Another 'Priscilla's Post' You won't want to miss this

LETTER TO THE GOP

Are you still the Grand Old Party? Please explain why you deserve that title. You allow the opposition to set your agenda and did so even when you were the majority party. When it became clear to you that Americans do not want amnesty given to illegal aliens, we heard epithets like “bigot” and “xenophobe” from some Republican leaders. Did you rise up and decry such insults to those who simply want the rule of law to be honored and respect for citizens whose cities are overrun with numbers of illegal immigrants who cannot possibly be assimilated into American society so quickly? No, you blamed talk radio and law abiding Americans who simply want the law to be enforced and for our border to be truly secure.

When the comprehensive immigration bill failed because motivated Americans let you know, in no uncertain terms, we did not want it, you were angry. You continued your efforts to pass it on the sly. Still, it failed. Did you address America and say our voices were heard and that the will of the people would be earnestly honored? No, you did not. Now we know we must be vigilant because, to put it simply, ‘once burned, twice shy‘.

Where were you when Democrats were insulting the President and referring to our troops as “cold blooded killers?“ Where were the press conferences denouncing the politicians who told the world we were like “Nazis”, who called Guantanamo Bay “Bush’s torture chamber?“ Where was GOP outrage? There was silence, with the occasional exception of one or another Republican who uttered his disapproval of such self-defeating talk. Meanwhile, the Democrat drumbeat of name calling and undermining of our war effort continued and does to this day. Where are you, hiding under your desks? Do you care? We really don’t know.

Where were you when the Medicare Prescription program was proposed by the President? Did you forget we are supposed to be the Party of smaller government? Did you as the majority Party tell the President you would not support a huge new entitlement program which we can’t afford? No, you voted for it. ‘Who cares where the money is coming from?’ This, in a time of war, bigger government moving ever more closely toward socialized healthcare. No more the Party of smaller government and responsible leadership with respect for its citizens, you have allowed yourselves to become the Party with bridges to nowhere, and we, the people, will pay for them.

When you lost your majority, you deluded yourselves into blaming the war in Iraq or your own constituency for being hard headed, never looking in the mirror and seeing the answer to your failures. The answer is simple. Your own voters and contributors became disaffected and your hubris and lack of interest in the very people whom you rely on for votes and money to keep you in power cost you dearly. Your power means little when you use it to defy the very tenets the GOP is supposed to stand for. Your actions, or lack thereof, fly in the face of every conservative who still believes in individual freedom, the right to pursue happiness, and the sanctity of this nation’s sovereignty. Even today, the Republican standard bearer campaigns on immigration reform. He also campaigns for solutions addressing global warming, a theory being
called into question every day, whose regulations and laws will give the government more and more power over the people. You, however remain silent. Afraid to take a stand, playing a 'prevent defense' which is bound to fail.

The Grand Old Party, it seems, is not so grand anymore. It has become lazy, comfortable even in defeat. While millions of us have looked to you for leadership and continuity, we have found betrayal and disillusionment.

Today, the Democrats make plans, under the guise of energy independence, to limit our mobility and ability to enjoy a thriving economy. They plan to punish the oil companies with windfall profit taxes which will drive up the cost of fuel ever higher. It will also limit those companies in oil exploration and drilling. More refineries? I don’t think so. Nuclear power? Are you kidding? You see, the Democrats waste good emotion on hating a substance which comes out of the ground. They hate even more that it fuels our successful nation. The fact that they hate clean energy like nuclear power or hydro-electric power is just one symptom of their loathing of American prosperity. The fact that it’s irrational doesn’t seem to matter. What does the GOP have to say about this? Nothing. If you are consistent, you will soon come up with a Democrat Lite plan.

You, the GOP, being nothing if not the “me too” Party, is ever so quietly climbing onto the left’s global warming bandwagon. Some suggestions to ‘save our planet’ include limiting the size of homes, central control of our thermostats and air conditioning, banning SUVs, and somehow, they’re including our diets and obesity in the climate ‘crisis’. Must be gas producing foods

To some, Party affiliation is a religion. Not to me. A political Party is a vehicle, a power base from which to launch the activism required to represent a value system and political ideology. Now, for you, GOP, if you want us to stay on your train, perhaps you might bring forth a few conservative lions, up and comers with a gung-ho outlook and an irresistible message, young people with a forward looking, conservative American appeal to our fundamental desire to be free and independent.

Dare I suggest “CHANGE?” Yes, change from the tired old paternal message of ‘the people pay, the politicians decide.’ It’s time for bold strokes, not shrinking into the background. The Democrats are on a fast train to hell. I’m not willing to stay on a slower train to the same place.

Priscilla