General Discussion

That began to slip with Ronald Reagan and died when Dubya was elected in 2000.. The Republicans have only given it lip service ever since.

Even now, though, we still have the odd Republican pundit, influencer, or think-tank operative pop up every now and again to proclaim that the Republican Party is the competent party and can be trusted with governing.

I confess that I’m a disappointed idealist. I used to think that there actually were lots of Republicans who seriously believed in competent government. I also used to believe that if they didn’t actually control the Republican Party, they formed a large enough voting block that they could sideline the right-wing crazies and send their competent people to Congress, the Senate, and even the White House. It took me the 2016 elections to teach me just how incredibly wrong I was.


There may still be the odd Republican here and there who not only believes in competent governance but, as the last twenty five years have proven, they are a hapless, helpless minority doomed to near-powerlessness in their party and to serve as yes-men and enablers to the crazies and ideologues that control what was once, 150 years ago, Mr. Lincoln’s party.

Voters thinking of voting Republican should pause and think. Elections have consequences, many of them dire. If you are serious about electing people willing to put the good of the nation in front of their interests, if you believe that government can play a positive role in performing tasks that neither charities nor for-profit businesses are capable of performing, DON’T vote for Republicans or affiliated candidates.