Cross Posted from Street Prophets
The Republican Party has today become a marginalized regional party of no policy alternatives, no health care and no interest in keeping up with the culture of the ever changing and progressing American people. Republicans continue to marginalize themselves on almost a daily basis with calls for zero taxes, zero health care, and their race ladened calls for secession in response to the Nobama administration. One has to wonder what ever happened to the Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln, perhaps America's greatest president (a Republican) who struck a blow for social justice that is still reverberating across the decades and into this new millennia.
Instead we have this perplexing parody of partisanship broadcasting behind closed doors from somewhere on C Street....
Republicans were decimated at the ballot box this passed November by Democrats who swooped into Congress on the coat-tails of America's first African-American president, one who began his campaign a serious underdog even within his own party on the very same courthouse steps in Springfield IL. where Abraham Lincoln had begun his own uphill battle for the presidency Oct 16, 1858.
"In the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States..." -- Barack Obama
Indeed, the fact that Democrats now control the magical 60 seats in the Senate is a direct result of Republicans marginalizing themselves in the name of purity, forcing the "moderate" Arlen Specter into the other camp simply to survivepolitically.
Because of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln will go down in history as a visionary and liberal social radical for his time. Republicans today have evolved to become the conservative social radicals of America so out of touch with contemporary culture that they believe only through becoming more and more extreme in their reactionary politics (which has pushed their numbers among registered voters to an historic low) will they ultimately emerge victorious. Palin, the base's darling, and who recently called for the party to be purged of "liberals" may now be thinking of taking her brand of Republican zealots out of the party entirely.
So, who's left?
While there still remains an economic conservative, Neo-Conservative, and libertarian wing within the Republican party, the C Street Family embodies the worst of all of these wrapped in the fabric of Christian Fundamentalism.
Economic conservatives have pretty well disgraced themselves in the eyes of ordinary Americans under the Bush administration which ran up greater deficits than any other administration without benefiting typical working people and whose lack of oversight and regulation has lead the country into the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression. Many of America's oligarchy, who really don't care about anything else beyond money and power have effectively transitioned into the Obama administration (Summers, and Geithner as examples of the Goldman connection) whose policies of deal by disaster tend to favor the financial sector still.
The most troublesome, though, are the economic conservatives of C Street, or the Family, AKA The Fellowship, a secretive group of fundamentalist Christian influence peddlers, many of whom are elected government officials who have begun drawing attention to themselves after a series of sex scandals lead to revelations of Sen Ensign, Republican from Nevada, and his $100,000 hush money pay-offwhose source seems to be this very same unregistered political action committee. Certainly, let us hope we are in the process whereby more will be revealed as I seem to keep coming back to this one singular group lately as the epicenter of the demise of all that was once respectable about the Republican party.
The C Street Family actually began as an economic conservative group who opposed FDR's New Deal economics of regulation and greater social good.
C Street Family adherents subscribe to a far right Christian fundamentalist and free market ideology.
A minister named Abraham Vereide founded the Family after having a vision in which God visited him in the person of the head of the United States Steel Corporation .... The Family has a connection to the house on C Street in Washington, D.C., known simply as C Street. Officially registered as a church, the building serves as a meeting place and residence for conservative politicians.
We see behind their misrepresenting the United States in their foreign "missions" a push for unregulated free trade through CAFTA but also a McCarthy-ite red scare against the G-dless leftist leaders, like Castro or Hugo Chavez. With the C Street ties to the militarists of their Neo-Con allies, they pose a threat to American national security while betraying their anti-latino racist bigotry.
Quoting a C Street member Zach Wamp, (R - TN).
“instability in Central America might also jeopardize U.S. border security. Should the Communists succeed in spreading their philosophies and regimes throughout Central America, even more illegal aliens will want to flee their countries and cross our southern border.”
The party of Lincoln has become the party of the wild eyed, fanatical elitist and the socially entitled who feel threatened by every other. Where being white and male is seen as the natural order of things. Where, as Eugene Robinson put it in his editorialabout the Sotomayor Nomination hearings, "any 'identity' – black, brown, female, gay, whatever – has to be judged against this supposedly 'objective' standard." But, as Robinson fails to point out, where judgement on others has already been cast unfavorably. I fear we stand condemned already by Republicans and am wary of the wrath they intend to inflict upon us all through the Holy terrors at C Street.
I seriously doubt Lincoln would recognize Ensign, Sanford, former Rep. Chip Pickering, Sen. Tom Coburn or C Street house leader David Coe as members of his club (nor would any other progressive American) let alone "Christian".
Other members include: Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, both R-S.C.; James Inhofe, R-Okla., John Thune, R-S.D., and recent senators and high officials such as John Ashcroft, Ed Meese, Pete Domenici and Don Nickles. Over in the House there's Joe Pitts, R-Penn., Frank Wolf, R-Va., Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and John R. Carter, R-Texas.
The problem, basically, for Republicans, is that in America you can not build a working majority in Congress based on treason for Christ's sake.