Sdgrrl: You sure covered a lot of ground in your post and I’m almost not sure where to begin, in terms of responding.
I don’t disagree with many of your points and as far as the fall of the Republicans go, I always quote Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. After 20+ years at the helm, an institutionalized arrogance had set in, with predictable results.
I don’t really have anything against Obama, but I tend to agree with Surveyor’s assessment of him as an empty suit. I didn’t see bi-partisanship at work on healthcare, I saw inexperience and an intellectually superior aloofness. I’m often struck by his almost clinically technocratic nature, which at times is positive (he tends to stay cool and distant in times of stress), but is often negative (too dispassionate when discussing issues that are emotional, like healthcare or America’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan).
Who steps up for the Republicans in 2012? Good question. I hope to God it’s not Palin, but I’m not really afraid of that happening. I happen to like Pawlenty, but as really more of the best choice of a bad lot. My wife, like you, is a Texan and I saw Dubya for what he was during his governorship of Texas.
The true conservatives in the Republican party, like Barry Goldwater, are long gone. Even Reagan’s vaunted “revolution” was more rhetoric than reality, given that Reagan raised taxes and went on a spending spree of his own.
I guess what I’m saying is that I agree neither side has a large contingent of angels. What scares me more about this Administration and Congress, is that we’re seeing what happens when the radical Left is in power and it’s much akin to what happened under Dubya when the radical Right was in power. Clinton, for all his faults, finally decided to hew close to center and did manage an effective Presidency, especially in his second term. And power is ultimately what the entire conversation ends up being about. Strip away the rhetorical flourishes from both sides and it’s about seizing and then retaining power. The potential long-term damage from this untrammeled spending spree (and it started under Bush) is terrifying and we’re just standing here and watching it happen.
