Your post is excellent! I concur completely, however, with one small exception. The Republicans are NOT getting suckered. They are part of the one-party MONOPOLY that has control of our goverment, and with an ultimate Leftist agenda. I am not referring to "conservatives," but instead to the Republican Party which does not have a true Conservative agenda. Republicans occasionally talk a good game, but they govern as moderate Leftists, in contrast to radical Leftists, as do many Democrats.
I certainly agree with you about the two-headed one party system currently in the country....just don't know what it is going to take to get others to wake up to that reality.
I, too, make a distinction between being a conservative and being a Republican. I grew up in a Democrat household; always voted Republican; ran for office as a Republican; started doing a lot of research in Bush 1 administration era because "nothing ever changed, except for a few fluffings of the pillows on the sofa, so to speak".
I saw this at state level as well as federal level.
And, of course, the more you learn, the more you want to learn..and at this point in time I am a constitutionalist because the word conservative has been so perverted that it means anything to the right of Teddy "The Swimmer" Kennedy!
This thread was a study in human nature....what we both know was expressed on this thread.
Regards...