The Grand Old Party Gone Mad!

Has the Republican party gone crazy?


Let me be clear, I would absolutely not like to see that happen. I believe that a democracy needs a two (or more) party system in order to promote free discussion of ideas and not become a myopic demagoguery.  While I do take some joy in reading some of the absurdity that is coming out of the Grand Old Party, I am also deeply frightened and concerned.

Dana Milbank at the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) has a must read article out today about the GOP. Dana sums it up best when he says: "We should be terrified -- particularly the Republicans, whose party is turning into this One-World-Government, Obama-worships-Satan, Jesus-opposes-climate-bill mélange."

From the article:

Future historians tracing the crackup of the Republican Party may well look to May 8, 2010, as an inflection point.

That was the day, as is now well known, that Sen. Robert Bennett, who took the conservative position 84 percent of the time over his career, was deemed not conservative enough by fellow Utah Republicans and booted out of the primary.

Less well known, but equally ominous, is what happened that same day, 2,500 miles east in Maine. There, the state Republican Party chucked its platform -- a sensible New England mix of free-market economics and conservation -- and adopted a manifesto of insanity: abolishing the Federal Reserve, calling global warming a "myth," sealing the border, and, as a final plank, fighting "efforts to create a one world government."

The Maine Republicans a week ago rejected a platform proclaiming that "we believe that the proper role of government is to help provide for those who can not help themselves"; that "we believe in ensuring that our children have access to the best educational opportunities"; and that "every person's dignity, freedom, liberty, ability and responsibility must be honored."

I don't know about you, but a platform that says - we believe that the proper role of government is to help provide for those who can not help themselves"; that "we believe in ensuring that our children have access to the best educational opportunities"; and that "every person's dignity, freedom, liberty, ability and responsibility must be honored - sounds pretty damn good to me.  And what do these enlightened people replace this platform with:

In its place, they approved a document invoking the Tea Party movement and Ron Paul and insisting that "health care is not a right." The new platform demands: "Eliminate motor voter"; "Reject the UN Treaty on Rights of the Child"; "Eliminate the Department of Education"; "Arrest and detain . . . anyone here illegally, and then deport, period."

Wow! To me, that is purely schizophrenic - from a platform that promotes dignity, freedom, liberty to one that is about hate and fear.  And what does the poster child for the right (Glenn Beck) have to say:

Glenn Beck recently informed his viewers that "they" -- President Obama and friends -- "are creating a global governance structure."

"Social and ecological justice and all of this bullcrap," Beck told his viewers, "is man's work for a global government." Beck -- who is second in popularity only to Sarah Palin among the type of Tea Party activists who hijacked the Maine GOP -- tossed out phrases such as "global standards" and "global bank tax" -- all part of a conspiracy by the "global government people." He further provided the news that "Jesus doesn't want a cap-and-trade system."

I hadn't known that Glenn Beck was a prophet and had a direct line to Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke to me too. He said that if you like that, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.  All hocus pocus to me!