Abraham & Teddy Would Be So Embarrassed

I have never voted for a Republican presidential candidate because, since I became old enough to vote, that party has not run a candidate I thought was better than at least one available alternative. But I do believe the Republican Party has a rich history they can be proud of. At least two Republicans, in my opinion, would have to be placed among the greatest of all American presidents -- Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. And one more, Dwight Eisenhower, was a decent president (whose insight into the danger posed by the military-industrial complex was very perceptive).

But those times are long gone, and the party's modern presidents aren't even a pale imitation of those great Americans. Richard Nixon had some political skills, but turned out to be little more than a criminal who thought he was above the law. George H.W. Bush was ineffectual at best. His son, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan were just not up to the office. They let the fundamentalists write their social programs and the corporations write their economic policies (creating the most unequal wealth and income distribution since before the Great Depression, and setting the table for the current recession).

But the current crop of possible Republican presidential candidates show just how low the Republican Party has sunk. This group is nothing short of pitiful, and would be a complete embarrassment to the likes of Lincoln and Roosevelt. Just look at who some of these candidates are:

Mitt Romney -- Once viewed as a moderate, he has now run so far to the right that it is scary. He has brutally attacked the health care reform law recently passed, even though it is identical to a law he supported and signed while the governor of Massachusetts. His total abandonment of his one achievement as governor leaves us to wonder if he really has any beliefs he would defend were they unpopular.

Mike Huckabee -- A creationist and fundamentalist preacher who would love to turn our democracy into a theocracy. Also a bigot who doesn't believe in equal rights for all Americans.

Sarah Palin -- An intellectually inferior person with no understanding of economic or foreign policy. After joining the floundering McCain campaign in 2008, she drove it straight into the ground with her inability to answer even simple questions posed by journalists and her unintelligible speeches.

Ron Paul -- A Libertarian isolationist who recently said the states have the right to nullify any federal law they don't like (even though that is clearly unconstitutional).

Newt Gingrich -- Probably the most morally deficient of all the candidates. A homophobic bigot who had numerous adulterous affairs, and left his first two wives after learning they had serious medical problems. He led the attack on Bill Clinton for his sexual indiscretion, while having an ongoing adulterous affair of his own. Has shown his lack of solid beliefs with his recent flip-flop on Libyan policy.

Rick Santorum -- A minor candidate who bases all his hopes on his homophobic beliefs.

Tim Pawlenty -- A true-believer in corporate friendly "trickle-down" economics. Recently came out in favor of a federal "tax holiday" for the rich and the corporations. This holiday would allow them to bring money back to America that they have been hiding abroad to avoid paying taxes on it -- and do it without paying any taxes on it.

Herman Cain -- A black businessman and right-wing radio pundit who seems determined to prove he is as bigoted as any white person. He has said anyone he appoints in his administration would have to swear on a Bible. This bigotry would exclude anyone but christians from serving in government and establish an unconstitutional precedent by establishing a religious test for government service.

Michele Bachmann -- Her politics consist of little more than name-calling and fear-mongering and opposing anything proposed by the president regardless of merit. Opposes government programs that help the poor, unemployed, uninsured, and other hurting Americans, but thinks it's fine for her and her family to get many thousands of dollars in government payments. Says the Founding Fathers eliminated slavery, and Revolutionary War battle of Lexington happened in a state other than Massachusetts.

Haley Barbour -- A Southern racist with a knack for raising corporate money. Recently got is trouble for trying to claim the Southern White Citizen's Councils were race neutral (when they were specifically created to defend the institution of segregation).

Rand Paul -- Has said he thinks businesses should be able to discriminate against minorities and the disabled. Opposes government payments, except those that he receives.

Donald Trump -- A businessman with questionable ethics. Said he has seen cohorts on Wall Street commit fraud (a serious felony), but did nothing about it. Has based his entire campaign so far on the belief that President Obama was not born in America (a nutty belief that has been discredited numerous times).

If these are the "best and brightest" candidates that the Republican Party has to offer, then the party has truly sunk to a new low. How has this happened? It has happened because the party began pandering to the religious fundamentalists and the racist, uneducated, corporately-duped teabaggers. And now these groups have taken over the party, and are in the process of cleansing the party of anyone who disagrees with them.

The fundies and teabaggers are making sure that no one with a moderate view can run for the party's nomination. This has resulted in this oddly inappropriate assortment of candidates. Here is how columnist Joe Klein puts it:

It is always an education to watch our American writhings from overseas. It is particularly excrutiating watching the Republican Party presidential candidates who, on a daily basis, pronounce some ignorant racist or irreligious twaddle...which--amazingly enough--manages to be heard around the world. . .This is my 10th presidential campaign, Lord help me. I have never before seen such a bunch of vile, desperate-to-please, shameless, embarrassing losers coagulated under a single party's banner. They are the most compelling argument I've seen against American exceptionalism. . .There are those who say, cynically, if this is the dim-witted freak show the Republicans want to present in 2012, so be it. I disagree. One of them could get elected. You never know. Mick Huckabee, the front-runner if you can believe it, might have to negotiate a trade agreement, or a defense treaty, with the Indonesian President some day. Newt might have to discuss very delicate matters of national security with the President of Pakistan. And so I plead, as an unflinching American patriot--please Mitch Daniels, please Jeb Bush, please run. I may not agree with you on most things, but I respect you. And you seem to respect yourselves enough not to behave like public clowns.

Please, in the name of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, run.

I would have to disagree with Klein about Jeb Bush and Mitch Daniels. Although they are not quite as crazy as the candidates above, the teabaggers would force them to move much farther to the fringe of the right-wing -- or give up any hope of being nominated.

I'm not yet ready to say there is no hope for the Republican Party, but it will never return to the greatness of Lincoln and Roosevelt until it rescues itself from the clutches of the racists, religious fundies and teabaggers.