This is a response to J.J. Jackson's piece titled "A Dime's Worth of Difference Is Not Enough" that can be read HERE.
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By Douglas V. Gibbs
The Republican Party has broken the hearts of Constitutionalists, and Conservatives, a number of times. Even Ronald Reagan, the darling of The Right, allowed spending to triple during his presidency because he didn't have the willingness to use his veto pen. Following the GOP is like riding on a roller coaster, with wonderful highs, and frightening dips, throughout history. And it is nobody's damn fault but our own.
Mr. Jackson, in his article "A Dime's Worth of Difference Is Not Enough," compares the relationship between Conservatives and the Republican Party with one of an abusive relationship with a "lying, cheating and stealing spouse." Essentially, he is correct. Conservatives, after the mountaintop peak of the roller coaster ride, are always let down when the Republicans begin acting like a bunch of no good, conniving, corrupt politicians again. Then we whip them into shape, and they behave for a short while, and then the Republicans go right back to their old ways.
"But, hey," one may say, "at least they aren't a bunch of Democrats."
Sometimes, they are, and then like Arlen Specter, realize their true identity and hop the fence.
Each time the GOP disappoints their conservative base a rallying cry for a third party rises from the ashes of disappointment. It seems stupid to keep voting for the same party, only for them to start acting like a bunch of Democrats before the last piece of congratulatory confetti strikes the ground. The Republicans, once they grab hold of power, abandon their fiscal conservatism and begin to spend like a drunken liberal. As we saw during the Bush years, big government programs begin to rear their ugly heads as the GOP takes a few steps away from the Constitution, even resorting to abandoning our free market system with an idiotic stimulus package.
And it is nobody's fault but our own.
In a return to Mr. Jackson's abused spouse example, the victim in such a relationship has three choices. Continue to be a victim and allow the abuse to continue, walk out, or stop being a victim and gain control of the situation. The correct step to take is to take action to stop the abuse in the relationship through diligence and hard work. Save the relationship if possible.
Problem is, often when an abusive spouse turns from his or her ways, the former victim drops into a position of complacency, and says nothing when the signs of relapse become evident.
This is why the lost ways of the Republican Party is nobody's fault but our own. We demand of them to straighten out, and then when they follow our lead, we let go of the leash. Of course the GOP heads back into their own ways. Without the people there to demand they stay on the straight and narrow, the cesspool of Washington rapidly seeps back into the veins of those statesmen, and they become corrupt politicians once again.
It is sort of like being a parent. If you aren't on your kids all the time about their behavior, their natural tendency will be to return to their stupid ways.
A third party will always split the right-of-center vote. A third party is a sure way keep tyranny in power in perpetuity. The GOP is not on trial here, we are.
The Republican Party can be turned back into the party of conservatives, but once we gain a little control over their actions, we can't stop there. We must be diligent at both the national and local levels. Hold the Republican's feet to the fire constantly, while putting into the system at the local level constitutionalists who will be better able to fight off the corruption of Washington once they make their way up to that part of their political careers. And then, when they get to Washington, don't assume all is well and that they will remember their roots. We must not think to ourselves, "Okay, our guy is there, we are good," sink into our recliners, and turn on the television. We must demand that our elected cock roaches remain in line, serving the people's interest, and not their own. Power corrupts, and we must hold the elected accountable. If they disappoint us like the GOP continues to do, we are to blame for letting it happen through our complacency.
Kicking and screaming about those bad Republicans does not fix the problem when the problem is that we are not demanding they behave. We have no right to complain when we refuse to be involved, and refuse to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions. The Constitution is a contract between the federal government and the people and states, and if the knuckleheads in Washington don't abide by that contract, it is our duty to vote them out, and vote in someone who we believe will. And when that person swerves off the Constitutional road, then we must be diligent in demanding they fly right, or be removed as well.
When the Republican Party disappoints the people, it is not for us to abandon them, allow The Left unimpeded control of the nation while we try to create a third party, and then hope the new party doesn't become as corrupt as the Republicans became - our duty is to raise a revolution within the GOP, remind those dummies who they represent, and ensure they follow conservative principles, or be voted out.
There is a dime's worth of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans, and that is a start. There is more than a dime's worth of difference when we demand it of them.
Otherwise, they become just a bunch of Washington politicians, and their descent into corruption is nobody's fault but our own.
If we can't do what it takes to ensure the GOP stays in shape, what makes us think we can do any better with a third party?
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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