Red State throws down the gauntlet, in a post titled “Ignore the Fools and the Foes”:
There are many people dissatisfied with Speaker Hastert’s handling of matters in the House of Representatives in the past year. From the William Jefferson investigation to the Mark Foley investigation, Speaker Hastert has sometimes seemed to have a tin ear. We have, on occasion, shared in these frustrations. But now is not the time for a leadership contest. Anyone who suggests otherwise is a fool or a foe.
We should keep in mind that there are many Republicans who are convinced that the GOP would be well served by some time in the wilderness. The argument goes that conservatives are being ignored. If the GOP keeps the House in November, the GOP will be emboldened to ignore conservatives. If they lose, the GOP will do some soul searching and reconnect to its inner-conservative.
Count us unconvinced. What we are convinced of is that some of the very same people calling for Speaker Hastert’s head right now think the Republican majority should spend time in the wilderness. We should all ignore them and stand behind the House Republicans.
Nothing will be gained by the GOP losing in November, except damage to America. Funding for the Iraq War will be cut. Instead of being able to prosecute the global war on terror, the administration will be bogged down in House investigations. Instead of greater tax reform, we will have stagnant growth and reckless policies.
Shorter Red State- “We have problems. The Democrats are worse.” And if you disagree with them, you are a fool. It is hard to imagine that this message is for anyone other than the hard-core base, as this flippant dismissal of the myriad failures of this current Republican congress’s excesses and failures, failures which will be looked back upon by historians as legendary in size and scope, would be hilarious if it were not so sad and they were not so convinced that they are doing a good job.
That Red State can weather DeLay, Abramoff, the Iraq crisis, the budget explosion, Randall Cunningham, Foley and his complicit crew, the injection of religion in all things science, the wholesale endorsement of torture, the Prescription Drug Plan, the looming crisis in Afghanistan, the breakdown of the military, domestic surveillance, the abuses of Abu Ghraib and the mess that is Gitmo, our completely collapsed international standing, the passage of Campaign Finance Reform, numerous attempts to codify gay-bashing in the Constitution, the hideous Bankruptcy Bill, the Schiavo nonsense, the total abdication of administration oversight, and the hundreds of other things I can’t remember off the top of my head, and still think that they can get away with the pat assertion that the “Democrats are worse” is pretty astounding.
One can only conclude that if Red State Republicans were writing the Gettysburg Address, it would end “that government of the PARTY, by the PARTY, for the PARTY, shall not perish from the earth.”
The Republicans need some soul-searching and some time in the wilderness. They have earned it, and all they have left is lame attempts to blame the media and you and me for finally recognizing that what they really only care about is maintaining their electoral advantage (earmarks, baby, earmarks for the win). I, for one, intend to help them get what they deserve- a very long unpaid vacation.