A few days ago, I blogged about conservative cartoonists who were taking a pragmatic and sensible approach to the "secession" movement.
Here's an even more fundamentally sound look at current politics, from Bob Gorrell, who is usually something of a bomb-thrower.
I think it's a terrific adaptation, and that's aside from whatever his actual recommendation may be for re-uniting the snake. Franklin wasn't any more specific in his prescription, other than allowing us to assume it didn't mean uniting in love for George III.
I don't think Gorrell is suggesting that anyone needs to love Obama, and this may be entirely a prescription for the GOP and the right. Which is fine with me: I've voted Republican before, and would again, if they seemed interested in uniting the snake.
There seem to be some encouraging signs: Bobby Jindahl and others are giving indications that there may be a movement by moderates to regain control of, or at least a voice in, the party.
And, while some conservative cartoonists continue to simply provide illustrations for the extremist, factually challenged rants of Limbaugh, Colter and Beck, there have been rumblings of moderation and informed commentary coming from others.
It will be interesting to watch the rebuilding, assuming it comes about. There are certainly plenty of conservative Latinos and socially conservative African-Americans who could be brought under a more inclusive, thoughtful, moderate GOP tent, as well as other voters who have been driven away by the extremism and outright nastiness of the rightwing.
Simply behaving reasonably could easily vault the Republicans back into a commanding position.
Assuming, that is, that they haven't damaged the brand beyond repair.
It's kind of sad, reading the comments at Town Hall.org in response to what I think is a fairly obvious, pragmatic and certainly patriotic message. I'm less distressed by their virulent hatred of the left than by their inability to grasp Gorrell's basic meaning.
That is, they don't disagree. They agree. But they agree with an interpretation of the cartoon that seems completely delusional and pegged entirely to the message they want and expect to hear rather than anything Gorrell actually said. Only a few appear to grasp the concept.
If I were a moderate Republican, I would be less concerned, for now, with attracting new allies than with cleaning out the toxic mess the party has created for itself.
To tie in, not the secession posting but my recent comments on dogs, this brings to mind the time we acquired a new next-door neighbor who claimed to have "guard dogs" but who, in fact, had simply adopted a couple of shep-collie sorts of mixes and then beat and mistreated them into a state of viciousness.
It meant, of course, that any ball that went over the fence into his yard was lost unless he saw it and tossed it back.
This unpleasant state of affairs continued for about a year until one day his "guard dogs" had had enough mistreatment and turned on him. He wasn't hospitalized, but they sure did a job of it.
And then his wife — perhaps heartened by the dogs's success? — left him.
And the house was sold, which we didn't think was necessary.
We liked her. She'd have made a fine neighbor, once she got free of him and his damn "guard dogs."
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