The Republican Party is showing definite signs of political implosion as extremists and radicals in its ranks engage one another in a vicious battle for control. We may well be watching the early stages of its demise, not only because of this intense, debilitating struggle between opposing factions within it, but because its agenda and ideological beliefs are totally unacceptable to an increasingly diverse American society.
As many of us watch what may well be the eventual dissolution of the GOP, it's not difficult to determine what exactly initiated this internal strife. Without question, this battle for control of the party can be directly attributed to the poisonous presence and damaging influence of the Tea Party. It's not good enough to hate "big government" and everything it does. You have to know how to make things better but these political misfits haven't a clue or the mental capacity on how to even begin to go about it.
Speaker John Boehner has been under constant attack by many of his colleagues. The House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, a strong Tea Party supporter, continues to undermine him behind the scenes; Governor Christie of N.J. and Rep. King of N.Y., both Republicans, blasted him for delaying government emergency grants for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Tea Party continues to obstruct his agenda. It has been reported that Boehner, battered and beaten down by his colleagues, and known to be a very emotional person, was seen behind closed doors, sobbing uncontrollably. He has my sincere sympathies.
We might say that this Republican Party is about to go over a political cliff. It should know that its days as a major political party are in great jeopardy when, by its extreme, radical actions and behavior, it has now managed to alienate significant elements of this society: African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and the majority of women who are fed up with the Republicans' condescending attitude toward them, the insults to their intelligence, and the total disregard of women's rights. But the one factor that will prevent them from regaining power and will lock them into minority status is that they have almost no chance of obtaining the critically important support of Hispanics, the fastest growing segment of the U.S. electorate.
There are those who say that to stop its current rapid decline, the Republican Party must change its cultural characteristics, i.e., its shared attitudes, values, goals, principles and practices; that it must recruit younger, more socially enlightened candidates, that is should be more open to new ideas rather than cling to the old, that is needs to stop demeaning the women of America, and it must find some way to connect with diverse cultures. Can a leopard change its spots? Can a political party change its innate being? It would probably be easier to reverse the flow of the Mississippi River than to change the GOP in this way.
This is the party whose objective is to destroy Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, aid for college students and almost any program that is designed to help people in need. This is the party that wants to destroy America's unions and turn this nation's working force into the equivalent of China's slave laborers. The Republican governors and their legislatures in many states are working tirelessly to eliminate the bargaining rights of firefighters, police and teachers, and have caused the layoffs of many thousands of those hard working individuals who make such substantial contributions to this nation and its people.
Watching this party split into various factions is the best thing that could have happened when considering the directions that this country needs to take into the future. Sending the GOP into political oblivion won't happen overnight but the good news is that as this process of political deterioration gathers momentum this outdated, obsolete party will grow weaker and weaker and become a political non-entity; irrelevant and meaningless; its days of obstructionism will be over.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).