It wasn't that long ago that Republicans were boasting of a permanent Republican majority. What happened? It turns out that Republican principles are impossible to adhere to. Medicare is socialized medicine and wasteful government health care until . . . you need it. Cutting the federal budget for roads, schools, research, etc., is a fine idea until . . . it affects your town, your project, your child's school. Chanting "tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts" might be as good as "hari krishna, krishna hari," as a mind numbing mantra, but the bottom line is that government needs money to work and just borrowing money from China to fund government spending doesn't feel that good after awhile. In response to their series of defeats (lost the congress, lost the presidency, losing sitting party members across the aisle and any hope of having an actual role in federal government during the next three plus years), the Republicans hold fast to their same principles, saying "we weren't conservative enough last time and that's our failing." They can't see, or won't say, that they weren't inclusive enough last time and "we excluded too many voters to be considered a realistic governing choice."

Now people are writing of the extinction of the Republican Party as the Republican Party members write of secession and refusal of federal grants. It may be early to write about extinction. If there is no one to balance Democratic Party control, it may well go out of control. Obama will not be able to corral them by himself. (I see democratic congressmen opposing almost every program cut that he has proposed). I'd be happy to see the Republicans abandon all their conservative principles and jump into the fray of government in a point/counterpoint manner, examining legislation and refining it, adding good ideas to it, and culling out things that are excessive or unworkable. As long as they are simply opposed to anything the other side proposes, as long as they are the party of filibuster (oops, that one slipped away from them), the party that hopes the government will fail, we risk that the complete Democratic control may careen out of control and provide the same failing federal spending that we experienced with the Repbulican majority under President Shrub.