The Lost Republican
Sunday, June 1st, 2008http://www.gop.com/about/imarepublicanbecause.htm
If this is what a Republican stands for and believes, then where the hell are these Republicans? Have you seen any of them? I guess I might need to elaborate, I am not a Democrat, I believe in the same things that other radical, extremist, hippie, tree-hugging, fascist leaders (like George Washington) believe: The party system only helps to promote corruption, separation of people and the eventual destruction of a nation. I know it sounds crazy, but at least I have the words of one of our founding fathers on my side. Almost all of these could be a 5 page blog in themselves, so bare with the condensed versions. Or don’t, I really don’t care.
I BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.
The first belief is undermined by the support of warrant-less wire tapping, the Patriot Act and the president getting veto power and immunity never before seen in the history of this country.
I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.
The Republican party promotes tax cuts that relieve the people who don’t need the money to put the tax burden on people that need the money. The idea is that if people with a lot of money have even more money, then that extra money will eventually make its way down to the people who do not have money. So all people are equal as long as they make a lot of money.
I BELIEVE free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.
What current Republicans believe about free enterprise is that the government should leave things alone and the economy will regulate itself. While their actions tend to leave me thinking that they believe in this only as long as a big corporation with lots of money doesn’t fall victim to free enterprise. Once a big corporation gets into trouble, Republicans modify their belief of free enterprise to: “The Government should not help out small companies, but helping out large companies is ok becuase they have lots of money.” After all, this country was founded by big corporations and small businesses never made a positive impact on America.
I BELIEVE government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.
This belief is a good belief, I also believe that people should keep more of the money they earn. Unfortunately in practice Republicans have only ensured that people with a lot of money should keep most of their money and people with very little money should not.
I BELIEVE the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.
This belief is that the Government should not be the entity that is providing a lot of services to the people, just enough to maintain the freedoms and securities of the people. I also believe in this, but Republicans do not. If Republicans really believed in small Government, then why are they trying to give our Government more control over the people?
I BELIEVE the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.
This one is fine, except our government is supposed to be by the people and for the people, not separate from the people but close to them. the difference is grammatically minor, but meaningfully major. A Government that is just close to the people is nice, a Government by the people and for the people is better.
I BELIEVE Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.
What are the core American values? Things like freedom of speech (except when criticizing a republican president or posting images and reporting how the U.S. Military treated prisoners in Abu Ghraib), freedom of religion (unless you are not a Christian), habeas corpus (except under the Patriot Act) and others.
I BELIEVE Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.
World Peace is a wonderful dream that could become reality, unless some nation keeps declaring war on other nations. I am not against war, it is sometimes necessary. Until the world is at peace and all nations come to an understanding that allows every one to live in peace, wars are needed. However (you knew the however was coming), wars cost the ultimate price of human lives both military and civilian, so war should always be the last option when all other options fail.
FINALLY, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.
Republicans do not translate these ideals into positive and successful principles of government, they turn and twist them to meet their own means. How can I support and/or join a party that doesn’t even follow its own beliefs? So I am not a Republican nor am I a democrat or any other party. Because I like to think. America is a Democratic-Republic, not a pure democracy and not a pure republic. The power is still in the people and until people realize how our corrupt government is affecting them personally, people will remain sheep.