GOP Still Doesn't Get It

According to the Internet, the Republican Party still thinks it can "message" it's way back to relevance.

We care: Cantor wants to give GOP a 'makeover', change the message

Eric Cantor apparently wants everybody to forget the Republican message of the last few years. Part of that message was portraying Obama as a socialist/communist/marxist foreigner who wants to destroy America. Part of that message was that America is divided into makers and takers. Part of that message was that multinational corporations are not only American citizens, but they're special citizens who are exempt from responsibility and exempt from the morals that bind individuals. Part of that message is that it's okay to attack labor unions, even though they're an integral part of the free market.

Part of that message was the psychotic pseudo-principle that tax rates can only ever decrease. Part of that message was the insane notion that unemployment is caused by the unemployed. Part of that message was that it's okay to be anti-freedom as long as you yell real loudly that you're pro-freedom. Part of that message was that scientists are frauds and liars who are  incompetent even in their own specializations, but conservative entertainers and politicians are ultimately reliable authorities about everything. Part of that message was that the GOP wants to theocratize America, partly by preaching fundamentalist Christian doctrine in public schools, even if they have to ignore and violate the Constitution to do it. Part of that message was that we can ignore the unintended consequences of our actions, even though that is a complete rejection of conservative principles.


The new Cantorian cant is that all of that message was really about education, health care, job growth, and innovation, because the GOP cares about average Americans.

Do any of my conservative compadres see the problem? You can't repackage crazy as caring. You can't repackage hate as caring. You can't repackage the most aggressive social changes ever proposed for American society as conservative.

What happened is easy to understand. It's something that happens to organizations all the time. The organization takes on allies who share some of the organization's principles. Those allies begin reshaping the organization in their own image. Pretty soon, the organization's original principles have been replaced. Instead of the allies being partners, they become the masters.

In the GOP's case, the allies are fundamentalist Christianity and big business. The fundamentalists are allies because they want a moral society, and societal morals are important to conservatives. Big business is there because conservatives support a free market.

But big business and fundamentalism aren't just allies any more. They've taken control of the GOP. Even though the letterhead is the same, it's a different party. The GOP is no longer the organized political expression of American conservatism, and that's why it's losing its grip.

It's not that We the People don't understand the Republican message, it's that the Republican message is wrong.