A lot is said about republicans and what they do and do not believe. We can consider how many republicans do and do not agree with certain things, but in the end, the party has a platform, and the platform is on record now. I think it’s worth taking a look…and doing a little fisking (actually pseudofisking, there’s no way I’m covering every single phrase in the damn thing, it’s just too long and a lot of it doesn’t warrant comment anyway). Here goes!

“We believe in American exceptionalism. We believe the United States of America is unlike any other nation on earth.”

OK, the ignorance clearly starts at the very beginning of the preamble. I which way is the United States unlike any other nation on earth? We speak English (even if it’s not our official language). Lots of other nations do that. We have a free press. Lots of other nations do that. We have a market economy. Lots of other nations do that. How are we different? Ugh. ‘Merica!

We believe America is exceptional because of our historic role — first as refuge, then as defender, and now as exemplar of liberty for the world to see.

Funny that they would emphasize our refugee roots, while at the same time showing so little empathy for refugees.

We believe in the Constitution as our founding document.

As opposed to what alternative? The Magna Carta?

We believe the Constitution was written not as a flexible document, but as our enduring covenant.

Except that there’s a clear process in the Constitution describing how to change it…isn’t that flexibility? Man these guys are odd ducks.

We believe that people are the ultimate resource — and that the people, not the government, are the best stewards of our country’s God-given natural resources.

Is government run by aliens? How can you separate government from people? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

Our standing in world affairs has declined significantly — our enemies no longer fear us and our friends no long trust us.

If you live in a FoxNews bubble…otherwise the view of the US from abroad is so much better than it was before 2008.

The men and women of our military remain the world’s best. The have been shortchanged in numbers, equipment, and benefits by a Commander in Chief who treats the Armed Forces and our veterans as a necessary inconvenience.

Um, does the President determine the budget for the military? Doesn’t Congress (controlled by the GOP) set the budget?

OK, this was a lot less fun than I thought and I don’t have the patience for going through every line of this piece of crap document. Still, I think people should find the time to read the platforms offered by the parties. I think before somebody decides to align with any party, they should see what the party actually stands for. This doesn’t mean that you have to agree with all of it, but you should at least know where you break with your party. I know many republicans, for example, who hate the role that money plays in politics. Those people should recognize that the platform of their party, the guiding document, says this:

“We oppose any restrictions or conditions that would discourage citizens from participating in the public square or limit their ability to promote their ideas, such as requiring private organizations to publicly disclose their donors to the government. Limits on political speech serve only to protect the powerful and insulate incumbent  officeholders. We support repeal of federal restrictions on political parties in McCain-Feingold, raising or repealing contribution limits, protecting the political speech of advocacy groups, corporations, and labor unions, and protecting political speech on the internet.”