the point of insanity, and I will hear you. Through endless repetition of acronyms and selective ignorance do you give glory to me.”
II Suzithians 4:20
@Jeff Artis – well said!
hey Mr. Jeff Artis,
Thank you for giving voice to conservative values. There are nuts on the conservative side which get the news all too often, and of course are fostered as conservative “leaders” by the lib-controlled media. The lib-media portray conservatives as charactures of what the libs like to demonize, nothing more, nothing less.
As you said so well, the values you layed out are strong in the conservative movement. The nuts, eh,…not so strong.
I think our best days are ahead of us.
But watching from the sidelines, they seem to best represent what this country used to be when it was great. We’ve become that spoiled rotten kid who looks for his rich dad to bail him out everytime he makes a mistake. Nobody likes it, but we need some tough love right now. So call the Tea Party crazy and I will call you what you are: a crack addict who gets mad at the person who tells you you need to stop smoking crack.
Comment by Eddie — January 6, 2013 @ 1:18 am
Eddie, if you’ve ever known an addict, you know the process of getting sober takes years, if not a lifetime. I think that is where thr TP misses the mark. They advocate severe spending cuts that ay cause unneeded pain. That said, I do agree that we, the people, are spoiled. It is high time we did our part by embracing reasonable spending cuts and increased taxes (and not just for the richest). We just can’t expect to do everything at once.
The story of the Tea Party is a story of an unconventional marriage of inconvenience:
Once upon a time, things weren’t looking so good for the GOP at the end of the Bush debacle. The party was in shambles and energizing the fracturing base was a daunting task.
This upstart group of fiscal/social hyper-conservatives calling itself the Tea Party was starting to get media-time and generally just Ross Perot-ing up the scene. From the start, their ideology meant that they were intended to go even further right, and this started to attract some within the rank-and-file of the GOP.
The main body of the GOP had problems within itself already. There was a growing, dissatisfied contingent that felt the party had become too centrist and too secular – the religious right. The ideology of the Tea Party seemed to be a better fit for them.
The Grand Old Party, faced with the possibility of becoming a small island in the middle of the Centrist Sea, had to do something drastic. After all, they had a legacy to uphold. They’re the GOP. They couldn’t allow their party to become the third, or even fourth party. And so, an unholy trinity was born.
First, you have the hardline Republicans, who will vote Republican, no matter what. They may have centrist or even leftist views, but loyalty to the party trumps all. These guys would’ve ridden the ship all the way to the bottom of the sea if necessary.
Next, you have the religious right. Many of these aren’t as socially hyper-conservative as the Tea Party and feel more comfortable under the tent of the GOP. They likely would’ve stayed even if the Republican party had fractured completely. Then again, religion often creates hyper-conservatives, too, and many had defected to the platform of the Tea Party. In my opinion, the religious right benefited the most from this marriage. They’re the meat in the sandwich.
Last, you have the Tea Party, who once the GOP welcomed into the fold, became a catch-bin for all the pols too radical to be called traditional Republicans. Has anyone noticed that the extremists are often qualified as Tea Party Republicans, not just Republicans? Especially when there is some bad press about them. The TP is the Cinderella of the GOP… except that the ball is over and the Prince isn’t coming because suffered an unfortunate buggy accident on the way there. It’s back to menial manual labor and taking the blame for everything that goes wrong for Cindy. For a group that has on more than one occasion threatened outright revolt, this will not stand forever. They’re dupes, yes, but not all of them are unintelligent dupes.
This bizarre marriage is not and was never meant to last; it’s just a tragically humorous story of how the Tea Party became the junk drawer of the GOP.
hey Jason Perdue,
i understand your analogy, but in reality, the process of curing ANY addiction, “is one day at a time.” period.
Eddie’s analogy was more to his point.
“Comment by Suzie — January 6, 2013 @ 9:19 am
And the Lord spake, saying, “Yea, though you walk the valley of the shadow of Communism, you shall fear no pinkos. You shall lament them often, to the point of insanity, and I will hear you. Through endless repetition of acronyms and selective ignorance do you give glory to me.”
II Suzithians 4:20
Comment by J.M. White — January 6, 2013 @ 10:25 am”
Excellent post. Especially the 4:20 part. ;-}
I wonder what the percentage of Tea Partiers are retired and collecting SS?
I see Tea Partiers as 2 wings. Wing one are the selfish oldsters who like the Tea Party which has promised not to change SS benefits for those already retired but intend to slash benefits for the younger generation. This in effect makes the young economic slaves of the Tea Partiers who continue to collect SS. If the TPers were truly serious then the old would sacrifice along with the young.
Wing 2 are the simpletons who don’t have a clue what they are supporting and are being used as tools to prevent the governments business from being done. See current GOTP lead House for example. Obstinate fools who refuse to compromise on any solution to our fiscal crisis what so ever. It’s the TP way or the Highway. What a childish outlook on a serious issue. Maybe if the TPer’s in Congress start stomping their feet and cry while they scream NO, NO, NO, NO they will get their way. Just kidding TP no you won’t.
Now, where did I sit that pipe down…
Jason Perdue at 10:03am, great post. I really admire your level headed thinking and ability to articulate it so well.
As for Eddie’s use of the common analogy of U.S. fiscal policy and an addict, I would agree with it IF it were refined to specify that the addict is a suburban white person who has not had to serve in national service, who has other habits like obesity and smoking subsidized by taxpayers, who doesn’t give much voluntarily to the public good and complains about the minimum they’re required to give, and despite not having bothered to exceed their own parents level of productivity, had nonetheless had a decent job before their addiction interfered. That’s for a start, but I think you’ll get my point: the real fiscal addicts who cost us the most are not those that rhetoric about “takers” usually convey.
Warren, thank you, sir!
When is it exactly that this so called “TEA Party” has called out ANYONE who is enabling “that spoiled rotten kid who looks for his rich dad to bail him out everytime he makes a mistake”? The ONLY people the so called “TEA Party” has called out has been Obama and Democrats. The GOTP has been the enabler of “that spoiled rotten kid who looks for his rich dad to bail him out everytime he makes a mistake” since their inception. They have only offered the back of their hand to anyone not willing to join in that activity too. The so called “TEA Party” is not a party, it is a mixture of the disgruntled right wing and the ignorant right wing hypocrites who want their right wing commie hating rich protecting country back.
I agree this nation needs some tough love, I disagree that anyone in the so called “TEA Party” is capable of it. All they have is hate, ignorance and lies.
+1 again #40 Jason Perdue — January 6, 2013 @ 11:50am!