Bob Dole on GOP: Closed for Repairs

You may or may not have missed former Senate Majority Leader and 1996 GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole's observation on his modern day political party:

I think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that says ‘closed for repairs’ until New Year’s Day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.

In his words:

Bob Dole, who ran on the Republican presidential ticket in 1996 and served as a Kansas senator for nearly 30 years, said that he didn’t believe he would fit in today’s GOP in a Fox News Sunday interview.

“I doubt it,” Dole said about his chances of being embraced by the party in this day and age. “Reagan wouldn’t have made it, certainly Nixon wouldn’t have made it, because he had ideas. We might have made it, but I doubt it.”

Dole, a former majority leader, last appeared on the Senate floor in December in the hopes that his appearance would compel Republicans to authorize a United Nations treaty banning discrimination against people with disabilities. His former colleagues waited until the 89-year-old left the chamber before voting down the agreement, arguing that the resolution would infringe upon American sovereignty.

Dole criticized that degree of obstructionism Sunday.
“It seems almost unreal that we can’t get together on a budget or legislation,” he said.
The WWII veteran added that the party is suffering from a lack of leadership.

“They ought to put a sign on the National Committee doors that says ‘Closed for repairs,’ until New Year’s Day next year,” he said.  “And spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.” source

Let the church say "Amen."

We live in a very odd political era; an era of suspended animation. The primary reason for the season, the GOP party, in the Obama era, has suffered a complete emotional, mental and physical nervous break-down.

They have become unglued.

And in this state, they are unfit for governing. Sadly, this breakdown has occurred at a very inopportune time. In the aftermath of the Bush/Cheney debacle, our country -- on the brink of depression, fighting two wars on a credit card, facing a global financial crisis -- needed bipartisan leadership.

What we got instead: GOP lunacy as never, never seen before.

The Tea Baggers, Donald Trumps, Birthers, Michele Bachmans, Herman Cains, Newts, Sarah Palins, Rush Limbaughs, Ron and Rand Pauls, Ted Cruz's, -- and any other random certified nut -- have ruled the day. Any GOP with ideas, common sense and a willing to compromise was voted off the island.

So instead of constructive leadership: The GOP has been throwing a collective temper tantrum since 2008. They have banded together -- a la One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-- to surreptitiously nullify the majority's will.

I agree with Bob Dole: Our country would have been better off if the GOP had just hung a sign on the door...

"Closed for Repairs"