How is it possible that there are ZERO honorable Republicans in the entire Congress?

[Bleacher Creature]

I know I'm partisan, but I just don't see any counterargument. NO House Republicans voted for the stimulus, and the three Senate Republicans that did are out there "bragging" about the cuts to education that they were able to obtain. And Susan Collins, the Ranking Member of the Senate OVERSIGHT Committee personally removed whistleblower protections. Add Judd Gregg to the mix, and there's not a single honorable one left.

There are Republicans who I've admired in the past -- Jim Leach, Connie Morella, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Jeffords to name a few (the last two obviously had similar concerns with their party) -- but absolutely ZERO today.

Does anyone else find this absolutely crazy?

[grannie4peace]

1. all the "good" repugs left during bush reign of terror

[DBoon]

2. they were "purged"

they were forced out of the party during the '90s

You need to keep in mind that the modern republican party is not an honorable representative parliamentary party, intent on bargaining for the interests of a constituency.

The republican party is an ideologically coherent totalitarian vanguard party built on a Leninist/Fascist model.

It does not represent constituent interests in a representative democracy that requires compromise and bargaining.

It's sole goal is to seize power, obliterate any opposition, and rule unopposed

Remember the statement of Phil Gramm, that he looked forward to the day when Democrats in Texas would be hunted with dogs?

Well, there are (and have been) countries where members of the opposition party WERE hunted with dogs.

[Barack_America]

11. Yep. All the pukes left in Congress are from solidly stupid/racist congressional districts.

And they are effectively doing their constituents' bidding; voting themselves into economic extinction.

You can't stop a lemming from jumping off a cliff and you can't convince a Republican to see reason. (These truths I hold self-evident. ;))

[Johonny]

14. I agree

[European Socialist]

3. Ron Paul is honorable--though I don't agree with him on domestic policy.

Otherwise, I tend to agree with you.

[LeftishBrit]

16. Ron Paul may be 'honourable' in the sense of believing in what he says; but he's FAR FAR right

Even his views on foreign policy are not influenced by liberal, humanitarian, or legal objections to war, but to an extreme isolationist view that America shouldn't get involved with foreigners. Admittedly, one could say that a vote against the Iraq war is a vote against the Iraq war, and should be welcomed regardless of motivation. However, it's worrying that he also says that America should not have intervened in WW2 - he apparently considers that it would have been better to let Hitler take over Europe than to have an alliance between America and the Soviet Union.

His views are not that different from the likes of LePen or the BNP - except that the latter are probably not as right-wing economically!

I actually suspect that a number of Republicans, like a number of RW-ers elsewhere, are honourable in the sense of believing in their own ideals. The majority may be corrupt, but not all. E.g. I really do think Maggie Thatcher was honest and a true believer in her own ideals, even if her son is as crooked as fifty corkscrews! But sometimes the most dangerous person is the person who genuinely believes in dangerous ideals.

[liberal N proud]

4. You can't mention honorable & Republican in the same sentence

[TWiley]

5. Newt and the Christian Right weeded out the good ones.

The only Republican I really like is former Michigan Governor Milliken. He spent on roads, schools, and even built the Macinac Bridge. Contemporary republitards have been destroying our state, and he has been vocally critical of them. In a written op-ed, he said he could not support Mc Same for president and tossed in with Mr. Obama. I even saw him once at an event with Governor Granholm. I believe he was the only Republican there.

[Uben]

6. There are plenty of honorable republicans

They're all currently residing in the cemetery.

[indepat]

7. 'pukes have evolved into nothing but an obstructionist malignancy on our

society: the proof is where their anti-American ideology and actions have brought us today. :P

[customerserviceguy]

8. Take it as a sign of our success

Most all of the so-called moderate Republicans have been replaced by Democratic congresscritters in the last few elections. You can bet that the hard-right Repukes will not support Spector, Collins or Snowe in their next elections, so there's a good chance we'll pick up those seats in the near future.

About all the Repukes that are left are from the reddest of the red states, and in their minds, they're being honorable to the people who elected them. Just remember when you see a Blue Dog Democratic representative, you can be glad that their district did not send a Rethug instead.

[havocmom]

9. They found out the perils of surveillance the hard way?

Like the old Republican said: "When you have them by the balls, their hearts & minds follow" They do what they are told, even when it violates what they have stated they believe is right.

All that wire tap crap was not about fighting terrorism. It was about maintaining power.

[kenny blankenship]

10. Everyone in the R party subscribed to laissez-faire market fundamentalism. Every one

(and most of the D party did, too)

Seriously, Republicans rode this to power, which they held for a generation. They still tell their constituents this is the One True Faith, as handed down by The Reagan. If they go along with ideas like demand augmentation, deficit spending as stimulus they are admitting either that they don't really believe something that they promoted as a religion (with themselves as the truest of true believers). Republicans have told the electorate that the Democrats not only don't have the best expertise managing the country's economy, but that the Republicans have the ONLY valid ideas, and the Democrats have only bad ideas, old ideas, and actually the Democrats intend to steal money from law-abiding, productive classes of people to give it to their non-productive constituents. So if the Republicans cooperate with Dems on economic recovery, they lose their "disqualifying" club they've been bashing Democrats with --lose it forever. And then how will they get elected? Or worse, they'd be admitting that they knew that their religion was false all along.

If the Republicans lose their empower-the-rich religion, they will have only their social issues crap, including actual religion. That's a loser for them, since the donors they depend on aren't comfortable with Repuke "traditional values" hate mongering, if they aren't being bribed to tolerate it by Republican economic policies.

[jaksavage]

12. Damn few democrats

are honorable either.
Once they get to congress they are all compromised.

[4 t 4]

13. Sen. Chuck Grassley

never shuts up ! that's all

[Fireweed247]

17. yes- why are the Democrats pretending they need to listen to these Republicans in the first place?

It is all a bullshit dog and pony show. Good Cop, Bad Cop all working for the same people.

[backscatter712]

15. I'm beginning to think the Republican Party is genuinely doomed.

After two ass-whoopings in a row, a functional political party would rethink its platform, moderate its ideology and start working on changing its direction to one that is more appealing to normal people.

The Republican Party isn't doing that. They pushed all the moderates out - many of them are Democrats now. Extremists now have an iron grip on the party, and the more those extremists act out, the more they'll turn off regular people, the more they'll be disruptive rather than productive, and the more they'll get their asses kicked in elections.

Assuming they don't find some way to cheat their way back into power (I personally doubt they'll succeed - the people have become wise to their bullshit), they're doomed. They'll lose more and more elections, they'll get marginalized, they'll first become a small regional party, then eventually they'll go the way of the Whigs.

Thirty years from now, the only evidence there was a Republican Party in this country will be in museums and collections. People will see clips of George W. Bush and say "How the fuck did those assclowns get any political power?"

[Stevenmarc]

18. They are honorable, it's just that they honor

their own ideology above their country.