The G.O.P. Is Done; Stick a fork in it

[Crewleader]

by Mike Whitney | May 5, 2009 - 10:32am

The experts think the Republican party can get up off the canvas and stage a comeback, but don't bet on it. The poor GOP isn't really even a party anymore; it's more like a vaudeville troupe scuttling from one backwater to the next performing the same worn slapstick. No wonder party membership is in the tank. Who wants to stick with a loser. George Bush drove a stake through the heart of the party with his gratuitous wars and his reckless spending. He left behind a bloated, intrusive, out-of-control Federal government and an economy in tatters. Things have gotten so bad, the party has a hard time fielding a second place candidate in a two man race.

But the GOP's problems run deeper than just Bush. The party has become an anachronism; a plodding, dogmatic, self righteous amalgam of disgruntled white zealots who are wildly out-of-step with the times. It's become irrelevant; and that's its biggest drawback. The party has lost its Reaganesque glitter and become a rigid, monochromatic "non-party" that no one pays much attention to apart from the occasional zinger on the Daily Show or Letterman. The truth is, the party is just plain dull.

That doesn't mean the Democrats are any great-shakes either. Far from it. In fact, the feckless Dems became Bush's biggest enablers. In two-terms they never stopped Bush once from doing exactly what he wanted, however heinous it might have been. Wiretapping. Iraq. Torture. Never. The Dems never seemed to grasp that politics is more than just trolling for campaign contributions and preening for the camera. Every once in a while representatives are expected to earn their pay and show some guts. That message is lost on the Democrats.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/21639

[BlooInBloo]

1. (facepalm) Damn short-memoried writers...

Of course they'll be back. The only question is when, not if.

[Skittles]

2. I'd rather stick a machete in it

yes INDEED

[babylonsister]

5. LOL! nt

[Skittles]

6. I can't take much more of these GOP bastards I tell you

even when they're mortally wounded they do damage while thrashing :mad:

[Skittles]

3. the "Reaganesque glitter " was just frosting covering an ugly cake

good riddance to the GOP *AND* reaganomics

[tanyev]

4. "a vaudeville troupe scuttling from one backwater to the next"

LOL. Now all we need is a great big hook.

[OmahaBlueDog]

7. Don't get cocky

Less than a decade ago, pundits spoke of a permenant GOP majority. These were the same pundits who spoke of years of budget surplusses.

They are still dangerous, still well funded, still permeating the Federal Bench, and (until we get sea #60) a force to be rekoned with in the Senate.

[BeatleBoot]

8. Something to Learn From

Let's not let the Democrats go the same way...

Lessons learned...

[Call me Deacon Blues]

9. No they're not

Not until every last one of those crooked, traitorous, sociopathic bastards is rotting in prison. Not until their homes meet the wrecking ball and the ground is plowed under and salt is sown. Not until every place they go, people point and whisper at them. Not until every last voting machine in every last city in every last precinct in the country has the word "Republican" expunged from them.

Then maybe I'll relax.

[madrchsod]

10. the democrats are selling us out each and every day.

i can`t wait till they cave on the supreme court nominee.

[Berry Cool]

11. If the Republicans' goal was to get their party down to the size

where they could drown it in a pizza parlor, they have succeeded.

[liberalmuse]

12. I've seen this movie before.

You can drive a wooden stake through its heart, blow its head off, throw acid on it, toss it into a furnace and exorcise it, but it will be back. As long as there are evil, greedy, selfish, ignorant, crazy, self-loathing, women-hating, gay-bashing, child-molesting, hypocritical, sanctimonious, diaper-soiling, animal buggerering fuckwads on the planet, the Republican Party will have a pulse.

[Indenturedebtor]

13. What difference does it make? With pukes out of power - Dems become pukes

A blue tie does not a liberal make.

Public campaign finance and untainted media or no Democracy.