Republicans fear Delay is a snowball....

[kentuck]

...rolling downhill and gaining momentum and getting larger with every roll...If it can happen to the "Hammer", it can happen to them. He was invincible. He could not be replaced. He could not be defeated. But now, he is gone. There's a vacuum for leadership in the Republican Party but it has been replaced with fear and apprehension about the upcoming election. Who do they follow? George W Bush? Not hardly. How long before internecine warfare in the Republican Party? It is disintegrating right before our eyes.

[FSogol]

1. No, Republicans KNOW Delay is a snowball...

...rolling downhill and gaining momentum and getting larger with every roll...

and I'm enjoying watching it. :-)

[skooooo]

2. Bwahahahahaha

First thing they've been right about for 5 years.

[INdemo]

5. Make that 12 years

[DS1]

3. A brown snowball

leaving a skidmark of poo on whatever it touches :-)

[Warpy]

4. Yeah, smell that flop sweat!

Expect to see them all get nasty and defensive on the campaign trail, too.

This isn't the first invincible gang to have crumpled like a cheap suit when the first indication that they were vulnerable was brought to their attention.

They survived the fall of Gingrich, but they didn't have an obvious buffoon in the White House. They won't survive the fall of Delay without some very big changes, and we all know they're not going to make them.

[baby_mouse]

6. Nah. It's the first nanoseconds of the ignition phase of a nuke.

The lyrics of Banshees song: "Cities in Dust" are swirling round my head just now.

These men are doomed.

[Minnesota Libra]

7. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch either, I hope................

....this is merely the beginning of a huge self-destruct of the party itself.:hi:

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. That will only happen if we can convince the uninformed that it

isn't just 'this bunch', but the entire culture of Republican politics that is the cause of this implosion.

It's going to require a fundamental change in the American psyche, because everything the Republicans are is America, magnified. The prejudice, the greed, the 'win at all costs' outlook, overcompensating for feelings of inferiority -- these are things that, in lesser contexts, are reinforced by our society; the fear of the 'other', the overvaluing of financial success, the mania for sports, the worship of celebrity.

They are our dark side. Until we face that, we will never be rid of them. They'll keep coming back, as they always have.

[kentuck]

14. That sounds like a great essay in the making...

....Republicanism is the dark side of America....

[Minnesota Libra]

15. So am I to understand that what you're saying is.....................

........there is very little about American society that you truly like? That is certainly the overall message I'm reading here with reference to "feelings of inferiority" sorry but every human being on the face of the earth have these feelings, the "overvaluing of financial success" there is something to be said for this if a family wants a home of their own or a business of their own, "mania for sports" I'm not much of a sports nut but hey a good hockey game never hurt anyone except maybe the players, and last but not least "worship of celebrity" ok I could see this to a point.

I could certainly agree with this "....because everything the Republicans are is America, magnified...." but then this is what we are working against isn't it?

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. There are times that I wonder.

Everybody wants to be comfortable, but do we really need the 4500sq ft house, with swimming pool, so much that we have to go into decades-long debt for it? Does the $36k SUV get you to work more efficiently than the $15k import? Why isn't enough, enough?

I understand the thrill of playing sports, but have never gotten the point of watching them. If team A is better than team B, or playing A better than player B, does that really have anything to do with YOUR life? And is that a reason to riot, when you win? How would society react to me if I went out and torched a car after seeing a movie I really, really liked? But though it is tsk-tsked when sports fans do it, it is not unexpected - it is, to the contrary, prepared for with police cordons and riot trucks.

I'm guilty of it myself. I look at my 2000 book library and wonder why I have it - most, I'll never read again. I think about the money tied up in my video library - 1150 VHS, 150 DVDs, and cannot explain to myself why I invested so much in it. But acquisition is expected.

I think it's not so much an American problem as a human problem, and the Republicans embody much of the most negative aspects of the problem.

Maybe I need to go find myself a nice, atheist monastery to join.

[Minnesota Libra]

18. Ok, I see what you are saying now and I must agree we...............

....many times carry "The American Dream" a bit too far. I think educating the public as to what all that "debt" was/is doing to our country's security (China holding large portions of our debt these days) would take care of some of that though.

[marions ghost]

16. well said

excellent points

"they are our dark side. Until we face that, we will never be rid of them" --
RIGHT, it's not just "this bunch"--it's the whole ideology

[Jade Fox]

8. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! n/t

[kentuck]

9. Do you think perhaps...?

..the Republicans have passed the point of no return? It seems they are losing voters every day. Once they decide they can no longer vote to continue what we presently have, they will not be easily persuaded to return to the fold, in my opinion.

[Jade Fox]

11. If the Republicans were smart....

they would make a very sharp turn back toward moderation, impeach Bushco, and get some nice moderate Republican in the chute in time for the 2008 Presidential election. Fortunately, the GOP seems to be paralyzed, too paralyzed to return to the fold. Somewhere the GOP took this very bad advice: "Conservatives need to do whatever is necessary to get into power. Americans want that!"Republicans (and many Democrats!) seem unable to grasp that that advice is backfiring on them in a very bad way.

To answer your question: Yes, I think the Republicans are past the point of no return, and are looking at a years-long recovery for their Party. In that regard, they have done us a favor in the long run.

[kentuck]

12. But their strict and misguided ideology about taxes and government...

will not permit them to take a sharp turn, unfortunately. But they will do anything, read that anything, to remain in power, as they accuse Democrats of willing to do anything to regain power...

[sendero]

19. Think of your own life..

... and a trusted friend or family member who betrays you trust. How long did it take for that person to regain your trust? Most people do not appreciate having their trust abused, regaining lost trust is often just shy of impossible. George Bush in particular is not going to regain the trust of Americans, because he was given that trust unconditionally and he abused it.

The Republicans have let down America. Most Americans have figured this out, although some never will. Democrats still have work to do, we at one time lost the trust of Americans. But we're looking awfully good when compared to a party that has accomplished almost nothing good in 5 years.

[TlalocW]

10. And just imagine

If Delay decides to turn stoolie to cut himself a deal. There would be no republican safe from the taint of Delay.

TlalocW