Posted on 08/13/2022 6:18:55 PM PDT by Ennis85
As readers of The Washington Post and his syndicated column know, Dana Milbank covers politics with snap and crackle. His gift, and his dogged reporting, serve him well in his new book, “The Destructionists” (good title), on the quarter-century-long crackup of the Republican Party.
While reading it, a line by the late P.J. O’Rourke came to mind: “The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.”
Another line kept coming to me — Ronald Reagan’s farewell letter to the American people, which ends: “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”
Reagan’s letter was dated Nov. 5, 1994. Three days later, Republicans won control of the House and the Senate, led by a pale rider named Newt Gingrich. And hell followed with him.
Milbank traces the descent of the party once led by Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and John McCain as it became the party of Gingrich and Mitch McConnell and, ultimately, the cult of Donald Trump. For those once fond of the GOP, it’s like switching the channel from “Father Knows Best” to “The Sopranos.”
That’s a dated but not altogether inapt reference. The ’94 election that ushered in Gingrich’s Republican Revolution also ushered out a Congress led by veterans of World War II. Four years later, the Un-Greatest Generation became its dominant demographic.
As an exercise, try thinking “Party of Lincoln” (or Reagan) as you recite aloud this partial list of post-1994 GOP leaders, grandees, enablers and influencers: Gingrich, Kenneth Starr, Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, Ralph
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Did you notice the name of the author - Christopher Buckley?
He’s the son of William F, Buckley, Jr!!!
Bill is rolling in his grave.
My thoughts too.
I find it quite entertaining that commie libs feel compelled to give conservatives advice on their party.
Somehow, I don’t think they have GOP’s best interest in mind.
They seem to back Republicans who are weak and impotent. I wonder why?
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