A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Alexis de Tocqueville, 19th century political commentator and philosopher

This quote has been bouncing around the gun blogs and podcasts in regards to the presidential election. To a degree, there is truth that the looters have come out to protect those that loot in their name.

The truth is that the presidential election was lost by the Republican leadership. As far as I can tell, the Republican leadership has two major defects. 1) They are more concerned with maintaining their own positions of power than winning elections. 2) They are far more interested in looking good in the Beltway than doing good for the rest of the nation. If the Republicans want to become more than a permanent opposition party, they are going to have to rid themselves of the parasites and focus on what the voters were telling them. Focus on fiscal conservatism and leave the social crap alone.

I don’t expect the Republican leadership to pull their heads out of their asses, and I don’t expect the Tea Party wing of the party to full-up revolt and seize the leadership. This is part of the reason I refuse to return or give money/support to the Republican Party. I might be willing to support individual Republicans, but the party needs major reform before they will have my backing.