The old typing exercise ; " Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party" is becoming less then relevant in our current times. Time was when the major parties in this Country were comprised of huge tents populated by men of different ideological views. In the Democratic Party the spectrum ranged from James O Eastland to Adam Clayton Powell.
The Republicans were the party of both Barry Goldwater and Jacob Javits. We all instinctively knew that the internecine battles which were waged from the outer ideological margins would eventually distill into a Moderate right leaning Republican Party and a moderate Left leaning Democratic party, the key word in both cases was "moderate". It was the conventional wisdom that governance does not come from the margins. This is no longer the case.
The Democrats having the seemingly better grasp of the circumstances understood that the end game is to compromise between their ideological wings. Once done they would envision that the Republicans would be close to the center right and that they would be center left. This is no longer the case. Today in the Republican Party, the Religious Right is now embarking on a mission to divest the party of all but the orthodox. Subscribe to the ant-Gay, anti-Choice mantra or be " out damned spot".
Of course, in this drive to purify the party these brain surgeons have over looked one, little, very important fact, they need our votes in the General Election, or they become irrelevant. The bottom line is that that there would have been no Reagan Revolution, or Bushes 41 and 43 without the votes of us pro-choice, pro-human rights Republicans who overlooked the social issues in the name of Party loyalty.
Now comes the wake-up call. NY 23 has rung the new anthem of the moderate wing; " we are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore ". Until these troglydites drop the party cleansing which Sarah " I don't have a clue " Palin and her equally odious cohorts have been engaged, this Moderate republican is off the reservation. I will cease supporting social conservatives, will contribute no more money, and will take as many of my progressive friends with me as I can in this endeavor. I do not announce this lightly. I see this as a battle for the soul of the party of Lincoln which must be fought, and won.
If we do not do so, the Republican Party will be diminished to the confines of the Dixiecrat South. Thats not healthy for the GOP, nor for the nation. More on this topic soon.
1 comment:
Alvin, I just had to tell you that my family owned both the only hotel and only restaurant in Ozark, Arkansas. I've never heard it referred to anywhere else. I was born in a little town outside of Ozark and spent every Christmas of my childhood in Ozark.
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