Richard Lugar and the End of Moderate Republicanism

Nation ^ | 5-8-12 | Ari Berman

[tcrlaf]

If Indiana Senator Dick Lugar loses his Republican primary race to Tea Party challenger Richard Mourdock tonight, as polls indicate is likely, his defeat will signal the end of moderate Republican internationalism in the US Senate and the GOP more broadly.

Lugar, a two time chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee best known for his work on arms control and nonproliferation treaties, used to be one of the GOP’s leading figures on foreign policy. Now he’s an outlier.

The Senate Republican caucus was once filled with the likes of Dick Lugar—sensible realists such as Lincoln Chafee, Chuck Hagel, George Voinovich and Olympia Snowe. Now they’re all gone or going, casualties of a Republican party where diplomacy, multilateralism and bipartisanship are dirty words. (A Mourdock ad called Lugar “Obama’s favorite Republican.”)

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Well, SKUNC is yours free to use. It was the winner in a contest to come up with a suitable replacement for RINO.

http://pascalfervor.blogspot.com/2011/01/and-winner-is-skunc.html

The reason for the contest in short: When an elected official in a constitutional republic becomes convinced that he thinks for his constituency, and then he gets to stay in office in large measure due to “rewards” from deep pocket special interests and/or media, and it’s proven time and again that his feeling is correct that he is no longer accountable to the voters, he becomes a Platonic republican (elitist, by dint of getting to rule) rather than a constitutional republican and public servant. So he laughs at our ignorance in calling him a republican in name only.

EV: I think I may have forgotten to alert you to this. It is possible such an acronym provides you something with which to contrast the problem with the whole Republican Party as it has been manipulated. Maybe use it carefully, with a mix of your earnestness and some good humor.

[EternalVigilance]

http://www.tomhoefling.com/8/post/2012/05/tom-hoefling-interviewed-by-steph-watts-may-11-2012.html

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Your idea is not impossible, but unfortunately it is not probable either. As one man without a band of associates, you don’t stand a chance, and you know it. Well, at least not without Divine intervention. The institutions that would allow you to draw such people as would be needed by an truly independent American have all been incrementally infiltrated. It started before the “Progressive” movement and now has advanced to the point where they are no longer hiding their advances. And I know you know that. I may be casting a doubtful note on your efforts, but there are many many more who are still in denial. They call you and I psychotic (imagining things) for telling them even a small bit about the truth of the matter. Heck, even I only have a small glimpse into the problem and would react to much new information that I did not like emotionally (at least at first) because of cognitive dissonance.

You have been trying for a number of years in a political manner. I have been trying by writing out some of my observations and analysis. And we still don’t grok each other much. Why?

At least for me, the nature of my conservativism is very basic: “leave me be!” That will not happen in this world NOW (allowing that it has happened here at least to a great extent in the past) that the American system has been so thoroughly trashed. Critical Theory worked. Tell me one big name institution you believe is above the fray and I will tell you how they’ve knuckled under via those who deceived earlier generations and allowed their ilk (human termites) to gain control of that institution.