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Establishment Republicans have only themselves to blame: “The GOP is brain-dead.” — Richard Cohen

Establishment Republicans have only themselves to blame – The Washington Post By Richard Cohen, Published: January 30

The Republican establishment acts as if this season’s goon squad of presidential candidates has come out of nowhere, an act of God — a tsunami that hit the party and receded, leaving nothing but nitwits standing. In column after column, conservative commentators lament the present condition, but not their past acquiescence as their party turned hostile to thought, reason and the two most important words in the English language: It depends. …

This rampant anti-intellectualism is worrisome. The world is a complex place, but to deal with it, the GOP presented a parade of hopefuls who proposed nostrums or, in the case of Michele Bachmann, peddled false rumors about vaccinations. When this started I cannot say — the late Richard Hofstadter won the Pulitzer Prize for his “Anti-intellectualism in American Life” in 1964 — but the embrace of Sarah Palin by the GOP establishment has got to be noted. The lady has the gift of demagoguery and the required anti-elitism, but she knows next to nothing about almost anything — and revels in her ignorance. …

Subtlety is banished. Yahoos stride the stage. …

The Republican Party has veered so far from reality that Gingrich is lambasting Romney as a “Massachusetts moderate” — moderation being, as it was with the clueless Barry Goldwater, an epithet. Romney, who has all but collapsed his rib cage to conform to conservative dogma, must be perplexed. Others have prudently stayed out of the race.

The Republican establishment that has now risen up to smite the bratty Gingrich has only itself to blame. For too long it has been mute in the face of a belligerent anti-intellectualism, pretending that knowledge and experience do not matter and that Washington is a condition and not a mere city. The endorsement of Gingrich by Cain was not a bulletin. It was a feeble blip on a scope. The GOP is brain-dead.

Establishment Republicans have only themselves to blame – The Washington Post

“The party that once sold hope has become instead the party of grouchy codgers yelling at the future to get off their lawn.” — Leonard Pitts Jr. [amen] #qotd

Looking for morning in America – Leonard Pitts Jr. – MiamiHerald.com

It reminds us that Republicans are no longer about sunshine and can-do. These days, they simply seem cranky and dyspeptic. As in Herman Cain vowing to build a fence to electrocute Mexicans, Newt Gingrich verbally punching out the media and debate audiences cheering for record executions and the death of the uninsured. As in Jan Brewer poking her finger in the president’s face.

Under Reagan, optimism about the future was the Republican brand. But that brand has curdled in the ensuing 30 years and the party that once sold hope has become instead the party of grouchy codgers yelling at the future to get off their lawn.

Thus, it has become the party of resentment and resistance, the last stand against ongoing racial, religious, cultural and sexual upheaval, the Alamo in the fight to forestall change. …Ronald Reagan would not recognize his party today. Morning in America is almost 30 years gone. It’s high noon now.

Looking for morning in America – Leonard Pitts Jr. – MiamiHerald.com

Does Newty Gingrinch’s ascendance suggest Republicans are tired of being stupid on purpose?

Before DUHbya, Republicans called themselves “The Party of Ideas.” They were the Vulcans, and liberals were “emotional.” Granted, it was a small part of the party that had such hubris, but they also had the limelight. For at least 10 years, Republicans have been the Party of No, for whom every subject is judged by some stark litmus: no taxes, period. No negotiations. Government is always wrong/evil. “Main stream media” is liberal (hah!). Democrats hate America. Global warming is a hoax. Evolution is a lie. Obama is a foreign-born Muslim socialist. Michelle Obama is an “angry” black woman. Simple, inflexible – and patently false – views, echoed endlessly by angry, red-faced brutes on Fox. Republicans have been anti-thought, anti-intellectual, mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers and proudly, defiantly so. “Take yer nuance and shove it, dirty Liberals.”

Does the sudden appeal of the bloviating Perfessor indicate a change is afoot? Are Republicans simply cowed by big words and desperation for Anybody but Mitt (the one guy who could threaten Obama – at least, until Newty gutted him)? 

Could ideas matter again, someday? Are Republicans ready for thought and debate, to be persuaded, to negotiate and – gasp! – to compromise? No way. Not this year.

Gingrinch as consensus-builder: Left and Right agree he’s mad

Gingrich’s restless mind could push Obama forward – The Washington Post

Gingrich is a Rorschach test: If you don’t think he’s nuts, you are. …

Gingrich channels George C. Wallace, the four-time Alabama governor who ran as many times for president. …

Mitt Romney adds nothing to the national debate, not so far anyway. If he’s the GOP nominee, we will get more of his nonsense about running a business — tell me what great president ever ran a successful business — and how he’s a job creator. With Gingrich, it would be different. He might actually challenge Obama to think hard, to be creative, to come out of his shell …

Of course, if Gingrich becomes the Republican nominee, it’s incumbent upon him to lose. He’s an unscrupulous man, a one-car demolition derby, but if he goads Obama to unaccustomed bravery and other Democrats to rethink outdated liberal dogma (affirmative action, etc.), then he will have done his nation a great service. Take a bow, Newt. Then take a powder too.

Gingrich’s restless mind could push Obama forward – The Washington Post

Cal Thomas Official Web Site – It’s complicated

A longtime conservative friend sent me an email after reading something positive I had written about Newt Gingrich: “Whoever votes (for) or supports Newt for president is out of their mind.”

It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called crazy.

He continued: “You can believe in redemption, as I do, but you are not thinking seriously if you support a person for president with the baggage he is carrying. What an example for our children and future generations when we dismiss character as the foundation for leadership.”

There’s more, but I get his point.

Cal Thomas Official Web Site – It’s complicated

Satan tweets support for Santorum (from tonight’s Simpsons)

Another great election episode. “Now pick a white male and we’ll elect him.”

A Republican for Health Care

63 Years Ago Today | NewMexiKen [hat tip]

President Harry S. Truman, in his 1949 State of the Union Address:

We must spare no effort to raise the general level of health in this country. In a nation as rich as ours, it is a shocking fact that tens of millions lack adequate medical care. We are short of doctors, hospitals, nurses. We must remedy these shortages. Moreover, we need–and we must have without further delay–a system of prepaid medical insurance which will enable every American to afford good medical care.

63 Years Ago Today | NewMexiKen

”Santorum? Is that Latin for asshole?”

Nebraska Democrat Bob Kerrey said it best.