...he or she forswears any connection to a political organization outside the Republican Party and shows some independent thinking.
I've long wondered why so many Republicans are suddenly anti-union, anti-immigration, anti-healthcare, and raising a hue and cry about voter fraud. I thought that there has to be some hidden group behind such a lock-step must-pass list of issues.
Well, there is. It's the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC. To join, you have to be a Republican legislator in "good standing" or pay several thousand dollars.
I did write about ALEC in "Freedom, democracy, and unelected legislature", but I was reminded of ALEC again when I was cleaning out my email. I had sent myself a link from my iPod to a New York Times editorial, "A Shabby Crusade in Wisconsin", 2011-03-25. The Republican Party of Wisconsin demanded the emails of a Wisconsin history professor who criticized the union-busting law.
I followed the link to his blog, Scholar as Citizen. It is to the article "Who's Really Behind Recent Republican Legislation in Wisconsin and Elsewhere? (Hint: It Didn't Start Here)".
His article delves into the available evidence to show how the Republican Party is being manipulated and funded by a hidden government, one that is not democratic, republican, or elected.
Until you can find a Republican who is for open government, accepts contributions only from those eligible to vote for him or her, decries attack ads against opponents, and thinks independently, vote for a Democrat (using the previous guidelines), a third party candidate, or write someone in. But whoever you support, be sure to show up and vote.
