It’s Time Sane Republicans Realize That They No Longer Have a Political Party
"What’s happened since the Republican party embraced the tea party is the crazies have now taken over. These are folks who quite literally buy into their own propaganda. They are the conspiracy theorists who don’t live in the same reality as most people. These are the folks who, despite the fact that there was absolutely no way to defund the Affordable Care Act or Planned Parenthood, still believe that the government should have been shut down and remained closed until both demands were met. And I must emphasize the word “demands” – because these tea party conservatives act more like they’re trying to hold our government hostage rather than actually trying to govern. Even in 2013, when polls overwhelming showed the majority of the American people opposed the shutdown and blamed the GOP for our government being closed, Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz continued to fight against reopening the government. Again, this was despite the fact that there was literally no chance at all that closing the government was going to culminate in the defunding of the ACA. That reality didn’t matter. To this day, tea party conservatives will insist that the sane Republicans who eventually voted to reopen the government two years ago “sold out to the Obama agenda.” Remember, reality tells us there was no way they were going to win so the shutdown was absolutely pointless – and the American people were blaming Republicans for it. Fast forward to today where House Speaker Boehner has basically been pushed out by these right-wing lunatics who call themselves the “freedom caucus.” Then following Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (the individual who had been seen as the overwhelming favorite to replace Boehner) rather shocking decision to remove himself from the race – right as the GOP was conferencing to essentially make it “official” that McCarthy would be the next speaker – the entire party is in shambles. This is an absolute joke. The GOP has become so dysfunctional that they can’t even seem to find one Republican (remember the House Speaker doesn’t have to be a member of the House) who they feel can get the 218 votes needed to win."
