Gamma Omicron Phi – Republicans might as well be a big fraternity.

The Republican party is acting like a sorority or a fraternity lately.  No individual thinking, only collective thinking.  Collective thinking is bad, unless it is collaborative thinking.  The only reason to have one opinion shape a group is to amass power.  Which is exactly what the GOP is doing.  The lovely ladies from Maine helped us out last time and it looked as if Arlen Specter was going to do us a solid this time with the Employee Free Choice Act.  But, he reneged.  Big surprise…  As reported in the Globe,

Big business won a key ally today in its high-stakes fight against the “check-card” bill that would make it easier for unions to organize workplaces.

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who was the only Republican to support the bill two years ago, told business groups that he will oppose the measure.

Unions were counting on him as the 60th vote to overcome an expected GOP filibuster. Democrats and two independents who usually vote with them control 58 seats.

This basically kills the bill and drops it in filibuster land.  Not somewhere any of us would like to end up.

Steele makes it so easy…another ‘gotcha’ moment.

In an hard hitting interview in GQ magazine (the political powerhouse that they are) Michael Steele stole the maverick label from Gov. Palin by asserting that abortion rights are an individual choice.  As reported by Reuters,

In an interview with GQ magazine, the Republican National Committee chairman described abortion as an “individual choice” and said individual states should decide its legality.  Those comments, predictably, have drawn a sharp rebuke from other Republican leaders who say he should stick to the party’s core position that abortion should be outlawed nationwide.

Unfortunately for Steele, that single moment of honesty and logic might as well be the final nail in his coffin.  As Ezra Klein says,

Steele’s sound and solid reasoning would be unremarkable coming from almost any other American. But coming from the head of a party that in modern times has had at its very core a strident opposition to abortion, it is a heresy and will be received as such. Steele will be hounded from his job. It is hard to envision any explanation that would save him from the wrath of the extreme right.

Since then, Steele has come out with a statement he clearly was politically forced to put out.  $100 he didn’t write it.

I am pro-life, always have been, always will be.

I tried to present why I am pro life while recognizing that my mother had a “choice” before deciding to put me up for adoption. I thank her every day for supporting life. The strength of the pro life movement lies in choosing life and sharing the wisdom of that choice with those who face difficult circumstances. They did that for my mother and I am here today because they did. In my view Roe vs. Wade was wrongly decided and should be repealed. I realize that there are good people in our party who disagree with me on this issue.

But the Republican Party is and will continue to be the party of life. I support our platform and its call for a Human Life Amendment. It is important that we stand up for the defenseless and that we continue to work to change the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen so that we can welcome all children and protect them under the law.

I’m taking bets of when Steele will be forced to resign.  I’d put $50 bucks on before June 1st.

Meghan McCain “I consider myself a progressive Republican”

After watching Meghan McCain on the campaign trail I never thought I would agree with a lot she has to say in her blog for the Daily Beast.  But she really does seem like a progressive Republican (which I previously thought to be a oxymoron).  Plus she is a great voice for the conservative youth which has a new agenda, different than their older counterparts.  Meghan talks about how this new progressive Republican ideology differs.

I am sure most extreme conservatives and extreme liberals would find me a confusing, walking contradiction. But I assure you, there are many people out there just like me who represent a new, younger generation of Republicans.

I’m often criticized for not being a “real” Republican, and I have been called a RINO—Republican In Name Only—in the past. Many say I am not “conservative enough,” which is something that I am proud of. It is no secret that I disagree with many of the old-school Republican ways of thinking. One of the biggest issues from which I seem to drift from the party base is in my support of gay marriage. I am often criticized for previously voting for John Kerry and my support of stem-cell research. For the record, I am also extremely pro-military and a big supporter of the surge and the Iraq war.

I also love that she is talking smack about Ann Coulter.  Now I believe in Meghan’s semi-sanity ever more!

To make matters worse, certain individuals continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Republicans. Especially Republican women. Who do I feel is the biggest culprit? Ann Coulter. I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time.

I  did however find many of Meghan’s musings rather sophomoric, sorry Meg.  Especially her views on dating people of the opposite party — something I’m pretty adamant about and something that she thinks is just plain stupid.  I’m adamant about it because I pay attention to the party line of the RNC and the DNC.  I don’t agree with everything the DNC says, but I am unable to think anything the RNC says makes sense or is ethical.  How can you like someone who you don’t think is ethical?

The election killed my personal life.  OK, maybe killed is a bit of an exaggeration. But it does seem to be on life support. Of all the things people warned would happen post-election, no one ever said anything about how complicated dating would become. Especially if your dad loses the election. There are things that have been difficult, but nothing quite as tough as dating. I fear the election has destroyed my ability and desire to date. Now, I cannot say at any point in my life that I have been very good at dating. But I have become something I used to despise: people who let politics dictate his or her attraction to someone.

I am a person that has always prided myself on keeping politics out of my relationships. I think I would have probably graduated from Columbia friendless had I made politics a focal point in any of my friendships during college. I have many friends who openly voted for Barack Obama (many of them also didn’t). Who my friends voted for is of no concern to me. I am adult enough to understand that people vote for their own personal reasons, and I know how personal politics can be to someone.

Of course politics are personal, so personal that they should play a big role in your choosing of friends and mates.

Steele — Amusing or embarrasing?

Watching Michael Steele fumble around, making more waves than any other RNC chair has been rather amusing.  Just glad I’m not a GOPer because then it would just be embarrassing.  At least lately he is recognizing his errors…kind of.  A Washington Post article reports,

Interviewed on NBC’s “Today” yesterday, Steele said his job is to balance the views of many figures in the party and acknowledged that “I wasn’t that effective at it this week.”

I still don’t think he really gets what the chair is supposed to do.  He needs to be uniting, embracing, and following the party line.  Instead he is making news that fits better in People than in Time.

His critics say Steele, a longtime conservative guest on talk shows, still shoots from the hip like an activist instead of carefully measuring his words as a party leader. One day he is musing on primary challenges to moderate GOP senators who voted for the economic stimulus package; another day he’s slamming Limbaugh, the critics say.

Great — well ‘critics’ can you go ahead and make sure he got the non-confrontational to GOP friends memo?  Maybe he needs to watch Howard Dean for a while — he’s the pro.  Listening to him talk about Hillary and Barack and who would be best was like asking a mom which of her kids she loved more?

Lastly, I really wish he, and Jindal for that matter, would make some public homage to Pres. Obama.  I honestly never thought the three most talked about people in the Republican party this winter would be a black guy, an indian guy and…well, I guess Rush kind of breaks the pattern.  But we all know, there is no way Steele would have won otherwise.  It was a clear sign on the GOP’s part to say, ‘hey, we’re hip, we have black friends too.’

Who does Michael Steele think he is?

I didn’t think I would ever say this, but I think Rush Limbaugh is right.  He basically says, “You’re not the leader of the Republican Party, you’re the Chairman of the RNC — and millions of republicans have nothing to do with the RNC.”  Catch up with the whole string.

Was Howard Dean the head of the Democratic party as Chairman of the DNC? No way.  But ever since hooooyaaa he hasn’t really been a viable leader.  It makes me sad to watch, since after Kucinich, Dean was my pick, but its always good for a morning chuckle.