The real story

Commentary By Ron Beasley

The real story last night was not Obama's address but Bobby Jindal's response.  It was a metaphor for the current Republican Party.  They have no ideas only the same talking points we have heard for the last eight or even the last 28 years. The negative reaction to Jindal's response as been bipartisan.  On the far right the critical response was more about style than substance but from moderate David Brooks we have this:

This reminds me of a piece by Eve Fairbanks, Newsflash: McCain Lost the Election.

The Republican Party has been using a grab-bag of strategies to counter Obama's policies over the past month. They rail against the stimulus package for its (supposed) pork. They hammer home their points with gimmicky videos and props. They speak in warrior rhetoric and revel in heroic, fighting-man stunts. But if there is one strand running through all these strategies, it is that they evoke a discomfiting feeling of deja vu. We've seen this stuff before: The GOP is currently reliving John McCain's presidential campaign. The return to the strategies of their fallen candidate may be the saddest illustration of the current state of the party.

The current crop of Republican politicians was not chosen for their ability to come up with new ideas but their willingness to blindly follow the leader.  The leaders of the current Republican Party by default now seem to be Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.  They speak for maybe a quarter of the population and actually offend the other three quarters.  The Republican House is on fire but it may well be necessary for it to burn all the way to the ground before it can be rebuilt.