The GOP and The War to Come

Ah, "The GOP." I wish it still was the Old Party. I follow Chuck Hagel when he says that the party he signed up for doesn't exist anymore. Now, it's a bunch of freaks, religious right morons, and conservatives - leading it to become the conservative Republican party.

Unfortunately, there's different definitions of "conservative." There's economic conservatism, which the party believes in, then, there's "Conservatism." What that is, well, that's whatever some hysterical freak believes it to be.

I have been talking for awhile about how I used to be a Republican. Now, I'm and Independent - because I have absolutely no desire to belong to the Democratic party - "big tents" are just wrong. Why was I a Republican? Well, there was the 1984 election. Being a child and seeing that dominant sea of red flood the electoral map, the power was just something I wanted to be a part of. I am also loosely related to the late Silvio Conte. That man knew what it was about - people, the voters, and that's it. You don't need pork, you need to take care of your people - it really is that simple.

What the party has become? I really can't decide whether I agree with Newt Gingrich or not, but, back in the early 90s, he was on the right track. Build the party from the lowest local level up - the only way to make sure it was strong, and formidable. You tell that to a Republican now, and the response will be, "uh?" You explain that to Democrats, and you'll get, "why?"

I find it head-shakeningly amusing that Meghan McCain seems to be filling the role of the saviour of the Republican Party - not because she's a 24 year old female, not because the Party has fallen so far that this is the case, but because she is right, and they continue to fight or ignore it. She is right, there is a war coming.

The Party is being ruled by an out-of-date belief system - because the form of "conservatism" that runs it does not believe in evolving (what's the need?). The problem, though, is not that it's out of touch, the problem is that it will not listen to anyone - outside or inside (RINOs) the Party. You have an old man out there continuously attacking the Obama Administration - no, not John McCain, Dick Cheney. I read once that Cheney never ran for President because he realized he wasn't much of a people person. No shit. It's one thing for a wannabe 2012 candidate like Mitt Romney - Mr. Economics, though trying to fool you into thinking he has foreign policy experience - to be out there criticizing the Administration, but the recent former VP? How about some political etiquette? Al Gore could have made the Bush Administration look like an illegitimate farce, but did his duty and shut up. Turn that sneer into a straight line, and stop being a dick.

The thing is, tearing the Party down in order to rebuild it - the only true way to recreate something - may not be possible. Far too many moderate Republicans left the Party in the winter of 2000 - because of the incident in South Carolina. Who is going to bring them back in? Meghan McCain can try, and she is offering them what they need to hear, but who would expect the Religious Right, the Conservatives, to give up power? These people do not understand compromise - as their leader famously said, "You're either with us, or against us."

Would I be willing to help in this war? If I can see a string of thoughts and candidates that stop talking about values, virtues, and morals, and start talking about people, maybe. At this time, however, that seems like it will not happen until too late in 2012, and probably not until 2016.

Some of you may say, "good, they deserve it." Well, ask the people of MA how they like their one party system (and, no "liberals deserve it" comments - reddest state in the Union until 1958).