I’ve got two buddies. They’re very knowledgable about history, politics, economics, political philosophy…you name it. Both hold at least one college degree from large universities. One is a hard corps evaneglical Christian. The other is non-religious and libertarian.
I think I’ll call them "Frank" and "Ray". Or…"Frank ‘n Ray". We often get together, and the topic is always the state of America, its people, and the world.
Rays of sunshine, Frank ‘n Ray are not. In fact, they are veriitable "rays of darkness." They are also united in their pessimism over America, its future, and the precipice it now stands at….
"We’re not on the edge," they both opine. "We’ve already gone over the edge, and we’re on the way down."
I’ve decided that Frank ‘n Ray will together make a good foil for many of the matters I want to discuss here on the ‘Grok. After all, they consistently and persistently confront my own persistent, endemic optimism…an optimism borne of being a rational libertarian…an optimism borne of being part of the Free State Project…and an optimism borne of being graced with the very existence of the state of New Hampshire.
"The Republicans are on the verge of a historic victory," I remonstrate with Frank ‘n Ray. "Big things are about to happen. Good things are about to happen."
"The Republicans won’t do squat," Frank ‘n Ray snarl back. "They’ve never done a thing in the past when they had the chance! Look at 1994! Look at 2002, when they had it all! Why should we believe they’ll do anything different now? They’re just as bad as the Democrats. They’re even worse, because they profess to believe in a set of principles. And they betray those principles, every chance they get!"
"This time it’s different," I patiently explain to them. "America has never been in the dire straits it is now. We have never in our history had a President who dislikes America [I was going to say "hates," but choose to refrain]. We have never in our history had a President who doesn’t understand America…who isn’t really, in a deep sense, ‘American’ himself."
"Yeah," they chime back at me. "Your hero George W. Bush and the Republicans set everything up to get Obama elected, didn’t they!" (Did I mention that Frank ‘n Ray also delight in using sarcasm? Oh yes. They do.)
"We’ll give you one small, initial test," Frank ‘n Ray tell me. "If the Republicans take both the House and the Senate in Washington, DC, watch who they elect to be Speaker of the House and majority leader in the Senate. [The logical choices are…Rep. John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell," the respective minority leaders in the House and Senate today.] If it’s Rep. John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell, your precious reform is doomed! The Republicans will have shown that they know nothing, they understand nothing, they remember nothing, and they have learned nothing…. And that’s exactly what they’ll do! We’re doomed."
Well, Republicans? Will, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, the willing assistants to President George W. bush, accomplices to the destruction of Republican principles from the years 2000 to 2008 become, respectively, the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader?
After November 2nd, will the Republicans remain part of the problem in Washington, DC, or begin to be part of a solution? Will they elect Boehner and McConnell to be their leaders? Or will they elevate the likes of…say…Rep. Michelle Bachmann to be peaker of the House, and Sen. Jim DeMint to be Senate Majority Leader?
Well, Republicans?