A Liberal Writes an Open Letter to Friends and Former Classmates.

A Conservative-Libertarian Responds.

An Exchange Ensues.

Libby Writes:

Friends:

This is chiefly intended for FreeThine as he is, to my knowledge, our only self-identified Republican  and because, even though we differ politically, I genuinely respect him as a well-meaning person of good character and integrity.

I'm concerned about the Republican Party.  I'm sure you think, what business is it of his?  He's a damned democrat!  That's true and maybe it isn't my affair, but I do worry. and for quite selfish reasons.  

For my whole life, the Republican Party has been a reliable counterweight to the Democrats.  They were predictable and kind of boring.  They stood for things ––things like fiscal prudence and a strong military, they were pro-business, and they believed in mainstream American ideals like free enterprise, separation of church and state, and economic opportunity for all.   Like 'em or not, you knew where they stood.

But today, and particularly in the present nomination process, it feels as if the GOP is coming unraveled. The candidates don't seem to have an answer to Donald Trump, and they are espousing wild ideas like building a fence between the US and Canada, forcibly deporting 11 million undocumented aliens, and bombing Iran.  Long-time leaders, principled men like Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, have been pushed to the curb, while vacuous airheads like Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, and that goober Mike Huckabee seize center stage.  If the party were a psychiatric patient, I'd say it was "decompensating."

And it's not just the primaries.  During the entirety of the Obama presidency, the Republican Party was never able to articulate a really coherent philosophy of its own or develop any real legislative agenda.  It was as if just saying "no" to Obama and the Democrats was enough.  Now, while they hold majorities in both houses, they are still playing defense while Obama goes his merry way.

I'm sure many Democrats look at the Republicans' predicament with glee.  I don't.  It says to me that the Democrats are probably every bit as vulnerable to similar excesses –– especially without strong, viable opposition.  There is even the possibility that one of these nuts could win and then we'd all be in the soup!  

So, I'd be interested in both of your perspectives.  Can the GOP get on a more even keel.  Are these extremist candidates just "flashes in the pan".  Let's try to go easy on the partisanship and just understand one another a little better.  Is this possible?

Respectfully yours,

Libby 

FreeThinke Responds

Oh Boy! PHEW! First, let me say I agree with much of your concern, Libby. The GOP in my never humble opinion has been held hostage since Ronald Reagan left office by a corrupt, out-of-touch cabal of deadhead elitists who not-so-secretly favor the the eventual establishment of a One World Government run as a quasi-Oligarchy by their august selves, of course.  These elites aka RINOS run the party's business to suit themselves and their cronies while completely ignoring the fervently expressed desires and needs of those who are supposed to be their constituents. The GOP today is clearly split into two irreconcilable camps.

Republicans are not dissimilar to way Jews have been known to characterize themselves when accused of thinking as a "bloc." Ask two Republicans what they think of a particular issue and you're likely to get five different opinions. ;-)

I cannot say, however, that I am concerned solely about the Republican side of the aisle.  The Democrats too appear to be edging closer and closer to disarray.  Mrs. H. Rodham Clinton appears to be less than an ideal candidate to put it mildly. Her troubles with what-appears-to-be extra-legal, illegal or unethical conduct has opened the way for the unlikely ascendance of 73-year-old Bernie Sanders, a one-time classic Red Diaper Baby, who despite being an avowed, unabashed Socialist –– a once-unthinkable political identity to which most Democrats refuse to admit  –– is now in a statistical dead heat with H. Rodham Clinton. (!)

Enter Vice President Joe Biden, who happens to have been born in 1941 along with a number of others with whom I've been closely associated. ;-) Joe is an affable guy who was my senator for 23 years when I lived in Delaware. He was always ready to lend a helping hand to "little people" with problems. I saw him in action in this regard on more than one occasion, and have to say I was favorably impressed by his compassion and by the efficacy of his response in dealing with myriad little matters that adversely affected the lives of rank and file Delawareans. As a statesman on the international front, however, I was less impressed. and always felt very frankly that he was out of his depth. 

Martin O'Malley? A good looking man with an impressive set of muscles who sings in a Rock 'n Roll Band now and then. He's not gaining any traction in this contest, however. Does anyone on your side of the aisle seriously believe he should?

And now to the BIG TUREEN: Friends, former Classmates and Countrymen, in my opinion we already are "in the soup," and it's threatening to boil over any minute. With 94-million Americans unemployed –– apparently a record –– and a 2300-point drop in the Dow these past few weeks, uncontrolled illegal immigration at epidemic proportions, a determination to give a hideous rogue state like Iran, whose leaders promise "DEATH to AMERICA" and openly vow to ANNIHILATE ISRAEL, $150,000,000.00 (one-hundred-fifty billion dollars!) appears to me to give them carte blanche to perpetrate greater, more powerful terrorist activities than ever. 

The Middle East, admittedly an eternal trouble spot, is now almost totally destabilized. It has become a seething cauldron of violence and mass destruction verging on complete anarchy. So now we see teeming hordes of desperate refugees seeking asylum and threatening to overburden beleaguered European countries who thanks to decades of misguided notions of altruism and fiscal mismanagement are having one sweet son-of-a-bitch of a time taking care of their own people as it is.

To add to the cheery good news. Bubonic Plague (The Black Death that killed half the population of Europe in the Middle Ages) has reared its ugly head once again in Arizona of all places. 

Literacy is down. Ignorance is up. Etiquette is a quaint archaic term most today don't recognize,  and public taste is deplorable.

Our problems have little to do with party politics. A new term (to me) has recently emerged:  The UNIPARTY. Senator Cruz calls it The Washington Cartel. 

Most Republicans feel betrayed by those they worked hard to elect to congress. We've seen two huge victories for the GOP in the recent elections, but you'd never know it from the pusillanimity and sheer stupidity exhibited by the supposedly victorious party.

Is it any wonder a boorishly irreverent, apparently fearless would-be demagogue with a Rock Star personality like Donald Trump has captured so much favorable attention? In case you hadn't noticed The People are fed up, sick and tired with an insolent, unresponsive ESTABLISHMENT that fairly REEKS of corruption.

On a more positive note I find myself attracted to Dr. Carson, because of his terrific background, and because he seems to be the Anti-Trump. He's quiet, dignified, respectful, kindly, very witty, and highly intelligent. I am encouraged to see him running second to Trump in most polls. 

More than enough for now, I'm sure. Aren't you glad you asked for my opinion? 

};-)>

FreeThinke

Libby Answers:

Dear, FreeThinke, 

I agree with many of your points.  I think we both see a beleaguered middle class as being central to today's roiling political scene.  But I do take exception to a few of your assertions: it is my understanding that the unemployment rate (5.5%) is now at levels of early in the GW Bush era.  Also, illegal immigration is down –– significantly.  According to the Department of Homeland Security, illegal immigration has fallen to its lowest level in at least two decades.  The Pew Research Center says the nation’s population of illegal immigrants, which more than tripled, to 12.2 million, between 1990 and 2007, has since dropped by about 1 million.  Over 600,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America were kicked out last year!   So all this stuff about our being overrun by illegal aliens is bullshit.  Clear and simple!  It's the crap that Trump is putting out to make us all shit in our knickers.  And as to the Dow, if you can tell why it's down or up, more power to you.  More likely the current crash started with the Chinese than with anything domestic.

As to Iran, I strongly disagree that our being more truculent is going to solve anything.  Iran has been pledging the annihilation of Israel for decades.   As best as I can tell, it's empty rhetoric.  Garbage put out for domestic consumption.  Nothing more. Israel has the wherewithal, atomic and otherwise, to defend herself and much, much more.  Also, people are talking about the 150 billion dollars Iran will be getting like it's a gift.  It's not a gift.  It's their money –– their assets that we and our global partners froze.  Did we really think we were going to keep it?  I know Netanyahu would like to marginalize Iran and keep it as weak as possible.  But I really don't think this is in the best interests of a stable Middle East or even in the long-term interests of Israel.  Remember when France tried to keep us from invading Iraq?  Remember all that stuff about not eating French fries?  Well, sometimes the best thing an ally can do is to tell you when you shouldn't go to war –– not offering to hold your coat as you get your ass kicked.  As strong as our relationship has been and will continue to be, there are times when we can't just go along with Israeli positions.  There are lots of people inside Israel and lots of Jews here in America whom I think would agree with me.

Frankly, I am thrilled that we have an administration that is looking for peaceful solutions to our problems, and I really do think the terms of the treaty are extremely tight.   It will be very difficult for the Iranians to cheat and if they try to we can re-impose sanctions.  Isn't this a hell of a lot better than trying to solve problems with force?  Is this weakness on our part?  Thinking we could solve the regions' problems with force has been a disastrous approach.  It has undermined whatever stability there was in the region.  

Libby

FreeThinke’s Second Response

I'm not at all sure we can trust the statistics generated either by government agencies or avowedly liberal publications, Libby. 

Isn't it a bit too much like trusting the FOX to tell us the whole truth and nothing but the truth about his carryings on on the HENHOUSE?

"Figures may not lie, but liars always figure."

I don't trust numbers generated by avowedly conservative sources either. Instead, I go along with Mark Twain who famously said, "There are lies, God-damned lies, and then there are STATISTICS!" 

Here's more Twain to cheer you up and rile you simultaneously:

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."

~ Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar

"It is the foreign element that commits our crimes. There is no native criminal class except Congress."

! More Maxims of Mark, Johnson, 1927

"Whiskey is carried into committee rooms in demijohns and carried out in demagogues."

~ Notebook, 1868

"I never can think of Judas Iscariot without losing my temper. To my mind Judas Iscariot was nothing but a low, mean, premature, Congressman."

~ "Foster's Case," New York Tribune, 10 March 1873 

Cordially,

FreeThinke

There’s still more, but first we’d like to hear what you think –– not of the candidates so much –– but of this particular exchange. If you were in the loop, what would you say to Libby’s letter? What would you add to or subtract from FreeThinke’s two responses? Remember please that Libby is a former classmate and very old friend who happens to think differently from me. Our political differences don’t give anyone a license to be rude, unkind or disrespectful.