She Ain't What She Used To Be

The Republican Party….is a mostly esoteric semblance of the organization that once nominated and enjoyed the reign of Ronald Reagan. Even then, most of the old-timers thought Reagan was a misfit, a renegade dreamer who had nothing substantial to offer but a vigorous defense of freedom and unending, childlike enthusiasm.

The establishment Republican wing fought him tooth and nail, made deals with the Democrats to sabotage his economic legislation and then claimed victory when it became overwhelmingly obvious the man would go down in history as one of our greatest leaders of all time.

That was then, this is now...

That Party has long ago evolved into a Union-like apparatus that is bureaucratic, omnipotent, unswerving and unwilling to listen to the changing demographics of America. It was successful in electing the 'Compassionate Conservative' George W Bush, but only after being run over by Bill Clinton, who then selfishly got caught in a myriad of self indulgences voters couldn't ignore. Now that it has lost the past two Presidential elections isn't it condescending to  claim to be the true protector of the Silent Majority?

I receive California Republican Party polls about once every three months. This has been going on for over a decade. I find it interesting and revealing, that the majority of the questions do not change. They may be reworded, or placed in a slightly different context, but the survey is always about the core issues of lower taxes, reduced growth of government, regulations and social controls. The Party uses threats of anti-religious legislation, of social anomalies to stir up anger and fear, and of course points out how the GOP is the party of National Defense. But the truth is none of the list of favored agenda items is ever accomplished: government keeps growing, immigration is out-of-control, wages are down, jobs are lost, our schools are useless and overpriced, the culture is decaying, our veterans are mistreated, our military is smaller and less efficient than at any time in our lifetimes and we certainly are less secure.

For the past five years I have written in big letters across the GOP survey form, 'Reform Our Tax System' and ignored everything else because unless or until we face the enormous unfairness and corruption of the IRS we will never get our government to stop metastasizing. And besides, if we can't effectively deal with one simple function of government, to fairly and equally secure the means for it to operate, what is the point?

For me, it is first things first. And in my mind, the tax system is endemic to the control of our national agenda by big business. Everything else falls into the wake created by GOP and Democratic policies that are bought and paid for by lobbyists.

Now we are faced with what many mainstream Republicans characterize as a threat to the very nature and survival of the Party by a renegade, self-funded populist, and you would think a thermonuclear war was about to occur!

The man is 'wrecking our Party!' His bombastic misogyny, rude and violent behaviour and ignorance of foreign policy could destroy our Party forever!

In my opinion, there is no Party to destroy. That ship has sailed. The problem is not the salvation of the Party, it is the salvation of the Country, and the fundamental principles that America stands for. Mainstream Republicans are so insulated and self obsorbed, they apparently would rather see the country continue to descend into chaos than to admit that the 'Trumpster' has touched the nerve of the electorate.

As the inarticulate Donald Trump alludes, Political Correctness is our biggest nemesis. We have succumbed to a fascist element of indirect authoritarianism that transcends common sense, divides our citizens into warring tribes, and misdirects our resources and attention. We are losing our sovereignty to the accusations of 'bigotry' because, as a matter of process, we have to separate and identify some people and groups from others to secure our borders. Then it is the loss of respect for our police and public service personnel, the tendency of our citizens to react to authority with violence and irrational anger. Because of Political Correctness, our leaders have abdicated the role of international leadership as the standard bearers of liberty and political freedom.

Finally, our country has fallen into a moral void, lost its bearings, and subsequently left many of our citizens in the dark about what it means to be an American. What freedoms America offers, but also what responsibilities being an American citizen requires. The fear of crossing the lines drawn between a government of Religion versus a government free from Religion, has resulted in a culture absent of Religion. Now our culture is lazy, uninvolved, self absorbed, dependent, amoral and indifferent to the potential consequences of their lack of involvement to protect and to nurture human dignity and freedom.

The GOP is either apathetic about all this, or more likely, ignorant of the true conditions that exist in much of our Country. They steadfastly claim to have all the answers, while ignoring the facts of what they have wrought; the problems we face today did not just appear during the past Democratic administration. Though Obama may have helped accelerate a great deal of our national disease, most of the symptoms have been growing in severity for half a century.

The GOP is an accessory to the crime of negligence and ambivalence. They have been in a coma, and someone like Trump is stepping up to slap them collectively across the face to get the Party (made up of us) to wake up and take responsibility to do what is necessary to get things back under control.

His movement is just what Thomas Jefferson meant when he said, "I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."  -  Letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787

Americans need to conserve America. If the Republican Party wants to have a significant role in that effort, it needs to reform itself. It needs to open up to some scary and counterintuitive realities; the Old Grey Mare ain't what she used to be. And the sooner she comes to grips with that, the better.