November 14, 2013 6:09 AM

Republicans: Agents of their own inevitable and entertaining demise

The top elected woman in Texas, Comptroller Susan Combs, criticized the GOP’s obsession with restricting women’s health and bodies in an interview with the Washington Times on Wednesday. Slamming her party for its failure to get past legislating women “south of the waistline,” Combs argued Republicans come across as not caring about their other interests…. “Tell me that you give a flip about women’s interests,” she said. “If all you want to talk about is my biology, ‘Gee what happened to my brain?’ That is my point. It is not all south of the waistline.”…. Given the protests against Texas’ abortion law, many women agree with Combs. Anti-abortion candidates lost handily in 2012, and now Wendy Davis, best known for championing women’s rights, is only trailing her opponent Greg Abbott by single digits in red-state Texas.

The truly sad thing about watching Republicans committing politcal seppuku is the truth that America needs an effective and viable opposition party. Democracy functions best when there’s a counterbalance to the party in power, voices that can reign in potential excesses, or at the very least provide a different perspective. Republicans could fill the role of the Loyal Opposition…except that they’ve been far too busy riding the crazy train to their increasingly inevitable irrelevance. Instead of weighing in seriously on the pressing problems of the day in a constructive and productive manner, they’ve focused on divisiveness, dishonesty, and misogyny. Instead of trying to strengthen their brand by promoting policies that advance things like inclusion and the common good, they continue working to create a world skewed to benefit of wealthy White Conservative Christian males. So much for the “Big Tent” Party, eh?

Somewhere along the line, Republicans caved into the wack jobs who make up the Tea Party, and the teabagger agenda became the GOP’s pride and joy. They could have decided to focus on issues that are the hallmark of classical conservatism- like small government, fiscal discipline, or personal responsibility. For reasons known only to themselves, they’ve decided to focus their energy on social and moral issues, with results far more divisive and destructive to their future prospects and the country than most could have imagined. If they’d made a conscious decision to openly commit political suicide, they couldn’t have been any more successful.

When Republican women are calling out their own party for their efforts to legislate women back to second-class status and the property of men, you know the train has derailed. Sometimes I wonder what might have been if Republicans had decided to do the right thing for the right reasons. Where might we be if they’d decided to act in the best interests of the country instead of trying to drag America kicking and screaming back to the 14th century? And how is it, given the GOP’s attitude towards women, that any clear-thinking woman with any pride can continue to call herself a Republican?

I don’t hate Republicans. I may not agree with their agenda or their view of the world, but in normal times their voices would be worth hearing. These are anything but normal times, and their voices advocate hatred, division, sexism, and oppression. Instead of offering positive and constructive ideas, they’ve decided to focus their efforts on rigging the rules of the game to their benefit. They recognize they can’t win elections conventionally, so they’ve passed voter ID laws that are not-so-thinly-veiled attempts to prevent minorities, women, college students, and the poor from voting. They’ve decided that pandering to radical Christians, Ayn Rand devotees, and gun nuts is the path to power. Rational Republicans, and I have to assume that there are at least a few left, recognize where their party is heading. They know that before long the GOP will be irrelevant, a minority party called home only by kooks, haters, and Fox News Channel addicts.

The sad thing is that it didn’t have to be this way. Then again, watching a once-great political party collapsing from its own corruption, misogyny, dishonesty, and just plain looniness is proving to be rather entertaining, don’tchathink??

Party on, Garth….

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on November 14, 2013 6:09 AM.

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