Things are so bad for the Republicans right now that many of them are running ads this year without mentioning their party affiliation. What has happened to the cocky, proud GOP? The “we’re right and they’re wrong, and that’s why we win” party? I can’t help but wonder what the Hannity’s and Limbaugh’s of the world will say when the House and Senate are lost to the Democrats. I suppose they can say what they want, make any outrageous claims they want, but the simple fact is that this “unitary government” idea — a government made up of and run by Republicans-only — has failed miserably. It has made the world a less-safe place, it has put tremendous pressure on the middle class and the poor, it has destroyed our good name around the globe, and it has led to a gigantic erosion of our civil liberties. Oddly enough, the “fiscally responsible” GOP who was always complaining about “tax-and-spend liberals” has also pretty much bankrupted the treasury. Well, that’s how some would put it I guess. Me, I would say that many have STOLEN the treasury. After all, the wealthiest Americans have gotten MUCH wealthier over the last six years, and as far as I’m concerned, no one should be getting massive tax cuts (money that should be going into the treasury) when the deficits are so staggering. Bush was keen on saying, “it’s YOUR MONEY” when there were projected surpluses. So if the surplus belongs to the rich, which is exactly where it all went, then what happens when there’s a deficit? No one has to pay for that? Oh, suddenly we ALL share in the deficits. Isn’t that wonderful? Imagine the richest Americans going to the country’s working class to bail them out? They’re not all to blame of course, some of the wealthiest Americans such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have gone on record as saying they didn’t want these tax cuts. They didn’t need their tax cuts. Aren’t we lucky that an economist like George W. Bush knows better how to handle the country’s money than some hack like Warren Buffet…

Whatever.

That Salon article shows just how bad things are for the GOP this year should the status quo hold through November. If the country had its way, Republicans wouldn’t be in charge of anything after November. I can’t tell you how heartening it is to see that the American people clearly saw this latest slate of “moral values” initiatives put forth on the House floor for exactly what they were — pandering at the highest and most shameless level.

A caller this morning on the Jerry Springer show asked fill-in host Jay Marvin why he should have to “put up with” gay marriage. He said he “didn’t like to see that,” and said the reason why it should be outlawed is because “it’s been that way for so long” and that gay marriage “went against the natural order of things.” Marvin took him to task on the “tradition” aspect, noting that if we did things because “that’s the way it’s always been,” or because of tradition, we would still have slaves in this country. The caller reinforced that he shouldn’t have to put up with this, and Marvin correctly mentioned that he is going to have to put up with it because that’s the way the country is headed — that a majority of Americans under 40 do not want to see anyone discriminiated against because of their sexual orientation, and that it was only a matter of time before civil unions, at the very least, become recognized by the government.

The tide is turning, and there are going to be a lot of disappointed GOP-ers this November. That is assuming the Democrats don’t once again shoot themselves in the foot by trying to be everything to everyone. It’s time to stand up and speak from the heart rather than triangulation.