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The Republican party or otherwise known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers who rose to power with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. It is the younger of the two major political parties and presided over the Civil War and Reconstruction but was marginalized by internal factions and scandals towards the end of the 19th century. Then early in the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt resurrected the party by associating the GOP with progressivism and by the 1920s, the party’s economic ideology had developed into the pro-business model for which it is known today.

As the party evolved, from it’s birth with Abraham Lincoln, to the progressive camp of Theodore Roosevelt, to the political optimism of Ronald Reagan, it grew into a strong representation of social conservatism, nationalism and economic libertarianism. But over the years, what has happened to the traditional Republican party to make it what it is today? The foundation for which it used to stand does not represent the ideologies to which the traditional Republicans pledged their allegiance. What giant interloper stamped its ideological boot on the GOP and left the traditional Republican party impotent?

There’s no real party that took over the Republican party six years ago and continues to run it today. However, the Republican party of today does convey an allegiance to a “new conservative” movement which some call the Neocons. Where did the Neocons come from? What is their base of belief that has intruded upon every sector of our current government and foreign policy?

According to Larry Beinhart of the Huffington Post, this new movement sprung from three major areas of belief. The first is “corporatism” which is “based on the belief that whatever makes money is good — and should not be restrained.” This corporate megalomania is expressed as the worship of righteous corporate profit for which the individual should never get in the way.




The second area of belief is that American power is absolute, irresistible, and always good, and should therefore be used — without restraint. Military hegemony or otherwise known as “regime change” is the staple of current day foreign policy. The Neocons stand as a giant, power-hungry, out-of-control, military general with boots that spare no one who gets in his way.

The last area, and the most important, is the right-wing religion or Evangelical Christians, the largest religious group in the United States, who proclaim from their Christian beliefs that they are God-commanded; therefore it rules America and the world by way of lobbying groups and/or special interest groups (Faith and Values Coalition, Traditional Values Coalition) — any restraint against it is opposition to God.

Beinhart goes on to say that what distinguishes the Neocons from traditional Republicans is “not the names of their beliefs, it’s the quality of their beliefs” — they are theological and theological thinking creates powerful and controlling rhetoric. Here’s the part that’s really important to understand — Beinhart states that people with theological beliefs don’t mind lying because it’s for the greater good. When it comes to the Bush administration, I couldn’t agree with him more. With a war that was concocted out of alternative intelligence, to partisan interference in the judicial system, and manipulation of just about every governmental body in the country, we are beginning to see an administration who has no qualms about lying to the American people.

This is the danger of the Neocons. They believe, as Bush does, that they are a force to be reckoned with. They completely believe in their cause without reservation and demand loyalty. What’s worse is that they have little respect and outright contempt for the will of the American people, and they will continue in their course of action no matter the consequences or surrounding reality. To me, that’s a dangerous ideology. So what has the Republican party evolved to? A mean-spirited, militaristic world bully.