Instead of spreading fear, Republicans are living it. Long time pundits and politicians are attacking the GOP and its leaders as never before. Before Donald Trump declared his candidacy, they were ready to accept Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio as the new party standard bearer.

Extremists within the GOP began its destruction even before the TEA Party was bought and paid for by the Koch brothers. People such as Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, and Rush Limbaugh were spreading fear and hatred for years. With the arrival of the TEA Party, government as we knew it ceased to exist.

Rush Limbaugh has been the most vocal of the extremists. His venom has not only assisted in the division of our nation, it began the destruction of the GOP. He is criticizing the party now for passing the new spending budget. Of course, he approves of the $650 billion for the military, of which 50 percent will be wasted. His complaint is the $500 million for Planned Parenthood. He has always hated the poor and minorities.

“There is no Republican Party!” Limbaugh said. “You know, we don’t even need a Republican Party if they’re gonna do this. You know, just elect Democrats, disband the Republican Party, and let the Democrats run it, because that’s what’s happening anyway.”

As usual he is misleading all of the electorate. Most of what Republicans wanted came to fruition. Although he falsely claims that Democrats achieved their goals, that is entirely false. Those such as myself are angry about the budget because those on the left failed to support the American people. Read it.

This type of extremism and fallacious speech is accelerating the end of the GOP.

Many are attempting to blame Donald Trump for the party’s undoing; they are mostly wrong. More responsibility can be attributed to Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz. These three men are such poor choices to lead our nation, that Trump supporters have abandoned them and are actively informing Republican leadership that they are highly displeased.

The truth is that with the advent of the TEA Party, not only did our government begin to fail, the GOP became fractured; and strong leadership to overcome these extremists was non-existent.

In reality, the once Grand Old Party began to crumble during Bill Clinton’s Administration when Newt Gingrich began policies of obstructionism. It was only a memory by 2010 as the extremist views of the TEA Party vowed to refuse to engage in deliberation with Democrats, and just say ‘no.’

Not one politico can convince me that the present Republican party has any resemblance to the past men who represented all of America’s people passed legislation beneficial for the majority of our nation’s citizens, often after hours of deliberation and eventual compromise.

The four leading candidates, Trump, Cruz, Rubio, and Carson, have absolutely nothing in common with past presidents who had ideas and acted in a bipartisan manner when the welfare of the American people was in the mix. The truth is that none of them can truly call themselves ‘Republicans.’

The legacy of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and George H.W. Bush has been tossed in the trash.

The root of the problem, as it is with most things in America, is ‘follow the money.’ When Republicans accepted lobbyists as their financiers, they sold themselves to the wealthy. It no longer mattered what the needs or wants of the majority of Americans were, they served their masters, and it has become far worse in 2015.

Whether or not Donald Trump wins the GOP nomination, its destruction has been confirmed. While intentionally dividing our nation, factions within the GOP were also dividing the party.

Although I had little respect for John Boehner’s leadership, his resignation was indicative of the war within the GOP. Although it is not accurate to place the majority of the blame on Trump for its final collapse, he is the symbol for the cause of its demise.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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Photo Courtesy of Jane Wyman

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