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I’m curious — what has happened to the Republican Party? After all, these are the people who like to tell Americans they are the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and even to some extent, George H. W. Bush (the smarter Bush).

You remember those guys. They were conservative by philosophy but were always willing to work with the opposition when it was good for the country.

Generally, we knew where those presidents stood. They were fiscally conservative, believed in trickle-down economics, didn’t mind being the world’s police, and felt a limited government was best for the country.

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Philosophically (and based on legislation passed), those were the best of days for the Republicans — but not so much anymore.

Actually, it’s easier to define today’s Republicans, if not to understand them: If Obama is for it, they oppose it. Take the Affordable Care Act, the tragedy in Benghazi, immigration, and guns (and more guns). These have become more than political issues for Republicans: They are now obsessions that are redefining their once-great party.

Let’s start with Obamacare. The House has voted six times to repeal the act and another 40 times to gut the law to the point that it could not continue to function. Republicans scream for repeal without a second thought of the devastating consequences it would have on tens of millions of Americans. They consider the pain it would cause these people to be merely collateral damage as long as the president’s reputation gets tarnished.

The obsession with Benghazi continues to amaze me and, quite frankly, most Americans. Recent surveys show that almost 70 percent of respondents feel Congress needs to move on. Heck, 39 percent don’t even know where it is (6 percent thought it was in Cuba).

Certainly the tragic attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi (that would be in Libya) demanded an investigation. And there have been six of them, each chaired by a Republican and with Republicans holding a majority on the investigating  committee.

All six absolved the CIA and the White House of any wrongdoing. The real kicker was a recent report from the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee. It found that the CIA and military acted properly in the 2012 attack in Libya. And then, with great pain, the committee concluded there’d been no wrongdoing by Obama administration appointees either.

I laughed when I heard Chris Matthews on MSNBC say that “All good witch hunts must come to an end.” Great line, but unfortunately, not true with these guys. U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina is now heading a seventh investigation.

When appointed chairman of the investigative committee, Gowdy, apparently with a straight face, claimed Benghazi was the number-one issue among his constituents and the worst cover-up since Watergate.

That sound you hear is South Carolinians scratching their heads and wondering exactly how Benghazi became more important than jobs, wages, and better highways.

Republicans have no problem reducing food stamps but ignore the cost of these special committees.

So why don’t they just give up? Well, the thinking is that if they can’t mortally wound the president, perhaps the Benghazi thing will still linger long enough to cause pain to Hillary Clinton (the GOP’s latest and greatest obsession).

The immigration issue is picking up obsession status — “defend our borders” has become a popular sound bite for Republicans. Forget the fact that immigration is at a 10-year low and that less than 1 percent of our prison inmates are immigrants. Republicans just seem to love this issue.

As for guns, don’t get me started. The gun lobby is simply too strong for this country to ever adopt reasonable gun control measures. The Republican-led Congress completely ignored the 91 percent of Americans who favor background checks.

It’s really a shame. GOP used to stand for the Grand Old Party. Today, it stands for Get Our President.

Fort Worth freelance writer Frank Matthews can be reached at fmatt23@aol.com or at frankspeakblog.com.

23 COMMENTS

  1. Don’t worry, things will be better after the new senate is in place. It will take a while to straighten out the mess you libs have made of the country but at least the conservatives can begin to put the country back on the right path.

    Just think about all the items you mentioned above, do you really think that is the way things should go in the country, if you do, God have pity on you.

    • Agree. Under the Democrats the federal government is so out of control no one knows how much deficit spending is happening, has happened or is projected to happen (or on WHAT.) Take the eternally “at the trough” Ivy League Washington connected con men like Gruber, who suck up large amounts of tax payer money for failed socialist domestic boondoggles and then sarcastically laugh at the suckers they fleeced ( these sociopaths are not even good grifters-just brazen criminals). The rich and richer porcine Democrats: Reid, Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer and their token little minority puppets (the Castro bros, congressional black caucus etc) don’t even KNOW what the middle class is anymore–because they have never had a real job outside of politics. I don’t know after a near decade of hateful systemic destruction, if the conservatives can paste things back together, but I will never trust any Democrat for any reason anymore.

      • Hey Frank—-“You guys wouldn’t “no” (sic) how to spell…” come back when you finish the third grade . “No” it all troll. (lol)

  2. Where does FWW find its writers? This one is pathetic. Does he not know that this “once-great” party made sweeping gains just last month?

    • I consider a progressive a compliment. Do you Tea Party talk to each other before you reply to a column. Ted Cruz would be proud of you.8

    • Hey, I just call like I see ’em. Most columnists will tell that normally only the crazies respond. If I had a dollar for every rational and intelligent response I got, I would be hard pressed to buy lunch at Burger King.

      • Frank, but do you have a dollar for every rational and intelligent column you’ve written? No? Then I’d say stick to the cleaning business. Skeptic is right: You childishly mocked critics for spelling errors, then made some yourself.

        • Deserve to be chided when I make the same mistakes I point out. It never hurts be called out at times. Sold the cleaning business two years ago.

          Actually, I write columns for the Dallas Morning News and Texas Monthly. The pay is below the poverty line. Actually, FWWeekly pays the best.

          Mock me if you like, but try sometime to get a major newspaper to print a column. Those guys weed out light weights before breakfast.

    • Well given that “Frank” has trouble spelling “know” and then criticizes others for alleged spelling mistakes is fairly typical of the unpleasant,unsettled and chaotic liberal brain. (or the collection of 2-3 functioning neurons they use to get by…lol)

  3. I accept and deserve the criticism for chiding others for mistakes I make also. And by the way, the are not alleged mistakes; they are real. However, I have a hard time equating spelling errors with a chaotic liberal brain. I am clueless what “Or the collection of 2-3 neurons they use to get by” means. Over my head.

    I loved the lol. I understand that to mean Lots of Love.

      • You have a soft heart to wish a columnist a Merry Christmas. By the way, I don’t know if you read the Dallas Morning News, but I will have a lead column in it this Saturday. It is about my volunteer work with hospice.

  4. I’m still waiting for FW Weekly to up their game and stop hiring biased journalists. It’s hysterical how these guys want everyone to believe that they are know it alls, and the second you point out a flaw they try to come up with indirect ad hominem gestures as a response to a critique.

    Where the hell is journalism going to? I understand that you guys want to help those who are uneducated have a chance in succeeding in life but lowering your hiring standards is damaging your reputation.

  5. Leftists like Matthews love to characterize conservative Republicans as “changing” when it’s the left which has gone off the rails. They are like oblivious idiots on a left-bound train accusing the anchored station of moving right.

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