New York Times columnist David Brooks says the Republican Party has been hijacked by an abnormal "faction" and is in danger of being marginalized.
I don't agree with David Brooks and I'm not worried about the future of the Republican Party.
The Republican Party is no more "infected" today than it was in 1980 when Ronald Reagan was nominated by the GOP and the Brooks-style elitists of that era proclaimed that the Party had been taken over by a band of right wing radicals.
They characterized Reagan as a loon. In fact, he was even called a fascist.
They were wrong then and they are wrong now.
Remember this: It's the so-called "extremes" that define the middle and energize the ideas and the scope of most political movements.
Interestingly, Brooks bases his whole cockamamie argument on the tax and spend issue. And he's wrong there, too.
For now, The GOP must hold the line on spending and taxes because that's what it was elected to do. Obviously, the timing of any possible "compromise" is critical. As for 2012, I'm confident that the Party will nominate a mature, responsible candidate with practical, common-sense solutions -- someone that a majority of Americans can and will embrace.
Old media would have us think otherwise but, in truth, the Republican Party is on sound footing and surprisingly in tune with the vast expanse of our country that people on the coasts (such as Brooks) ignore at their own peril.
BTW: The Republican Party was born in the crucible of the battle over slavery. At that time, some argued that the new party was nothing more than a radical fringe built around what many considered to be the radical cause of abolitionism. But the Party remained true to its principles and, led by a somewhat eccentric dude named Lincoln (you may have heard of him) we fought for -- and saved -- the union. The Republican Party has always been the party of ideas and (far from being backward) has often been ahead of its time.
Avanti!
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