Time has come to rename the Grand Old Party. It might be old, it certainly is no longer grand. I am hereby trying to coin the new definition of the Gross Obstructive Party. Royalties will go to charities.
Gross
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines, among others, gross as
gravely deficient in civility or decency: crudely vulgar .
Over the past years, the indecency has characterized the sexually-obsessed GOP. With complete disregard for the minimum recognition for scientific evidence, the party has launched a series of attacks against those who do not think science should be ignored. These indecent and often vulgar assaults have targeted homosexuals and women.
Who can forget when Rep. Todd Akin spoke of "legitimate rapes" and women shutting "the whole thing down"?
It does not get better when it comes to gay rights. "Gays are promiscuous, prone to pedophilia and riddled with sexually transmitted diseases... part of the homosexual agenda is to get the public to affirm their filthy lifestyle." said Dave Agema, the Republican leader of Michigan.
Linking breast cancer to abortion is another of those Republican delicacies, straight from RI-N John Hostetter..
Obstructive
The current administration has put Republicans on the defensive. The list of their obstructions is endless: gun control, health care, immigration, minimum wage, debt ceiling, climate change, budget and many others. Any attempt to move the needle in the right direction has been blocked by a record of filibustering and systematic refusal to even consider a civilized debate.
Republican Congressional leaders made a pact to "show united and unyielding opposition to the president's economic policies" in order to regain power. This is not even a secret. They did not manage to regain the White House.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Cantor's (R-Va.) loss shows the strategy of "opposing nearly everything and supporting hardly anything is not just a bad governing strategy, it is not a very good political strategy either."
When history is written, the last three Congresses will look as the most obstructive ones in US history.
A political party?
After what just happened, one might even question whether the Gross Obstructionist Party has political leaders who care about the country.
A political party, even in the minority, has to pick its battles and act responsibly. Has the GOP become a gang of infighters? Can anything be achieved under this Congress or Senate? The last refusal to refinance student loans was a despicable example of the lack of respect for education. Interest rates are close to zero, and students are not the beneficiaries of this policy. Equity and fairness should characterize political parties, even opposition ones. Unless a GOP leadership emerges, the tea party will win the Republican primaries, never being able to regain the White House.