Dear GOP leaders,
Some of you must have watched the election returns. Apparently neither Speaker Boehner or Mitch McConnell watched. In an effort to reach across the shark invested aisle, President Obama called both gentlemen after his victory speech. Both Boehner and McConnell were sleeping. Dreaming of a white Christmas or a white president no doubt.
I actually started this post on Wednesday feeling very positive. I was feeling certain the federal government was going to come together now that we have a clear national mandate. I had a wish, a hope, a dream that the level headed, pragmatic members of the GOP would push aside the lunatic fringe that have been allowed to lead your party. I confess, I also had a nasty little fantasy of Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity being dragged away from cameras and microphones and air dropped on an island with nothing but Ted Nugent, Meatloaf and Chuck Norris for entertainment.
It took 2 years, billions of dollars and non-acts of Congress, but we citizens finally managed to have the actual election. The process itself, from hats being thrown into the ring to election night, is something between clown college and a fraternity initiation. Elections are bloated wastes of money and time full of half truths and complete lies. It is posturing, primal behavior which might be great for reality TV but as a way to elect the leader of our nation it is a joke. This issue, among many, is something Congress could actually change. Politics is more important to the Grand Old Party.
Let me explain to you the error of your ways as average Americans see it.
You are completely out of touch with the people you count on to elect you. You are more concerned about winning the political war than working on fair legislation to first heal and then grow the economy. You will not smack down the lunatic fringe of your party who make you all seem like, racist, misogynistic, elitist pricks.
In 2004 when George Bush won re-election your party boasted of having a clear mandate. President Bush himself stated he had a lot of political capital and he planned on spending it. Fast forward to 2012 and Obama's re-election. Your party claims his re-election is not a mandate. Let me run the numbers for you.
In 2004, George W. Bush was re-elected with 286 electoral votes and 48.3% of the popular vote.
In 2012, Barack Obama was re-elected with 303 electoral votes and 51% of the popular vote.
If Bush had a clear mandate then doesn't Obama have a clearer mandate? Logic would say yes, but apparently logic isn't necessary in the GOP. You continually undermine the party with this kind of political strutting. It's not your job to protect and defend your political party. It is your job to protect and defend your nation. There is a vast difference.
Now, let me give you a few hints that might benefit your party in the future.
Anytime you have a candidate caught on tape talking about the pathetic 47% of the country that don't need to be worried about you are in serious trouble. When you have candidates talking about God sanctioned rape babies and abortion you are in trouble. When you let right-wing radio and television hosts become the voice of your own party you are in trouble. When you bank on the information coming out of Fox News you are in trouble.
So listen up.
The average American is not stupid. We will not be pandered to. Didn't you learn that lesson during the 2008 election when John McCain thought Sarah Palin would win the women's vote based on her gender? The average American is no longer white and male. The average American is not an evangelical Christian. The average American is sick of banks and money lenders getting away with ruining the housing market while continuing to make healthy profits. The average American is sick of paying outrageous prices at the gas pump while the energy companies post their highest profit margins ever. The average American is sick of knowing they pay a higher percentage in taxes than the wealthiest among us. The average American realizes that corporate profits and CEO pay have soared while workers are being laid off. The average American does not buy the trickle down theory of economics.
Your party has derailed. Time to set it back on track with both feet standing firmly in reality. Time to look for candidates who are diverse, intelligent, fair-minded and able to reach out to all Americans. Stop trying to make the rest of us fit into the, "white men are the average American", model. Not anymore. Not in a long time. Time to acknowledge the separation of church and state. Time to pay attention to education. Time to cut defense spending. It's time for one or more among you to stand up and renounce extremism. It's time to tell Rush and Sean and their ilk to shut up. It's time to eat humble pie and work with the other party. I'm not sure you can do it with the leaders you have now. Look among your ranks. There must be a moderate or two.
Otherwise you could end up like the Whig party.
You're welcome,
Lillybellblues
