A Species Under Extinction: Reasonable Republicans?

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

Now, this is a very sensible view! If I were an insider or a talking head, I'd be repeating this every time Bush and his henchmen in Congress propose to destroy Social Security, eliminate consumer protection laws, repeal laws that protect the environment, and generally push for ways to transfer our national wealth to their wealthy friends and big corporations.
These principles as stated by the author of the quote have remained as valid as they were back in the 1950s! As a matter of fact, they should be more important today since America's safety net has been torn to shreds by the Republican leadership in our one-party government. I think reason itself is under attack in this country. Not only our rulers are talking Newspeak , but they're trying to convince the nation to follow their own perverted perception of reality. They are for social Darwinism: whereas the survival of the fittest means that the rich and powerful deserve to be so, and the poor and the weak deserve their fate because of their own moral failings. This is, in my estimate, not very Christian-like. Not what Jesus had in mind. Of course, no one who has reached, or inherited his position in the socio-economic elite bothers to mention that the cards are marked, and the game is fixed. Yes, the elites are not stupid. They know how to use wedge politics, push "hot buttons", and use issues that are really irrelevant to the actual quality of life of most people in order to make the latter vote against their own economic interests!

Some traditional Republicans will object to this criticism, but since their party has been hijacked by the theologs and the powerlogs, they better take into advice the quote above and then take action. Instead of the nation having a debate between reasonable people as to how to solve our big problems, the present rulers have been directing the country to go back to the past and to re-examine whether evolution is scientific, whether the laws of physics should apply to ..this country! They also want to teach our children that there is an "equally credible theory" out there which proposes that the Earth was created in a couple days and it's probably ..flat, and in the center of the universe! Talking about dumbing down our country...
Are there any reasonable Republicans left in the party that controls the power today ? Do they have the guts to stand up and reclaim their party? Can we move this country forward? We've been through costly battles, paid the price, but we've arrived at the 21st century. We should be choosing among the best-qualified and able persons to do the job at hand regardless of party affiliation; the best CEO if you like. The Repubs seem to buck progress and want to steer us to their own version of the Dark Ages. I don't know if being in power is good enough for some people regardless of what policies are followed, but there have to be some people on the other side of the political spectrum that are fed up with their current leadership. Aren't there any Eisenhower Republicans left?

By the way, the author of the quote above: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54 . My thanks to David Sirota who dug up this gem. Check the Sirotablog for more links.