Lincoln: "Public opinion in this country is everything"

This morning I am angry on the behalf of the Republicans. I am not a Republican, nor would I gleefully side with today’s average elected Democrat – although I would probably agree with more historical Democrat agenda then the Republicans. That being said, I am very upset on behalf of the voting Republicans. What the fuck happened to the elected Republican leaders values, beliefs and responsibility? The president's approval rating is hovering around 30% and the leaders in the House and Senate are surely not much higher. And here it is at another election year and instead of running on smaller government, fewer taxes/debt, and more states rights they’ve had to drag up loser issues like flag burning and gay marriage, again. This is so insulting that I feel for the Republican voters out there.

Arthur Gordon once said "Some people confuse acceptance with apathy, but there's all the difference in the world. Apathy fails to distinguish between what can and what cannot be helped; acceptance makes that distinction. Apathy paralyzes the will-to-action; acceptance frees it by relieving it of impossible burdens.” This is where I believe that most Republican voters have gone. They’ve learned to accept the fact that their team will stay in charge as long as they also accept the fact that some changes in their core principles will have to evaporate into memory.

What they are left with is a country that has spent more money then ever before, created a climate of ever-weakening states rights, more intrusion from our national government and a slow dissolve of our Checks and Balances. This is not what they believed that they were voting for and this saddens me. It’s one thing to back a candidate knowing that there is no way that they can deliver on all of their campaign promise – but it’s another to back a candidate only to find out that they are going to do the exact opposite of what they said AND to simultaneously realize that this person is your only party option.

So this fall as the average Republican listens to his elected leaders talk about the knowingly dead issues of gay marriage amendments, flag burning and obscenity legislation they will also have to ponder whether or not it’s better to sit this election out in the name of what is best for the country. Because let’s face it, as rare as it is finding a fiscally conservative Republican walking the halls of the House or Senate, it’s equally rare to find one of these representatives that believes that their core isn’t stupid and accepting enough to take their crap election year politics sales pitches – and that is a sad state of affairs for all of us.