Free help for the Republicans...

...from the British press:

Chicago PM Saturday, April 25, 2009

Editors, UK Financial Times

Gentlepeople:

The Financial Times is a fine newspaper, and I am lucky to have it available to me early every AM. But about the only good thing about your Wednesday April 22 editorial "Republicans slide into disarray" is that it will be ignored.

You begin "The founders of the US were right: checks and balances make for better government." If you would acquaint yourselves with the Federalist papers you would see that 'checks and balances" has nothing to do with political opposition, but specifically with the three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, so arranged and empowered that they continuously check and balance each other.

Next you say "If the Republicans are to strengthen their position in Congress... and... mount a credible challenge for the White House... they must win back the independent voters....

Didn't we run the most independent of independent Republicans last fall? Look what it got us.

Then you say "Sarah Palin... compounds the party’s problems."

Yes, poor Sarah, with a pathetic 21 months of actual executive experience, as it turns out not only infinitely more than her running mate, but both opposing candidates too.

Then you complain that "the [Republican] party keeps striding to the right." Yes, some of us are trying to stride back to 1980-1984, when we won two consecutive landslides with a no-nonsense right-winger, who also had eight years as governor of the largest state.

We managed to follow that with a bureaucrat with zero executive experience, to lose to the first Democrat governor who popped up. Then we tried the "who's turn is it" strategy, nominating another legislator with no more executive experience that it takes to run a senate office staff Christmas party, and that foxy hillbilly governor did it to us again.

Then we got things more-or-less together again with someone who at least had 5 years experience meeting a $60 million annual private sector payroll, and 6 years governing the second largest state. He had weaknesses, but not enough for the Democrats to take over with another pair of legislative dunces with no executive experience. And for all that George W Bush was considered descended from 'political royalty' it was Al Gore who would never have got beyond cuttin' 'backy had his father not been a gifted politician.

Britain is a fine place to visit, but from all I read, not too good a place to need health care. And maybe approaching not too good a place to be non-Muslim, considering the rising imminence of Sharia law. So maybe the well earned influence of the Financial Times editorial page would be better applied to fixing your own considerable problems.

Arnold H Nelson 5056 North Marine Drive Chicago 60640 IL