"Shuckin' and Jivin'".
Words.
"This past weekend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held their annual conference in Washington, D.C. Many of the party stalwarts and presidential hopefuls such as Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck, and former Vice President Dick Cheney were in attendance.
After watching the videos and reading the speeches one can clearly see a party that is at war with itself in terms of ideology and imagery. Are they the party of the "tea-baggers" with Dick Armey and Sarah Palin or the party of Mitt Romney who has now moved to the right on abortion and gay rights (when he once supported them) and against health care reform that he championed as governor of Massachusetts? What do the Republicans stand for and which face will they turn to as they articulate their message in upcoming elections?
On the one hand, the head of the Young Americans for Freedom's California chapter, Ryan Sorba, was booed off of the stage for condemning CPAC for accepting sponsorship from GOProud, a group that represents gay Republicans. "I'd like to condemn CPAC for bringing GOPride to this event, ...Guess what. Civil rights are grounded in natural rights. Natural rights are grounded in human nature." Keynote speaker Glenn Beck contradicted RNC Chairman Michael Steele's attempt to open the party to more Americans with a "big tent." Beck said, "All they're taking about is: 'We need a big tent. We need a big tent. Can we get a bigger tent'...what is this, a circus?"
...The problem with ideologies is that by themselves they are not rational. They tend to focus on and confuse the imagery of the "should be" and "ought to be" with the practical "is." Without people who are able to inject pragmatism and tie logic and reason to an ideology, it can take an institution, group or country down some very perilous roads. This is why ideologues like Beck and Limbaugh would make terrible politicians. The ideologies they have articulated have made for very bad public policy. Ideologues are so focused on the "should be" that they fail to take into account the practical applications of the "how."
During the George H. W. Bush administration neo-conservative ideologues hijacked American politics and policy. The so-called Reagan Republicans co-opted American domestic and foreign policy. At the same time, Christian social conservatives controlled the parties' social agenda in an attempt to redefine American values.
...After eight years of ideological babble such as "compassionate conservatism," "American internationalism," "ownership society," and "war on terror," Americans rejected this failed direction. They began to focus on real issues such as home foreclosures, affordable health care, outsourcing American jobs, global warming and sky rocketing energy costs.
The majority of Americans do not want the country to go backwards as Palin, Cheney and Romney want to take it. The majority of Americans are not listening to the rhetoric and diatribes of Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck. Americans want to move forward and are looking for workable long-term solutions not slogans.
As America moves towards the 2010 mid-term elections and the 2012 presidential election, the question of what Republicans stand for remains an open one."
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