G.O.P. R.I.P.

When I was in high school, I used to engage in many rousing and spirited debates with kids who were on the right side of aisle. I remember fondly the lengthy discussions about less government, less taxes, welfare, communism, and the corruption of the Democratic Party. All of the discussions were mostly friendly and seemed to always be held within a realm of sanity. I actually learned quite a bit from them.

For the last few weeks, I have been riding up to my weekly volleyball match with a guy who is very similar to those folks who I debated in high school. “Bob” is a card carrying member of the GOP and has been for 30 years. He has always felt that government could work more efficiently and has cited the Democrats as being the chief cause behind the bureaucracy….something that has been true until the last five years.

The first time we rode together and he told me he was a Republican I cringed. This was going to be a fun carpool! But after our first trip I was surprised to find out that he did not vote for George Bush in 2000 or 2004 and he positively loathes what is happening to our country.

Bob has always believed in less government and he believes, quite accurately, that the current administration has lost sight of this credo. I only have to point to the Terri Schiavo affiair to illustrate how the GOP has wandered off in to a land of lunacy. My pals on the left will have you believe that it is the Jesus freaks fault but I contend that Jesus has nothing to do with these folks are doing. Bob sums it up best.

Our current government is run by oil men. Their number one goal is to make more money in that industry and its related areas. Bob works in the technology sector and is fond of pointing out how the tech crash really occurred right after Bush took office. All of the money came out of tech because investors saw what was on the horizon. Bob has seen many of the advances our country has made be put on hold or reversed because our current government's lust for material wealth and supposed commitment to the culture of life.

Bob also feels that the whole idea of Bush being a man of principle and morality is a crock. They are more or less pretending to be “men of faith” to scam people into voting for them just as carnies scam folks into playing the same rigged game over and over again. They are about as far from Christianity as one can be seeing that they regularly break the 6th and 10th Commandments. They use people’s fear, insecurity, and uncertainty, combined with an excellent PR campaign, to drive them to the polls. With a victory in hand and the blind belief of the people, they are free to do whatever they want.

When I asked him if others of his ilk feel the same he points to past GOP heroes such as Arnie Carlson and Dave Durenberger who have thrown up their hands in disgust at what is happening in Washington right now. I point to Christine Todd Whitman, an excellent candidate for President btw, who is despondent over the turn her party has taken.

Yesterday I got into yet another discussion about how I am not patriotic because I question the war in Iraq. And apparently, because it was Memorial Day, I was not honoring the troops. I was also told that Iraq attacked us on 9/11 and we are just defending ourselves by invading them.

Leaving the sheer idiocy of the last comment aside, I contend that it honors our troops if we NEVER send them into harm’s way unless it is absolutely necessary. Since WWII, this has happened one time and that was Afghanistan, a job which has been left unfinished.

In fact, my friend Bob has an interesting theory about the future of our army. The armed forces are poised for the largest base closings since 1995, which is ironic since I thought that was the GOP’s main gripe about Clinton. Now they are doing the same thing!!

The idea is that our army will be streamlined and specialized. Bob thinks it is because eventually our army will be run by private corporations and left out of the government chain of command. This way the “contractors” you hear about on the news will soon be referred to as soldiers, answerable only to the CEO of whatever company’s interest they are representing. I wonder if we will feel the same amount of patriotism in that future on Memorial Day as we do now.

I thought about all these things yesterday and wondered what happened to the GOP that I used to know and with which I used to politely disagree. Since when I am not patriotic or too partisan because I question something that has nothing to do with either? And as the Bush zombies driveled on yesterday about how I either hate America or freedom in general, my GOP buddy Bob was there too and he just shook his head and smiled at me.