Whitley County Patriots

From Moonbattery:

For all of its expertise at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the Republican Party just might be able to capitalize this time — really — on the massive failure that is the Obama regime. If, cautions Jonah Goldberg, they finally appear to stand for something.

However much blame they deserve for the economic crisis, Obama and congressional Democrats deserve the political crisis they’ve created for themselves. And the GOP should exploit it.

For a year or so, Republicans have been the so-called party of no. Contrary to the expectations of its critics, that tactic has been good for the GOP. It seems that the tea parties, America’s natural antibodies to Obamaism, have provided some vital stem-cell therapy, helping to regrow the Republican spine.

But that spine is only valuable if you use it for something. Much of the GOP leadership has been content saying “no” for two reasons — one good, one bad. When Obama was tall in the saddle and determined to exploit the economic crisis on his terms, there was no point in offering real alternatives. And it’s just a lot easier to criticize than it is to lead.

So it comes down to this: Hopeychange vs. Hope for Change — that is, Hope with clear alternatives, offering real Change from the Hopeychange lie.

Now is the time for the GOP to call Obama’s bluff and offer a real choice. My personal preference would be for the leadership to embrace Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s “road map,” a sweeping, bold, and humane assault on the welfare state and our debt crisis. Doing so might come at the cost of trimming the GOP’s victory margins in November, but it would provide Republicans with a real mandate to be something more than “not-Obama.”

Maybe this one time, with the Tea Party wind at their backs, our newly spined GOP leaders will learn from past recent mistakes and do something to reclaim our nation from socialism. Conventional wisdom is with the GOP, and conventional wisdom is a terrible thing to prove wrong when it’s going your way.