A Republican Party alternitive?

Are all Republicans as nutty as the noisemakers currently in the news? I don't think so.

I'm from Oklahoma. I'm embarrassed that our senior senator, Jim Inhofe (R-OK) is representing us. This is a United States Senator who has served since 1990 and has no really significant legislation to his credit. His claim to fame is sponsoring the 2005 Highway Bill, which gave Oklahoma more money than it sends to Washington. A few million more dollars ... chicken feed when talking highway construction. Senator Inhofe has logged more visits (with guests) to the crown of the U.S. Capitol dome than any other elected official. Access to the crown is only accessible to Congressmen, Senators and their guests.

I'm hitting on Senator Inhofe a bit hard because I know a lot about him. The point is, this is a man who opposes the concept of global warming and is fighting with all his might to be the darling of the fringe right wing. He's now proposing to organize "Truth Squads" to protest at the U.N. Climate conference in Copenhagen this December.

For someone with such an undistinguished career in the Senate, Mr Inhofe is surely tilting at windmills awfully hard. Coming from an oil and gas producing state, I can understand the desire to represent those industries' interests in the Senate. However, even the oil companies recognize that global warming is a problem and are working (albeit slowly) to curb greenhouse gasses and other problem producing conditions. Why the Senator doesn't get on board and go with the flow is amazing (I guess those huge oil industry contributions have induced a form of dementia when it comes to representing the people.). Even if the global warming concept is a complete lie, does it hurt to try to help make the planet a better place?

If you want real chuckles, go to Inhofe’s official Senate page and look at his bio page. On the left side (ironic isn’t it?) you can click to learn more about things like “How to stop terrorists from being transferred from Guantanamo”, “How hundreds of scientists dispute global warming” (check their “credentials”) and other anti-everything positions he holds.

Inhofe’s web page is: http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=aboutsenatorinhofe.biography

Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is proposing legislation to kick families out of public housing if one family member breaks the law. So much for “compassionate conservatism”.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) repeatedly keeps telling right wing groups in closed sessions “We’re winning the argument” on healthcare and Obama’s attempt to socialize the national government.

These elected officials, and others like them owe it to their constituents to be more even handed. I understand the basis of the Republican Party has long been to curb the growth of government and oppose unnecessary taxes. An admirable goal. A stand that needs to be taken to balance the other side of any given argument developing in the national dialog.

The problem is, these people have gone too far. With no leadership at the top of the Republican Party, the loudest get the most attention. Rush Limbaugh and people like those I’ve listed above are leading the Republicans into an abyss they may not be able to climb out of.

The big money for Republicans comes from rich, right-wing, self-interested people who have no idea how the average person in America lives. And for that matter, don’t really care. Therefore, to get the money and the love, self anointed leaders have gravitated to the far right. Don’t get me started on the aide to Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), a.k.a. “Dr No”, who recently said pornography was the reason for homosexuality.

Why do these guys think they have the moral high ground? Do they think Democrats, Independents and moderate Republicans don’t love their families, worry if their teenage daughter gets pregnant, think abortion is a very serious issue, and the rest? We care about all these things just as they do. To listen to them is to believe they want a theocracy of monumental proportions, and that it will solve all the nation’s problems.

Do they really want the government telling them what to do? That’s what would happen. Everyone would have to abide by what would be strict guidelines on everything from dating to how to bury your grandfather. They want to impose their version of morality on us, but don’t want to live by the code. The most recent example is the Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford (R) who ran off to South America and cheated on his wife. It is strange that this guy can campaign for morality, but flaunt his immorality and somehow that’s acceptable. This is what we would face in a theocracy.

Besides, what sort of morality would be acceptable? Certainly not Islamic principals (some of the most stringent on the planet). What about Hindi or Catholic or Buddhist morality and teachings? Would we all be forced to accept fundamentalist Christian values? Excellent moral values to be sure, but to impose them on others who believe differently would be a travesty and go against everything this country stands for.

These guys need to get with the program. They need to face several facts: a) They lost the election. It happens. Try again in four years; b) They have a President who is non-white, non-rich (ok, he’s made a pile from his books), smart, middle aged, has a funny name and cares about the country more than special interests; c) The majority of the people do not agree with them at this time; d) They have no real leadership and are fragmenting beyond anything anyone would have ever believed; e) They are pinning all their hopes of regaining power on false moral arguments and faux hatred of any change whatsoever. (What would they do without their Blackberries and the internet? That’s change. Do they hate that?) Change is part of life. It is part of this country.

And all the rest of course….

Now…

All of this leads to my idea that we need a new moderate party to replace the Republican Party that has been hijacked by the fringe right-wing. This new party would allow those millions of thoughtful, intelligent and decent moderate Republicans (and some Democrats) to make their voice heard and bring sanity to the political debate once again. The fact we have two major political parties is not etched in stone. Three major parties might be refreshing.

I will explore this idea in detail later.

Think about it. A reasonable alternative to the current Republican Party. Hmmmmm …..

Martin