As conservatives, we shouldn’t shy away from calling out officials in both parties who have supported this unprecedented growth in government power as “socialists.” But… are you kidding us? The Democrats are called the Democrats — and the Republicans are called the Republicans. A meaningless resolution from the RNC will not change this basic fact.

Let’s show RNC members that the real grassroots of the Republican Party thinks our party has better things to do to regain our majority than engage in meaningless symbolism. The only ones who will be rebranded by such an ill-advised move are Republicans — as flailing and out of touch.

Let’s beat Democrats on substance and on issues, not by rewriting history.

This is a little harsh — the resolution only asks the Democrats, politely, to change their name — but it’s one token of the blogosphere’s boredom with this issue.

“It’s objectionable,” said Llewellyn, “because they’re giving socialism a bad name by associating it with the Democrats, who are the second-most capitalist party in the world. The election of this president, sadly, hasn’t changed that.”

Llewellyn read through the resolution and knocked Republicans for defining “bailouts to Wall Street” as socialism. “This is more evidence of the extremely shallow and surreal discussion of socialism that has surfaced in American politics,” he said. “It’s nothing more than name-calling. The authors demonstrate how little they know about what 21st century American socialism is all about. These people make the same mistake that their ancestors did during the New Deal. They mistake a president trying to save capitalism from itself for a president trying to transform capitalism into something different.”

All in all, said Llewellyn, it’s an example of how far Republicans have fallen and why “they’re not going to gain much in the next election cycle.”

WHEREAS, the American Heritage Dictionary defines socialism as a system of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy; and

WHEREAS, the Democratic Party has outlined their plans to nationalize the banking, financial and healthcare industries; and

WHEREAS, the Democratic Party has proposed massive government bailouts for the mortgage and auto industries; and

WHEREAS, the Democratic Party has passed trillions of dollars in new government spending, all with strings attached in order to control nearly every aspect of American life; and

WHEREAS, the Democratic Party and its leadership have dedicated themselves to a new taxing objective of direct income redistribution which takes additional taxes from one group of people and gives it in direct cash transfers to another group of people who pay no federal income taxes at all; and

WHEREAS, the American people are crying out for truth, honesty and integrity in politics; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that we the members of the Republican National Committee recognize the Democratic Party’s clear and obvious purpose in proposing, passing, and implementing socialist programs through federal legislation; and be it further

RESOLVED, that we the members of the Republican National Committee recognize that the Democratic Party is dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals; and be it further

RESOLVED, that we the members of the Republican National Committee call on the Democratic Party to be truthful and honest with the American people by acknowledging that they have evolved from a party of tax and spend to a party of tax and nationalize and, therefore, should agree to rename themselves the Democrat Socialist Party.

Chief sponsor: Jeff Kent, NCM Washington State

Co-sponsors:
Cathie Adams, NCW TX
Jim Bopp, NCM IN
Donna Cain, NCW OR
De Carlson, NCW NE
Gio Cicione, Chaiman RI
Cindy Costa, NCW SC
Demetra Demonte, NCW IL
Linda Herren, NCW GA
Betti Hill, NCW MT
Ron Kaufman, NCM MA
Peggy Lambert, NCW TN
Willies Lee, Chairman HI
Kim Lehman, NCW IA
Carolyn McLarty, NCW OK
Lilly Nunez, NCW CO
David Norcross, NCM NJ
Randy Pullen, Chairman AZ
Peter Ricketts, NCM NE
Steve Scheffler, NCM IA
Brian Sullivan, NCM MN
Helen Van Etten, NCW KS
Solomon Yue, NCM OR

–

TWI is on Twitter. Please follow us here.

In a totally unrelated development, Richard Posner has written that “conservative intellectuals now have no party.” Certainly, the chances that Democrats will officially rename the GOP “the Conservative Intellectual Party” are pretty slim.

Update: The Democratic National Committee isn’t really reacting to this, and spokesman Hari Sevugan reiterated the initial response to rumors of this resolution: “When you’re devoid of leadership and devoid of ideas, it’s not surprising that your more fringe members take center stage.”

–

TWI is on Twitter. Please follow us here.