The GOP, Not the Senate, is Broken

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/8/29/11518/9968

The GOP, Not the Senate, is Broken

by BooMan
Sat Aug 29th, 2009 at 11:51:08 AM EST


It gets boring constantly beating on the Republican Party for their racism and general intolerance, but it's an important feature of our national political landscape. The occasion of Sen. Edward Kennedy's death is an appropriate time to do retrospective pieces on the myriad ways that the upper chamber has changed in the last half-century, but such analysis should mention how the two major parties have changed during that time.

Take a look at the elected officials in the GOP. There are no black Republican members of Congress. With the retirement of Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, there are no Latino Republicans in the Senate. The only Latino Republicans in Congress are the three Cuban-American representatives from the Miami area. There are no Mexican Republicans or Puerto Rican Republicans. Now that Arlen Specter has switched parties, the only Jewish Republican in Congress is Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia. I can't think of any Republicans of East Asian ancestry other than freshman Rep. Joseph Cao of New Orleans. There are no openly gay Republicans in Congress. And consider this:

In the House there are 75 female Representatives. The Senate has 17 females. These are the highest numbers of women Members in the history of the Congress.

Of the 17 female Senators, 13 are Democrats and 4 are Republicans. Of the 75 female Representatives, 58 are Democrats and 17 are Republicans.

The demographics of the country and the degree of female participation in politics have changed dramatically since 1962 when Ted Kennedy was first elected to the Senate. So, too, has that tolerance for gays and the rights of racial and religious minorities. But it seems like the Democratic Party has absorbed all of that change, while the Republican Party has been trapped in amber. The two Muslims in Congress are Democrats. The two Buddhists in Congress are Democrats. The three Unitarians in Congress are Democrats. The only averred atheist in Congress is a Democrat.

The Republican Party is hostile to non-white immigration. It considers religious tolerance to be an infringement on the free exercise of Christianity. It opposes gay rights and hate crimes legislation. And it holds anachronistically paternalistic views of human sexuality and reproductive rights. Overtly racist comments are made by Republican leaders (usually unelected leaders) on a regular basis. And, finally, the party has an uneasy relationship with science since much of its base rejects basic scientific theories like of evolution, plate tectonics, and climate change.

All of this has resulted in a deeply divided political culture that is rife with the types of disagreements that cannot be resolved by debate and compromise. When Teddy Kennedy came to the Senate, the two parties were internally split on both regional and ideological matters.

snip//

The emergence of CSPAN and the 24-hour news cycle have certainly contributed to the breakdown in comity in our political arena. But the failure of the Republican Party to attract anyone but white (usually male) Christians into their coalition is the primary driver of our divisions today. There's nothing wrong with white men from a Christian background, but there is something wrong with a party that is made up almost exclusively of them. When you add to this insularity a tendency to reject the most basic and important theories in geology, biology, and climatology, you have a party that is incapable of being an honest partner in setting fair and sensible policies for our nation.

In other words, the GOP is broken. That the Senate is also broken is mainly just a derivative outcome.

[zbdent]

1. yet another obituary for the GOP ...

I keep remembering that the Democrats were just waiting for the body to "assume room temperature", to use some asshole's phrase, after the 2002 elections ...

[Laelth]

2. While that's true, the bigger problem is that the Democratic Party is broken.

Every day it seems the Democratic Party is as much a corporatist Party as the Republican Party. In the words of Ted Kennedy, "The last thing this country needs is two Republican Parties," and yet, it seems, that's exactly what we have.

The Democratic Party is the problem when it represents corporate interests and not the people.

:dem:

-Laelth

[babylonsister]

3. Maybe if the GOP had something to offer, things would be different.

If the GOP had more thinking people with different povs, that could make some of these Dems reconsider.

You're way too negative for me. I'll wait and see how screwed we are. I'm not there yet and still have faith. No one ever said this was going to be easy.

[Laelth]

4. New ideas? It's entirely possible that the GOP will swing way back to the left.

The GOP started on the left, after all. Right now it seems to be captured by complete lunatics, but that could change if they suffer enough electoral defeats.

Is that the kind of ideas you're looking for from Republicans? Personally, I prefer to look for liberal ideas from Democrats. On the issue of health care, I have been disappointed.

And, of course, you're way too optimistic for me. Did that really need saying?

:dem:

-Laelth

[cui bono]

5. I doubt that if the GOP changed the way you suggest it would make any difference

to the Dems. Plus, is that the Dem Party you want? A reactive one that is dependent on what the GOP does/thinks? Not me. I wish our Dems were pro-active and took charge but they simply don't.

No, I think the entire govt. is broken and will not mend until we have campaign finance reform and get rid of lobbying. As things are the govt. as a whole is bought and paid for by corporations and that simply won't change until money doesn't buy votes.

Look at the health care debate? I mean really, what's to debate? The opposition has no valid points and yet here we are, having to fight to get real reform. And who do we need to convince? Democrats! That is truly pathetic.

By the way, being critical is not necessarily being negative. One can be critical and still be active and positive about attempts to bring change. But in order to bring change one must be critical. So many people have become complacent just because Obama got elected and they are so sure he has some master plan and everything is going according to his plan that apparently is supposed to be benefiting the people. I say now is the time to be even more active to make sure he does the right thing and to make sure that it is clear that is what the people want.