The GOP has become a tribe

I started to write this posting a few days ago but didn't get beyond the title. My point was to be that the Republican Party has become so focused upon winning elections rather than doing good for the country that painting the Democrats as hating everything Americans are supposed to stand for has become more important to them than policy.  In order to do this, they have demonized undocumented immigrants, non-believers, racial minorities (through code and innuendo), the poor, the elderly, unions, working people, children, gay men and lesbians, and liberals.  (They have been aided and abetted in this effort by the Democratic Party, which has proven utterly feckless when it comes to providing an alternative view of the universe.)  As a result, the GOP has driven out all but the rich, the white, the bigoted, the militaristic, and the Luddites among their ranks.  They have become a tribe, with all the homogeneity, closed-mindedness, and inbreeding that that label implies.  All I have to do is listen as their leaders recite endlessly the same talking points over and over, often in contravention of all they have previously stood for, or look at the faces in a Tea Party rally crowd to understand how the GOP has morphed over the past 50 years.

Then, today, I read a piece on truth-out.org by Mike Lofgren that makes the case with much more authority and eloquence than I could ever muster.  Mr. Lofgren was a GOP staffer in both branches of Congress over a period of nearly 30 years.  He resigned last June in disgust over his disenchantment with the present evolution of the Party for which he had been for so long a loyal soldier.  I commend it to your consumption with all my heart, soul, and mind.  Here is the link.  It's somewhat lengthy but can be read in far less time than it takes a Democrat to use the word "liberal" in a speech.  Enjoy.