November 22, 2014

The John Birch Society, Tea Party, and politics in general

I'm a former Republican, and quite proud of it. When I first registered in Indiana in the early '80s (I skipped the '76 election, though I could have voted in it), I was a Democrat, though I didn't know what that meant. I voted for Reagan in 1980 and stayed Republican until 2005. I became an Independent at that time, since I was disgusted with the Republican party and the Democrats were just the flip side of the same coin.

In the PA primary of 2008, I registered again as a Democrat. PA has a closed primary system (you have to be registered with a party to vote in the primary). I thought the Clintons were running a racist campaign and I wanted to vote against Hillary. Besides, McCain had the nomination tied up by that point, so it didn't matter on the Republican side. I voted against Hillary (which was FOR Obama), then re-registered as an Independent again. When the general election came, I could not, in good conscience, vote for McCain (he was too wishy-washy and Palin would not be an acceptable VP) nor Obama (the "hope" mantra hid something disturbing, though I didn't know what, at the time), so I voted for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate.

In 2012, I voted for Romney, since he was the right man at the right time. Unfortunately, he lost.

Having said that, I'm finding that Sarah Palin and her lemmings are corrupting the whole process. Ms. Palin has everyone convinced that she is the one to run the country, but has no practical solutions to any of the problems we have, only a continuous barrage of criticisms. She acts as if her ideas are brand-new, but, in reality, date back as far as the John Birch Society (1958), if not farther.

I know that there are people who idolize Sarah because she has, allegedly, done the following:

1. Ended corruption in Alaska (AND did this in a half term as governor. Note the sarcasm!).

2. Fought the "liberal" media (yet won't conduct an interview outside of her own turf. In fact, she had to start her own subscription channel to continue the softball interviews).

3. Has fought the "bias" against women in the political arena (which DOES exist, yet other women have managed to transcend it without perpetual whining).

4. Conducts successful protests (which usually involve holding up a 7-11 Big Gulp or a gun in protest, with, again, no real practical solutions to ANYTHING).

And on....and on....and on. Ms. Palin is not interested in the welfare of our nation, but in the welfare of the Palination (anything that has something for Sarah to be seen on TV for).

Having said all of that, I DO admire her Christian beliefs, as a Christian sister. I just find her political beliefs repugnant.

Hopefully, Ms. Palin and the Tea Party will go the way of the Stalwarts, Know-Nothings, Free-Soilers, Progressive/Bull Moose, Whigs, Federalists, and Democrat/Republicans, to name a few. Once the Tea Party is gone, maybe we can begin to end the gridlock in DC and get some TRULY good ideas going again.