Alas, history repeats itself, again. I was amazed following the 2008 election to hear the GOP pundits proclaiming " we just didn't get our message out there strongly enough." WTF? After 8 years of the horror unleashed by the president-select and his syndicate, the people, inspired by the populist rhetoric of Obama, joyously threw the bums out. I naively expected a chagrined GOP to fess up and repudiate the criminally anti-american actions of their leadership in order to 'get right' with the people again. Instead, they doubled down on their lies and distortions, divorced themselves even further from traditional american values, and mutated into a delusional and dangerous cult. So now, when I'm hearing the same post-election spin, I have a different, less naive reaction: the GOP and their legions of deluded, anti-reality fanatics are an absolute threat to this great nation, and we should accord them no respect, give them no seats at the grown-up table, and demand they act like reasonable people before we give them any further consideration. Here is a short (and by no means exhaustive) list of lessons the GOP need to learn, pronto.
1. STOP LYING- this really became a sad and entrenched feature of the GOP with Reagan, eg- "clean skies initiative" meant rolling back environmental protections, etc, the examples are endless.
2. STOP CHEATING- the american people really don't like cheaters, and get upset when the GOP rigs the system, disenfranchises voters, and steals elections. They also don't like rich people getting to write the rules, and/or play by different rules.
3. STOP HATING- this is so obvious, stop enflaming resentment and hatred of other classes and groups in our diverse nation.
4. STOP BEING SELF-RIGHTEOUS PRICKS- stop it with the smug superiority, pseudo-christian BS, and attempts to impose your narrow and controlling world-view on everybody.
5. STOP LYING- I include this again because it's such a fundamental part of the GOP psyche. Stop spreading lies and distortions; you've created a zombie class of gullible souls and are weakening the strength and character of this country's most precious asset, it's people.
OK GOP, let's hear some discussion about the real take-home lessons from this election.