The Plantation Right (A MUST READ)

By Andrew Cline
The American Spectator

I write editorials for a conservative editorial page. After my newspaper editorialized that U.S. House Republicans should replace Majority Leader Tom DeLay with someone more concerned with ideology than partisanship, we were deluged with letters from angry Republicans. Almost all of the letters made the same argument: No real conservative would oppose Tom DeLay because of all the good he has done the GOP. Of course, "Republican" and "conservative" are not synonyms. Until more conservatives make clear that they understand this distinction, they are in for continued abuse from the Republican leadership...

Conservatives have to stop giving Republicans a pass on spending. This habit has only emboldened GOP leaders to act more irresponsibly. If the base is not willing to hold party leaders accountable -- by abandoning them if necessary -- then they will quickly become the lapdogs of the Republican Party, stroked every now and then, but wholly controlled by their masters.