Hijacked Republicans

Pundits including Paul Krugman and Rachel Maddow tell us that the Republican party has been "hijacked" by conservative crazies. When was the party different? Maybe in Abe Lincoln's time. The GOP has long been an assembly of sociopaths worshiping the flag and stomping on the Constitution.

Who among Republicans publicly choose principle over right wing orthodoxy? I can only think of two events. Both are now distant history: Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock to enforce court-ordered desegregation and Rep. Pete McCloskey opposed the Vietnam War. Anything else? How many Republicans spoke out against Joe McCarthy or Richard Nixon when it mattered? No; they acted like vultures hovering in the distance until time to feast on the carrion. How many Republicans admitted that Bill Clinton's impeachment was an obvious, unwinable, mean-spirited distraction from the nation's problems?

Look, I'm too old to expect magnificence in politics. There are no more profiles in courage. But, the Republican farm system produces a unique stream of craven dullards without capacity for self-reflection. They only know a three-page playbook: false piety, fake indignation, and manufactured fear. Reality is an enemy. Craziness is normal.

Ronald Reagan preached against Social Security and Medicare. He forecast socialism and doom. Has any Democratic president made such outrageous claims? Conversely, have any conservatives apologized for their idiot decisions? Instead, they Winston Smith history to convert failed right wing nuttiness into victory: the United States could have won in Vietnam, Joe McCarthy was correct all along, and Franklin Roosevelt prolonged the Great Depression.

Once again, I advocate a simple strategy. Every response to every conservative statement needs a preamble, "You were wrong about Iraq, wrong about financial deregulation, wrong about torture, wrong about civil rights, wrong about global warming, wrong about Terri Schiavo, wrong about sex education, wrong about energy conservation, wrong about tax cuts for the wealthy. Why should I believe you now?"