It is old-school for editorialists to step aside every once a while to measure the degree of reader responses. While this may appear superficial, in reality, what readers (after putting aside the self-promoting moronic distractions) articulate is in reality, a vetting of our assertions. Reader responses either validate or (more often than not) identify the fallacies in our arguments. The ultimate winner is the train of thought which the writer initiates. Readers assure the train is going down the right track!

Last Friday’s column, Happy 154th Birthday GOP, the 10 Tenets of the Republican Party generated the most articulated and intense responses in what is rapidly materializing as a significant segment of public opinion, particularly among conservatives, that the Republican Party "ain’t what it says to be." For example:

Not Ashamed to Be Right writes: "Mr. Wirs, what you are describing is NOT the Republican Party that we see in action now, nor has it been for a long time. I just found myself scrolling down and laughing/crying at the same time. The RNC will not see one penny of mine (nor any volunteer help) donated until they actually practice what they preach." 

Norman writes: "The irony is, though, that with the successful re-taking of the GOP by the country club types, maybe it is WE who are now the ‘RINO’s.’ * * * The next four years are going to stink, no matter who gets elected * * *." Norman, from what I gather, enjoys "bashing Wirs" which he confesses is the only reason he reads me, as he " just love[s] seeing the REAL grassroots come up with brilliant items like Chuck’s description of Wirs’ [columns] as a ‘RINO-gram.’" Norman also appears to be deeply religious and got into a heated exchange with another blogger, accusing him of be a "homosexual." The other blogger apparently espoused his views superior to Norman’s, to which Norman replied: "You promote your views in the public square, but don't want me to have the same right. Curious." If I recall, it was Norman, or perhaps one of his cohorts, SJ Doc, who first labeled me as a "Rockefeller Republican." Not only is that incorrect, as I am a garden-variety "Dirksen-Goldwater" Republican, but it also reveals his age. 

BAMAddox writes: " Here again, we have another pitch for the RIP, formally known as the RNC * * * When the RNC threw out the Fifth Tenet [affirming Political Integrity] I started throwing out all of their contribution requests. . .

Hal writes that he believes "George Bush has been the best President Mexico has ever had. As to the ex GOP majority in Congress - maybe if their allegiance had been to American citizens and our laws, instead of blindly supporting - our President * * * maybe, just maybe they would not be in the minority."

The level of frustration is unmistakenly high. Alisa-w asserts: "Personally I’m just ready to stand in front of somebody’s tank in whatever our version of Tiananmen Square is. It's time for drastic change. Whatever it takes." 

While Tombo777 states he is in Memoriam. "I will wear a black armband today in memory of what the GOP once was and is no more." Chuck writes: "Reading your article just show's us [ ] how lost the GOP is [for it is] the party of big government spending. The only difference [between Republicans and Democrats] is that the GOP wants to keep taxes low and borrow the money to give away . . ." And Virginia Patriot posts that the "Republican Party under [George W. Bush] seems intent on political suicide."
Clone states that it seems to him "the GOP has failed on most, if not all or your points of why we are Republicans." Will writes How far, far, far [the GOP] strayed from [its’] ideals. Limited government? Let's pony up another trillion for an unwinnable war (hmmm... wasted money, wasted lives, let's stop the madness folks)." 

Beastie Boy wonders "How many failures can we stand??? Peter, thank you for reminding me as to how far we have strayed from our principles under the auspices of King George II." Parenthetically, Beastie Boy cited my passage about judges and astutely inquires why the legal fiction of absolute immunity still exists. If there is anything so damningly unconstitutional is that judges and prosecutors remain immune from accountability. (And I thank for the writer for correcting a misspelling my word checker missed).

And to my paraphrasing Senator Margaret Chase Smith’s famed Conscience speech concerning the "Four Horsemen of Calumny: Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear" Beastie Boy’s response was "Swiftboat! The [GOP] has been running on high-octane fear for the past three cycles. * * * Republican leaders are . . sociopaths [who] can't talk issues, because [they] screwed things up so bad that there is nothing [ ] to offer real people." 

Other readers focused on the need to rebuild the GOP’s traditional principles. An email from Charles F Schanie, PhD provides "Ten Tenets is a stunningly profound distillation of what we should aspire to in US governance. I loved it. I'm circulating it within my email network and asking them to pass it along; I think it's that important. * * * I personally believe [Republicans] have strayed in many ways relative to [the] Ten Tenets . . . However, I [ ] believe that in the interest of consolidating and expanding conservative influence we have to continue to publish and promote our beliefs and ideals. Your piece, notwithstanding that it is labeled ‘Republican,’ is simply one of the best synopses I've seen of conservative principles."

Fred writes: "Thank you for writing something that can be used as a defense for those of us truly in the trenches of the culture war and standing up for what we believe in: True Freedom and the Tenets of the Republican Party." Killer pauses to compliment me (or to be sarcastic). "I would like to say ‘Thank You.’ * * * You could have raked over dead bones, but you chose higher ground."

In all, most of the readers implicitly concur with what my fellow Co-Trustee, Fred Hess, labels as the Republican’s "branding" crisis. This appears to be the underlying fundamental expressed post after post, or as LL in La. who sums up what everyone is thinking: "Help, please! Does anyone have the address for the RNC? I’d like to forward them a copy of [Happy 154th Birthday GOP - the 10 Tenets of the Republican Party] ‘cause I'm pretty sure they lost theirs. Or their minds . . . whatever . . ."
 

Peter J. Wirs is currently the Chairman & Co-Trustee of the Republican Leadership Trust as well as the incoming President of the National Conference of Public Officials.