The GOP I knew growing up in America no longer exists. There are two reasons why this once Grand Old Party is now the party of extremists and unqualified members. Gone are the great deliberators who had ideas and helped balance our government.

The prime reason for the change which has moved the GOP to the extremely far right is the voting public. Gone are the days when elections are won based on the best candidate; a candidate who is qualified and wins because of ideas instead of his or her ability to make false attacks on their opponents. The only consideration most voters have is the party of the candidate. Neither party is perfect, but selecting a candidate based on a single fact displays ignorance and a lack of concern for our nation’s well-being.

The second reason is the TEA Party, or the ‘Freedom Caucus.’ They are the result of poor choices made by voters at the polls. This small extremist group is destructive, not progressive, and fails to perform the duties for which they were elected.

One issue defines the GOP in its entirety; climate change.

The GOP is the only political party in the developed world which denies the scientific fact that climate change is cause by man’s use of fossil fuels and coal. A study published in Norway by Sondre Båtstrand compared conservative parties around the world, and discovered that the GOP stands alone in the world. Jeb Bush was singled out as the candidate who would remove all environmental controls from big business, but his entire party received criticism.

“The [Republican] party seems to treat climate change as a non-issue … this appears to be consistent with the U.S. national context as a country with large reserves of coal,” wrote Batstrand.

If this denial was purely based on ignorance, that in itself would be a crime committed by a political party which seeks control of our nation; but it’s worse. The prime reason is far more sinister. The GOP is bowing to its owners, the one-percent of America’s wealthiest citizens. For them it’s all about elections. They will continue to support big business which fills their war chests with money to buy elections. Not a single GOP candidate can win an election based on ideas which would benefit the majority of the American people; they have none. They buy ads which are simply attacks against their opponents, and poorly educated voters buy into their evil methods.

Because of the GOP’s pretended belief that climate change is natural, and not caused by man’s greed, our nation remains the only country in the world besides China not willing to take measures to cease its continuation and growth.

To the rest of the world, America once again appears arrogant and unwilling to face the truth. Our nation is no longer admired and respected by the rest of the world. Once considered the greatest nation in the world, the United States is not rated in the top ten today. Our people are not to blame, but our government is.

The GOP must be fixed, and soon.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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Photo Courtesy of Don DeBold