Colin Powell recently made an appeal to both major political parties to try and return to a spirit of bipartisanship and work together. I think this man has good intentions, but he has grown out of touch with the current political environment.
The fact is that at this point, the left has embarked on such an extreme path, Republicans have to fight tooth and nail because all of their ideas are bad. Left wingers embarked on an ideological blitz in Obama's first year, thinking they could shove at least some socialization into the American system. American voters wised up and started strongly opposing the whole program. The Republican Party, with a tradition of bipartisanship on most issues, followed suit.
There are three problems with working with Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.
First, the left is not operating from a philosophical foundation that has any basis in the traditions of our Founding Fathers. They honestly believe that they have the right to determine how much money you should keep. The rest they want to disperse in any way they see fit, in many cases to individuals and groups that they know will respond by voting for them in the next election. Asking the conservatives and libertarians in America to cooperate with the Left is like asking the police to work hand in hand and sing Kum Bayh Yah with criminal gangs who intend to break into people's homes to steal their valuables. The Left is all about theft. They want your money. How can we, in good conscience, work with these people?
Second, cooperation with the Left would destroy the Republican Party as we know it. Republicans lost credibility by forgetting their small government pledges while they ran Congress. The Left has helped the GOP regain momentum again because it has alienated the majority of the people in the Unietd States. Americans do not want socialized health care, cap and trade, 401k confiscation, or any other left wing big government program. What if the GOP did what it has historically done in most cases when fighting with liberals, bending over, receiving a smack with a paddle, and exclaiming "thank you sir, may I have another?" The party loses every shred of credibility because the people are demanding that someone stand up for them. They want someone, somewhere to stand up to the thieves stealing and wasting our money and exclaim STOP! If that someone is not the Republican Party, they will find someone who will.
Third, we are winning!!!! Time is on our side, yes it is! Democratic incumbents who have followed Obama in lockstep find themselves with primary opponents. Many have dropped out either in fear of losing to Republicans or out of disgust with their own party. What seemed impossible three weeks ago is now very possible, maybe even likely. Republicans could control the Senate, perhaps both houses after November.
With the people behind us, demanding that we keep moving aggressively against the left, why stop now? Colin Powell belongs to an older generation of Republicans with more gentility than aggressive spirit. He is a historical figure to be admired, not a political expert to be followed.
