Taking A Look At The GOP -- Again!

This is a part of a series of articles which suggests that we might need a new political party if we ever want to see conservative policy goals made real. The main antagonist, the Democrat Party, is very different from the Republican Party. The Democrat leadership operate as an army. Winning is a matter of life or death for their players, elected and on the sidelines as activists in all the areas where they agitate. The Republicans, on the other hand, are more like a social club, where leadership in the states and in Washington, D.C. is a matter of social status first, and policy goals, second. In fact, if results count for anything, you could almost say that policy goals really don’t count for much in the Republican Party. How you fit in socially seems to be the main consideration.

Visit http://gop.com/our-party/ and read the items there. It’s a platform of sorts. Then ask “what did they do to realize any of this, when they were a congressional majority and also had the White House? Following Obama’s election and re-taking the House of Representatives as a majority, what have they accomplished? Where are the results, knowing that Speaker Boehner has the power to vote to defund anything? Why do we have yet another “continuing resolution”? Why are they bashing conservatives who carried a lot of votes in the primaries?” These are only recent features…it goes way, way deeper as you know and a lot further back in time. It’s because of opposition in the press and the Democrats, you say? Well, the known opposition of most of the United States didn’t stop Pelosi, Reid and Obama from getting Obamacare passed, did it? And haven’t Republicans learned that the mainstream media will never like them and further, that they don't need to? There’s a whole other friendly press now anyway that will laud them to high heaven – if they’d do something laudable. Back to Obamacare, the Supreme Court justice that President Bush installed there who could have taken it off the table forever, upheld it! Roberts instead twisted it into being a “tax”, saying we have to be careful who we vote for. (Thank you, Justice Roberts for that bit of advice. Which party should we be watching out for?) In so saying, this alleged strict constructionist advises us that just about anything can be called a “tax” and therefore, elected office-holders can pass just about anything they want and it will be constitutional. Thus, we realize the profound benefits of judicial “interpretation”, Republican-style.

Is anyone still worried about Liberal justices Sotomayor or Kagan?

Okay…movin’ on…go to that same GOP website and click on “2012 Party Platform” when it comes up. They don’t know what their platform is! I could find no point by point statements of what their goals are in terms of policy, but rather there’s an input device. Right. There’s an input device there where anyone visiting the site, whether or not they are communists, mullahs in Iran, or actual US citizens who are registered Republicans, can write to say what they think the platform should be! All one has to do is register a username and password. We all know what the platform should be. Why don'’t the people who tell us that they are the solution know what it should be? Why isn’t it written in bold print along with a description how they are going to win it for us and what will happen if they fail? What is it that they favor? What is it that they intend to make happen? Are they so unsure of their ground that they’re taking a poll, from the entire internet universe, to determine what the Republican Party platform ought to be? How about this instead: Tell us, What Will You Get Done?

But let’s not be naïve: they know what their agenda is. They’re just not going to tell us what it is. And that gets back to my last column when I asked if it wouldn’t be nice to donate to an organization that you could trust to do what it says it will do?

Why won’t the party leadership divulge its platform and intentions? And for that matter, who is that leadership? Is it just Reince Priebus and his staff – and everyone else is a on his own, doing whatever feels good, mindful that fourteen Republican senators wouldn’t pledge to vote against the Law of the Sea Treaty? Is it only Boehner, Cantor and McConnell? Where can we see their agenda, in concrete terms…in advance? Why isn’t there a policy board of many people, from all the states, deciding policy in advance and then sending orders out to the elected troops? It’s all informal, seat of the pants stuff and we’re getting smeared. Is the leadership a small handful of people who, hidden or undisclosed, are running things? And while we’re on that topic, it’s reasonable to ask, why aren’t the pundits who call themselves conservatives asking these questions, too?

As I’ve stated before, I will definitely be voting Republican in November. My object isn't to derail their present efforts and I’m involved as a volunteer in some local campaigns, state and federal. However, following this election, I think we need to take a hard look at the organization we’ve put our trust in all these years to see if it's what we need going forward to bring this nation back to the sound, prosperous, unfettered nation of people it once was.

Jeff Dover
August 7, 2012

Tags: GOP, democrats, leadership, liberals, media, new, party, policy, press, pundits, More…republicans

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Comment by Albert Ben Warford on August 11, 2012 at 11:35am: After reading almost all of these post I think there is one thing that is overlooked. If a new conservative party is started and pushed forward it will not only split the Republican Party but the Democratic party as well. There are plenty off Dem's who are conservative and once where republicans. These Dem's have been disillusioned. Some of them where republicans who left because of the BUSH years. Lets face it it has been bad for a LONG time.

Comment by Shirley M. Eliakis on August 11, 2012 at 12:17am: GOP Veep will be announced Saturday morning. 9am

Comment by Jeff Dover on August 10, 2012 at 5:24pm: There's plenty of precedence for one party emerging as the strong, dominant party when much of a nation thought that there needed to be a correction and many parties were founded as the solution. Today's GOP sprang from a split Whig Party.

We need to be careful that we are very organized, that we have a broad agenda with no "poison pills" in it that are deal breakers for large numbers of voters who would otherwise be aboard. If we stick to constitutional basics, how can we miss? As I said in the blog post, we know what needs to be done. We just need to create a fabric from which our end can be constructed. The people we need are certainly available. What we need is a vehicle to get them there -- and the commitment to follow through, come what may.

Comment by Charles P. Smith MD on August 10, 2012 at 12:48pm: Yes, replace the republican Party as we know it, but both of the parties importance must be replaced. Studying the Constitution and the time of its inception and ratification, I (as well T.Jefferson) saw that competing political parties would throw a monkey wrench in. Madison worried about the toxic effects of FACTIONS. These days we watch the Democrat party divide us visciously into virtual warring factions. So much of their energy flows into that crap that they have nothing left towards service, attention to, legislation for and loyalty to the whole people. America cannot have that, yet, we do. What good is government if the whole target is not the support of the whole people. No damn good.

As for Republicans, factions appear not to be their toxicity. After reading this article and most of the comments, it appears that the party fails to perceive how to support the whole people. Perhaps it is that both parties fail to know anymore what it is that citizens as a whole need.

Competition for power has blinded the whole mess from the meanings of pursuit of happiness and our source of rights. Power blinds every leader in history like that if they don't have to use a source of wisdom. American politicians exemplify every degree of stupidity about that as would be found anywhere else in the world.

The source of wisdom to used is of course our Constitution. Well, it is still the legally recognized law of government. Respect it or not, it has the power of law. Political parties have no such legal standing. Where then to put one's loyalty and energy?

Well then if America has to tolerate competing political parties, at least one of the parties ought to be loyal to legally recognized governing principles. So base your party on the Constitution. If as seems to be true, many people lost respect for our Constitution and consider it old, or not up to the complexity of modern technology, sit them down, spank them for stupid laziness of mind. Give them failing grades for falling on their chins to the toxicity of progressives. They (the progressives of then and now) are the inadequate gang who originated the failure to be able to deal with whatever complexities got them confused.

Changing the whole political party system looks far too unlikely and unwieldy and combative. I cannot actually see the factions allowing anything useful. If any effort about it comes about, it cannot do any good unless it targets basic principles of government for the whole people. Take that as the operating principles and stick with it.

Comment by PC Bob on August 10, 2012 at 11:50am: Well we can call it the whatever party, but I ask you, what's wring with the 'Tea party'? We already have it, and we are already members of it. It does have a platform and it's ready to roll. No one can steal it from us, either. As noted, ANYONE can call themselves a Republican, and many Democrats have. Both major parties are full of liberals and Progressives. This is why nothing much ever seems to change, regardless of which side 'wins'. The infrastructure of DC never changes. This is the base or controlling factor in the government. These people are career bureaucrats. per Wikipedia: A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a government or organization who implements the rules, laws, and functions of their institution. They stay the same, admin after admin. These are the people who actually RUN our government. They know the nuts and bolts of every day life in DC. WE are slaves to these peoples rules and regulations. The IRS, the DEA, the EPA and MANY MANY more are examples. According to them, we would not be able to function without them. But I say it's time for a complete and total housecleaning, STARTING with them and working all the way up to the very top levels, the potus. The system is rotten and it's time to throw it out, returning to our roots, our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It was designed to protect us from the likes of the liberals and the Progressives, who want to enslave everyone else. We are teetering on the edge of chaos, in the 11th hour of our republic. Can we save it? Only time will tell, but I am not 100 percent sure it can be done. We need all the good people to stand up and be heard from. No more apathy and shirking our duties. We must present a unified face, a determination to win and turn this country around. It's a train wreck right now, heading for the bridge and the bridge has been blown up. Oh, where is Mighty Mouse when we REALLY need him, huh?

Comment by Bob Green on August 10, 2012 at 10:51am: Mr. Ranck: You are probably correct in your characterization of the RNC as the "elitist establishment," and your Republican credentials may well be impeccable; however, by writing in the name of anyone who is either not on the ballot or is not Mitt Romney aids and abets only one candidate, Barack Obama! Your nose cannot be so "ugly" that you would cut it off to spite your face. (By the way, I am a life-long Republican; and my first vote for president was in 1968 too.

Comment by Bob Green on August 10, 2012 at 9:03am: Correct Jeff. The groundwork for a fundamental transformation" in the Republican Party has been laid; however, it cannot be fully accomplished with Obama in the White House. If Romney wins, and the Rs retake the Senate and hold the House, pressure on the RINOS in Congress will be very strong to start governing like conservatives; and if they start to fall into bad habits, they will be replaced.

Jeff is right on about the Ted Cruz race! A 26-point shift in the percentage vote in only 2 months (between the primary and the runoff elections) sort of meets the definition of "unprecedented;" but it clearly demonstrated what is possible when the grass roots become fully engaged...even the the face of a very wealthy opponent (David Dewhurst) who poured $10s of millions of his own fortune into the election in hopes of buying a U. S. Senate seat.

Comment by Sumsanity on August 10, 2012 at 8:58am: They are pretty easy to understand when you look at what motivates them. Boil a problem down to its basic parts and it is easier to solve. What motivates the Repubs or any politician for that matter? Greed, Power, and Prestige.

Couple that with two years till the next election and their first priority is: get re-elected. So, they won't do anything that threatens that goal. It saps their courage and any fleeting semblance of duty or honor that they may have possessed. Practical necessities dictate that they stay in office. You can't do a thing if you aren't elected first.

Comment by Jack Ranck on August 10, 2012 at 8:47am: Sorry, but I will NOT stop using the phrase "ELITIST ESTABLISHMENT" becaue it accurately describes what the current leadership of the Republican Party is. It is the upper echelon of the Party, the Republican National Committee (RNC), the "Establishment", that thinks they know better than us Conservatives what is good for us, therefore "Elitist". If you want to call that group "corn cobs" go right ahead, but I WILL continue to use the phrase "ELITIST ESTABLISHMENT" simply because it is accurate. BTW, I may not be as old as you, Mr. Oates, my first Presidential Election was in 1968 and I have NEVER voted for a Democrat for President, I've voted straight Republican so don't accuse me of being a Democrat Plant. I think my Republican credentials might surprise you. However, this year, since the ELITIST ESTABLISHMENT has given us another LOSER RINO, I will not vote for him. I will vote for an HONEST Conservative Republican by writing in his name. That's a RIGHT for which I fought and I WILL exercise it.

Comment by Jeff Dover on August 10, 2012 at 7:29am: Jason, it could do that, so you move following this election. However, there are so many disaffected people out there, I doubt that it would be anything less than successful. Such was the formation of the Republican Party out the WHIG party, when people were split within the party.

As it is, many of the elected Republicans -- especially in leadership and the senate -- are nothing more than Democrats who call themselves Republicans. There are many millions of us looking for some real sense and some real action. We are not getting it and we know why not. It's not tolerable, as the current state of affairs illustrates. If we're going to have this fight in the party, let's have it...and move on.

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