A lot can be said in a few words, and brevity is still the soul of wit. Once in a while, however, especially when responding to the writings of others, a word count can run higher than most of us prefer. So please pardon the length, and note that a good portion is due to excerpts from the two smart conservatives I’m taking issue with.
Back in December my friend and BarbWire.com founder Matt Barber told us all that he’s no longer a Republican. I have to admit, however, that I was a bit confused by the image he choose to accompany the post — I’ve included it within this post above. “No more RINOS.” “Take back the GOP.” Maybe the visual part of Matt’s brain wasn’t in full agreement with Matt the writer.
The content of his article, of course, echoed the frustrations of almost all conservatives. Here is Matt’s opening:
I am no longer a Republican. John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and their Democrat-lite, RINO Republican establishment have seen to that. They have betrayed their own constituents. They have actively turned against the American people — the very voters who granted them power to do good.
Even before the gavel has sounded on the Republican-led 114th Congress, these treacherous cowards shamelessly, eagerly, it seems, squandered perhaps the one opportunity they had to stop, in his tracks, America’s first cultural Marxist, anti-American, palpably evil president.
Matt’s writing has always reminded me of his boxing as demonstrated in this very short video, where “hard-hitting” is not a cliché.
Here’s more from the article:
What’s worse is that the Republican establishment has worked in concert with this wicked man. They have aided and abetted him as he and his godless Democratic Party summarily deconstruct all that has made America great. The Republican Party is complicit in the ill-fated fall of the American Empire.
I don’t know what kind of dirt Barack Obama and his NSA-KGB have on John Boehner, but within a week of the elections it became abundantly clear that the GOP would betray us. Republicans have, without batting an eye, and in the face of overwhelming bipartisan opposition from the electorate, funded executive amnesty, paid for Obamacare in all its abortion-mandating, economy-killing, freedom-trampling infamy, and otherwise approved every radical, unconstitutional and tyrannical dictate these statists have rammed down our throats.
The magnitude of this betrayal cannot be overstated.
If there are conservatives out there who disagree with the above sentiment, they’re in the minority.
Matt says that there is hope, however:
The GOP might eventually win me back, but it will take much doing. Until the Republican Party once again honors its own party platform, a platform that reflects the solid Judeo-Christian principles from which our nation once derived her fast-fading greatness, I shall remain a man without a party, a disenchanted vessel floating adrift, amid torrential seas, as Hurricane Obama threatens to sink us all.
Matt, as I did, reluctantly supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 general election. Matt now sees that as a mistake:
I was wrong. To err is human. I now recognize, and have for some months, that my suggestion that Christians vote for Romney as the lesser of two evils was a mistake. It rewarded the establishment GOP’s torpedoing of better men and better candidates.
The lesser of two evils is still evil. I will never again make that same mistake. My days of perceived pragmatism over principle are done. […]
Establishment Republicans are no different from Democrats; even worse, perhaps, because, at least with Democrats, what you see is what you get. Establishment Republicans are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Like their Democrat kindred, they have sold their souls for mammon.
Again, Matt’s views are in-line with my own and I’d venture to say many if not most conservatives.
The question, as always, is what can be done about it? Actually, Matt answers that question in the close of his article: “It’s time to clean house.”
Since Matt is no longer a member of the Republican Party, unfortunately, that work is left to those of us who still are registered Republicans.
In the fall of 2001 I had the pleasure of hearing Alan Keyes address a pro-life crowd at a Chicago area fundraiser — it was a terrific speech. Then afterwards I had the chance to meet him — and to be honest, I was shocked that he wasn’t much taller. I assumed his eloquence would be accompanied by Lincolnesque height.
A few days ago Keyes had this to say in his first submission to BarbWire.com (and note — all the emphasis from here out out is my own):
Why do so many conservatives continue to act on the now patently obvious delusion that the Republican Party can somehow be made to represent them? Here is a brief summary of the reasons this makes no sense. Indeed, it verges on insanity.
Tell us what you really think, Alan. He continued:
Events over the past decade and more overwhelmingly demonstrate that the GOP is decisively dominated by forces committed to the elitist faction’s agenda for the overthrow of constitutional government, of by, and for the people of the United States. The Party’s Platform and the pre-election rhetoric of its candidates are often crafted to give the impression of republican, constitutional, morally conscientious and decently libertarian views that are consistent with the character the American people must uphold in order to sustain their self-government.
But this is contradicted by the consequential actions of Republican officials (elected and appointed) in every critical area of policy…
Keyes then lists the policy areas which you can read for yourself here.
Before going further, let’s review what Keyes has said about those of us who are still working to “clean house” in the GOP:
- We’re delusional
- Our actions make no sense
- Staying in the Republican Party verges on insanity
Keyes goes on to provide an accurate list of the sins of the Republican Party’s leadership that is long enough to drive anyone insane. He then writes:
Conservatives who profess to support and seek the restoration of the truly Federal character of the U.S. Constitution are nonetheless mesmerized by the false assertion that “America is a two-party country.”
Keyes then lays the philosophic defense of his own assertion, which is fine and dandy. For the record, I enjoy reading political theory, and have since college. (I enjoy even more so the study of its parent, political philosophy.)
Up next, we’ll learn more about what Alan Keyes really thinks of us conservative Republicans.
