A Voter Base that Desperately Wants to be Lied To

I noticed that Conduit for Action has a piece up about how the Republican Party of Arkansas has put "limited government" and some religious talk back in their party platform. They were the ones who broke the original story about how it was taken out, possibly on the sly. They laud this move as a step back in the right direction.

I don't think its a step in the right direction. That isn't because I don't believe in limited government or that citizens and public official should in humility consider that one day their hearts and deeds will be rewarded by justly by God. It's because I'm pretty sure that the people who run the Republican Party of Arkansas don't really believe those things. At the national level, the party believes it even less. Therefore when the insiders took those things out of the platform they were actually making a move to be more honest. They wanted the platform to reflect more what they were actually doing rather than the delusions that some of their base have about what they really are.

It seems that the base would have none of it. The uproar caused by the insiders attempting to make their platform a more honest reflection of what they have actually done, are doing, and will continue to do forced them to go back to putting those untrue statements back into the platform. The base won't tolerate the establishment of the party telling the truth about what the Republican Party actually is. That might obligate them to do something about it, like leave and start something new.

It is very clear to anyone who cares to see it that the Republican party has no intention of limiting government. It's a giant looting machine for the special interests which fund it and it is dedicated to stealing as much of the next generation's wealth as it can possible lay its hands on. And it will continue to steal the next generation's wealth via promiscuous debt until there is nothing left to steal or We the People stop them.

Thus it is obvious that whatever God-talk is in the platform they don't really take to heart the idea that God will reward them justly for their deeds on earth either. Rather, a mutant strain of theology seems to have infected Republican officials which has the exact opposite of the humbling effect that an infusion of the One True Faith should have on a person's heart. This strain will continue to run wild so long as We the People let them get away with it.

So far I see very little appetite among the conservative base for facing reality on any of this and a very strong preference for finding politicians willing to keep lying to them. I remember one of the sessions where the issue of repealing the "Private Option/Arkansas Works" came up and some activists were mad at legislators who were rude to them. I thought at the time some of it was that they were pressing the legislators to keep lying to them, as they had done to get the so-called "Private Option" in the first place, but the legislators were getting weary of the charade and that was why they were lashing out. They just didn't want to have to lie to these people but the people were insisting!

It is long past time decent people who don't want the establishment to continue looting their children and grandchildren choose their own family over either of the two DC parties who have ruined America both fiscally and morally. But that's real self-government and it takes both courage and work.