Republicans Making Unforced Mistakes

In its quest to thoroughly prostitute itself the the ignorance embracing hate merchants of the Christofascist ranks of the GOP base, the RNC unanimously adopted a resolution demanded by an ugly who's who of the snake oil peddling hate groups and religious based charlatans.  Yes, I am talking about the so-called "family values" crowd with increasing has made hate and bigotry - and often racism - the modern face of Christianity.   Even Jennifer Rubin, who hardly counts among my favorite columnist, sees the idiocy of the RNC vote and the long term harm being done to the GOP brand.  She lets loose in a Washington Post column.  Here are excerpts:

As the Republican Party struggles to broaden its appeal and modernize its outlook, it will make mistakes.

A such blunder came Friday when the Republican National Committee, unanimously and without discussion, approved a resolution against same-sex marriage. It affirms the committee’s support “for marriage as the union of one man and one woman” and calls for the Supreme Court to defend “the sanctity of marriage.” The best that can be said is that the language is vague.  .   .  .  .    there is no sugar-coating this, or excusing the temper tantrum thrown by social conservatives (who threatened to bolt the party, whatever that means) to force this through.

Had RNC chairman Reince Priebus been on the ball, he might have included language expressing tolerance for other views or affirming states’ rights to define marriage. Instead, the RNC made itself an easy target for marriage-equality activists, the press and skeptics of its more open attitude.

Paul’s errors [during a speech at Howard University] are not of the magnitude of the RNC’s, to be sure. And unlike the committee, he demonstrated courage, not cowardice under the threat of his own party’s extremists, in going to Howard.

In the long run, it is much more important what Paul, Rubio, GOP governors and other party stars do than what a bureaucratic panel of no-names say at a retreat. It is the leaders, if they really are leaders, who will set the pace; the party regulars will follow. Paul and the others need to keep at it, improving and refining their message as they go.

Republicans are trying to rethink and revive their party, but not all Republicans are. Nevertheless, good-faith errors in pursuit of inclusion are forgivable; cowering from the threat of right-wing extremists is not. Somebody should think about a Sister Soldjah moment; some Republicans deserve it.