I’ll be honest. I don’t place much hope in the new Congress. But here’s what I’m looking for and what makes me potentially hopeful for the future: The replacement of milquetoast Republicans with ones who actually stand for something different that isn’t religious interventionism. To me, that was the big news of the last election. It’s not that Republicans won the House of Representatives. Of course they did, because the party exclusively in power is doing a terrible job. But Republicans have won before and what changed? Nothing. In fact, past Republicans grew the government as much as the Democrats. Republicans controlled the whole government from 2000-2006, and government grew as if Lyndon Baines Johnson were President and it was the “Great Society” expansion of the welfare state from the 1960s. And this was under Republicans! I said all along that this set the stage for an eventual Democratic return to power that would cause government spending and control to go through the stratosphere. Was I right, or not?
The big news from 2010 is that a movement developed not for a third party, but a serious movement to eliminate one of the two rotten parties. This is a gradual process. It need not take decades, nor even a single decade, and indeed we can’t afford that long because things are in very, very bad shape. But it will take more than one election cycle. If the trend from the last election continues, then Republicans will continue to be “repealed and replaced” with ones who actually stand for something other than Big Government socialism or (perish the thought) religious interventionism. “Religious interventionism” refers to the policies of George W. Bush, a man who fervently believed in a welfare state, only one run by Christian fundamentalists rather than by secular bureaucrats. Actually, in human history we already had a faith-based bureaucracy. It’s called the Catholic Church. I’m not referring to the Catholic Church of today so much as the one that followed up the Roman Empire and inspired, among other disasters, the Crusades. Anyone who has read history and could think that returning to a union between church and state would represent anything other than an unspeakable tragedy is worse than a fool. That’s what George W. Bush was, and that’s what all others in his party like him are. They have to go. But so do the socialists. That’s where we are.
It’s better to “reboot” one of the existing parties by repealing and replacing most of their members with better individuals, ones who actually believe in limited government and are prepared to show us whether they will stand by those principles or not. I have no illusions. There’s no guarantee of success, and there’s no guarantee that the Tea Party types who have gained visibility and power in the Republican Party really will stand for what they claim. But one thing’s for sure. We’ll know after the two years are up. They might not get a single thing passed under the continuing (actually, worsening) tyranny of the Senate and the current President. But we’ll know if they stand for what they believe and if they’re willing to advance and fight for it with everything they’ve got. This is no time for the likes of George W. Bush or Newt Gingrich. Frankly, it’s no time even for a Ronald Reagan. Things are too far gone for that. We can no longer afford compromises. What, exactly, are we to compromise on? The socialist liberals have almost everything they want. They have socialized medicine. They have virtual control over the banking industry and hold stock in much of the automobile industry. The FCC has declared the Internet, in effect, government property, opening the door to government management and control of Internet technical capacity as well as content. No, they don’t have cap and trade, but they have the EPA and are showing willingness to use its power arbitrarily to do whatever it pleases irrespective of Congressional or judicial restraint.
Liberal socialism controls the Democratic Party and still dominates the Republican Party. It’s like a gigantic wrecking ball, not only to the economy but to all of civilization as we’ve known it for all of our lifetimes. Regardless of what it claims to uphold regarding freedom, in practice it stands for destruction, control and a permanent kind of mediocrity — institutionalized in government — that is its own kind of living death. As much as I detest those who advance liberalism and socialism, I hate their apologists and friends in the Republican Party even more. This includes, without question, people like Mitt Romney, John McCain, George W. Bush and others who have done as much to undermine and destroy America through compromising and collaborating with socialists as the socialist liberals themselves have done. Think of it like this: Someone breaks into your house and tries to rob you. He’s the enemy, right? But then think of a neighbor who comes in and says, “Hey, I’m going to help you.” What does this neighbor do? Restrain or attack the robber? No. He helps the intruder out with what he’s doing. He covers for him and helps him pack the bags with your possessions. That neighbor is no friend, and neither are most of the Republicans we have known.
That’s why I say it’s time to repeal and replace the Republicans — most of the ones we have always known, that is. In last year’s election, a promising step was made in that direction. Regardless of what you think your political views are, you had better hope this movement succeeds. Because neither Republicans nor Democrats are your friends. Not if you want to keep living in a country as valuable as ours.