The Republican Party is damaged but is it damaged beyond repair?

From healthcare and tax reform to climate change, Republicans are either in denial, unwilling or too scared, to do anything.

They can’t claim credit for the economy or job growth. Yes, I know Donald Trump will try to, but any claim falls in the face of reality. The economy recovered before Trump assumed office and he has done nothing to alter the course of the economy in any meaningful way.

Taking credit for good job numbers also appears hypocritical since the party on several occasions, accused Obama administration of manipulating the numbers when job growth picked up a few years ago.

To now turn around and accept the new job numbers just because a Republican is in the White House is disingenuous, to say the least. Perhaps Trump is manipulating the numbers now? Just thinking out loud.

Even Republicans know there is something fundamentally wrong with their party.

I am not a Republican. As you can probably tell, I am a Liberal so go ahead and scream at me all you want but even you have to admit something is terribly wrong with the Republican Party.

Republicans control the White House and U.S. Senate. They control most state houses and local government offices, yet can’t get anything done.

Granted, Trump is incompetent and it is easy to argue that he is a businessman and not a politician, so he may not fully appreciate how the U.S. government works.

That’s fine. Argue that if it makes you happy.

I’m even willing to grudgingly grant you that perhaps that is why he is flailing. But what do you say about the Mitch McConnell led Senate?

Can you argue that Sen. McConnell (R-KY) lack experience too?

Against Barack Obama, it was easy to be in opposition. All the GOP had to do was stand firm and say ‘No” to everything, just like they did.

Sen. McConnell was famously quoted during a National Review interview with Major Garrett on Oct. 29, 2010 as saying: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

And it worked amazingly well for them too, even though he failed in that singular mission.

What is clearly harder is figuring out a way to govern.

Today, I’d like to delve into what I believe is really going on with the party and why it seems impossible for them to get their footing on major issues of importance to Americans.

In his analysis of the Republican Party, Michael Grunwald published a Time Magazine article about the “reality-defying extremism and chronic obstructionism and borderline surrealism of the modern Republican Party,”

He wrote that the party was on a “journey to wackadoodleland.”

OK. I will not be that hard on the GOP but he was right.

He stated aptly that the biggest problem facing the party was that America had moved on from the GOP.

“The party can adapt to an electorate that is getting less demographically Republican (more diverse, less rural, more educated, less evangelical) as well as less ideologically Republican (less hostile to gays, gun control, and government),” he continued.

He concluded that “the main problem is the product. It’s outdated and it’s bogus.”

Before you light your pants on fire, consider this: Republicans control everything.

Everything!

Over the years the Republican Party has gone from a party with solid principles to a party of excuses.

Go back a few years and you will see how the excuses have evolved…but they are excuses all the same.

In 2009, they complained that they were handicapped because they were not in control of the House of Representatives. They argued that given the opportunity, they could do better than Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare.

Americans believed them and gave them control of the House. They then said they needed to control the U.S. Senate to accomplish anything. So voters gave them control of the U.S. Senate as well.

Still they could not accomplish anything meaningful besides stopping women from having control over their bodies and what to do with them, and casting over sixty five meaningless votes to repeal Obamacare.

In 2016, voters not only gave them the House and Senate, they gave them the White House. And what did they accomplished ? Nothing.

Yes. Nada.

So the voters took away the House of Representatives from them.

What is their excuse now? The said they need filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Does that look like an excuse to you? You are right. It is just an excuse, a way to cover their inability to move legislation through Congress dominated by their caucus.

Are Republican voters being conned by their leaders? You bet.

The Republican Party of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell has become a party afraid to tell the truth. They have become a party willing to lie, call everything fake news, look the other way and act as if reality isn’t reality, just to win elections.

Earlier when it became obvious that Trump may not be up to the job he was elected to do, GOP leaders refused to admit the truth.

Go back to after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump for “lying” to Vice President Pence, who himself has been found to have lied about not knowing anything about Michael Flynn despite being told about Flynn numerous times, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he was not interested in the truth.

“I don’t worry about things that are outside my control,” he was quoted as saying when reporters confronted him about Flynn.

After former FBI director James Comey was unceremoniously dismissed by President Trump, Republican leaders again punted on taking action.

“We need to wait to get all the facts,” was their response even when it was obvious that Trump’s action may have obstructed justice.

It is easy to dismiss all these as inconsequential.

What is painfully clear watching Republicans bury their heads in the sand is that they are either unable, unwilling or worse, afraid, to perform their constitutional duties in the face of Trump’s apparent cognitive issues and the president’s willingness to subject the country to the will and control of a foreign hostile power – Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

As a Republican, I know you can’t wait to scream at me or call me all kinds of names. Good. Consider this: If Barack Obama were half as stupid, incompetent and moronic as Trump, can you honestly tell me you will not be screaming for his head?

Be honest. Or is that too far above you?

Do you honestly believe Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, Devin Nunes or other Republican elected officials would stand by and not attempt to impeach him?

If you are honest, you know the answer to that question.

Trump is a liar. He lies about anything and everything. He was even caught lying about the Boys Scout.

What was the reaction of GOP leaders? Yawn!

The Republican Party can’t move healthcare bill, have not done the infrastructure bill they promised Americans. All they have done is give away billions of tax payer dollars to the rich.

Trump does not have accomplishments in office besides thousands of useless tweets.

Should American be worried that a party that can’t seem to get its bearing controls levers of U.S. government? You bet. At this rate, nothing will get done and Americans will be worse for it.

Don’t let anyone fool you. The Republican Party is irreparably damaged. But that is not the scariest part.

The Party has not idea how to fix itself. Now, that is scary!

Let’s hope they wake up soon.

You may not agree with the opinion stated here. That is fine. Just state your opinion below and tell me why you disagree. Be civil about it. We are all adults, after all.

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