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DEL.ICIO.USThe Georgia GOP grabs itself by the lapels, and gives the misbehaving so-and-so a good shake
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — It was called a Victory Dinner. Said so right on the program. But it had the feel of an intervention session for a pill-popping, booze-chugging family member who was about to drag the rest of the clan down.
It’s time for a de-tox tour of Betty Ford Land, each speaker seemed to say, in his own particular way.
Republicans in Georgia are in good shape, thanks to a so-far hapless opposition. Nationally, it’s another story.
The loss of the congressional seat in by-God Mississippi was only Tuesday. Before that it was Tom Delay’s seat, then former House speaker Dennis Hastert’s seat, then the one in Louisiana.
None of the first three bothered him, said U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal. But the north Georgia congressman, a former Democrat, was the most despondent voice of the evening.
These are his exact words:
”I’m concerned about the Mississippi election, because I think it could signal a reversal of the process that the South has been a part of — and that is the power of the Republican party being swelled and invigorated by people who normally would have, in the past, been Democrats — myself being one of them.
“Now we have seen our state and our South make the transition to the Republican party. It was one of those phenomena, in my opinion, that started at the top and came down…..
“The reform of party affiliation, I think, took great momentum in the South in particular with [Clinton’s] presidency. And now, I think we’re seeing the reversal of that process — and we cannot allow it to happen — and that is a reversal of the process from the bottom up.”
Deal was followed by U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta, who alluded to the failure of some GOP congressmen to keep their zippers secure:
“You’ve got to set the kind of example that the American people can look up to. And I’m talking about in regard to personal integrity and, yes, family values. These things are hugely important.”
House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who was not on the original agenda, gave the formal welcome. He didn’t talk about taxes, but he did complain — rightfully so, many thought — about the undercooked green beans.
Richardson’s thought about GOP health could have come from Chairman Mao, in the sense that he thought the Republican party needed to maintain its revolutionary fervor:
“I’m convinced that it’s not enough to win. You’ve got to keep doing something. Sometimes along the way you offend people. But I’d rather offend people doing something than offend people by doing nothing.”
The main speaker of the evening was Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, an African-American and a Roman Catholic. He’s now the chairman of GOPAC.
Steele told the story of his 2003 swearing-in, on Martin Luther King’s birthday. He was informed that his office had once been occupied for several months by Thomas Jefferson, when Annapolis served as the U.S. capital.
Let Steele tell the story from there:
”I thought, Thomas Jefferson must be thinking to himself, how did a brother wind up in my office. And I would think about it, and I realized, Sally Hemmings knows how I wound up in that office.
“It’s the story of America, folks. And it is the story of our party. It is a story, I’m afraid we have forgotten. We’ve forgotten how to tell it, we’ve forgotten how to share it, and we’ve forgotten how to live it. We have come to Washington, and we have become consumed by Potomac Fever.
“We have come to Washington, and we’ve become like those we were sent to replace. And in 2006 the people of this country replaced us.
“And my fear is, if we do not get our act together, if we do not reform ourselves, and remember who we are and why we are, we will continue to be replaced to the point where we will be irrelevant.”
Two events were scheduled after the Victory Dinner and intervention. One was a “praise meeting” where wayward Republicans could come clean.
The other was a party where, in the din of loud music and with the help of some inebriants, the fear of November could be pushed aside.
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Comments
By Al
May 16, 2008 11:49 PM | Link to this
I was at the convention in Columbus tonight. The overwhelming consensus was that this is going to be a bad year for the GOP, especially in the Congressional races, across the country.
By Raul
May 17, 2008 1:29 AM | Link to this
The current GOP is headed for the trash heap of history.
The Georgia GOP is just lucky that Georgia is always at the tail end of progressive social movements.
By MrLiberty
May 17, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this
Well its certainly good to see the Republicans recognizing that actions have consequences and that the american people will only put up with the crap only so long.
Unfortunately for the Republicans, they threw away their only real chance when they rejected the classic, “revolutionary” constitutional ideas of Ron Paul.
Democrats delude themselves as well in thinking that there are no consequences for their actions either. Their complete ignorance of the constitution and its limits on the presidency and congress are the very things that have gotten us where we are, yet both of them try nnd pretend that with just a bit more “tweaking” we can fix everything.
Do yourself a favor and buy and read a copy of Ron’s outstanding book “The Revolution…A Manifesto.” It may be the only truth you are told this election season.
By Churchill
May 17, 2008 10:49 AM | Link to this
Libs don’t preach to me. I’m a born-again conservative who supports Jesus when ever he decides to bomb people, whoops I meant the President anywho, the Mrs. is off to get her c** waxed and I’m going to my condo in make believe land. However, I shall spy on my neighbor while I enjoy a cup of self-important flagelence. Peace. P.S. Rupaul never gets old.
By tom ga hunter
May 17, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this
Al
Did you see the Draft Dodger’s speach?? Do you think he realises that Republicans are REALLY mad at him on the farm bill & his pro immigration ways?