Brigid Fitch Strikes Back!

As my long time readers will know I have been saying for a while now that the Republican Party is dead. Just last night in fact I heard Chris Matthews of "Hardball" compare them to the Whigs. I must say got a chuckle out of that. Over the past few months I have tried to stay away from the political rants and focus more on futurism and personal stuff. However, occasionally one of my readers will submit something that I think bears posting, as is the case today.
The rest of this post is the opinion of one Brigid Fitch.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Elysian Visions, Inc. or it's subsidiaries.

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Just think—150 years ago, the Republican Party was anti-slavery and for high taxes in order to help the poor. We are now witnessing a dramatic shift in ideology of that same party. I’m oversimplifying here, but basically the Democrats & Republicans flipped ideals during the Lincoln years and solidified their stance in the Truman administration. If you require evidence of this fact, just look at any Blue Dog Democrat right now. Those so-called Democrats are the remnants of days gone by—fiscally & socially conservative, traits now attached to the current GOP. So here we are in the 21st century, watching history repeat itself.

Welcome to 2009, where we can witness the implosion of the so-called Republican Party. A Party that is embracing social conservatism at an unprecedented rate. They literally have no clue as to why they lost the 2008 elections. They’re so entrenched in their ideology that they believe a more conservative bent is the way to win over the American people. In the face of a 55% mandate, they maintain that their way—that of “Real America” (whatever that is)--is best. They sideline conservatives like Specter (who has already decided to switch parties), Collins, and Snowe. They advocate the “Tea Parties” as a way to show their dissatisfaction when they fail to do the same in Congress. They have become the Party of “No” simply because they can’t understand why they lost on Nov 4th.

My friends, I invite you to witness the death of the Republican Party as we know it. I voted Republican in 1988. At that time, Reagan stood for something that I felt our country was lacking. However, when I looked at the broader scope of things (WTF—you’re cutting the education budget WHY??), I learned my lesson. 20+ years later, you’re experiencing the fall-out of that era. The GOP is nothing like it was 30 or even 25 years ago. Back then, it represented American strength against opposition in any form. Reagan made plenty of missteps during his administration, but I’ll give credit where it’s due: He knew when diplomacy was the better course of action. The USSR became a thing of the past (See his letters to Gorbachev as citations).

But again I invite you to look at the GOP as it is today: A political party so myopic in its vision that its main focus is anti-gay marriage legislation, Hell-bent on being the party of “No”, and so ridiculously hypocritical as to be laughable. This is not the GOP that our fathers knew. No, this is a GOP that is kowtowing to a Fundie base, working towards a socially conservative lifestyle. One that embraces Big Oil, denounces any study that uses the term “carbon footprint”, and espouses the way of the Bible in the face of anything even remotely related to equal rights for gays.

My point is that they’re so out of touch, it’s only a matter of time before the GOP becomes irrelevant.

- Brigid Fitch