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Just remembered the third thing that pushed me away from the GOP:
The first two were the debate in which the GOP candidates said they would not accept one freakin' dollar in tax increases for every ten freakin' dollars in spending cuts, and when the crazies took over the Tea Party. This happened when the Palin/Bachmann/Beck types descended upon the scene waving their Bibles and chanting in tongues.
The third was when the crazies in the Tea Party were waving those absurd "pledges" and shoving them in the faces of the candidates, who then dutifully signed them right on cue. They must have been thinking "holy crap, how am I gonna get outta THIS one?" -- I'll bet more than one of 'em thought about using disappearing ink.
All three events are closely related, of course, and they're all examples of how the party completely ran off the rails over the last few years. Everything in politics is temporary and at some point the saner Republicans will grab back control, but this has been fascinating to watch.
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