Bush Years Quote of the Day

 

 During the Bush years, conservatives all too often sided with the Republican Party rather than their own principles.

 

 

Danger Will Robinson . . . or Ann Coulter 

 

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

Interesting column -- and one that, I believe, reinforces the point I tried to make in a post earlier this week: We may be approaching the time when a critical mass of Republicans decide that they've "had it" with the Republican party, and become receptive to the idea that another -- truly conservatuve -- party would speak more forcefully and more honestly for their beliefs. If and when that day comes, the demise of the GOP will begin (perhaps, without our knowing it, that demise has already begun) and a new two-party system will emerge. One thing is certain: a self-styled conservative party that is not led by a conservative (like the GOP under Romney) would be a party that stands for nothing -- and a party that stands for nothing cannot have a future. A viable party must be able to define itself -- to set out its core principles in a few short sentences; a Republican party led by Romney would be unable to do that -- unless it chose to lie. Either way, whether it chose to lie or not, such a party would be unworthy of support from the American people. America's conservatives must understand that no political party is granted immortality, that political parties are human contrivances; people build them and people can demolish them. If and when the time comes to demolish the Republican party, there is no doubt that America's conservatives will have it in their power to do do.

[Tom Glennon]

Mannie is not only correct, he is perhaps prescient in his analysis. I would only add that as he noted, political parties are human contrivances. Since we know that humans are not perfect, neither can their constructs be perfect. While we may seek perfection, we should also realize that we will never achieve perfection.

[Mannie Sherberg]

Tom -- you're absolutely right. My quarrel with today's Republican party is not that it is imperfect -- as you say, every human contrivance is -- but that it's unprincipled. If I were asked to explain what core principles -- principles that it considers inviolate -- today's Republican party adheres to, I don't think I could do it because I don't believe it has such principles. The idea of inviolate, unalterable, impermeable tenets is an idea the party lost long ago. Today's GOP is a catch-all for whatever ideas are expected to garner votes. The party has lost its soul, or -- perhaps more accurately -- it sold its soul to the devil in exchange for electoral victory. I have a very deep conviction that the pact will prove to have been a dreadful mistake; a political party without a soul is doomed to shrivel and disappear.