Taking three for the "team"

There was a sort of Republican "night of the long knives" today, when Speaker John Boehner ousted four Conservative Republican representatives from their respective committees, including two committee chairs, because they were not "team players." This is a significant shift in direction for the GOP, which has become dominated by its most vocal Conservatives over the last four years (though it's been going on for much longer than that). This illustrates the ongoing war within the GOP over its future.

There are three factions at war over the Republican soul.

There is a faction that is made up of the Tea Party movement (please note that I did not say "former Tea Party movement" because their still around) that is strictly Constitutionalist, and tilts quixotically against the twin windmills named Big Government and Big Spending.

There is a faction made up of Evangelical Conservatives, who are staunchly both Evangelical and Conservative, devoted to promoting their Christian values but willing to compromise those values themselves to do it.

There is a faction devoted to Big Business (personified by Mitt Romney). They have the very real belief that what's good for business must be good for America, and to them this is self-evident, and their inability to prove it does not diminish their belief in it. (The Big Business faction is slowly being disenfranchised; a quick Google search showed many, most in fact, Conservative sites saying essentially "we may have been pro-Big Business, but we aren't anymore." Sadly, they seem to lack any evidence of this "transition.")

There is, obviously, a certain degree of overlap between these three factions. Also, certain areas of strong disagreement, and it's this disagreement that the Republican party as a whole has to overcome if they want to become a party that truly represents all of America. They've got to realize that the larger America that they need to represent includes women and minorities, people whose needs and desires are seriously under-represented in the existing Republican party, people whose needs and desires haven't just been overlooked by the party but actively opposed by the party as it exists now.

It should be noted that there are moderate Republicans, many of whom feel disenfranchised by the party's continual shifting away from center. (Meghan McCain and Colin Powell come to mind; they have been ostracized from the GOP for not being conservative enough.) These are among the dissenting voices that the Republican party cannot seem to embrace. Sadly, these voices aren't numerous enough or strong enough (or loud enough) to constitute a powerful force in the party. Hardly a faction themselves.

And there are those who appear to be merely paying lip service to diversity, hoping to make themselves seem to be more centrist without actually altering their core beliefs, the beliefs which a few months ago made them the darlings of the Conservative movement. (Bobby Jindal is, in my opinion, the biggest standout among these; sincere or not, his statements from the center are generating a hell of a lot of press for him which certainly won't hurt in a 2016 Presidential run.) These people are old-fashioned Republicans wearing new clothes; if they ever come into power they'll turn their coats. Again.

Even though I am strongly Progressive (are we not supposed to say "Liberal" anymore?) I want to see a strong Republican party, even a strong Conservative Republican party, because I feel that the nation is best served by a full and honest debate over important issues before the electorate decides. The problem is that with the Republican party as it is today debate doesn't happen and the nation is ill-served. Orthodoxy reigns. Dissent is not tolerated. And the opinion of the electorate is a thing to be disregarded if it stands against this orthodoxy.

This makes America more of a divided nation, a more polarized nation, a weaker nation. And it sickens me.

I want to see a stronger America. I want to see an America strengthened by an open and honest debate with an informed electorate holding its representatives accountable for their actions. I want to see those elected representatives responsive to the will of the people, not trying to shape the people to their will.

I do not believe that I will live to see that America. But I may be wrong; after all, five or six years ago I did not believe I'd live to see an African-American President.

The Blues Viking

The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.

John Boehner Faces Conservative Fury For Booting Members From Key Committees (The Huffington Post)

Beware of false GOP rebranding efforts (Salon.com)

Meghan McCain: Lots of Republicans 'treat me like a freak' (Lean Forward, MSNBC, 5-25-12)

John McCain Blasts Colin Powell (The Huffington Post, 10-25-12)

The Party of Big Business (The American Conservative)

The Tea Party movement in Wikipedia