An excellent rant on what the GOP has become from a former republican

[Hamlette]

On the eve of Obama’s inauguration, it is both funny and disturbing to look back to how things were eight years ago- I was so thrilled that a republican was about to be inaugurated. I was so excited to vote for Bush in 2000 that I literally could not sleep, and, as always, was at the voting booth at 6:30- 7:00 in the morning, the only person under 60 standing in line.

Now, today, I am so disgusted with the Republican party that I don’t think I will be able to vote for a national Republican for twenty years. I wouldn’t say my positions have changed completely, either. I really don’t feel like there has been a dramatic shift in my opinions. On several issues, I am certainly more to the “left” than I was before. For example, I was never a proponent of gay marriage, and felt that civil unions were more than an acceptable compromise. Not anymore- gay marriage is the future, it is the right thing to do, and those who can’t cope with that reality one day will just have to deal with it when we finally get there.

What has changed, however, is that I have seen a lot of the arguments that come from the Republicans for what they are- just bullshit. I have watched over the past few years and seen how nonsense bubbles up into the mainstream, and how distorted versions of events designed to distract and queer the debate turn an upside down version of events into the “conventional wisdom.” You don’t have to look any farther than the recent attempts to blame the entire financial crisis on Democrats, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and poor minority borrowers. We just spent an entire election season where prominent Republicans thought they really had something with Bill Ayers and Obama’s birth certificate. Of course, months could be spent documenting all the bullshit that has been churned up in the past eight years. The embrace by the right-wing of the idiotic tome “Liberal Fascism” could itself be the subject of lengthy study.

You all know by now what a dork I am, so I am not outing myself when I state that one of my favorite all-time episodes of the X-Files was a show called Folie a Deux, in which Scully and Mulder investigate a man who thinks his boss is a monster. Everyone thinks the man is insane because he insists that his boss is a zombie who eats people brains, and he is driven to madness that no one else can see his boss for the monster he is. He states frequently that the monster “hides in the light.” Eventually, Fox is able to see the monster as the show comes to a conclusion.

You see where this is going, don’t you? I understand now why the dirty fucking hippies were driven to near madness by the GOP and the election of Bush. Having watched things pan out the last few years and observed how truly perverted the beltway insiders who dominate our dysfunctional discourse are, I understand Bob Somersby and Glenn Greenwald and others.

I don’t know how much to “the left” I have actually moved on a lot of issues, but I do know one thing. When I see this nonsense from Byron York and Wideload Doughpants, raising their “serious questions” about Vince Foster’s suicide, I know clearly what I am seeing- I’m just watching the monsters hiding in the light, right where they always have been. This time, though, I see.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=15753

This post is from John Cole. If you haven't read him, you should. Here's his post from 2007 when he switched parties:

I had meant to re-register independent (or as it is known here in West Virginia, “No Party Affiliation”) for the past two weeks after I had finally had enough of the bullshit during the Graeme Frost escapade, but never got around to it (and it really was not that big of a deal, I had made the mental commitment, which is what matters). I had to pick up a registered letter for an unrelated issue, so I went to the Court House to the Voter Registration Office.

I had intended to register independent, but when I got there to do it, I had a moment of clarity- there seemed to be no point leaving the Republican party in protest and joining the unwashed masses. If I really was going to protest, it made no sense to not commit to the opposition party. Besides, as a Republican all these years, I never had any problem voting for libertarians, Democrats, etc., I don’t see why being a Democrat will change anything. And, the 2008 election really is the most important election of my lifetime- the basic foundation of our country has been under assault for a while, now, and I want to vote in the Democratic primary as a Democrat, not as someone with no party affiliation. I want to send a message, and as small as this gesture (which should appropriately be interpreted as a middle finger to the GOP and not as a sloppy wet kiss to Nancy Pelosi) is, I want it to mean as much as possible. There is now one less Republican in WV, and one more Democrat.

Long story short, I got up there to register as an independent, said “Fuck it,” and now I am a Democrat. I certainly don’t agree with all their positions, but they are not bat-shit crazy like the GOP. That has to count for something. Additionally, I no longer have to read posts by the 24% crowd calling me a “true conservative” with quotes o’sarcasm (you know who they are). Not any more, bitches. I repudiate you, your party, and whatever the fuck it is you are currently pretending is “conservatism.” It isn’t.

Now send me my check from Soros and the 40 virgins.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8971

He's smart, very funny, and the comments on his site are equally entertaining. Check him out.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

1. The GOP has been hijacked by authoritarians and christianists.

"The Republicans are selling their soul to win elections. Mark my words, if and when these preachers get control of the party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Politics and governing demand compromise. The government won't work without it. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them." - Barry Goldwater 1994

[notesdev]

6. Call them what they are

'fascists'

[Joe the Liberal]

2. The last eight years have really.......

made a lot of people ditch the Republican party, in fact Republican registration is stagnant while Democratic registration is on the rise. It's no surprise really, the GOP does not have much to offer, only the ignorant, bigoted, wealthy, asshole, arrogant, stupid, narrow minded, white/uncle toms will find a place in the Republican party. They have a small tent and don't reach out to minorities and do things in a very dishonest way.

[tiptoe]

4. "Republican registration is stagnant" might be an understatement:

Since the last federal election in 2006, volunteers...combined with the enthusiasm generated by the Obama-Clinton-struggle to add more than 2 million Democrats to voter rolls in the 28 states that register voters according to party affiliation. The Republicans have lost nearly 344 thousand voters in the same states.
...
Nationwide, there are about 42 million registered Democrats and about 31 million Republicans, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x511758

 

[Kansas Wyatt]

10. Just one point for everyone who thinks the 2000 & 2004 Elections weren't stolen....

42 million registered Democrats

31 million registered Republicans

Since 2006, the Democrats gained 2 million voters. So, let's say that during the 2000 & 2004 Elections, there were nearly 4 Democrats to 3 Republicans. Yet the "Official" Election results would have us believe that the Republicans were beating Democrats badly in the 2000 & 2004 Elections. There is no way in Hell that Republicans made any gains or won in 2000 & 2004, without election fraud taking place. Their numbers just do not add up to account for the massive crossover of Democrats allegedly voting for Republicans. That is the only explanation for them winning in 2000 & 2004, and that just did not happen.

[mwb970]

7. They seem to have become a regional party.

Republicans are increasingly white, older, less educated males in the south. Does the party expect to ever win an election again with this as their only reliable (if shrinking) constituency?

[Hekate]

3. That was some revelation he had. Great reading.

:wow:

[Enthusiast]

5. K&R

This is an encouraging post. An actual thinking Republican. Thinking enough to see reality instead of the official one endorsed by the machine.

[Hamlette]

8. It's interesting to me to see what made them change their minds

for John Cole it was Terry Schiavo. He was aghast. He didn't switch parties however until the debate over SCHIP and the way the right wing bloggers went after Graeme Frost's family. He was the 12 year old boy who had been in a terrible auto accident and he testified that he and his sister would not have had decent care without chips. His mom worked part time and his dad was a self employed carpenter. The right wing bloggers reported, among other things, from looking through the family's windows with binoculars, that they had marble counter tops!! (they didn't) which proved they were not poor enough to need government help.

For Cole that was the last straw.

For Andrew Sullivan it was torture. It has driven him away from at least the current crop of GOP. And he loves Obama.

For my dad is was Reagan's talk about how we could have a "limited nuclear war". My dad, an old school republican who voted GOP because he was a fiscal conservative and believed in a strong defense for deterrence only, became VERY liberal after Reagan. It was also interesting that he went into a mild depression for 2 years too. (That could have been influenced by his job and health too but I honestly believe it was because he came to believe the GOP had lied to him for 50 years and he was ashamed he believed them.)

Anyway, maybe it was because my dad switched sides that I find it fascinating to learn what makes people do that. I read John Cole and Andrew Sullivan everyday...since they switched.

[Enthusiast]

9. Hamlette

I am encouraged to read there are more like John Cole. You know, those that recognize the threat and the sleazery, like your dad.

[tiptoe]

11. And for Susan Eisenhower, it was a GOP "hijacked" by the same 'immoderates' DDEisenhower

wrote of in 1954 "Their number is negligible and they are stupid", listing criteria that distinguish traditional, basic GOP values and platforms from radical right wing extremists, still applicable today in assessing the twisted, government-sabotaging, democracy-subverting, anti-constitutional, sick, murderous Bush mal-administration.

We make a mistake aligning Bush/Cheney/Rove/Rice/WHIG/ with the term "Republican", because it allows extremists to identify with and pretend to uphold the political traditions of the parties of Lincoln, Roosevelt or Eisenhower. If Ike were alive and President, today, he'd call for a re-opening/continuing of the 9/11 investigation to get to the truth of matter. And if conspirators and traitors and war criminals were exposed, he -- as a true Commander-in-Chief, loyal to the Constitution, unlike "President Election Fraud" (whose brother was a principal director of the WTC security company, Securacom) -- would not interfere with the appropriate penalties being imposed.

And as Paul Krugman writes today:

...
Now, it’s true that a serious investigation of Bush-era abuses would make Washington an uncomfortable place, both for those who abused power and those who acted as their enablers or apologists. And these people have a lot of friends. But the price of protecting their comfort would be high: If we whitewash the abuses of the past eight years, we’ll guarantee that they will happen again.

Meanwhile, about Mr. Obama: while it’s probably in his short-term political interests to forgive and forget, next week he’s going to swear to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That’s not a conditional oath to be honored only when it’s convenient.

And to protect and defend the Constitution, a president must do more than obey the Constitution himself; he must hold those who violate the Constitution accountable. So Mr. Obama should reconsider his apparent decision to let the previous administration get away with crime. Consequences aside, that’s not a decision he has the right to make.

DDE Presidential Papers, 1954:
www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1147.cfm

...
Now it is true that I believe this country is following a dangerous trend when it permits too great a degree of centralization of governmental functions. I oppose this--in some instances the fight is a rather desperate one. But to attain any success it is quite clear that the Federal government cannot avoid or escape responsibilities which the mass of the people firmly believe should be undertaken by it. The political processes of our country are such that if a rule of reason is not applied in this effort, we will lose everything--even to a possible and drastic change in the Constitution. This is what I mean by my constant insistence upon "moderation" in government. Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas.⁵ Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

To say, therefore, that in some instances the policies of this Administration have not been radically changed from those of the last is perfectly true.⁶ Both Administrations levied taxes, both maintained military establishments, customs officials, and so on.

But in all governmental fields of action a combination of purpose, procedure and objectives must be considered if you are to get a true evaluation of the relative merits.

You say that the foreign policy of the two Administrations is the same. I suppose that even the most violent critic would agree that it is well for us to have friends in the world, to encourage them to oppose communism both in its external form and in its internal manifestations, to promote trade in the world that would be mutually profitable between us and our friends (and it must be mutually profitable or it will dry up), and to attempt the promotion of peace in the world, negotiating from a position of moral, intellectual, economic and military strength.

No matter what the party is in power, it must perforce follow a program that is related to these general purposes and aspirations. But the great difference is in how it is done and, particularly, in the results achieved.
...

Great granddaughter Susan Eisenhower made this announcement in August of 2008:

For the first time in my life I announced my support for a Democratic candidate for the presidency, in February of this year. This was not an endorsement of the Democratic platform, nor was it a slap in the face to the Republican Party. It was an expression of support specifically for Senator Barack Obama. I had always intended to go back to party ranks after the election and work with my many dedicated friends and colleagues to help reshape the GOP, especially in the foreign-policy arena. But I now know I will be more effective focusing on our national and international problems than I will be in trying to reinvigorate a political organization that has already consumed nearly all of its moderate “seed corn.” And now, as the party threatens to trivialize what promised to be a serious debate on our future direction, it will alienate many young people who might have come into party ranks.

My decision came at the end of last week when it was demonstrated to the nation that McCain and this Bush White House have learned little in the last five years. They mishandled what became a crisis in the Caucusus, and this has undermined U.S. national security. At the same time, the McCain camp appears to be comfortable with running an unworthy Karl Rove–style political campaign. Will the McCain operation, and its sponsors, do anything to win?

This week, I changed my registration from Republican to independent. The two political parties as they exist today, and the partisanship that they foster, reflect the many fights of the cold war, the Vietnam era, the post–cold war and the 9/11 periods. Today we are in a different place altogether, where our security as a nation is challenged not just from abroad but also close to home. The energy, health-care and financial crises threaten our national prosperity and well-being, just as surely as any confrontation overseas or an attack by radical terrorists.

As an independent I want to be free of the constraints and burdens that have come with trying to make my own views explainable in the context of today’s party. Hijacked by a relatively small few, the GOP of today bears no resemblance to Lincoln, Roosevelt or Eisenhower’s party, or many of the other Republican administrations that came after. In my grandparents’ time, the thrust of the party was rooted in: a respect for the constitution; the defense of civil liberties; a commitment to fiscal responsibility; the pursuit and stewardship of America’s interests abroad; the use of multilateral international engagement and “soft power”; the advancement of civil rights; investment in infrastructure; environmental stewardship; the promotion of science and its discoveries; and a philosophical approach focused squarely on the future.

As an independent I will now feel comfortable supporting people of any political party who reflect those core values.
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