WyBlog

The Republican Party is dysfunctional and embarrassing

Andrew Breitbart said it, and it's true. He spoke at the Pasadena "May Day! May Day!" Anti-Socialism Rally. Donald Douglas posted the details.

The disruption distracted a bit from what Breitbart had to say: "The Repubican Party is dysfuncational and embarrassing," he exclaimed. Then, extolling the grassroots anti-tax protests, Breitbart announced, "There isn't another movement that has the best interests of this country in mind." The reference to "another movement" was to today's International ANSWER demonstration in downtown Los Angeles, where protesters marched for a blanket amnesty for the untold millions of illegal aliens in the country. Noting the relatively sparse crowd in Pasadena, Breitbart warned, "We better learn how to protest" if conservatives are going to match the activism of the radical left.

More importantly, the Republican Party cannot presume that they "own" the Tea Party movement. They do not. We are fed up with wasteful and profligate spending regardless of who is cutting the checks. George W. Bush didn't reduce the size of government one iota; his "big government conservativism" was a fraud.

Liberals like to attack conservatives by pointing to Bush and saying "his policies didn't work" so our conservative principles are flawed. That's total rubbish. Bush's policies had little or nothing to do with conservativism. Yes we both believe in a strong national defense; I hope that keeping us safe is also a concern of my friends on the left. That is, defending America is not really a partisan issue; but, implemenation of that defense might arouse some differences of opinion.

The GOP still doesn't "get" conservatives. A great example is the defection of Arlen Specter to the democrats. Pat Toomey, a true conservative and a great American was set to trounce Specter in the upcoming PA republican primary. So what does the national GOP do? Do they line up behind Toomey with Specter out of the way? Nope. The NRSC in the form of Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah is open to a primary challenge to Toomey.

They are out of the cotton-pickin minds. "Democrat-lite" is not a winning strategy! I'm reminded of a refrain from an old TV commercial — "It's just as good as a Xerox." The punch line, of course is, "No, it is a Xerox." The point being, why take an imitation when you can have the real thing? John McCain was democrat-lite and look how far he got.

Toomey came within a few thousand votes of displacing Specter in 2004 and that was with the national GOP coming out whole hog behind Benedict Arlen. With their resources, and a tie-in to the Tea Party folks, Toomey can beat Specter next year.

I cannot in good conscience support the national GOP, whether it is the RNC, the NRSC, or the NRCC. They are the enablers of the entrenched fair-weather friends of conservatism. They are the politicians who pay us lip service while dreaming up new ways to funnel tax dollars to themselves and their cronies.

That's why the Tea Party movement resonates with me. It isn't about republicans vs democrats, it's about the ideals of our Founding Fathers and the very real problem that our leaders in Washington (and in state houses across the land) have broken faith with them. A return to the core guiding principles of 1776 will restore this nation to greatness. We believe in individual liberty, protection of private property, personal responsibility, punishment that fits the crime, and the notion that public service is noble for its own sake and should not be pursued for personal gain.

If the GOP were to embrace those principles they would discover the "positive message" their detractors quite rightly point out they so desparately need.

Posted at 14:56 by Chris Wysocki   []   Comments | Archived | Perm Link |
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