Paranoia will destroi-ya. We become that which we claim to hate

Zbigniew Brzezinski, October 28, 2003

Since the tragedy of 9/11... we have increasingly embraced ... a phrase repeatedly used at the highest level, "he who is not with us is against us." I say repeatedly because actually some months ago I did a computer check to see how often it's been used at the very highest level in public statements.

The count then quite literally was 99. So it's a phrase which obviously reflects a deeply felt perception. I strongly suspect the person who uses that phrase doesn't know its historical or intellectual origins. It is a phrase popularized by Lenin when he attacked the social democrats on the grounds that they were anti-Bolshevik and therefore he who is not with us is against us and can be handled accordingly.

Paranoia will destroi-ya. Sure it will. And the vortex created spindles and mutilates everything you once believed, and your children's legacy is the wreckage of a future you create, but will not recognize and will be ashamed to admit to in public places. You will do violence to your self and friends to avoid that ownership of a hope gone hideously awry. You will have "become Death, the destroyer of worlds"

Too dramatic? Nah, "worlds" are not just physical things but also spaces in your heart and your head. Death by loneliness or rage or confusion as easily as by bullet, bomb or bludgeon. The vortex whirls... Talk radio is eviscerating Colin Powell as I type this. My Republican friends are oddly mute about this election. The birds ain't singin'. The Purges begin... Dallas Morning News

The elephant in the room: GOP schism

Many moderates say they no longer feel invited to the party

A win doesn't mean that all is well in the Republican Party.

Though their candidate came out ahead on Nov. 2, some moderate Republicans are as despondent as Democrats. While Christian conservatives have been credited with turning out like-minded voters in crucial swing states, many moderates say they have been marginalized.

"There is no future for moderate and progressive Republicans in the Republican Party," said Jim Scarantino, president of the centrist GOP group Mainstream 2004. "The far right wing and the fanatics have seized control."

Mr. Scarantino isn't sure where his brand of Republican politics fits into the GOP. Some Christian conservatives say it doesn't.

"If they can't agree and support the president and the platform, then they ought to go over to the Democrats," said Jan LaRue, chief counsel for the conservative group Concerned Women for America.

After President Bush's re-election, evangelicals were quickly branded the "it" political group. They have taken a two-week victory lap, appearing around the clock on cable news networks while touting a conservative social agenda.

Out of the spotlight and largely overlooked, some moderates said they feel like politicians without a party....

After laboring behind the scenes for years, [devout] conservatives are front and center. And they want the president to move quickly to address their agenda.

The to-do list includes defending traditional marriage, banning human cloning, reforming Social Security, passing more-restrictive abortion laws and stepping up enforcement of obscenity laws, said Ms. LaRue of Concerned Women for America.

And if moderates don't agree with those objectives, perhaps they don't belong in the GOP, she said.

Ms. LaRue calls Mr. Specter a RINO – Republican In Name Only – and questions why politicians such as Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island remain in the Republican Party when they didn't even vote for Mr. Bush.

"Get real," she said. "These are Democrats in Republican clothing."More