The Evil Eyebrow

Maine GOP Jumps the Shark

Written by

Bill Ruhsam

in

,

The Maine Republican party has voted in a new platform filled with buzzwords, diatribe and just plain craziness.

Usually, I don’t care too much about other state’s political doings, but my in-laws mostly live in Maine and it’s sad to me when one of a state’s two major (and very important) political parties gets hijacked by right-wing nutjobs.

If you think I’m being harsh, I invite you to go read the platform. I had to dig around to find the document, but I’m pretty sure this is the real deal.

Some criticisms:

  • Whoever drafted this has never seriously studied the history of US politics or political discourse. Either that or they’re flat out misrepresenting themselves (that’s politician speak for “lying”).
  • The drafter(s) also need to have their bag of air-quotes revoked. There are way to many terms with “quotes” around them.
  • I call attention to this item:

    • II. To Establish Justice:
    a. Restore “Constitutional law” as the basis for the Judiciary.
    b. Reassert the principle that “Freedom of Religion” does not mean “freedom from religion”. [emphasis added]

    I’m very curious why they felt the need to place this religious call out under a Justice heading? Oh, right, because there’s nowhere else to put it, the U.S. constitution specifically divorcing government from religion. Silly me. I suppose you could put it under a heading titled “We made this up because we’re scared of non-christian people” but that doesn’t have the same ring of fear that “Justice” does.

  • My final criticism is to the actual republicans in Maine. Shame on you for allowing the Tea Party wackos steal your party. This is not what the Republican party stands for. Or at least, it’s not what it should be standing for. I’m sure you all found it great when the Tea Party was a fringe element drawing fire away from your amorphous appeal to a past time, but now they’re coming front and center. If you ever want to win a national election again, I suggest you shoot your own dog, like a real party.

Comments

6 responses to “Maine GOP Jumps the Shark”

  1. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    It’s kind of sad. I used to take the Republicans seriously and thought they had something to bring to the table. Now it seems they’ve been taken over by the whackos, and it’s not going to be good. I hope the rhetoric gets dialed back a few notches for this election, but I doubt it’s going to happen.

  2. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Wow, thanks for the enlightenment. I never realized I was a wacko! The idea of a limited Federal Government, established with well defined checks and ballances, based on the philosophy of subsidiarity, all seemed sensible to me. I really need to reconsider my views. Maybe a strong centralized govenment that dictates it’s will to its member states under threat of defunding transportation or education does make sense afterall. Thanks, I have a lot to think about. The last thing I want to be is a wacko.

  3. Keith Avatar
    Keith

    What happened in Utah, is that the wackos all showed up for the early meetings that selected delegates, etc. and simply outnumbered the old guard. People who weren’t involved with the party simply had no idea what happened.

    (The same kind of technique was used by Obama to win the nomination.)

    Do you have any idea of the process involved in the Georgia Republican (or Democratic) party creating their platform?

  4. Bill Ruhsam Avatar
    Bill Ruhsam

    @Tom: I did not call you, specifically a whacko; I referred to the Tea Party members who submitted and approved a nebulous, partisan document as whackos. Although I believe I used the terms “right-wing nutjobs.”

    Seriously. Can you tell me that as a proponent of the Republican party of 1981 (which is basically what you’re saying with your statement) that you support the platform that was approved by the Maine GOP? If so, then yes, I am calling you a whacko.

    I call to your attention one of the many contradictions associated with the Tea Party: Support of Zero Base budgeting. Yes, Zero Base budget procedures have their uses and I will not state otherwise, however to enact Zero Base budgeting on the entire state budget process would grow government and not shrink it. This is an obvious fact that doesn’t seem to get across to the Tea Party.

    For closing, I will leave you with a power of the Federal Government which you might think is an overstepping of the constitution, it not being specifically provided for within that document: Oil Spill cleanup. I thought it pithy, yet a very good illustration, when a democrat criticizer of the Tea Party said that under the strict 10th Amendment secessionary interpretation of the Tea Party platform said that the States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas were responsible under the constitution for cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon mess. I’m sure the Great State of Maine would not appreciate being left on its own if a similar environmental disaster occurred off the coast of Mt. Desert Island.

    @Keith: I have no idea. I’ve never been involved with the parties at that level.

  5. Rob Cain Avatar
    Rob Cain

    To be fair, the Teabaggers would tell you that our nation’s rejection of Christianity was responsible for God creating the oil spill, so at least they are idealogically consistent.

  6. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Bill: I have heard the oilspill argument before. In a properly operating federal system the states would have the ability to have first crack at the problem, only calling on the Feds as a last resort. released from federal unfunded mandates that tell the states what their bugetary priorities are, state budgets would be better able to handle a crisis of this nature. I am no against government per se, just the current application of central control, that rather than serving the member states the federal government dictates to them. do we really need Washington doling out highway funds (other than the interstate system), dictating drinking age, and making healthcare decisions? We have grown up in a country where this has been the norm, but looking at the 10th amendment sheds light on the way the country was meant to be. the majority of decisions being made at the lowest level possible. The Courts still operate that way. Why not Executive and Legislative branches as well?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts