GOP

 One often sees on the news these days stories about the downfall of the GOP, or the civil war within the GOP, as if the party were about to completely collapse and disappear from the political scene. Would that this were so, but what I see seems quite the contrary, to the extent anyway that the majority of congressional representatives in the party are quite faithfully (cur-like, if you will) following the attitudes of Republican voters, without whom, of course, there would be no party. From what I see in internet chatter, and in the actions of Republican state legislatures across the country, the "big lie" is alive and well. It is the central doctrine upon which all else depends and from which all else proceeds. What we who imagine dissolution are really thinking of is the party of years gone by, one devoted to certain conservative principles such as fiscal responsibility, small government, family values and so on. It is this identity that has vanished, not the party itself. The party has merely shifted in response to the (questionable) character of its voters. And that, my friends, is sad. Who ever thought we would be missing the good old GOP?