Old GOP is no more

Columnist Bret Stephens suggests that he “leans conservative.” This hit home to this old Republican. The Grand Old Party is dead because we can no longer “lean” to the left or right—every issue in the far-right portfolio must be supported.

Some examples: At one time, conservatives accepted the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade as settled law. But the religious right cannot, and Republicans are pulled to the right so as not to lose that rabid single-issue support. At one time, everyone agreed on the basic economic principles: There is a time to tax, and a time to spend; a time to cut taxes and a time to hold back spending. But the economic principles of the American oligarchs and their political hirelings cannot allow even a small nod in the moderate direction.

This administration made a horrific tax cut for the wrong people at the wrong time, a move that guarantees the greatest national debt and deepest deficits in history. So Arkansas’ own Steve Womack is attempting to right a terrible wrong by an even more terrible wrong: cutting funds from those that will be the first victims of the coming world economic recession (or even depression), pumped by the Trumpian trade wars. Even mild protests will be answered with accusations of not being conservative enough. Examples: If you don’t support every right-wing position on gun laws, LGBTQ rights, or racial equality issues, you are labeled a demon-spawn liberal.

But enough: I blame the death of deliberative politics on the tirades of Rush Limbaugh, on the burnt-earth politics of the post-Newt Gingrich era, and on the current soul-less manipulation of the social media generation. Save the newspapers; they are our only hope.

CLIFF HARRISON Hot Springs Village