Obituary: Republican Party (?)

Perhaps it is too soon to write off a party that has been around since the mid-19th century, a party that took over the void left by the Whigs, but the inevitable is going to happen to the party if it can't start facing reality about how boxed in it is.

Yes, the party is still "healthy" in the state and congressional offices, but the inevitable demographic changes will gradually marginalize the party into irrelevance unless it gets its act together and learn the art of compromise.

Playing the race card worked in the short term as a response to the 1960s, but that decade is now a half-century in the past. The people who elected Ronald Reagan were mostly people born before 1930 or 1935, and that generation has mostly died out. Remember, there were millions of people who voted for Reagan then who were born in the 19th century--they would have been in their eighties and even nineties--and in the first decade or two of the 20th century. None from the 19th century and few born pre-1920 are even alive now.

The baby boomers weren't responsible for the rise of the right in this country, and their kids, and yes, grandkids, are even less predisposed to that way of thinking, to say nothing of the millions of people who have moved to this country from other parts of the world. There is no great social upheaval anymore to cause a reaction in the form of right-wing politics. Yes, there are hints of reactionary politics in Europe, but I just don't see the right filling the void here.

The biggest problem with the right in its current incarnation is they absolutely refuse to compromise at all, and our national government has been paralyzed since Newt and his cronies took over Congress. It has gotten even worse in recent years.

Look no further than the Madman of Manhattan:

Consider the ironies: A tribal party ended up nominating a man who has a very loose connection to the party and has had as many party affiliations in the past as he has had wives. A party moving toward more strident right-wing ideology, reflected in the candidacy of Ted Cruz, chose a nominee who is against free trade, has a long history of pro-choice sentiment, boosts Social Security, Medicare, and Planned Parenthood, and can sound like a neo-isolationist.

In the end, the exploitation of anti-government sentiment by Republican leaders, and the active efforts on their part to make all government look corrupt and illegitimate, reached its logical conclusion. The Republican political establishment looked no less corrupt, weak, and illegitimate than the Democratic one, and the appeal of a rank outsider became greater.

Whatever happens in November, the fractured Republican Party will struggle for a long, long time to find an identity and a center of gravity. Almost certainly, given the retirements from Congress and the vulnerable incumbents, the relative influence of the Freedom Caucus — radical lawmakers who want no compromises — will be significantly greater.

Trump’s bombastic rhetoric aimed at minorities, including Hispanics, African Americans, and Muslims, among others, including his pledge to build that wall on the southern border, will make it even more difficult than it was after the 2012 loss for Republican leaders to make any gesture on immigration that might broaden the party's appeal beyond white working-class voters.

The end? Very possibly.

I think terminal rot has set in.

How Did the GOP Get So Screwed Up

that it became solely the part of the rich?

In the old days, the party actually tried to work with Democrats by finding some common ground. But ever since the birchers took over the Republican Party and put Ronald Reagan in the White House, neoliberal economic policies have wrecked this country's economy.

There is no hope for the GOP. There is almost no hope for the Democratic Party, thanks to neoliberal infiltration there.

Of Course This Opinion Piece

mentions "secrets" Republicans supposedly don't want voters to know, when in fact that may have once held true, they are now doing all of this in the open.

What IS new is so-called Democrats appeasing these people instead of taking the GOP to task for wrecking this economy.

If California Goes,

will the nation follow? One can certainly blame the disastrous Proposition 13 of 1978 for the mess. Taxes can't be raised at all without a supermajority, which is completely anti-democratic.

Moreover, while Democrats run the state legislature, there are enough Republicans there to block any meaningful reform.

Peter Schrag wrote a book over ten years ago, Paradise Lost, which foretold the disaster California would find itself in. Proposition 13 was at the core of the state's problems then, and it continues to be a ruinous piece of legislation now.

We can't just shrug California's economic mess off; the state has one of the largest economies in the entire world.

Krugman may be hitting it on the head when he wonders whether California's insanity as reflected by the Republican Party will go national:

But that presumes that we’ll be able, as a political matter, to act responsibly. The example of California shows that this is by no means guaranteed. And the political problems that have plagued California for years are now increasingly apparent at a national level.

To be blunt: recent events suggest that the Republican Party has been driven mad by lack of power. The few remaining moderates have been defeated, have fled, or are being driven out. What’s left is a party whose national committee has just passed a resolution solemnly declaring that Democrats are “dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals,” and released a video comparing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Pussy Galore.

And that party still has 40 senators.

So will America follow California into ungovernability? Well, California has some special weaknesses that aren’t shared by the federal government. In particular, tax increases at the federal level don’t require a two-thirds majority, and can in some cases bypass the filibuster. So acting responsibly should be easier in Washington than in Sacramento.

But the California precedent still has me rattled. Who would have thought that America’s largest state, a state whose economy is larger than that of all but a few nations, could so easily become a banana republic?

Former Rep. Mickey Edwards

thinks that unless the GOP radically changes course, it will slip into further irrelevance.

What could happen is the GOP could wind up as a fringe political party, while the Democratic Party could have a split on the left.

At this time, though, I don't write off the GOP. Large chunks of the country as well as the media are still heavily dominated by the fascistic elements of the party.

Robert Parry Asks a Question That is So Silly,

it really isn't worth an entry on this blog, and I haven't felt very motivated to post here as of late. He asks the question whether Republicans can be trusted.

I mean, for Chrissake, if people have to ask that question, they've been comatose or living in a cave for the past 40 years, or at least since the radical right hijacked the party.

Parry goes way back, though probably not far enough back, to try and make sense of how the radical right of the Republican Party got as far as it got. I can summarize it by saying the GOP created its own reality, thanks to its large network of billionaire-financed "think tanks" and media (the repeal of the Fairness Act was essential in the right-wing takeover of large chunks of the media), which was totally at odds with the real reality. They embraced a cult, and now they feel they can't let go of this cult for fear their whole house of cards of an alternate reality will collapse. It already has, but that doesn't mean it will stop them from clinging tenaciously to the discredited cult of Friedmanism. They will go all out to obstruct Obama because they think this will help them return to power in 2010 and 2012, but the turnip truck has left the station. The people, or at least a growing number of people, finally realize they've been had by a giant con and now want some action.

The GOP is trying the same damned thing to Obama they did with Clinton, but it is with hope Obama doesn't fall into the trap. Perhaps both Clintons are giving him advice as to how to deal with these people.

Another Anniversary to Note

This coming Monday, January 26, will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of former New York governor and vice president Nelson Rockefeller:





With his death and the end of the Ford presidency in 1977, the GOP and the country went on the road of (almost) no return.

By the way, according to Wikipedia, Rockefeller "assistant" Megan Marshack, now 55, is married and lives in California.

Political Commentary

The "Southern Strategy" pioneered by Nixon's people ended up costing the Republicans in the long run.

And with that strategy came a political philosophy that was totally screwed up in the head. Not only was the race card stupid in the long run with all of the demographic changes in this country, but the anti-government nonsense, which wasn't so much anti-government so much as anti-government for everybody but the very, very rich, currently Friedmanism, had been discredited before with the Great Depression. This country is repeating itself again, only this time there is a network of think tanks and propaganda media outlets to back the extremist philosophy which has been such a disaster.

Oh, the GOP will come back all right, especially if Obama fucks it up. I still am not sold on his alleged "intellect"; I don't really think he has it and will have to depend on Biden and others who know what in the hell they are doing in order to fix this mess. And even if Obama did have the acumen, the problems may be too huge to fix.

It took 40 years of GOP extremism to get to this point, and it will take many years, if ever, for the country to right itself.

Michael Lind, in his book Up From Conservatism, wrote about the same thing as Paul Krugman.

It Doesn't Take

a Ph.D. in political science to see the Republicans (with the media) having had everything to do with ratfucking the Democratic presidential contest this primary season; to point out the obvious does NOT make one a Republican shill, as I am among many totally opposed to the idea of supporting McCain.

The danger of having Obama as the nominee, even knowing he can't win squat in the fall, is the damage he will do in downticket races. That's the worry. McCain could well win every single state and Democrats could actually lose their slender majorities in the House and the Senate. THEN we will be really be screwed.

But we will be screwed anyway if Obama actually gets in there and does the bidding of Wall Street and other interests intent on privatizing all kinds of government functions.

I can't believe the whole thing.

Campaign Notes.

How dare Obama mention, without mentioning "her" name, her and her husband's conspiracy to prepare for a 2008 run because of a tremendous sense of entitlement?

It's stating the obvious, of course.
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Both political parties are undergoing internal turmoil or whatever you call it.
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Hillary Clinton tries to use her war room to go after her opponents instead of her having to shoot herself in the ass.
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In answer to the article's question, I hope not.
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The Dennis Kucinich of the Republican Party, Ron Paul, is getting support from members of his old political party.

He is also quite popular in these parts. He appeals to the libertarian or self-centered streak of Nevadans.
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So Why Do

authoritarians control the Republican Party?

It's the same rhetorical question as why does an unneutered male dog lick his you-know-whats.

It May Be Too Soon to Write Off

the GOP and proclaim Democratic rule for decades, but it is true our dictator has almost singlehandedly wrecked the Republican Party's fortunes.

It is up to Democrats to decide if they are going to swallow media nonsense on who they should pick or use a little bit of sense.

The Racketeering-Style

of the far right of the Republican Party (or even of much of the national party at large) in pursuit of creating a "majority" is at the heart of almost all of the scandals that have happened in recent years, and especially Gonzalesgate.

The Republican Party needs to cleanse itself from this tendency or its future will be in doubt.

I noticed the WSWS hasn't written a peep about Gonzalesgate. That's probably because the Democrats can't be criticized too much.