“The trouble with Republicans is that when they get into trouble, they start acting like cannibals.”

(The above quote was made by what former U.S. president? Answer at bottom of article.)

It seems that the quote given above is prescient beyond belief. Recent headlines, indeed headlines from the past two years or so, seem to bear out the drift and infighting currently afflicting the Republican party. 

 

Op Ed News ran this one on January 10:

"The Republican Party: Imploding From Within, Heading Toward Political Oblivion”

 

AlterNet ran this one on December 24, 2012:

“Orcs vs. Goblins: Crazed Republicans Turn on Each Other” 

 

Salon ran this on January 2, 2012:

“Republicans turn on House GOP leadership over Sandy aid”

And after the debacle of the November elections, the Independent and the Standard ran this one:

“Republicans turning on Romney”

Nothing will push the GOP into irrelevancy faster than cannibalizing itself. The birth of the Tea Party a few short years ago has only accelerated the process, not initiated it.

Op Ed's Michael Payne has decided that GOP oblivion would be a good thing:

Watching this party split into various factions is the best thing that could have happened when considering the directions that this country needs to take into the future. Sending the GOP into political oblivion won't happen overnight but the good news is that as this process of political deterioration gathers momentum this outdated, obsolete party will grow weaker and weaker and become a political non-entity; irrelevant and meaningless; its days of obstructionism will be over. 

 

A GOP party that essentially writes off whole states as well as entire demographic groups cannot be long for the world. Rep. Peter King, R-NY, said in early January:

“People in my party, they wonder why they’re becoming a minority party,” King said on CNN. ”They’re writing off New York, they’re writing off New Jersey. Well, they’ve written me off, and they’re gonna have a hard time getting my vote, I can tell you that.” 

 

On a lesser scale of importance is the rapid scuttling from prominence of the one-time standard-bearer and presumed shoo-in for president, Mitt Romney. He is no longer the party standard-bearer, and his divisive remarks after his loss in November were seen as less than helpful for a party that needs to build or rebuild a winning coalition of voters. In fact, his loss was so dramatic that his profile is seen as going the way of another presidential election loser from the opposite party, for governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis. Dukakis was drubbed in a controversial campaign by George H. W. Bush in 1988. 

 

The most entertaining article on the general topic of the GOP's self cannibalizing is AlterNet's comparison of GOP-ers and Tea Partiers to orcs and goblins. The goblins are the greedy faction who want the gravy train to keep on rolling for the privileged one percenters. The orcs are the ones who flunked arithmetic, demanding no tax increases (on the rich, but the working poor are on their own), and an extremist slate of positions. Last seen dancing around a bonfire of the econ texts and the effigy of John Boehner, according to AlterNet's Lynn Stuart Parramore.

(Who said dat? ANSWER: Former Pres. Richard Milhous Nixon.)

SOURCES:

Eggen, Dan, Republicans turning on Romney, Standard-Examiner, Nov. 16, 2012, http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/11/16/republicans-turning-romney

Parramore, Lynn Stuart, Orcs v. Goblins: Crazed Republicans Turn on Each Other in Ugly Fiscal Cliff Battle. AlterNet, Dec. 24, 2012, http://www.alternet.org/economy/orcs-v-goblins-crazed-republicans-turn-each-other-ugly-fiscal-cliff-battle

Payne, Michael, The Republican Party: Imploding From Within, Op Ed News, Jan. 10, 2013, http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Republican-Party-Impl-by-michael-payne-130110-820.html

Rayfield, Jillian, Republicans turn on House GOP leadership over Sandy aid, Salon, Jan. 2, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/01/02/new_york_republicans_turn_on_house_gop_leadership_over_sandy_aid/