4/30/2007

Breaking up with the GOP

Is the battle of individual liberty against big government over? A lot of Republicans seem to have declared 'mission accomplished'




By STEVEN GREENHUT
Senior editorial writer and columnist for the Register


Have you ever been in one of those destructive long-term relationships that, at some point, you really just needed to end?

I'm not referring to my marriage to my lovely wife of 23 years, but to my 25-year relationship with the Republican Party. In recent years especially, I have found fewer things in common with the party. I feel used and abused. We've obviously grown in different and incompatible directions.

It's a groan-inducing cliché, I know, but it applies here: I didn't leave the party; the party left me.

I grew up in one of those East Coast Democratic households, where FDR, JFK and even LBJ were lionized, and where the GOP wasn't so much loathed as ignored. I never met an actual Republican – at least anyone who admitted as much – until I went away to college. I became a Republican during Ronald Reagan's first term, having been inspired by his appeals to liberty, to his recognition of the freedom-stifling aspects of big government, to his unabashed embrace of the traditions of America's founders.

Reagan never actually rolled back government, but I can forgive a failure to achieve lofty aims. I cannot forgive abandonment of those aims. And it has been obvious for years, especially under the leadership of our current Republican president and our previously Republican-controlled Congress, that the "pro-liberty" stance has become nothing more than an applause line at those syrupy Flag Day dinners.

Reazd more@ The Orange County Register.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I still cannot understand the lionization of Reagan? He said one thing and did another. Just like Bush he talked about cutting deficits then gave tax cuts to the rich, borrowed for useless military projects like star wars and raised the deficit to a higher level than every previous administration. Reagan was the model for Bush.
Remember Clinton? He actually did cut the deficit, raised taxes on the wealthy, and had an unprecedented economic expansion.
OHHHHHH those evil democrats?

Anonymous said...

This commentary does point out some very interesting points about the Republican tent. Looks like the current front runners on the GOP side of the race will seriously challenge the Reagan/W Bush side of the tent.

Anonymous said...

The Reagan/W Bush team decided to pull out the steaks on their side of the tent. Is it any wonder it's collapsing. Yippie! They did to themselves what their detractors could do to them! Nice job RATS!