What Ever Happened to the Republican Party?
Joel E. Bousley
November 21, 2005
The Republican Party was once a party of fiscal conservatism, limited government, few foreign entanglements, and moderate ideology.? It was a party that truly had a backbone and not one that put on a charade by trying to appear to have one.? The Republican Party of yesteryear, while far from perfect, once contained such distinguished members as Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senators Arthur Vandenberg and George Norris.? The Republican Party once had the ability to think for itself and to challenge its own leadership and ideology when necessary.?
President Lincoln is widely held to be one of the greatest presidents in United States history.? It is well known that President Lincoln knocked down the horrid practice of slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation.? Equally as important, Lincoln led the nation through Civil War and called for moderation in dealing with the former states of the failed confederacy.? His amnesty proclamation offered a pardon to all confederates willing to lay down their weapons and take a loyalty oath.? Lincoln?s views on reconstruction were best summed up in his second inaugural address when he penned the now famous words:
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds?
Though it was an unpopular stance to take in his own party, President Lincoln called for moderation in dealing with the former confederate states and to instead bring them back into the Union peacefully.?? Lincoln was someone who was willing to stand up for what was right and, unlike George W. Bush, was truly a man who sought to unite the country.? President Abraham Lincoln should serve as a reminder to Republicans in leadership today.?
President Dwight Eisenhower served his country with distinction as the Supreme Allied Commander in World War II.? A profile in courage, Dwight Eisenhower lead the country at a time of great transition.? He also took a bold move in speaking out against too much power being concentrated in the hands of the military industrial complex.? President Eisenhower had this to say upon leaving office:
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence ? economic, political, even spiritual ? is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Under the leadership of the current incarnation of Republicans, corporations and defense contractors, like Halliburton, have been granted unbridled privilege.? Some 8.8 billion dollars of tax-payer money has gone missing in Iraq.? The defense contracting company Halliburton was one of the main benefactors of this money having received an estimated one billion dollars.? Rather than taking up this issue, Republicans in Congress have largely ignored it over the protests of three key Democratic senators ? Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Tom Harkin of Iowa.? The military-industrial complex clearly has far too much influence in politics in Washington.? President Eisenhower?s words and wisdom ring all too true today with the failure of the Republican Party leadership to recall his warning and his tenacity.
Senator Vandenberg is a prime example of courageousness because he was willing to challenge accepted ideology.? Senator Vandenberg had the temerity to let go of his own limited worldview in the interest of what was good for the United States of America and the world.? The senator acted in concert with the Democratic administration of Harry S. Truman and worked on the Marshall Plan, the establishment of NATO, and the Truman Doctrine.? Whereas, Senator Vandenberg had once been a staunch isolationist, he became a supporter of the Truman worldview of internationalism.? Regardless of rather that approach is right today, Vandenberg is remembered because of his ability to overcome partisan divide in order to achieve bipartisan goals for the good of the Republic and the world.? Modern Republicans would do well to emulate his tact and wisdom rather than attempting to run roughshod over the minority party in both Houses of Congress.
Senator George Norris is remembered because of his ability to work with the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.? He was instrumental in planning the Tennessee Valley Authority that maintained flood control and provided electricity to a flooded region.? (If only Republicans would be willing to put aside partisan bickering to work with Democrats in confronting the tragedy of Katrina now...)? Senator Norris took the decidedly unpopular stance of being against World War I because he believed entry into the conflict was being spurred on by ?big business.? (See military-industrial complex.)? Norris served the state of Nebraska for over forty years in the United States Congress, and because of his efforts he was the first person inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.? Republicans would do well to recall the actions of Senator George Norris in the actions they take today.
From June 1972 to August 1974 the United States became increasingly aware of corruption in the executive branch under the administration of Richard M. Nixon.? The scandal that engulfed the Nixon White House has now become known as ?Watergate,? but when it began it was thought to be nothing more than a third-rate burglary.? As the scandal came closer and closer to the oval office, it became increasingly clear that President Nixon had been involved in an attempt to cover-up the burglary of Democratic Party headquarters.? It was the Republican Party that had the backbone to go to President Richard Nixon, speak truth to power, and tell him that he had to resign for the good of the country.? Furthermore, Republican President Richard M. Nixon took a courageous step when he resigned with grace.? In light of the last disastrous five years in a divided partisan environment, Republicans would do well for themselves, and the country, to remember the events of their predecessors during the long hot summer of 1974.
The Republican Party leadership in Washington today is something different.? The Republican Party in power today is an abomination.? It is filled with sycophants, liars, and cowards.? Sycophants who would dare not speak out against a president that is in the very least grossly and dangerously incompetent.? These Republican sycophants refuse to acknowledge that he is the most a dangerous liar in modern times. ?It seems that they are unable to accept the fact that this nation was lied into an elective and illegal war.? However, let this be said most clearly ? they are unable to accept this because of pride and because of an apparent inability to think independently.? (For God sakes, they have to have talking points ? that are normally littered with inaccuracies ? in order to present their message to their shrinking base of support!)?
The men and women in Congress who call themselves Republicans have to know that they are selling this country down the river by refusing to step up and speak truth to power.? They have to face the grim reality that our skyrocketing national debt can no longer be ignored without great peril to the citizens of this nation.? Republicans in Congress must accept the full responsibility of being the majority party and see that they are looking out for the majority of Americans rather than vociferous fringe elements in their own ranks.? They have to confront the fact that it is ghastly that some 46 million Americans are without any form of health care as billions of dollars are spent a year in an elective war.?
These men and women in Congress who identify themselves as Republicans are cowards of the worst breed because they refuse to confront the fact that there are no clear objectives in Iraq.? The lies that our mission in Iraq ? whatever it may be at the moment ? must stop.? American troops find themselves bogged down in a struggle with no end in sight.? Congressional Republicans refuse to acknowledge that every day that our men and women in uniform are without clear-cut objectives represents a plus for the insurgency by enabling them to continue their recruitment efforts.? Conversely, everyday without clear-cut objectives in Iraq represents a minus for the US military personnel in Iraq and the safety and security of the people of this Republic.
So, I must ask ? what has happened to the Republican Party today?? The Republican Party appears to have abandoned its principles.? Gone are the days of moderation, small government, staying out of the business of nation building, and fiscal conservatism. The Republican Party has morphed into something that does not resemble the party of Presidents Lincoln and Eisenhower or Senators Vandenberg and Norris.?
Under Republican leadership in the legislative and executive branch, the national debt has sky-rocketed, and fiscal conservatism seems to be a thing of the past.? America finds itself in debt to China ? a nation that has a dire human rights record and continues to embrace communism.? It has been on Republican watch that the national treasury has been looted by involvement in an elective and immoral war.? The war in Iraq?s justification has changed from finding weapons of mass destruction to building democracy in the Middle East.? On that point, it is important that we look at the words of then Governor George W. Bush when debating Vice-President Al Gore on October 11, 2000:
?I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building. . . . I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have a kind of nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not.?
President George W. Bush and Congressional Republicans seem to have conveniently forgotten those words in their ?building democracy in Iraq.?? America finds itself intimately involved in nation building when it had originally sought to find weapons of mass destruction in a country that had none.? Our troops continue to die in Iraq for a war based on lies.? Our troops continue to labor in danger in a war in which the mission continues to change in accordance to what is political expedient at the moment.? The Republicans in Congress would do well to remind President Bush that our troops are not ?a kind of nation-building corps.??
In the interest of fostering security, the Republican Party, the majority party, has sold America down the river by passing and extending the Patriot Act.? It seems that they have forgotten what defines a small government in their drive for ?safety and security.? ?In 1993, President Bill Clinton made an effort to get legislation passed for his proposed universal healthcare program.? President Clinton?s universal healthcare program would have included providing all U.S. citizens with a national ID card. Congressional Republicans were strongly opposed to this idea on the basis that it would have compromised the confidentiality of the patient?s medical history and identity.? Republicans also viewed it as a move in the wrong direction; that is, they viewed it as a move toward ?big government.??
However, in a move of overwhelming hypocrisy, Republicans in Congress are now pushing for a national identification card under the ?Real ID Act.?? The breakdown of the votes for the Real ID Act in the House of Representatives was 261 to 161 with 95 percent of Republicans voting for the legislation and three-fourths of Democrats voting in opposition.? (See:? http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll031.xml )? This legislation will impose standards on state issued driver?s licenses.? The legislation is filled with specifications that will compromise the security of this country?s citizens and serve to strip away more of our civil liberties.? The cards must list the address of residence and P.O. Boxes are to be specifically forbidden ? no one will be exempt from this rule ? to include individuals in delicate positions like law enforcement officers or law makers.? The ?Real ID? cards will not be issued to illegal aliens, which means they will drive without licenses or insurance and send rates through the roof.? This national ID card represents a departure from the old Republican value of small government.? The federal government will trump state rights by forcing them to spend an estimated average of $120 million in compliance with the federal law.? Republicans in Congress would do well to join the majority of Democrats and in the future unite against nefarious legislation like this and seek to overturn the Real ID Act.
The extreme right-wing of the party has pushed moderation out of the discussion, and has instead embraced fringe elements that are hostile to national unity.? Rather than calling for progressive legislation and seeking to work with the minority party, the Republicans of the past decade have suppressed the minority Democratic Party.? The days of bipartisan cooperation are not gone because the Democratic Party is obstructionist.? The days of bipartisan cooperation have disappeared because the Republican majority refuses to work with the Democratic Party unless the Democratic Party bends to their will on every issue.? Is this how bipartisan legislatures are supposed to work?? No, the Republican leadership in Congress would rather threaten to change the rules so that they get their way on every single piece of legislation or confirmation.? This is not the way that an honorable party behaves.? Republicans would do well to be mindful of the fact that they will not always be the majority party.
On cursory examination it would appear that the Republican Party in Congress has a backbone and is not afraid to take bold measures ? even if this means running down the opposition.? However, nothing could be further from the truth, as they are more representative of schoolyard bullies than distinguished members of Congress.? It is hard to not think of the Nixon White House when reflecting on the situation of the Republican Party today.? The majority leaders of both Houses of Congress have been either indicted or are under investigation for crimes.? The White House played the central role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame-Wilson.? Never in all of American history have both Houses of Congresses and the White House been covered in scandal at the same time.? Never have Republicans been more detached from their principles.
The Republican Party has become the party of big corporations and ?Big Brother? government.? They have become the party that will verbally lambaste the minority report for speaking out against measures that run contrary to the public good.? The Republican Party has become the party that pushes out party moderates and embraces regressive extreme elements.? The Republican Party, in short, seems to have lost its head. This cannot continue if America is to continue to function as an institute and incubator of democracy.
Republicans must work for bipartisan measures and attempt to move back to their roots of fiscal conservatism, limited foreign entanglements, moderation, and small government.? They would also do well to ensure that they remember the great Republicans who came before them in the persons of Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, Arthur Vandenberg, and George Norris.? Republicans have to accept that George W. Bush represents a failed presidency and that it is imperative that he be confronted for the good of the nation on both the war in Iraq and domestic issues.? They must begin to think independently and separate themselves from group-think.? Overall, the Republican Party must think instead of the good of the American people ? not exclusively extreme right-wing elements or members of the military-industrial complex.? This means that they will have to think of Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, big businesses and small businesses, people of religious faith and atheists, and overall the great melting pot that is America.? It is well past the time to challenge the failed leadership in both Houses of Congress and the presidency of George W. Bush and think independently for the good of the American people.?
President Lincoln is widely held to be one of the greatest presidents in United States history.? It is well known that President Lincoln knocked down the horrid practice of slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation.? Equally as important, Lincoln led the nation through Civil War and called for moderation in dealing with the former states of the failed confederacy.? His amnesty proclamation offered a pardon to all confederates willing to lay down their weapons and take a loyalty oath.? Lincoln?s views on reconstruction were best summed up in his second inaugural address when he penned the now famous words:
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds?
Though it was an unpopular stance to take in his own party, President Lincoln called for moderation in dealing with the former confederate states and to instead bring them back into the Union peacefully.?? Lincoln was someone who was willing to stand up for what was right and, unlike George W. Bush, was truly a man who sought to unite the country.? President Abraham Lincoln should serve as a reminder to Republicans in leadership today.?
President Dwight Eisenhower served his country with distinction as the Supreme Allied Commander in World War II.? A profile in courage, Dwight Eisenhower lead the country at a time of great transition.? He also took a bold move in speaking out against too much power being concentrated in the hands of the military industrial complex.? President Eisenhower had this to say upon leaving office:
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence ? economic, political, even spiritual ? is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Under the leadership of the current incarnation of Republicans, corporations and defense contractors, like Halliburton, have been granted unbridled privilege.? Some 8.8 billion dollars of tax-payer money has gone missing in Iraq.? The defense contracting company Halliburton was one of the main benefactors of this money having received an estimated one billion dollars.? Rather than taking up this issue, Republicans in Congress have largely ignored it over the protests of three key Democratic senators ? Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Tom Harkin of Iowa.? The military-industrial complex clearly has far too much influence in politics in Washington.? President Eisenhower?s words and wisdom ring all too true today with the failure of the Republican Party leadership to recall his warning and his tenacity.
Senator Vandenberg is a prime example of courageousness because he was willing to challenge accepted ideology.? Senator Vandenberg had the temerity to let go of his own limited worldview in the interest of what was good for the United States of America and the world.? The senator acted in concert with the Democratic administration of Harry S. Truman and worked on the Marshall Plan, the establishment of NATO, and the Truman Doctrine.? Whereas, Senator Vandenberg had once been a staunch isolationist, he became a supporter of the Truman worldview of internationalism.? Regardless of rather that approach is right today, Vandenberg is remembered because of his ability to overcome partisan divide in order to achieve bipartisan goals for the good of the Republic and the world.? Modern Republicans would do well to emulate his tact and wisdom rather than attempting to run roughshod over the minority party in both Houses of Congress.
Senator George Norris is remembered because of his ability to work with the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.? He was instrumental in planning the Tennessee Valley Authority that maintained flood control and provided electricity to a flooded region.? (If only Republicans would be willing to put aside partisan bickering to work with Democrats in confronting the tragedy of Katrina now...)? Senator Norris took the decidedly unpopular stance of being against World War I because he believed entry into the conflict was being spurred on by ?big business.? (See military-industrial complex.)? Norris served the state of Nebraska for over forty years in the United States Congress, and because of his efforts he was the first person inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.? Republicans would do well to recall the actions of Senator George Norris in the actions they take today.
From June 1972 to August 1974 the United States became increasingly aware of corruption in the executive branch under the administration of Richard M. Nixon.? The scandal that engulfed the Nixon White House has now become known as ?Watergate,? but when it began it was thought to be nothing more than a third-rate burglary.? As the scandal came closer and closer to the oval office, it became increasingly clear that President Nixon had been involved in an attempt to cover-up the burglary of Democratic Party headquarters.? It was the Republican Party that had the backbone to go to President Richard Nixon, speak truth to power, and tell him that he had to resign for the good of the country.? Furthermore, Republican President Richard M. Nixon took a courageous step when he resigned with grace.? In light of the last disastrous five years in a divided partisan environment, Republicans would do well for themselves, and the country, to remember the events of their predecessors during the long hot summer of 1974.
The Republican Party leadership in Washington today is something different.? The Republican Party in power today is an abomination.? It is filled with sycophants, liars, and cowards.? Sycophants who would dare not speak out against a president that is in the very least grossly and dangerously incompetent.? These Republican sycophants refuse to acknowledge that he is the most a dangerous liar in modern times. ?It seems that they are unable to accept the fact that this nation was lied into an elective and illegal war.? However, let this be said most clearly ? they are unable to accept this because of pride and because of an apparent inability to think independently.? (For God sakes, they have to have talking points ? that are normally littered with inaccuracies ? in order to present their message to their shrinking base of support!)?
The men and women in Congress who call themselves Republicans have to know that they are selling this country down the river by refusing to step up and speak truth to power.? They have to face the grim reality that our skyrocketing national debt can no longer be ignored without great peril to the citizens of this nation.? Republicans in Congress must accept the full responsibility of being the majority party and see that they are looking out for the majority of Americans rather than vociferous fringe elements in their own ranks.? They have to confront the fact that it is ghastly that some 46 million Americans are without any form of health care as billions of dollars are spent a year in an elective war.?
These men and women in Congress who identify themselves as Republicans are cowards of the worst breed because they refuse to confront the fact that there are no clear objectives in Iraq.? The lies that our mission in Iraq ? whatever it may be at the moment ? must stop.? American troops find themselves bogged down in a struggle with no end in sight.? Congressional Republicans refuse to acknowledge that every day that our men and women in uniform are without clear-cut objectives represents a plus for the insurgency by enabling them to continue their recruitment efforts.? Conversely, everyday without clear-cut objectives in Iraq represents a minus for the US military personnel in Iraq and the safety and security of the people of this Republic.
So, I must ask ? what has happened to the Republican Party today?? The Republican Party appears to have abandoned its principles.? Gone are the days of moderation, small government, staying out of the business of nation building, and fiscal conservatism. The Republican Party has morphed into something that does not resemble the party of Presidents Lincoln and Eisenhower or Senators Vandenberg and Norris.?
Under Republican leadership in the legislative and executive branch, the national debt has sky-rocketed, and fiscal conservatism seems to be a thing of the past.? America finds itself in debt to China ? a nation that has a dire human rights record and continues to embrace communism.? It has been on Republican watch that the national treasury has been looted by involvement in an elective and immoral war.? The war in Iraq?s justification has changed from finding weapons of mass destruction to building democracy in the Middle East.? On that point, it is important that we look at the words of then Governor George W. Bush when debating Vice-President Al Gore on October 11, 2000:
?I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building. . . . I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have a kind of nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not.?
President George W. Bush and Congressional Republicans seem to have conveniently forgotten those words in their ?building democracy in Iraq.?? America finds itself intimately involved in nation building when it had originally sought to find weapons of mass destruction in a country that had none.? Our troops continue to die in Iraq for a war based on lies.? Our troops continue to labor in danger in a war in which the mission continues to change in accordance to what is political expedient at the moment.? The Republicans in Congress would do well to remind President Bush that our troops are not ?a kind of nation-building corps.??
In the interest of fostering security, the Republican Party, the majority party, has sold America down the river by passing and extending the Patriot Act.? It seems that they have forgotten what defines a small government in their drive for ?safety and security.? ?In 1993, President Bill Clinton made an effort to get legislation passed for his proposed universal healthcare program.? President Clinton?s universal healthcare program would have included providing all U.S. citizens with a national ID card. Congressional Republicans were strongly opposed to this idea on the basis that it would have compromised the confidentiality of the patient?s medical history and identity.? Republicans also viewed it as a move in the wrong direction; that is, they viewed it as a move toward ?big government.??
However, in a move of overwhelming hypocrisy, Republicans in Congress are now pushing for a national identification card under the ?Real ID Act.?? The breakdown of the votes for the Real ID Act in the House of Representatives was 261 to 161 with 95 percent of Republicans voting for the legislation and three-fourths of Democrats voting in opposition.? (See:? http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll031.xml )? This legislation will impose standards on state issued driver?s licenses.? The legislation is filled with specifications that will compromise the security of this country?s citizens and serve to strip away more of our civil liberties.? The cards must list the address of residence and P.O. Boxes are to be specifically forbidden ? no one will be exempt from this rule ? to include individuals in delicate positions like law enforcement officers or law makers.? The ?Real ID? cards will not be issued to illegal aliens, which means they will drive without licenses or insurance and send rates through the roof.? This national ID card represents a departure from the old Republican value of small government.? The federal government will trump state rights by forcing them to spend an estimated average of $120 million in compliance with the federal law.? Republicans in Congress would do well to join the majority of Democrats and in the future unite against nefarious legislation like this and seek to overturn the Real ID Act.
The extreme right-wing of the party has pushed moderation out of the discussion, and has instead embraced fringe elements that are hostile to national unity.? Rather than calling for progressive legislation and seeking to work with the minority party, the Republicans of the past decade have suppressed the minority Democratic Party.? The days of bipartisan cooperation are not gone because the Democratic Party is obstructionist.? The days of bipartisan cooperation have disappeared because the Republican majority refuses to work with the Democratic Party unless the Democratic Party bends to their will on every issue.? Is this how bipartisan legislatures are supposed to work?? No, the Republican leadership in Congress would rather threaten to change the rules so that they get their way on every single piece of legislation or confirmation.? This is not the way that an honorable party behaves.? Republicans would do well to be mindful of the fact that they will not always be the majority party.
On cursory examination it would appear that the Republican Party in Congress has a backbone and is not afraid to take bold measures ? even if this means running down the opposition.? However, nothing could be further from the truth, as they are more representative of schoolyard bullies than distinguished members of Congress.? It is hard to not think of the Nixon White House when reflecting on the situation of the Republican Party today.? The majority leaders of both Houses of Congress have been either indicted or are under investigation for crimes.? The White House played the central role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame-Wilson.? Never in all of American history have both Houses of Congresses and the White House been covered in scandal at the same time.? Never have Republicans been more detached from their principles.
The Republican Party has become the party of big corporations and ?Big Brother? government.? They have become the party that will verbally lambaste the minority report for speaking out against measures that run contrary to the public good.? The Republican Party has become the party that pushes out party moderates and embraces regressive extreme elements.? The Republican Party, in short, seems to have lost its head. This cannot continue if America is to continue to function as an institute and incubator of democracy.
Republicans must work for bipartisan measures and attempt to move back to their roots of fiscal conservatism, limited foreign entanglements, moderation, and small government.? They would also do well to ensure that they remember the great Republicans who came before them in the persons of Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, Arthur Vandenberg, and George Norris.? Republicans have to accept that George W. Bush represents a failed presidency and that it is imperative that he be confronted for the good of the nation on both the war in Iraq and domestic issues.? They must begin to think independently and separate themselves from group-think.? Overall, the Republican Party must think instead of the good of the American people ? not exclusively extreme right-wing elements or members of the military-industrial complex.? This means that they will have to think of Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, big businesses and small businesses, people of religious faith and atheists, and overall the great melting pot that is America.? It is well past the time to challenge the failed leadership in both Houses of Congress and the presidency of George W. Bush and think independently for the good of the American people.?