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In the aftermath of the many atrocious policy decisions made by the Bush administration the Republican party has been working to rebuild its credibility. 9/11 happened on a Republican administration's watch after ignoring intelligence warnings of possible attacks. Next came the decision to take the focus off those who attacked us on 9/11 and invade Iraq. Lying to the nation about connections between the worst attacks on American soil and the leadership in Iraq along with fabrications about nuclear weapons followed soon after. After that things never quite recovered for the Republican administration and the party as a whole.

It was a reputation ruined by a broken bond the White House was responsible for maintaining with the American public. One might think an attempt at coming clean, apologizing and then working to distance themselves from that administration and its behavior would be the most obvious route to rebuilding credibility. An attempt at gaining trust and building a new bond might be the order of the day.

But, while radical elements of the right became more vocal during the partys' path toward rebuilding itself, attempts to gain distance from such elements were scarce. The party could have stood up and discussed how extremism is not what they were interested in, and begun to outline clearly practical conservative principles comprising the foundation of a new agenda. Instead they chose silence or aligning themselves with radical elements while trying to seem a trustworthy group of leaders.

There are many examples of this to look at I'll point to just a couple. As the Tea Party protests funded by corporate interests heated up many right wing pundits jumped on the bandwagon seemingly interested in tapping into the anger being stirred up. Among those at the forefront helping to whip up the extremists on the right was and still is conservative radio and TV talk show host Glenn Beck also a leading voice in the Tea Party movement.

Most of his attacks are well known and documented. Beck, a FOX News self admitted "opinion guy" conservative who consistently aligned himself with Republican policies like the Iraq War. His magazine Fusion has a regular feature of future obituaries of liberals. Regarding the stimulus package he has been all over President Obama. In an interview with CBS News' Katie Couric he claimed, regarding the people he believes he speaks to and for, "they've also come to a point where they no longer see our children or our children's children having the kind of opportunity and life that we have. We've spent ourselves into oblivion both sides and it's got to stop."(http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5330485n&tag=contentMain;contentBody)

Along that vein he later said, "America, let's call a spade a spade: This package isn't meant to stimulate the economy, it's meant to reshape it. If President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the progressives really believe that socialism is the best way out of this mess and the best way forward for America, then make the case. Let's debate it and allow the American people to decide."(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483345,00.html) Further he's stated, "(President Obama) will say that Bush started us down the path toward socialism, and he'd be right by that... Bush started the crazy spending. He would be right again. Bush started the bailouts. Yes, he did -- [I] hated him for it."(http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_09/020049.php)

Really? One may construe he never supported the stimulus which in his words is part of a "socialist" agenda. But, on September 22, 2008 Beck said regarding the bailout Americans, "are in the middle of an all-out financial emergency, and emergencies have a way of really testing people. In normal times, under normal circumstances, if you tune in to me, you know me as somebody who would tell the federal government exactly where to take their bailout plans and shove it right up their you-know-what. But these are anything but normal times. I thought about it an awful lot this weekend, and while it takes me -- it takes everything in me to say this, I think the bailout is the right thing do. The "Real Story" is: The $700 billion that you're hearing about now is not only, I believe, necessary, it is also not nearly enough, and all of the weasels in Washington know it." (http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909210037)

Being as it wasn't "nearly enough" wouldn't President Obama's furtherance of the stimulus be just what Mr. Beck ordered? After all it was a crisis and according to him in times of crisis resorting to a "socialist" agenda can be the right thing to do.

Not all Republicans are in favor of Beck and a small number have criticized his rhetoric. When it came to the Town Hall Tea Partys almost all fell right in line with his harsh mantras as if they didn't have a conservative compass of their own. Beck's magnetized hype regarding the stimulus has fueled much of the anger parroted by so many Republican leaders.

Glenn Beck is simply looking for the crowd and will say whatever even if it means openly contradicting himself. He is not looking for civil discourse he is looking to make himself seem like a voice of reason while acting completely irrationally. Not a great role model for a party attempting to rebrand itself as trustworthy or conservative.

An example from within their representative ranks concerns the now over incident from September 9, 2009 when Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina interrupted the President by calling him a liar during his speech on health care. I don't bring this up to belabor the incident itself. Although it grabbed the spotlight it passed quickly. I bring this up due to the history of Joe Wilson and what he was accusing the president of lying about.

Wilson was calling the president a liar because the president said illegal immigrants would not be eligible for any coverage under his package. Wilson said it was, "supporters of the government takeover of healthcare and liberals who want to give healthcare to illegals." He was obviously talking about the president as well there. Huh. On June 27, 2003 a bill titled Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act came up for vote and it was Republicans campaigning hard to push it through. The legislation contained "Sec. 1011 authorizing $250,000 annually between 2003 and 2008 for government reimbursements to hospitals who provide treatment for uninsured illegal immigrants." (http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/coonsey/2009/09/wilson-and-gop-voted-for-healt.php)

His actual vote is a matter of record and can be viewed here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll332.xml. Although he was chastised somewhat for the manner in which he chose to criticize the president he received support from his fellow Republicans for what he was saying. Not only did Wilson vote for it, but so did many others. If you look at the vote tally you'll see mostly names of Republicans listed and it was Republicans trying hardest to get it through.

The day after he interrupted the presidential address he went online and raised approximately $6 million for his campaign for re-election. He was simply saying anything to help himself get re-elected and obviously cared less about whether undocumented immigrants got covered or not.

Democrats have one or two recent examples, but Republicans are doing themselves a disservice by not setting a clear linear agenda people can track. Following or failing to distance themselves from wild talk and impulsive behavior is a recipe for more disaster in the future. With Glenn Beck all but endorsing the Libertarian Party as the alternative to Republicans on CBS looking elsewhere may be prudent. Trying to be conservative and align themselves with those incapable of self control is wearing thin.

To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.