And so the Great Republican Purge of 2009, soon to be 2010, continues to narrow the party down to a right-wing fringe, now reaching a new level of Bolshevik fervor. The Caucus's Adam Nagourney has the details:
Republican leaders are circulating a resolution listing 10 positions Republican candidates should support to demonstrate that they "espouse conservative principles and public policies" that are in opposition to "Obama's socialist agenda." According to the resolution, any Republican candidate who broke with the party on three or more of these issues – in votes cast, public statements made or answering a questionnaire – would be penalized by being denied party funds or the party endorsement.
Why is 8 of 10 acceptable?
The resolution invokes Ronald Reagan, and noted that Mr. Reagan had said the Republican Party should be devoted to conservative principles but also be open to diverse views. President Reagan believed, the resolution notes, "that someone who agreed with him 8 out of 10 times was his friend, not his opponent."
Reagan, of course, is the GOP's Lenin, the revolutionary who is now the entrenched establishment. And, clearly, diversity is only tolerated to a point. For the most part, what rules is strict orthodoxy, even more, perhaps, than Reagan himself ever desired.
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