It's so fun watching the Republican Party fight with one another. At first it seemed like the battle would be like most political squabbles; some infighting to make some minor shifts but all would work out well in the end. This happened with the Democratic Party when they were on the outs, and flared up tremendously during the last election. In the end, they got together, worked out differences and the party is stronger for it.

Right now Republicans have a fight between the moderate and conservative wing of the party. OK, we have to speak some truth here. The moderates have Colin Powell and Tom Ridge. The conservatives have Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney. The bad thing about this set up, for the Republicans, is the conservatives have this strict litmus test they give. If you aren't a true blue conservative, they're willing to sacrifice numbers to stay true to their principles. That is what is causing so much commotion with the moderates. They want to have a big tent approach to the party. Right now those reasonable voices are being drowned out by the shrill and vitriolic venom of the conservatives.

Yes, I had to make that colorful assessment of the dialog because it makes no sense to me if your numbers are dwindling you would want to kick out people, and that your kicking them out because they don't adhere to your high moral standards. If you are a religious organization trying to get close to your maker, Ok maybe you can afford to have a small number of true believers, but you’re not going to win elections that way.

I look at my parents and lots of other older black people in this country. If you have a good long talk with them, you hear Republican talking points with them. Were the republicans to have a moderate views on the view issues there are disagreements on, I'm sure many of those people would become Republican. It's the hard line stance of intolerance that turns them off. Many were surprised that Colin Powell joined the Republican Party, but looking at his record it makes sense he would be a Republican. To be blunt, if he was white it wouldn't surprise anyone that he would register as one.

Now look how the party is treating him. Limbaugh flat out says Powell should become a Democrat. Hmm, what does that say to moderates who might be Republicans in some areas but not in others? According to Limbaugh and Cheney (oh, Cheney joked he thought Powell was already a Democrat) people who don't follow their definition of a conservative Republican don't deserve to be Republicans. Not only that, they don't just want them to be silent, they want them to leave the party. That seems like stupid logic to me. You may get a 'pure' Republican Party with that, but without large numbers, there's no way Republicans are going to get a substantial number of seats in the House and Senate.

So with their new leaders Limbaugh and Cheney, it seems the Republicans are going to be a lean, mean and ineffectual political machine in the near future.