Do Republicans Deserve Our Support?

I’m a long time Republican, having voted that way nearly all my adult life. In my early years of voting, I voted mostly Republican, but I was still “too cool” to belong to one of the major parties. I grew up in the 70’s and the GOP was a wreck in the aftermath of Watergate . I thought the Democrats offered no alternative, Jimmy Carter’s term was marred with the “misery index’, double-digit inflation, unemployment and interest rates made the working man’s world a difficult one to deal with. All this from the party that claimed to be for the little guy. Carter’s foreign policy was just as bad, our Iranian problems began in 1979 when the Shah was overthrown by Muslim theocrats and the US Embassy was seized, it’s occupants taken hostage.



Ronald Reagan turned all that around, the economy was booming, and foreign policy seemed to stabilize. The Republicans gained yours truly as a registered voter and I’ve remained so ever since. Now, for the first time in over 20 years, I’m thinking of registering Independent. No longer can I console myself with “well, the Democrats are even worse”. Although in my view this is certainly true, it’s just not a good enough reason to put an “R” next to my name.

I need a party that understands it’s supporters and actually stands up for them. The way things stand now we have a choice between the Republicans slow boat to socialism and the Democrats' speed boat. Reagan had an excuse for not reducing government while in power, the Democrats controlled the House during both of his terms. Bush, on the other hand has the historic luxury of a totally Republican Congress. When big government grows under a Republican rule there are no excuses, just an enormous debt.

Granted, America is at war in two countries, and I support the decision to take out al-Qaeda , the Taliban and yes, even Saddam. Although Bush has the courage to face the criticism that comes with an overseas war, he lacks the courage to identify the enemy. “The War On Terror” fails to even acknowledge who we are at war with, terrorism is the method, the enemy is Islam.
To this day the White House perpetuates the lie that Islam is a “religion of peace”, despite the thousands of dead bodies that bare silent witness to the contrary.

No matter how many attacks take place in the name of Allah, the mantra continues, “hijacking of a peaceful religion”, or “Islamic extremists”. The MSM has also fallen for this bit of agitprop, and serves up lies of peaceful Islam while simultaneously ignoring the mountains of evidence of Koranic verses commanding healthy male Muslims to attack Christians and Jews until all the world is for Islam. It also ignores the motives behind the DC snipers and the NCU attacks. Both of these cases spelled out clearly the killers inspiration in their own words. Both cases listed Koranic verses to justify their deeds.

Our leaders and the media are anathema to mention sharia law, jihad, taqiyah and the caliphate therefore starving the public of truthful nature of the enemy. Terrorist border crossings as well as thwarted terrorist attempts are equally downplayed if not totally ignored

On the border Bush has failed us horribly. Endangering the homeland and national sovereignty for the sake of cheap labor for greedy business owners . Bush’s latest speech was a real slap in the face to anyone who supports a secure border. This kind of pandering may have passed in 1986, but I can give you twenty million reasons why we’re not buying it this time.



Things have gotten so bad that private organizations have popped up all over the border to do the job. When the Minutemen stepped to secure a section of the border, our President called them Vigilante’s, despite the fact the Minutemen were just observers who arrested no one. Bush has rejected an overwhelming majority of American’s concern with border security despite the fact that 9/11 was carried out by illegal aliens. If al-Qaeda, or another terrorist operative decides to enter our country, it’s a safe bet they’ll be successful.

Even more confounding is the fact that bush could’ve revitalized his Presidency and his party just in time for the ‘06 elections simply by doing what the people demand. The GOP would’ve reestablished itself as the “Homeland Security Party” and maintained a Congressional majority. Now, I’m not so sure. One thing is certain though, with Bush’s approval ratings in the 20’s it’s time to realize that the White House hasn’t just abandoned it’s base, it’s trod upon it.



So what’s a conservative to do?
The democrats will certainly be softer on terrorism and the border. I can’t register Libertarian, it’s a good idea taken too far. Legalizing prostitution and drug abuse don’t appeal to me, and the traditional isolationism of Libertarians is an idea that doesn’t work as the world continues to get smaller. Although I’d love to see the US pull out of the UN (for reasons I won’t get into here), an American drawback in the world would lead to the spread of global dictatorships.

I believe ‘06 and ‘08 could be disastrous for Republicans if they don’t wake up in time. Millions of disillusioned conservatives are going to stay home on election days. Perhaps in 2010 or 2012 the GOP will rebuild it’s base.