David Brooks of the New York Times nails the Republican paradigm exactly!

David Brooks is one of those beltway writers that is very pro-Republican and anti-Democrat. They are easy to spot. Brooks is a bit different than some, as he is very well spoken and makes some very good points now and then. He even criticizes his own party at times. However, whenever he does that, you know, with 100% certainty, that he is going to come and whack the Dems even harder. The main thrust of those types of columns seems to be, the Republicans do screw things up now and then, and I am man enough to admit it, but the Dems are even worse! Then he goes and documents, real or fabricated, some offense of the Democrats that make the Republican offense seem trivial. No matter what, the Republicans are always better than the Democrats!

This column is the more of the same. But the charge he makes against the Republicans (before he gets to bashing the Democrats) is exactly spot on. He nailed it. The policy of the Republicans has become to oppose whatever their opponents want.

But then a great tightening occurred. Conservative institutions and interest groups proliferated in Washington. The definition of who was a true conservative narrowed. It became necessary to pass certain purity tests — on immigration, abortion, taxes and Terri Schiavo.

An oppositional mentality set in: if the liberals worried about global warming, it was necessary to regard it as a hoax. If The New York Times editorial page worried about waterboarding, then the code of conservative correctness required one to think it O.K.

Apostates and deviationists were expelled or found wanting, and the boundaries of acceptable thought narrowed. Moderate Republicans were expelled for squishiness. Millions of coastal suburbanites left the party in disgust.

And still the corset tightened. Many professional conservatives do not regard Mike Huckabee or John McCain as true conservatives. “I’m here to tell you, if either of these two guys get the nomination, it’s going to destroy the Republican Party,” Rush Limbaugh said recently on his radio show. “It’s going to change it forever, be the end of it.”

I truly believe that is what is behind the Republicans turning a blind eye toward the problems of global warming and the coming climate change. They cannot admit that their mortal enemies have a point. They would rather see all these dire predictions about the Earth come true before the can admit that Democrats and liberals (including Al Gore, who is fat, by the way) are actually correct. And anyone who actually strays from the lockstep of the Republicans are tossed out. They aren’t true Conservatives! They are the enemy!

That is a terrible reason for a political party to exist. That pretty much ensures that anything that requires the collective wisdom and willpower of the country to address will not get done! And that is a very sad, stupid way for a country to go down the drain.