So, conservative Rick Moran, on the conservative Pajama's Media site, wrote a rather inspiring piece on todays' events. Here are a couple of paragraphs, but it's worth reading the whole thing:

We forget how truly remarkable a nation we are. We forget the courage of those who stood up to the hate, the evil traditions, the 300 years of abominable history that saw African Americans as slaves, serfs, and second class citizens. In the end, what they did mattered. Their sacrifices were not in vain, despite the idea that at times it must have seemed the mountain was too high and the path too steep.

We didn’t realize it at the time, but they were not only carrying the hopes of a race up that Everest, they were redeeming all of us who, through neglect apathy and ignorance, had failed utterly in making the words of the Declaration of Independence come alive and actually mean something. “All men are created equal” sounded hollow indeed to someone forced to sit in the back of a bus, or stay at a “Coloreds Only” motel, or who ran into barriers in employment and education due to the color of their skin.

No, the election and inauguration of President Obama does not banish racism or discrimination from America. That happy event is still in the future. But inaugurating Obama allows us a glimpse of such a future on the distant horizon, barely discernible but now a definite form shimmering in the morning sun. And a clear path to that goal is in front of us just waiting for us to take the first step.

Now here is a sampling of comments left by Pajama's Media readers:

-- This article is certainly the most nauseating piece of drivel I have seen on Pajamas Media. I kept reading, hoping that what I saw would turn out to be satire, a parody of the madness that has seized our country. But no, it was serious.

-- You should be ashamed of yourself. You are either a liar or a coward. Both is more likely.

-- I looked to the day when the election of a black President would signal the end of racism in America. Sadly, the election of BHO is the single greatest act of collective racism in the history of the Unites States of America.

-- I am so glad you like the Emperor’s suit, Mr. Moran. Tell me who is more racist: Bull Connor and his deputies, or Reverend Wright and his congregation? It is the content of the character, remember? If I want leftist talking (make that screaming) points, I’ll head for Arriannaland.Go have tea with Peggy. You are now an official member of the media. Enjoy your bennies.

-- Right, let’s cheer for the triumph of symbolism. Moran still lives in Peggy Noonan’s dream world of “all Americans under the skin.” The Left destroyed all that years ago. The current reality is ideological war. Anyone who considers himself a centrist is deluded.

-- Rick, please GET HELP! Your Delusional! Kyle Shiver wrote an article the other day thanking G.W. Bush in the article she was brilliant about his character.I commented to her that it reminded me of Rudyard Kiplings poem “IF”,where he describes what a man is.BHO is the antithesis of that poem. Not to mention he is totally lacking in any MORAL CHARACTER.

Cherry-picked? Yeah, a little. Not much. Ladies and Gentlemen: your 2009 Republican Party!

Can anyone tell me why the GOP is 100% white? Except in Utah, where's it's actually 104% white? Hmmmm. It's a mystery.

The interesting thing is that GOP leadership -- including Mr. Bush -- have all been a lot closer to Rick Moran's take than to the positions of the commentors. I suspect this is because most of them are actually patriots who love their country and like to see it do good and do well. Plus there's the fact that the saner portions of the GOP leadership now sees the magnitude of its mistake. The country is becoming steadily less white, less rural and less bigoted. So the GOP has put all its money on appealing to whites, rustics and bigots, while insulting blacks, hispanics, city-dwellers, secularists, gays . . . pretty much everyone who doesn't have a Confederate Battle Flag tacked on his wall.

This is the problem the GOP faces. If it can become the party of limited government, restraint, prudence, responsibility -- in other words, actual conservatism -- it'll appeal to non-imbeciles of all races, and not only survive, but contribute and, in the fullness of time, return to power.

But the party of Lincoln has allowed itself to be turned into an asylum for gay-bashers, know-nothings and racists. The GOP is not a racist party, but racists have chosen it as their political home. And the GOP welcomed that influx and exploited it. The GOP needs to find a way back to its roots, back to its core beliefs, away from what it has become. Like General Motors needs to shed a few losing divisions, the GOP needs to shed some divisions of losers.

We have a similar task in the Democratic Party. But we've taken several giant leaps toward isolating the crazy conspiracy nuts, the luddites, the race-hustlers and the blame-America-first hair-shirt brigades. Obama, who the whack-job Right predicted would be the newest convert to the Weather Underground, has built a centrist administration and reached way across the aisle. In so doing he cut the legs out from under the far Left. Seriously: they're walking on stumps.

I guess we'll see if the GOP manages to do as well. I doubt it. I think they waited too long and now the crazies own the asylum. It's the rational conservatives who will end up leaving the GOP to the whackjobs they thought they were just using. But maybe not. It's a good day to hope.

This entry was posted by Michael Reynolds, on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. You can leave your response.