It's time to stop using the term "The republican Party".
it's dead.
What started as a nobal idea, morphed into a pragmatic governmental theory, degenrated into an ideological conglomerate of conservaties, and finally self infected itself with the xeno virus*, is finally and thankfully dead.
we now have a center-left party - The Democratic Party, and a "no" party - the Tea-Party. (sorry green, libertarian, constitutional, independant?, etc parties, get some footprint in Washington D.C. and you'll count)
*xeno virus - scared, xenophobic, racist, selfish, ignorant, sociopathic, and sophomoric.
there is nothing republican, conservative, or right-wing about the Tea-Party.
there is no ideology, no pupose, no point, no theory, no platform, no governing philosophy, nothing!
there is nothing Grand, Old, or Party about what the tea-party is.
getting elected to the U.S. Congress, being paid a shit-load of money as salaries by tax payers, and simply obstructing anything that doesnt have a tax-reduction stamp of approval by norquist (et-al), and saying "no" to anything that democrats say yes to is not serious.
i dont know how this situation gets fixed. i dont know if it can be without a right-wing massive self-correction. but as always, before conservatives can get help they must want to get help.
the important thing is to stop calling non-democrats, non-independant members of congress "republicans". they are not that!
semantics are important. especially in representative democracy.
the media (pundits, news anchors, editors, columnists, bloggers, and other engaged commentators) should call it as it is, and not as it was.
the first time i noticed the dying republican party was during the 2008 campaign.
the reaction to barack obama was stark.
at that point, the classic "definition by opposition" (greek mythology is full of this tactic) had become the name of the game.
the contemporary "fear of the other" that was sparked by the attack on the world trade center (can we please stop calling it 9/11 already!) was reignited by basic racist impulses and ignorant civics.
i still think that the famous interaction between john mccain and a lady who said that she can not trust obama because he's an arab, and mccain answer that no, he's and honorable man (as if there was a dichotomy between the two) symbolises, to me, how far gone the republican base and party have become.
And all the rest since, joe the "plumber", the palin, fnc, Randal Howard "Rand" Paul, and all the rest of them have sealed the casket. it's done.
finally, i actually do think that in order for our government to work, we do need at least two finctional parties. democrats need a counter balance that forces them to sharpen their ideas and policies, i wish we had that.