June 1, 2009

Republicans and Battered Spouses

By Jeanne Donovan

The Republican Party looks battered. Ask any member of the liberal media, and they will tell you that the bruises are showing.

Maybe they are right. Republican office holders are the battered spouses of American politics. It is time for an intervention.

If we are to understand the root cause of the difficulties now faced by the Republican Party, our current Republican leaders should each look in the mirror and ask themselves the following questions:

  • Do you feel nervous when you're around a liberal?
  • Are you scared of disagreeing with liberals?
  • Do you remain silent in front of a liberal because you want them to like you?
  • Do you try to please a liberal, only to be rebuked for your efforts?
  • Do liberals criticize you, or humiliate you in front of other people?
  • Do you have to control your behavior or your language to avoid their anger and ridicule?
  • Do you feel pressured by them to participate in activities you find offensive?
  • Do liberals mock you when your express profoundly held beliefs about capitalism, religion, sex and gender issues?
  • Do liberals demand that you think, speak, and even support ideas that are disgusting to you?
  • Are liberals always calling you names?
  • Do liberals repeatedly and wrongly accuse you of being something you're not, such as racist, homophobic, and uncaring?
  • Do liberals tell you that if you changed, they wouldn't have to say these awful things about you?
  • Do you believe that if you changed, the liberal would like you more?
  • Are liberals jealous because you have made a success of your life?
  • Do liberals blame you for everything that goes wrong in their lives?
  • Do liberals tell lies about you?
  • Do liberals threaten your freedom of movement?
  • Do liberals interfere with the way you want to raise, discipline and educate your children?
  • Do liberals make you feel like you are wrong, stupid, crazy or inadequate?
  • Do liberals attempt to prevent you from doing what makes you happy?
  • Do liberals put roadblocks in your way when you try to escape their plans for you?
  • Do liberals attempt to control your money, your associations, and your goals?
  • Are you expected to do things to please liberals, rather than to please yourself?
  • Do you feel that, with liberals, nothing you ever do is good enough?
  • Do liberals claim it's your own fault they are attacking you, or claim that they were "just joking" when they hurled epithets at you?
  • Have liberals ever scared you by threatening to get even, or to ruin your reputation, or by suggesting that they are the only people standing between you and the pitchforks?

If you answered "yes" to most or all of these questions, you are have become the victim in an abusive relationship somewhat analagous to the situation faced by hundreds of thousands of women who are emotionally, verbally and physically abused by their intimate partners. 

You, as a Republican, have been beaten up so much and for so long that you aren't even aware of the gradual changes that have taken place in your psyche. Instead, you keep trying to please your abusers.

For decades the Democratic Party has heaped ridicule and verbal abuse on members of the Republican Party.  Thank you, Saul Alinsky!  At the same time, similar tactics have been employed by the overwhelmingly left-wing, mainstream media. Therefore, is it any wonder that the Republican Party seems to have lost its survival instinct?  Is it any wonder that key leaders in the Republican Party argue that we must moderate our conservative principles?  Is it any wonder that so many Republican leaders have developed an almost masochistic relationship with their left-wing abusers? It doesn't matter whether the abusers are politically or emotionally motivated, they tyrannize their victims using identical tactics.  The result is that their victims become fearful, compliant, and complicit in maintaining the abusive relationship.

So how do Republicans break the abusive cycle?  As with all abusive relationships, they first must recognize their own complicity in the relationship.  Next they must alter their thinking and behavior; say what they really believe and act in accordance.  Finally, go on the offensive with conviction and courage.   

Left unchallenged in any meaningful way, tyranny will achieve its full flower so long as small seeds of abuse are allowed to take root and grow. 
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