Remember When...

I can remember when the Rethug party was the party of a much bigger tent, as the saying goes, when you had two distinct wings of the party, represented by people like conservative Barry Goldwater on one hand and liberal Charles Percy on the other.

Unfortunately today's Rethug party doesn't resemble in any way the GOP of old. Instead it now more resembles the nascent Nazi Party of early Thirties Berlin.

Which is why it's a little surprising for Chuck Hagel to write a scathing letter to Der Monkey Fuehrer calling for "direct, unconditional, and comprehensive talks with the Government of Iran".

But Hagel has already said he's not going to run again, so I guess he figures he's got nothing to lose by alienating the wingnut fringe that's taken over the party and is running it like a Stalinist cadre of reactionary hardliners. Did I say "running it like..."? No, they are actually running it that way.

But it makes you wonder why so many of these guys wait until they are out of the maladminstration or no longer susceptible to the long arm of the Bushevik NKVD before they speak out.

Anyway, Hagel calls it straight, and watch him be made to suffer for his party-loyalty insouciance by the rightwing smear machine. Watch Big-Hair Hannity and the Bloviating Gas Bag try to rip him a new one, watch the Faux Noise machine go into high dudgeon over Hagel's "treason".

I think Hagel ought to seriously consider coming over to the party that truly has the Big Tent. And he would be welcomed with open arms, just as we welcomed former Rethug Jim Webb. Now all we need to do is convince more of the sane-minded nominal Republicans to come over as well and we will have a new majority that will last for a generation. Or more.