Add the GOP to list of Animals that Eat their Young

If one were to Google “animals that eat their young” you could access a page on The Week that lists seven animals that are known to do so:  sand tiger sharks, polar bears, spiders, hamsters, parasitic wasps, tiger salamanders, and chickens.  It’s a well-known phenomenon, but judging by the recent actions of the Republican party, I would have to think adding the GOP to this list would be a pretty good idea.

Forget that what the power brokers in the party are actually doing is undermining the process and attempting to influence the people’s choice. That is nothing new to American politics. In fact, that exact same philosophy is one of the main reasons we maintain that archaic system called the Electoral College. The College was put in place by the founding fathers to ensure that the citizens of the good old USA don’t make a colossal mistake and “ignorantly” elect a person who ought not to be elected.

Sort of sounds a bit like what the GOP establishment is trying to do right now.  They would like to upset the apple cart because they don’t like what they are seeing in the two candidates that are vying for nomination:  Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

Sure, the majority of their slings and arrows are aimed directly at Trump, who is the leader and who is the only person who really has a chance to be nominated before the convention. But they don’t like Cruz, either.

Don’t think for a minute if they are successful in getting this whole affair to a brokered convention that they would support either of the two apparent leaders. They would not. What they really want, or at least what Mitt Romney wants, is another shot. I suppose he thinks he would have a better shot at taking down a woman as opposed to his attempt to take down President Obama.

So, in their attempt to make this a brokered convention they have come out stridently against the front runner. They have thrown literally everything they could find at him, including Romney, and are looking for more things to trump up.  The entirety of it sounds like a grammar school playground fight, with all the sound and the fury of a huge battle because things aren’t going the way they want.

And the irony of the whole deal is impressive. How many remember the GOP demanding that Trump sign a contract to support the nominee and not break off and create a third party?  A third party, they suggested, would split the Republican vote and virtually anoint the Democratic candidate, presumably Hillary Clinton. And, yes it would.

So now we hear that some of the GOP would split off and have their own third party candidate. This seems strangely enough exactly like the plot of a stage comedy where you start with one premise and by the end of the play the premise is completely spun on its head. Think Comedy of Errors for instance.

But the election for a President of the United States is not a comedy, despite what other countries must be thinking about our process at this point. Everybody and their sister is out flailing their arms like Robbie the Robot and screaming “Danger Will Robinson.”  And what for?

The proper thing to do is to allow the process to move forward. If you want to dump Trump, the way to do it is to get people out to vote.  The way to get nominated, as Trump has been showing, is to expand the electorate.  Trump is doing his best to get that done. And, so is Cruz.

People are coming out to vote like they haven’t done since, dare I say it—since Ronald Reagan ran for office.

There are other issues that are pretty annoying. But the idea that the electorate is not wise enough to make a proper choice is not one of them. When the founding fathers stuck us with the Electoral College, they had just cause to think that something untoward might happen. The population was ill-educated and not many were well informed.

But today’s population is nowhere near that. Sure, we have people who aren’t college educated, but the majority of people have at least a high school education, and it is insulting for all these leaders to try to override their choices.  The people are speaking and the GOP elite are not listening.

Let the process run. A brokered convention will posit a losing candidate. And, when all is said and done, they need to back the candidate that We the People choose. Not to do so, and then to name someone completely different in a brokered convention, such as Romney, would ensure the end of the GOP.

Chomp away big boys!