Beating a dead zebra
Why the GOP Can't Learn
Robert Reich, HuffPost
Robert Reich, HuffPost
Posted: 06/19/2013 10:07 am
It's as if they didn't learn a thing from the 2012 elections. Republicans are on the same suicide mission as before -- trying to block immigration reform (if they can't scuttle it in the Senate, they're ready to in the House), roll back the clock on abortion rights (they're pushing federal and state legislation to ban abortions after the first 22 weeks), and stop gay marriage wherever possible.
As almost everyone knows by now, this puts them on the wrong side of history. America is becoming more ethnically diverse, women are gaining economic and political power, and young people are more socially libertarian than ever before.
Why can't Republicans learn?
It's no answer to say their "base" -- ever older, whiter, more rural and male -- won't budge. The Democratic Party of the 1990s simply ignored its old base and became New Democrats, spearheading a North American Free Trade Act (to the chagrin of organized labor), performance standards in classrooms (resisted by teachers' unions) and welfare reform and crime control (upsetting traditional liberals).
(More here.)
It's as if they didn't learn a thing from the 2012 elections. Republicans are on the same suicide mission as before -- trying to block immigration reform (if they can't scuttle it in the Senate, they're ready to in the House), roll back the clock on abortion rights (they're pushing federal and state legislation to ban abortions after the first 22 weeks), and stop gay marriage wherever possible.
As almost everyone knows by now, this puts them on the wrong side of history. America is becoming more ethnically diverse, women are gaining economic and political power, and young people are more socially libertarian than ever before.
Why can't Republicans learn?
It's no answer to say their "base" -- ever older, whiter, more rural and male -- won't budge. The Democratic Party of the 1990s simply ignored its old base and became New Democrats, spearheading a North American Free Trade Act (to the chagrin of organized labor), performance standards in classrooms (resisted by teachers' unions) and welfare reform and crime control (upsetting traditional liberals).
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
If taking a stand based on deep seated principles is beating a dead zebra, is beating a dead zebra, sign me up for the next dead zebra beating party. One could write a similar article about the Democrats pandering for votes instead of having principle. The list comparing the old to new Democrats is laughable. Whenever Democrats run a major national candidate who is pro-life, against public employee unionization and for individual liberty and freedom, I’ll eat my hat. If such a candidate would ever win, I’ll eat the donkey. Our country would be better off if Democrats would do set aside their hunger for votes/power and heed the following; “The law cannot give mankind the right to do what is morally wrong.” Abraham Lincoln
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