The Chickens Come Home To Roost

To listen to recent news broadcasts and commentary, one would think that the Republican Party missed its chance to stifle the emergence of Donald Trump by not coming out strongly against him shortly after he declared his run for the presidency. It is my contention that this is a problem that has been years in the making.

The Republicans have skewered all of the Democratic presidents over the past few decades as being unfit for office. Jimmy Carter was labeled a failed president although he kept us out of wars and was the first president to make a concerted effort at energy conservation. Although Bill Clinton was the last president within recent memory to leave office with a balanced budget, the Republicans continue to try to sell themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility. In addition, the Republicans attacked Clinton’s main obvious weakness and found a way to impeach him.

On the night of President Obama’s inauguration, Republican leaders met and plotted to assure that he would have a failed presidency. They attempted to do this by blocking any initiative that he would take, even those that they had previously endorsed. After doing so, they then claimed that President Obama refused to work with them.

The attacks on President Obama have been relentless throughout his time in office. When ridiculous claims about his place of birth were raised, the leaders of the Republican Party refused to dismiss those notions. When a Republican member of Congress shouted, “You lie,” during a State of the Union address, there was silence from the Republican leadership.

The truth is that the Republicans continue to be the  “Stupid Party.” Despite overwhelming evidence, they steadfastly deny that global climate change is caused by the burning fossil fuels. Marco Rubio had great difficulty trying to decide if the earth was 6000 years old or 4 billion years old. Many of their candidates would not allow abortion even in instances of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Supply side economics remains the gospel of the party – despite the fact that it has been totally disproven.

And now they’re worried about the emergence of Donald Trump. They laid the groundwork for his rise years ago. Mitt Romney recently labeled Donald Trump as a fraud and a phony. I agree. That, I feel, is also an apt description for the modern Republican Party.