So, let there be a cleaning

It’s a month out, and it looks like everyone is laying their cards on the table. It isn’t like we have any choice. Events are such that it is time to say what needs to be said. First of all, let me put out my entering argument: the present Republican leadership has proved nothing but it is not worthy to hold power. It has become part of the corrupt DC machine it was voted into power to control. I wish the Democrats provided a viable option (they do in isolated local contests and in individual places, but all they seem to be driven towards at a national level is power. But I am not concerned with Democrats. I want to focus on the Republicans.

The Senate. Senator Frist (R-TN) jumped the shark a while ago, but if there was any doubt it is gone now. He just proved he does not have an understanding of the Long War. How he thinks he is Presidential material, I don’t know. And don’t get me started with my Senator, Senator Martinez (R-FL). I want my money back from him. My father-in-law was right when he described him as an “Opportunistic, party switching trial lawyer. Only a Republican because he made the calculation that is what he needed to advance in politics.” Between Taliban lov’n and immigration back-stabbing, I will vote for anyone to the right of Senator Nelson (D-FL) who runs against him of any party. Heck, a Libertarian protest vote may be in my future in four years.

I know what I will get with the Democrats: high taxes, victim-mongering politics, gun grabs, goofy leftist ideas, PC nightmares, open borders, and huge pork laden spending. What is it this Senate leadership is offering from the Republican side of the aisle that is any different? They have quit tax reform. They are only avoiding amnesty for illegals under duress. They have given up on judges and UN ambassadors. They spend like Democrats. About the only thing they are OK on is gun laws. They aren’t making things worse. Now they want us to talk to the Taliban? Bring that fox in the hen house? What have I been spending the last half decade doing, if not keeping the Taliban out of power.

The House. The house from a policy standpoint has been much better than the Senate, but the leadership has lost its way in its response to ethical/moral problems from William Jefferson (D-LA) to Mark Foley (R-FL). Their leadership is terrible, tainted by corruption, and will not change. I expect moral-equivalency and tolerance of pederasty by Democrats, but I will not support those people with my cash and vote if I have a better vote.

This is the first election cycle since I was 18 I have not sent money to any party or candidate – and I won’t. There is a cancer in the Republican Party and it is in the leadership – in power for too long and corrupted by it. The Bush Administration will be gone in a little more than two years. Much to McCain’s chagrin, the next Republican nominee will have zilch, zero, nada, nil, zed, to do with the present Administration, Senate or Congress. It will come from the States, a Governor (BTW, I’m not telling – but I already have picked my horse for ’08). That leadership change will be solved. D or R, the new Administration in ’08 will be fresh. Oh, if the Dems pick a Senator, he/she will not win.

Back to the Republicans. There is only one way to fix the Legislative Republican leadership problem; get a new leadership. Being that they refuse to police themselves, there is only one way to get rid of the present leadership – they must be defeated.

So, let slip the Moonbats of Mayhem. I know what I will get with a Dem House and Senate. They will open hearings against everyone but the Bush Twins. The tax cuts that helped us recover from the 2000-2003 downturn will not be made permanent. New gun laws will be put forward (that GWB will veto). PC Diktat will be at the front. Immigration policy will be towards amnesty or nothing (GWB will not veto). Judges and other appointments will be blocked (unless one of them dies, has a stroke, or goes into a coma – no more SCUS judges will step down in the next two years – so don’t worry about that). Republicans will be humbled and shamed. The next two years will be full of divisive acrimony and the economy, already looking to cool a bit, will stagger through ’07 and mellow through ’08.

As for my line of work, ’06 will embolden an already encouraged Islamists surge, but that will happen anyway with the leaders in the CINC’s own party putting out Weak Sister messages. Pakistan has already switched sides 49/51, and is one bullet away from going all Taliban support out of their blind hatred of India (why they think India will ever be a major influence over 99.99% Muslim AF is beyond me – but they worry about it). Frist wants to surrender to the Taliban – or at least that is how they read this. They smell weakness and it makes them more aggressive. From a military perspective, I know we can win IQ and AF – but the military if secondary to the political. If you bring in the Taliban, within 4 years – most likely much less time – you will loose AF. If that happens, no matter what we do, IQ will be lost. OBL is right, in his part of the world; the only thing many care about is going with the strong horse. If IQ falls apart, the best thing we could do is try to help the Kurds hold onto the freedom they have rightly earned – but how you get the Turks to buy into that – I have no idea.

The political side of the POL/MIL effort is starting to look a lot like the Elector of Bavaria at Blenheim. When your political leaders leave the field, you cannot win. All you can do is what the leaders of the Czechoslovakian military in Siberia did after WWI – try to get home with as few losses of you people as possible.

How do you prevent a meltdown like the above? You have to make sure we have the political top-cover to fight the Long War to win. To win the Long War early, ’08 is a must win. Have the Republicans hold the House and Senate with a bare majority with the present leadership they have – and in ’08 the Republican base will be so demoralized that the Dems will sweep it all with a Nutroot candidate that will lead to a massive expansion of Islamists power and influence.

Let the Dems win in ’06. They don’t deserve to win – but the Republicans deserve to loose. Let them run wild for two years and then give the American people a choice in ’08.

There, I have babbled all over the map. Executive summary: pruned, it will grow again.

What I do in the voting booth is my business, but I do not check all “R” by default, nor will I check all “D” in a hissy-fit. What I am though is a Florida voter – and what I have to deal with is not uncommon. In a National sense, look what the Republican’s are offering me. Senate: Sen, Nelson (D-FL) drives me nuts and does not represent my views on anything but space flight and the joy of orange juice – but look who is running against him, Rep. Harris (R-FL). GMAFB. I think I will write in my wife or favorite Hooters waitress.

House: Because of the nightmare scam of districting, the incumbent protection racket has ensured that my district is so Republican that the Dems don’t run a serious, viable candidate. No choices.

There we have it: joke choice and no choice. The only reason I am voting is to support Crist for Governor and some local races that have some good people trying to do good things.

Thankfully, I have found over the last few days I have had this in draft that I am not alone. Though I don’t agree with all the points of all these people, The Commissar put out yesterday what his regular readers have known for the better part of a year+. Ace, Michelle, Allah, and Rusty’s Ven diagram overlap mine more often then not.

The Republicans decided on these leaders; they have been measured and found wanting. The Dems do offer something this election cycle: a chance to get rid of the Republican leadership. Sometimes, even the ones you love need a swift kick in the a55. The Republic will survive 24 months of Dem power in Congress.