I had a heretical thought today that I’d like to admit to. I’m more interested in the reorganization of the Republican Party than in what the Democrats do. It was bringing up John Dean below that got it in my mind. Last year, he wrote a book, Conservatives without Conscience. His premise is that the Republican Party has been taken over by authoritarian extremists and has lost any connection with its Conservative roots. My own way of thinking about that is slightly different. Richard Nixon was a sick guy. He personally opened the door to dirty tricks. I think losing to Kennedy as an incumbent Vice President under a popular President in 1960 drove him nuts, and he unleashed a paranoid and underhanded campaign to insure his election. He couldn’t have lost in 1972 if he’d tried, and yet he had legions of people out undermining Democratic Candidates, breaking into places, misusing government agencies, etc. But of all of them, the one I disliked the most was Reagan. All kinds of dirty dealings went on then, not just Iran-Contra. I doubt he was even involved. That’s what I hated about him. He just let his underlings do whatever they liked doing, and he and Nancy kept his progressive dementia out of our awareness. Somehow, the dirty tricks, heavy handed style of today’s yokels became the style of the Republican Party – fueled by the Federalist Society, the American Enterprise Institute, the Republican National Lawyers Association, and the vast Religious Right. It’s a corrupt culture – as we are learning in spades from it’s most corrupt progeny, Karl Rove.
They didn’t learn from Nixon. They didn’t learn from Reagan. And I’m worried they won’t learn from Bush and Cheney. So, we’ll have to keep dealing with them over and over. There’s a legitimate Conservative sentiment in our country. They need a legitimate, voice – a voice that speaks with integrity. They don’t have that right now in the current Republican Party. The only way they can express their will is by voting for people who are corrupt, inept, and destroying our system under the table. So, I’m more interested in the uplifting of the Republican Party than just about any other political issue on the table. That’s why I want Congress to turn over every rock in Washington, to show them what they’ve done. Again!
 1968-1974 |
 1980-1988 |
 1988-1992 |
 2000-present |
We can’t tolerate another "Bush Era" – in 2008, or beyond.
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