A lesson From History

 -- Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer sees “the collapse of American liberalism” in sight, in no small part because of the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

“We have not just Obamacare unraveling, not just the Obama administration unraveling, not just the Democratic majority of the Senate [unraveling], but we could be looking at the collapse of American liberalism,” --

(Http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/charles-krauthammer-obamacare-liberals-99785.html#ixzz2lW1E8YY7)

Let's go to extreme focus. It's April, 1945. The allies are closing in on Berlin. Hitler has very little left except bizarre fantasies of divisions that no longer exist. Everyone knows the end of Nazi Germany is only a matter of time. They also know that this time will be measured in weeks. No more.  There is no hope.

-- "Suddenly Lorenz, one of the press chiefs, burst into the chamber without knocking and ran across the room." Herrgesell said. "He held a DNB bulletin in his hand and cried out: "Fuehrer. Great news. Roosevelt is dead." 

"Hitler leaped to his feet, grabbed the bulletin from Lorenz's hand violently and suddenly flamed with a queer fire. His expression was maniacal. Then he began to laugh. It was hideous. He walked up and down the room waving his arms and laughing. The room echoed with crazy laughter. 

"Suddenly he stopped laughing. Then a spasm of laughter gripped him again. And he threw himself around the room, laughing and repeating: 'I knew it. I knew it.' 

"Nobody ever saw Hitler ever smile again," the secretary said. --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8538153

Some reports indicate that Hitler and his generals broke open champagne to celebrate the sudden salvation of Nazi Germany. They were convinced that with Roosevelt dead the entire Allied war effort would collapse.  

After all, that is what happened to Frederick the Great. When victory seemed impossible, defeat inevitable, his enemy died and that was the end.

Well, it worked for Frederick the Great. It didn't work for Hitler. I don't think it's likely work for Krauthammer, either.

Everything is against the Republican Party. Its popularity has plummeted. The battle between the Tea Party and the not quite so radical Republicans is tearing the party apart. Young people almost universally despise everything the party stands for. Growing numbers of minorities are voting in record numbers, in spite of the GOP's efforts to deny them this basic right.

No, the failure of a website is not the great miracle for which you desperately hope, Mr. Krauthammer. Your party, the party of extremism, is dead. It just isn't smart enough to know that yet.

It is possible that a new Republican Party may rise out of the ashes of the old. However, if it does, it will not be the GOP as we understand it today. It will be a centrist, moderate, tolerant party. It may still call itself the GOP, but it will no more be the Republican Party of today than the Republican Party of today is the party of Lincoln.