New GOP Leaders Farcical and Disconnected

Since the election of Barack Obama, the Republican Party has become a caricature of its former self - not that its former self was anything to write home about. Still, in the decades before Bush 43 seized power, there was at least a sense of sanity about the GOP. I didn't agree with Ronald Reagan's policies, but I never felt that the man was mean-spirited or stupid. Nixon of course was a crook. But he did end the Vietnam War and, also importantly, he opened relations with China and negotiated two landmark arms control treaties with the Soviet Union. Pappy Bush had moments of competence and compassion (despite appointing the execrable Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court). Bush 41 signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and he reauthorized the Clean Air Act. And after Operation Desert Storm, Dubya's Dad was wise enough to realize that occupying Iraq would be a mistake because (in his own words) "it would have incurred incalculable human and political costs." Even Dwight D. Eisenhower, not the brightest bulb on the presidential marquee, managed to steer the country through three recessions and forge good relationships with a Democratic-controlled Congress.

Yes, there was a time when it was possible to disagree with Republican leaders and still - in some instances - even respect them. (1964 POTUS contender Barry Goldwater springs immediately to mind.) This is simply no longer the case. Today's right-wing ordained "leaders" of the GOP are capable of inspiring only the lowest common denominators of that party's ultra-conservative base.

Alaska Gov. Sarah People-Lived-Alongside-Dinosaurs Palin

Louisiana Gov. Bobby I-Can-Exorcize-Demons Jindal

Ohio's Kenneth I-Am-Not-White-Therefore-Republicans-Are-Inclusive Blackwell

Chip Barack-The-Magic-Negro-Is-Lighthearted-Parody Saltsman

Mike Gays-Don't-Have-To-Worry-About-Violence Huckabee

Minnesota Gov. Tim Women-Have-No-Reproductive-Rights Pawlenty

Republican Whip Eric I'll-Lie-To-Kill-The-Stimulus-Package Cantor

and Georgia Senator Saxby I-See-Black-People-Voting Chambliss

These are the GOP's current guiding lights.

Dubya recently said on Fox News: "We may want to change our messaging. We definitely want to change messengers." Please. That's about as likely to happen as Sally Kern showing up on X-tube wearing stiletto heels and a dog collar. (As intoxicating as ProPup readers might find that mental image, there are some photoshopping tasks I will not pursue.) These "messengers" for the next generation of Republicans are to most Americans as extreme as they are divisive, as uninformed as they are arrogant, and as backward thinking as they are rigid in their beliefs. The good news is: Since this is best Republicans have to offer, progressives are in for some smooth sailing ahead.

Source: Progressive Puppy