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Do you remember when GOP stood for Grand Old Party instead of Getting Optimum Payola? You know, when our elected representatives actually represented the people instead of only the richest corporate fat cats? I know it seems as if it has been the way it is now forever, but it wasn't all that long ago that things were different. And they were not just a little different, they were VERY different.
A Different GOP
Politics stays the same in some ways, but in others it just keeps getting worse. The most obvious way in which it is getting much worse really fast, is the amount of Big Money controlling politics. Not that Democrats have clean hands on this issue, but one party far more than the other, aligns itself willingly and unabashedly with the controlling interests of Big Money. As a result, the GOP has changed, and changed radically in a fairly short amount of time.
Republicans used to stand for fiscal conservatism, strong military, the primacy of individual liberty and unalienable rights, the sovereignty of the people, and the rejection of a ruling aristocratic social class. Looking at that short list, we can say, yes, things have definitely changed.
Oh, they still usually talk the talk, but when it comes time to walk the walk, today's GOP knows exactly who is pulling the puppet strings (and lining their pockets).
Support for a strong military has deteriorated into support for strong corporations supplying the military. Support for liberty and personal freedoms has degenerated into support for the particular bigotry of extremists found in one religion. In almost any other context, personal freedom has become a pariah, to be summarily rejected as opposing the overarching goal of further wealth generation for the wealthy. For the GOP, your personal freedom has become the freedom to contribute to their agenda, or shut up and go away.
Being owned by the interests of the wealthy, they no longer fully reject the principle of aristocracy, and blatantly support the elite oligarchy that has developed in place of our once proud democracy. The principle of sovereignty of the people has been largely swept under the rug and effectively handed over to the Democrats for whatever use that party can make of this obsolete proposition. And with the exception of Bernie Sanders, it appears few on the left are interested in making use of this gift.
Finally, the old GOP pillar of fiscal responsibility has given way to the weak strut of economic constipation, where any expenditure that does not strengthen their financial supporters' corporate bottom line, is in line to be cut. Period. Because it would be "fiscally irresponsible" to keep spending good money on things that fail to line the right pockets. This economic constipation is the key to understanding today's Republican Party, holding back any expenditures that don't benefit their benefactors.
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