Day: October 15, 2015

William Greider on the coming breakup of the GOP:

Fresh chatter among Washington insiders is not about whether the Republican Party will win in 2016 but whether it will survive. Donald Trump—the fear that he might actually become the GOP nominee—is the ultimate nightmare. Some gleeful Democrats are rooting (sotto voce) for the Donald, though many expect he will self-destruct. Nevertheless, Republicans face a larger problem. The GOP finds itself trapped in a marriage that has not only gone bad but is coming apart in full public view. After five decades of shrewd strategy, the Republican coalition Richard Nixon put together in 1968—welcoming the segregationist white South into the Party of Lincoln—is now devouring itself in ugly, spiteful recriminations. The abrupt resignation of House Speaker John Boehner was his capitulation to this new reality. His downfall was loudly cheered by many of his own troops—the angry right-wingers in the House who have turned upon the party establishment. Chaos followed. The discontented accuse party leaders of weakness and betraying their promises to the loyal rank and file. At the heart of this intramural conflict is the fact that society has changed dramatically in recent decades, but the GOP has refused to change with it. Americans are rapidly shifting toward more tolerant understandings of personal behavior and social values, but the Republican Party sticks with retrograde social taboos and hard-edged prejudices about race, gender, sexual freedom, immigration, and religion. Plus, it wants to do away with big government (or so it claims).

No it doesn't, as Hillary says. The GOP wants Theocracy, forcing one national religion upon all. It will take a big government to do that, to police the sexual habits of 350 million, to monitor millions of pregnancies every day to make sure none are aborted, to build and monitor a wall that keeps all in and out. The libertarian and business wings are repulsed by the racists and the theocrats, but only with them can they be a national party. Only with them can they have a chance to win national elections. But perhaps we have reached the point of not caring anymore. Boehner did.

Another Republican had a bout of honesty today and admitted the truth that the Benghazi Commission is nothing but a made up partisan witch hunt to crucify Hillary Clinton despite any wrongdoing on her part.

Currently, the 2010 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Delaware is being sued by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for allegedly using at least $20,000 in campaign contributions to pay personal bills, such as her rent at her Greenville townhouse. Well, it seems that beyond whatever retainer he secured before taking the case, her attorney is not being paid.

It is well overdue, but the leadership of the Democratic Party finally gets it. The GOP is the problem. Hillary Clinton called out the GOP and their malfeasance in no uncertain terms, and it was a huge hit. She sounds determined to tell the truth about the GOP on the campaign trail. In so doing she'll drag the GOP's cynical policies into the light of day and allow a legion of down ticket Democrats to adopt the message. There are far fewer Republicans in this country than there are Democrats. If, rather than pandering to the wishy/washy "center" she shows the country what the GOP has really been up to, she will win in a landslide and may well sweep away the GOP majorities in Washington and numerous state legislatures. Here are her finest moments from the debate: