The Republican Party 3

Relatively smart people, the people who run our nation, from both parties, understand that this nation needs large numbers of immigrants if our economy is to survive. We need the population growth that immigration brings for it increases the scarcity and therefore value of all American investments. Homes, stocks, gold, bonds, assets of every kind and class.

This is why despite years upon years of politicians screaming about the need to close our boarders, to stop illegal immigration; no effective step to do so has ever taken place.

Do we, as voters truly believe that if our federal government wanted to stop the flow of illegal immigrants it doesn’t have the resources or the knowledge to do so? The very thought is absurd. Illegal immigration continues because our leaders, from both parties, understand that if it is stopped our economic engine will fail.

We need immigrants. It would be better if all were here legally, but increasing the quotas for legal immigration is political suicide, so instead our politicians simply refuse to effectively enforce our laws against undocumented immigration. A very odd, but effective solution.

The trouble with all of this is that a large, and vocal segment of the Republican Party has worked to perfect the art of the vicious attack upon immigrants. They are lied about, their effect upon the economy is lied about, they are made scapegoats for perceived cultural decline, and blamed for bloated local government budgets. To an extent, blocs within both parties do this, but the bloc within the Republican Party is I think larger, and I know much more vocal.

Needless to say, immigrants do not much enjoy this. It’s just no fun having your teeth verbally kicked in each and every day. Such unfair and unreasonable verbal abuse leads to anger, lots and lots of anger.

I firmly believe that the vast majority of our immigrants from Mexico and other Central American countries are conservative. They work hard bettering themselves. They raise families. They attend church. Many of them, perhaps even most of them are natural fits for the Republican Party.

Our Hispanic population could be a large and vibrant part of the Republican Party, could bring millions of voters to our ranks, for our candidates. We should, as a party, be courting this population, recognizing the benefits it brings to our nation, and welcoming it with open arms.

Instead we bitch about immigration, we assign blame for the problems we have caused to immigrants. It’s no wonder that they vote against us by very large percentages.

Are we as a party willing to give up our easy scapegoat in order to start winning elections again? I certainly hope so.

The Republican Party 2

I think that most Americans instinctually understand that theocracy is evil. More than 200 years of religious freedom seems to have seeped into our basic understanding of life, and the areas of it in which government must not tread.

I think also though that great numbers of Americans fear that the Republican Party is seeking to create a theocracy right here in the United States. I don’t think that is true for the party as a whole, but I do think that the fears are justified, because certainly a large segment of the party, the fundamentalist social conservatives, are trying to do just that. They are trying to create an American theocracy, and they see the Republican Party, and their power within it, as the vehicle in which to do so.

Anti-gay
Anti-gay marriage
Anti-abortion
Anti-pornography
Anti-death with dignity
Anti-sex education

Pro-prayer in schools
Pro-taxpayer funded faith based social programs
Pro-taxpayer funded private schools
Pro-abstinence education
Pro-F.C.C. airwaves regulation

This is their platform, a platform they have been increasingly successful in getting the Republican Party as a whole to adopt. Unfortunately for Republican moderates, traditional conservatives, libertarians, and economic conservatives it also is a platform that spells doom for our party at the ballot box. Most Americans just don’t agree with it. More importantly, most Americans are afraid of such a platform, and what it would mean for our nation. Americans fear theocracy, and are right to do so.

In this time of party rebuilding Republicans need to think long and hard about these issues. We need to decide if our party is to stand for smaller, smarter, more efficient, and limited government, or if it is to stand for bloated theocracy. Government ala Leviticus, or government ala Jefferson.

I stand with the latter. I believe that the overwhelming number of Americans do as well. I hope that the rest of my party wakes up soon.

The Republican Party

The Republican Party, my Republican Party, is in horrible shape following our most recent elections. It has lost the support of the American people, and party leaders don’t seem to have any idea why, or how that support can be regained.

I think that there are a number of things the party must to do become relevant once again, and perhaps in time I will post about all of them here. Today I intend upon writing about only one of the problems my party is facing.

That problem is it’s current lack of inclusion. Not all that long ago the Republican Party prided itself on being a ‘big tent’ where everyone could feel welcome, where everyone was welcome. That is not the case now, and the party is worse off because of it.

Gay men will find no welcome home in the Republican Party, unless of course they are hidden deeply in the closet, and prepared if found out to swear that they aren’t really gay, Satan made them sin in such a horrible way.

Lesbians will find no welcome home in the Republican Party, unless of course we consider the sexual fantasies of Republican Congressmen everywhere, and their delight in dreaming of two lipstick lesbians in passionate embrace.

Swingers will find no welcome home in the Republican Party, even if they are married to the ever so striking Jeri Ryan.

The Polyamorous will find no welcome home in the Republican Party; its a slippery slope from “group marriage to bestiality” says one Republican State Senator to another.

Those who mix a dab of pain with their pleasure, the ever adventurous Sadomasochists will find no welcome home in the Republican Party, unless of course it’s a husband spanking his stay at home wife, for non erotic reasons, because God said that ‘man is the head of woman.’

Those who make amateur porn will find no welcome home in the Republican Party, because porn is a ‘horrible addiction that destroys lives, families, and society.’

The current Republican Party, my Republican Party is positively obsessed with sex. Sex is almost all the party leadership can think about. Who you fuck and how you fuck. Those are now the litmus tests for being a ‘good Republican.’

This is of course nonsense. Gay men can care deeply about limiting government. Lesbians can value their Second Amendment Rights. Swingers can support a strong national defense. Polyfolk can stand for law and order. Sadomasochists can hope for lower taxes. Amateur porn stars can support family values. Unfortunately, none are particularly welcome to do so within the Republican Party.

It seems to me that the party is so very busy making those who pursue alternative sexualities unwelcome that it hasn’t bothered to notice just how many such folks are out there. Hasn’t bothered to notice that the party has driven millions of people from it’s own base.

Perhaps someday our party leaders will figure this out.

Perhaps someday Republicans will start getting some good sex, so that they can stop obsessing about the good sex other people are getting.

Sex, who you fuck and how you fuck, should not be a concern of any political party, sex and politics just aren’t all that closely related. When the Republican Party, when my Republican Party figures this out, it will start to regain some of the support is has lost these recent years.

Change In America

President Elect Obama was not my first choice, my second, or even my third. I am however looking forward to his administration with a great deal of interest. Interest because of his striking lack of governmental experience.

Our next President has held political office for such a short time that we have no way of possibly understanding what caliber of President he will be. He could be one of our greatest, one of our worst, or anywhere in between, and I don’t think that anyone in this nation can have a reasonable understanding of how he will perform in the office, good or bad.

I think that change is exactly what our nation needs at this time, but I know that change is only good if it is change for the better. We will have change, but will it be change for the better? That is what I am longing to discover.

I hope that he has a remarkably successful Presidency. He certainly has all the tools he needs to do so. I just wish that he had held previous offices long enough so that we could better know. I suppose however that such knowing would kill this interesting curiosity I am currently feeling.

Election Recap

Earlier today I posted about the races and candidates that I truly cared about. It's now time for a recap of the results of those races.

WON Rick Larsen for United States Congress D
LOST Dino Rossi for Governor R
LOST Jason Osgood for Secretary of State D
Allan Martin for Treasurer R TOO CLOSE TO CALL
WON Brian Sonntag for Auditor D
WON Doug Sutherland for Commissioner of Public Lands R
LOST John Adams for Insurance Commissioner R
WON The Republican Slate for 39th LD State House
LOST Yes on Initiative 985
WON Yes on Initiative 1000
LOST No on Initiative 1029

It seems that I am batting .500 tonight. Not bad in my book.

Of course these are guesses based upon the current numbers. They might not hold because Washington has a unique and ineffective election system which makes it impossible to know definitive results until days, sometimes weeks after the election. Hopefully that will be changed at some future point.

Two Days

The next two days will be very busy for me, and likely quite hard to enjoy.

Tonight I’ll be at an elegant dinner with friends, then up quite late watching the election returns at one of the countless parties organized for that purpose around our nation.

Tomorrow morning I’ll have to be up very early to make an 8:30 AM meeting, at a location two and a half hours from my home.

Maybe Thursday I’ll get to sleep!

It will however all be worth it if the elections go well.

Rick Larsen for United States Congress D
Dino Rossi for Governor R
Jason Osgood for Secretary of State D
Allan Martin for Treasurer R
Brian Sonntag for Auditor D
Doug Sutherland for Commissioner of Public Lands R
John Adams for Insurance Commissioner R
The Republican Slate for 39th LD State House
Yes on Initiative 985
Yes on Initiative 1000
No on Initiative 1029

These are of course my desires for my own little area of Washington State, so quite likely of no interest to most of my readers here.

There are other races on the ballot, most notably that for President of the United States. I frankly can’t care enough about those other races, or those candidates, to take the time to list them here.

The Libertarian Party

I’ve posted before about the fact that I am a Republican with a strong Libertarian bent. I am not opposed to the two party system that voters have effectively created by casting their votes the vast majority of the time for one or the other of our two parties. I do believe though that our two party system would be immeasurably improved if the Libertarian party replaced either of our current major parties. Certainly there is historical precedent for such a change to occur.

In order for this to happen, in order for the Libertarian party to start winning elections on a widespread scale it needs two things. Positive, effective candidates, and a willingness to message on the issues the vast majority of Americans cast their votes upon.

This year the Libertarian Presidential candidate is Bob Barr. Certainly the best-known candidate in party history, but also a candidate that brings a great deal of negative perception to his candidacy from his former service in Congress.

Despite his obvious failings Bob Barr is doing something exactly right, and hopefully his candidacy is teaching Libertarians a very important lesson. He is talking about the issues that the voters care about. Doing this is vital if the party ever hopes to supplant either the Democratic or Republican parties in our two party system.

The overwhelming majority of voters will never base their votes on Libertarian theory on the issue of narcotics use. Voters will however base their votes on the “Wall Street Bailout.” Mr. Barr understands this, and is messaging upon it.

The list goes on and on. The overwhelming majority of voters care about “Energy Independence,” “Government Spending,” “Health Care.” That majority agrees with Libertarian views on such issues. They must however learn about those Libertarian views. Mr. Barr is attempting to educate the public. Previous Libertarian candidates for President have not done so in my view, instead getting bogged down trying to explain complex Libertarian theory on a wide variety of issues. Theory that the average voter neither wants to understand, nor cares about.

Let us hope that in the next electoral cycle the Libertarian slate of candidates are positive, effective candidates and that they follow Mr. Barr’s lead in talking about the issues that have the potential to sway massive blocs of voters, for that is the only path to success.