The shrinking Republican party, so small it can now be "drowned in a bathtub"

The shrinking Republican party, so small it can now be "drowned in a bathtub"

Grover Norquist, known in recent years more closely as the unofficial member of team Abramoff, once famously quipped that his life's dream was to "reduce (government) to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

It seems Karl Rove stole Grover's idea and unleashed it on the Republican party. Hoping to get George W. Bush elected, Rove courted and whipped up the white-power, racist, uber-nationalistic minority of the Republican base. Ever since then, that base - once called "the crazies" by Bush Sr. - has infected the party like parasites and continue to cause what is left of the Republican to be marginalized more and more as a regional (read bible belt) extremist movement, only a hair away from crowning David Duke their next president (think about the difference between David Duke and Sarah Palin... not much).

Just today, Senator Arlen Specter declared that he would be switching his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. At least he is a bit more honest about it than a similar opportunist like Senator Joe Lieberman, who is a Republican, but too ashamed to caucus with the party, so he has transformed himself into an Independent.

The reality is that Specter has no choice. The Republican party which used to be about limited government and fiscal responsibility has morphed into a party more fitting to the Taliban and Il Duce combined than to an American system of government.

Take for example the concept of limited government. Real Republicans, those like Barry Goldwater, would be outraged at the level of government invasivness and control that the current version of the party demands.

They do still claim that they are for limited government, of course. But if we take a look at what they really want limited, the powers are government are not very much of an issue in general for these people.

As far as I can tell, there are only two issues where the current Republican party actually demands limited government: taxes and guns. Yet even on those two issues, there are limitations. In fact it is not the abolishment of all taxes and not the freedom of all gun-owners that this extreme-right wing advocates. Rather, they appear to be a bit selective about who gets tax cuts and who gets guns.

For example, they seem to only hold tea parties when millionaires have their taxes raised, but say not a word when the middle class is stripped away to an-almost non-existent demographic. Why is that?

With guns too they are selective in that they will argue that gun rights are sacrosanct (Constitutionally mandated), but ONLY for real-Americans (read, racism). If a group of five Muslim men bought guns legally at a gun-show, would the far-right react as casually as if a group of five Christian men bought guns legally at a gun-show? Not this Republican party, nope. Just ask Michelle Malkin.

But even if just on those two issues there was consistency on principle, there would still be a bigger problem for the Republican far-right.

Over the last 8 years they have expanded the role of government to a level that is obscene and still want more government power. Nothing is too sacred for this bunch, not what two consenting adults do behind closed doors to the living-will of a brain-dead woman.

- snip -

Predictably, instead of reclaiming control of the party from the nut-case wing, the current crop of politicians on the right continue to play to these extreme views. I think Norquist should personally give Rove a call and thank him for the way he has delivered the Republican party into the control of lunatics. And maybe, then Norquiest can act out his drowning fantasy on what is left of the GOP.

MORE