I know you are still smarting from your “unexpected” defeat on Tuesday and that you might be feeling a bit betrayed or letdown by the people you trusted to give you the straight dope on the election, but we really need to talk. I am worried about you. I am worried because I believe for our republic to function properly, we must have a viable two-party system and I’m afraid at the rate you are going we might lose that. I know you don’t trust me because I’m a Democrat; I’ve been one all my life. But trust me you must or you will perish. I want to give you some advice. You can take it or leave it, but if you take it, you may be able to reclaim the noble heritage of the early Republican Party, the party that ended the abomination of slavery, and gave America good or great leaders from time to time such as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but your party is no longer that party; it has morphed into a hybrid of the Know Nothings and the Dixiecrats of the past. I won’t go into all that history, but I will share some advice and insight with you for consideration.
For starters, you have to start dealing with reality. I know reality sucks sometimes, but that’s the way it goes. You’ll find that in spite of its snares and pitfalls, reality is not as bad as you think. Turn off Fox News and talk radio; leave your insular world and join the rest of us in a serious dialogue about the challenges we face. None of us likes to have to deal with a lot of the problems we face because they are difficult to deal with, and more difficult to solve, but if we don’t start doing both, our country and our world may be destroyed. You will have to accept that climate change is real and that we are its root cause. It is not bovine flatulence or volcanoes or merely the cycles of the climate. It is us and our copious use of fossil fuel causing the problem. You also have to come to terms with the fact that the solution to energy independence is not merely drilling for more oil or digging for more coal. It has to go far beyond that, into the realm of alternative energy, increased conservation and greater efficiency. I know you like driving around in your big monster truck or SUV, but you are probably going to have to give up such luxuries one way or the other. Even if we did have an infinite supply of oil, gas and coal, our planet cannot take much more abuse. Besides that, developing alternative energy will help secure America’s future, help to keep money out of the hands of terrorists and create jobs here. You have to start thinking long term.
You also have to accept the fact that America is changing on many levels. The Ozzie and Harriet and Leave to Beaver America that you fantasize about was always a fantasy. It was never real. You are going to have to get used to seeing more black and brown people. They are nothing to fear, which is something I learned during my military career. They bleed red just like the rest of us and they harbor many of the same hopes and fears, and more importantly, they share the same love of country as the rest of us. You’ll have to get used the gays and lesbians too. They are people like the rest of us and they are nothing to fear either. Heck, I bet if you checked around hard enough, you may find a few among your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers and you probably didn’t even notice they were there. Instead of fearing these people just because they are different, why not get to know them? You may find you have more in common with them than you think. At the very least, why not take a libertarian view of them of “live and let live”. The demographics of the country are changing rapidly and nothing is going to change that, nothing at all. Your party cannot survive on the white vote alone anymore, and if it is going to survive, it is going to have to come to terms with Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and a whole lot of other people have tried to ignore. If you don’t start accepting people for who they are, the numbers are only going to get harder for you in coming elections.
While we’re on the subject of tolerance, you need to dump some baggage that is weighting you down. For starters, the Tea Party needs to be unceremoniously ejected from the Republican bandwagon. They are the new John Birchers and they are generally hate-filled nut jobs. They don’t do the early heritage of the Republican Party justice. Let them go, they are not only holding you back, they make you look ridiculous and petty. Nobody likes that, except for other people who are ridiculous and petty. Also, cut the name calling, because no one likes a bully. We’re all Americans in spite of our differences and disagreements. Let’s try some civility for a change. Good people can disagree without be disagreeable. Drop the wild conspiracy theories and try a little optimism for a change. People respond to optimists better than pessimists, and your party has become pretty pessimistic of late. While we’re at it, stop the raving and ranting in public. Not everyone agrees with you; we are just too polite most times to challenge your nonsensical mutterings. Some among you are so vitriolic we fear for our safety if we attempt to correct you or ask you to at least maintain a proper decorum, so we remain silent. You may take our silence as consent, but trust me, it is not the case.
When it comes to the social issues, try toning it down a couple of notches. Try a little moderation and restraint for a change. Not everyone shares your religious views and really don’t want them shoved down their throats. How about let’s leave religion at home and in the places of worship and not in schoolhouses, workplaces or in government policy. Some of you are like the Pharisees Jesus mentioned in the Bible, you like to be seen as pious by the public with your overt praying and such. Prayers mean more when they are done in private; I know this from personal experience and Jesus backs me up on this. Not everyone thinks carrying guns around on their hips like this is the Wild West is a great idea. I am a police officer and a gun owner, and I must confess I’m not that wild about it. This is the 21st century, get used to it, it is going to be around another 88 years. Not everyone shares your view on abortion. I am personally opposed to the practice on moral grounds, but I am pro-choice when it comes to public policy. How about giving women the same freedom you want to have for yourself or for business and allow them to decide for themselves what is right for their circumstance. For what it’s worth, if you are so adamant about outlawing abortion, then you are going to have to accept the social contract that demands we help provide for the children mothers can’t or won’t care for. That means more social services and higher taxes. Being pro-life extends far beyond merely caring about the status of a fetus.
Finally, drop the supply-side economics and the neo-conservative foreign policy nonsense. They are failed policies. No one is advocating the soaking of the rich. All we are asking is for the wealthy to pay about 40%, which only fools and the mathematically challenged would pay anyway. We are also asking that unearned income be treated in more or less the same fashion as earned income. Your most recent nominee is the beneficiary of a tax system that has been tilted inexorably against working people, which is probably among the reasons he did not release his tax returns. He made out like a bandit, leaving you and the rest of us holding the bill. The wealthy will be fine and I’m sure none of them will starve if they have to pay a little more in taxes. By the way, if low taxes help create jobs, where are the jobs my Republican friends? I know you’ve been told the wealthy are the job creators, but in reality, the working poor and working class are the wealth and job creators. For without us buying the products and services to go about our lives, there would be few entrepreneurs achieving great wealth. I also know you’ve been told we have a spending problem in our government, but in reality, we have a revenue problem created by your recalcitrance in raising taxes on those who need them raised. If you don’t want to raise taxes, what are you willing to cut? Just cutting foreign aid, welfare and waste won’t even scratch the interest on the debt. What meaningful things are you willing to do without? Dump the neo-conservative foreign policy and their notions of preventive war. In case you haven’t heard, we hanged people at Nuremburg in 1946 for practicing that philosophy, along with the genocide and torturing of prisoners. Not everything can be solved through war, and more often than not, wars create more problems than they solve, and they are quite expensive.
I could go on at length, but here’s the takeaway my Republican friends, you must give up the hate, intolerance, extremism, greed and fear that has nearly consumed your party. The 2012 election was only a precursor of what will increasingly happen if your party does not change, moderate, and join the rest of us in reality. It will perish. The numbers from here on out only become more grim. If you refuse to change, then your disappearance would be better for us all. Something tells me you aren't going to take this advice and if you don't I hope we keep kicking your political butts until you do.