by Nomad
It's becoming harder and harder to ignore the fact that the Republican Party is in chaos. Still worse, the problem is not going away any time soon. It's a battle for the heart and soul of the party. Some are asking whether all this insurgency and infighting has made the GOP incapable of governing the nation?
An article in the Los Angeles Times by Doyle McManus notes that despite having more conservatives in Congress than at any time since the 1920s, despite having control of both the Senate and the House, the GOP is a mess. Its radical minority has left the House with "no speaker, no cohesion and no strategy for turning its conservative agenda into law."
And, as McManus points out, they have nobody to blame (certainly not Obama) for this but themselves. The establishment Republicans have negligently allowed the extremists like Cruz and others to take control.
As soon as Speaker of the House John Boehner declared his intention to step down, he decided to blast the GOP radicals. calling them “false prophets” who misled their ever gullible voters. Boehner claimed that these firebrands purposely "whipped their people into a frenzy" with lies and false promises. Things, he said, they knew full well they could never keep. Like closing down Obamacare or impeaching the president over (fill in the blank).
And yet, Speaker Boehner and the old guard Republicans are and have always been part of the problem. Quoting Norman J. Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute:
“They encouraged them, incited them, promised them things. And now the hijackers want what they were promised.”
Boehner only finds his "Come to Jesus" moment after he has nothing more to fear politically.
If the radicals have flung monkey-poo over the party, it was because too many people who could have done something did nothing. People like Boehner could have (and should have) cleaned out their cages a long time ago.
For whatever reasons, Boehner simply never had the courage until the moment he decided to step down.
If the radicals have flung monkey-poo over the party, it was because too many people who could have done something did nothing. People like Boehner could have (and should have) cleaned out their cages a long time ago.
For whatever reasons, Boehner simply never had the courage until the moment he decided to step down.
That's a sad excuse for leadership.
Billionaire Donald Trump, a man with a lot of loud and politically-incorrect opinions but no real solutions.A man now leads in the polls who fully embodies all of the things that the RNC warned against in its autopsy of the 2012 election, Growth & Opportunity Project.
And if that wasn't bad enough, Trump is followed closely by Dr. Ben Carson- a man who every other day sets new records for saying the most ridiculous thing.Things like
“I mean, [America is] very much like Nazi Germany. And I know you’re not supposed to say ‘Nazi Germany,’ but I don’t care about political correctness. You know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population. We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe.”Or
“You know Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.
Or remember that gem about homosexuality being a choice because people "go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay."
If two people were chosen to sabotage all chance of a Republican election win in 2016, it would have to be Trump and Carson. And again, the Republican Party stands back and let's them demolish the Grand Old Party a bit more at every rally, every interview and every tweet.
In the end, the Republicans got the majority in Congress that they coveted. With it, they should have demonstrated that the conservative agenda had something new and important to add to the political discussion.
They had every opportunity to do something and yet they have done nothing of any value with this windfall. Nothing unless you count spending millions on futile and pointless investigations of Benghazi, IRS and Hillary's emails. Unless you count repeatedly attempting to shut down the government for no good reason.
This seems like a golden opportunity for the Left to say to the American people: The Republican Party is incapable of leadership either in the legislative or the executive branches. This is no longer a matter of partisan politics. In a two-party system, the existence of a credible opposition is what keeps the political debate alive and balanced. To have a fully functioning government, the nation needs two reputable and responsive parties.
That's as much true for the Right as it is for the Left. The Republican Party is just not up to that task and, if the present situation is anything to go by, it won't be able to resolve these serious problems before the next election.
Conservative and independent voters are going to have to be honest with themselves when they search for leadership.
If they wish to see more incompetence and petty squabbling, more wasted time and wasted public funds, more foolishness, then they ought to keeping voting the Republican ticket. In exchange for your votes, the most you are ever going to get is a rendition of "Green Ham and Eggs."
No matter what they promise, that's all that they can deliver.
The Left needs to keep pounding that message from now until election day.
That's as much true for the Right as it is for the Left. The Republican Party is just not up to that task and, if the present situation is anything to go by, it won't be able to resolve these serious problems before the next election.
Conservative and independent voters are going to have to be honest with themselves when they search for leadership.
If they wish to see more incompetence and petty squabbling, more wasted time and wasted public funds, more foolishness, then they ought to keeping voting the Republican ticket. In exchange for your votes, the most you are ever going to get is a rendition of "Green Ham and Eggs."
No matter what they promise, that's all that they can deliver.
The Left needs to keep pounding that message from now until election day.
