What Has Happened to the Republican Party?

Does anybody remember when the Republican Party was telling us that they were going to return integrity to the White House? Remember when they told us that that all this country needed was to stand up for its ideals? Remember when they told us that they were the straight talkers? What the hell happened?

Sarah Palin keeps telling us that Obama is for Big Government. She keeps telling us that Obama wants to redistribute the wealth. She keeps telling us that she's the reformer. She's the small government advocate. She's the protector of our hard-earned tax dollars. Small government, Sarah? Really? How do you keep the government smaller when you add the "First Family Official Starter" for your husband's dog sled race to the list of government jobs? How do you keep the government smaller when you add family members to event invitations so that the taxpayer can pick up the bill? How do you protect taxpayer dollars when you and your daughter fly to New York City and stay in a 700 dollar-a-night luxury hotel suite--all on the taxpayers' dime? You've got the nerve to talk about anybody else distributing the wealth? Sounds to me like you're doing a darn good job of distributing the taxpayer dollars into your family's private expense account.

Here's a simple test, Sarah Palin and all you so-called "conservative" supporters of Sarah Palin: would a private employer pay for a luxury hotel suite for Joe Average Employee's trip to a leadership conference? Would a private employer pay to fly Joe Average Employee's daughter across country to attend the same conference? Pay for her to stay in the luxury hotel? Pay for the snacks and room service in the luxury snack bar and from the luxury hotel restaurant? If you say "yes", then I want to know which company is wasting shareholder money, so I can take my investing dollars elsewhere. Too bad I can't take my taxpayer dollars elsewhere. Don't criticize the dollars spent on childcare for working mothers on taxpayer assistance if you are going to support a public official who seeks out and accepts taxpayer dollars for luxury childcare. Stand up for your ideals. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

John McCain makes a big deal of standing by his ideals, even if it could cost him an election. I like that about Senator McCain. I always have. So why is he backing away from that lifelong stance at odd times when it comes to Sarah Palin. He says that Sarah Palin doesn't need to go on the serious news shows to talk to the news analysts because they're just going to try to trip her up with "gotcha" questions. Senator McCain, do you mean questions like,"What books and magazines do you read"? Governor Palin said the question caught her off guard. It was a "gotcha" question. Say what? Do you really need that question submitted to you in advance? You don't know what books and magazines you read? You need time to research your answer to that question? Really?

My guess is that Sarah Palin was afraid to tell us what she reads until she knew what the core group of Republican Party supporters have determined will be the reading list most likely to lead to success at the ballot box. It's all about getting elected. So much for standing up for your ideals. Sorry, Sarah, but if you need a focus group to tell you what you should be reading, then you are no better than the sheep that you ridicule who read what Oprah tells them to read. Read what you read. Stand up for it. Senator McCain knows what he reads. I know what I read. I'm not afraid to tell anybody what I read. If you're going to fancy yourself an expert on counterinsurgency and Afghanistan, then I assume you've been reading a little Rudyard Kipling and Barrack Room Ballads. If you think I'm some flaming left wing liberal, then I think you should read John Ringo's Posleen War series. I'm a big fan. That'll tell you something about me and how I feel about politicians and soldiers. It'll tell you which ones I hold in high regard. It'll tell you what I think about self-serving human beings. I'm not afraid of what my reading list will tell you about me. I have my beliefs. I'll stand by them. If you don't agree, it just means you don't agree. Be honest about it. That doesn't make you anything other than an American who honestly disagrees with me about the issues. But, if the opinion you're spouting isn't yours...if the opinion you are spouting is something designed just to get you elected....if you don't believe what you say, but you still say it and try to make me out as a terrorist or some other enemy of this country because I disagree with you, then I will tell you to go shove it. Your opinion is not worth a damn if it ain't real.

Same goes for Rep. Bachmann of Minnesota. You said it. You said you believe Obama may have anti-American views. Own up to it. It wasn't a trap. Chris Mathews asked you a direct question. If you believe he has anti-American views, then tell us why. Don't back away. Or are you backing away because now it looks like your statement may galvanize your opposition and may foil your re-election bid? Did you spout the Republican Party line thinking that it would help you get re-elected and when it looked like the majority of people refused to buy it and thought about pulling your snout out of the taxpayer trough, you decided to trot out the old Republican "liberal media trap" standard line? You expect people to believe that you are far enough inside the Republican Party to trot out the "Obama's a socialist line" but not far enough inside to know what kind of show Chris Mathews has? Does it matter? The question is the same. What do you believe? You either believe it or you don't. If you don't believe it, but you say it anyway just to get elected or just to keep the other guy from getting elected, then you are despicable. If you and Sarah Palin really believe that you can be so easily trapped, then should we really believe that you are the right people to solve the problems that this country will face? Say what you mean and mean what you say.

General Norton Schwartz, the Air Force Chief of Staff selected by SecDef Robert Gates and approved by President Bush says the Air Force will be cutting force structure. Current plans are to cut a good portion of legacy fighters, F-15's and F-16's, without replacing them with a like number of F-22's and F-35's beginning in 2010. He stated, "We are going to do some of that and there will be push back, but we will see our way through all of that by working with stakeholders to articulate and advocate how that can be done without loss of capability." Sound familiar? It should. Remember the Peacetime Dividend? The Soviet Union collapsed. We were supposed to be able to downsize the U.S. military and save bushels of money. The Republicans have convinced everybody that Bill Clinton gutted the U.S. defense forces because he just hated the military. Problem with that is, the Peace Dividend came out of Dick Cheney's mouth when he was SecDef under the first President Bush. Dick Cheney is the one who started the drawdown, with the enthusiastic approval of President Bush and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate, and most, not all, of the Republican minority. Oh, Bill Clinton carried through with the plans and even added some cuts of his own with the enthusiastic approval of the Democratic and, later, Republican-controlled House and Senate.

My point is, the drawdown started with Dick Cheney and language similar to that used by General Schwartz. Remember that when some clown wants to blame it all on Bill Clinton. Remember that when, six years from now, we have to back down in a confrontation with Russia or China, because we just don't have the assets we need to stand up to them. Remember those words when somebody trying to get elected tries to blame President Obama or President McCain or President Biden or President Palin for U.S. military weakness. Remember those words when Russia decides that they want to base bombers and fighters on Iceland in exchange for bailing them out of bankruptcy and President Bush's tough talk is ignored by Vladimir Putin. Remember it when the Republicans try to tell you that they can defend you better than the Democrats. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Right now, I don't like either party. There, I said it. I mean it. Do you feel better? I do. Say what you mean and mean what you say.