Which Direction is the Bus Traveling?

Why and how did the Republican Party leadership fail in the 2006 Mid-term elections? That question will be debated in political science classrooms for decades. Conservatives know intuitively, but most liberal Republicans have not a clue. The Frist reason is simple, there are not five conservatives in all of Congress. Unfortunately, there will be even fewer conservatives in Congress tomorrow, which means Americans will have to fend off the Democratic Party's extreme socialist (collectivist) agenda in the near term.

For the strangest of reasons, conservative Republicans have felt obligated for years to vote for at least one of the two candidates on a ballot, even if both were liberal and neither reflected their views, instead of choosing "none of the above" when appropriate. Badgered incessantly by the Republican National Committee, threatening their worst fears of tax increases, political correctness, and runaway income redistribution, conservatives were fed and many bellieved that Democrats were somehow the epitome of evil and so much worse than liberal Republicans. Well, they were, until Republicans became ideologically indistinguishable from Democrats. Conservatives, citizens with value systems, were told that If Republicans were not elected, it would be their fault and the guilt would be theirs. The RNC knows guilt and loyalty are profound motivators to a conservative, and the last six years has taught conservatives a bitter lesson - conservatives were an easy "mark."

So, how do you convey in the most simple terms what happened in the elections - a metaphor or a parable maybe?

Imagine that the Republican Party’s liberal leadership has been looking at the above picture since 1994, trying to figure out in which direction the bus is traveling. They honestly couldn't tell. You wouldn’t think it would be so difficult. It is not a trick question. It's not hard to understand, unless you are a liberal, and the Republican Party had become very liberal. Not having core values, liberal Republicans administered the nation from Congress, redistributed more and more tax revenues, made themselves fabuously wealthy from campaign contributions, and made no effort to lead the nation. How can you lead without core values?

So, which direction is the bus traveling?

The only possible answers are left or right. Look carefully at the picture. Do you know the answer? The Republican leadership (the oxymoron of the decade) should have figured it out – except that they were not conservatives.

Pre-school children were asked the same question and they all answered "left."

They were then asked, "Why do you think the bus is traveling in the left direction?"

They answered, "Because you can't see the door."

Liberal Republicans couldn’t figure it out and never turned the bus around. "Left" was a suitable direction to liberal Republicans. For six years, the nation and courts have been going further and further "Left." Democrats loved every minute of it. They unexpectedly found they had willing accomplices in their socialist agenda. All that was left for them to do was re-take control of the bus, which they accomplished on November 7, 2006.

It’s philosophically safe to say that if you don’t know what your destination is, any direction you travel will get you there. If you don’t know what direction you are going, then you have no compass. If you don’t have a compass, then you don’t have God, country and family, the source of every man and woman’s compass. Without God, country and family, you don’t have morality, ethics or a sense of purpose; all you have is self. If all you have is self, you may be able to rule or administer, but not to lead or govern, because the latter requires a profound degree of selflessness.

Republicans floundered for years and foundered in 2006. Now Democrats have a choice, but their only choice will be to rule since they too have no core values or destination. It is a universal truth that liberals, because of their ideology, are unable to lead or govern. To lead and govern requires striving for individual liberty in a selfless fashion instead of adherence to a national religion of government-imposed socialism and focused self-interest. Until the national electorate understands that national and individual excellence is the antithesis of the Democratic Party's egalitarianism, nothing will change in American politics and culture, and any direction will get us there.

It's hard not to feel sorry for everyone who got on the wrong bus.

Remember, if you don’t have a destination in your own life or business, how can you set goals? How can you govern or lead others? When you go on a vacation, you know well in advance exactly where you are going, how long you will be gone, what mode of travel you will use, who will be with you, what you will see and do, what day you will leave and what day you will return, how much money you will spend, what presents you will bring home, how you will pay your bills while you are gone and after your return home, what clothes you will pack and which luggage you will use for the trip, etc. If we can plan a simple vacation to that level of detail, surely Congess can do more for the nation in six years than simply enrich themselves at taxpayer expense. What about planning the nation's future? Can you articulate one single, specific national goal - except to spend more money on problems that can't be solved with more money?

Now you understand how and why Republicans failed in 2006 - liberalism.

In our November, 2006 trip to the polls, we elected a group of Senators and Representatives whose leadership wants the bus to continue farther and farther to the "Left," i.e., more liberalism (collectivism) for us and more power for themselves. At every opportunnity, let's be sure to ask (demand) from Democrats, who have finally achieved their unhealthy liberal goal to rule the lives of others, to tell us their intended destination and how they propose to get us there. If they have no specific destination (goals to improve the United States within the first 100 days) except to denigrate Republicans, as it currently appears, that speaks for itself. However, if their specific goals (e.g., raise taxes or lower taxes, or amnesty for illegal aliens or enforcement only) turn out to be worthy goals, they will continue to have our votes. If their goals are unworthy, or if the Democrats have no specific goals beyond accummulating power and personal wealth, we need to get off this bus at the very first opportunity.

Perhaps the best definition of 'success' was penned by Earl Nightingale: "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal," which is as good an explanation as any for the perpetual failure of the Democratic Party's grand entitlement society. Let's hear the Democratic Party's (1), worthy goals with some specificity, and see (2), their realization in a democratic process without resorting to activist courts. Americans are fully capable of judging if the goals are worthy and in their best interests. Nothing else matters.

Many Americans are going to be wishing for a bus stop very soon.

Red State Patriot

Posted November 15, 2006 10:41 AM
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