Oh, please. We send representatives to Congress to govern...not to represent parties to such an extent that no governing ever gets done. The parties are a convenience for organizing the voting process; they are not the government.

In Great Britain, voters select a party, then the party in power selects its leadership and what coalitions it chooses to make. But...that is not the American system and it never has been.

When Dems and Reps refuse to work together, we have a government stagnation, where the only things that happen are done by executive order or by regulations of unelected bureaucrats. It is ludicrous to suggest that this is a better way to govern than having the Congress actually talk and vote.

I hope this aticle gets the attention it deserves, especially from the republican kool-aid drinkers who post here.

Unfortunately we live in interesting times and people of strong character are needed to get this country headed back in the right direction.

Uderstanding the reality that we live in is key to knowing what needs to be done and what to expect from our representatives (i purposely did not use the word "leaders" as we have a constitutioanal republic in these united states)

Yet we are frequently reminded here that any R(INO) is better than and D candidate. We all know that there are still wonderful conservatives laboring within the GOP. But the establishment itself is so infested with moderates who are also anti-Conservative that the house cannot stand much longer. It´s sort of like watching a watercolor painting, unprotected by special glass, fade over the years. After a while you forget how vibrant the colors once were.

Ramona (the Pest)

okay, csn we get spell check for this site

I don´t understand how #1´s comment relates to the piece. Codevilla says the American system has undergone a revolution. We don´t have two parties disagreeing with each other. We have one ruling party united in establishing European style gov. in the US along with restructuring the US family. If a GOP person appears to disagree, it´s usually just for show and they end up backing down. The ruling class is united most by their deep disdain for ordinary Americans. Codevilla has explained this in earlier pieces as well.

#5, #1 hops in, drops his pellets and returns to DailyKos to giggle with the other trolls.

´He who governs least governs best."

I WANT gridlock, and a President who recognizes his limitations.

NOT a Presnewdebt like we have now..

If Mark Levin believes this article was important enough to read on his show, which he never does, it should be a MUST READ.

I heard him last night and agree with everything the author said.

The Taft and Rockefeller branches of the republican party are still very evident in what we see going on today. You have the Rockefeller branch talking down to the Taft branch, ridiculing, insulting and devoid of any semblance of conservatism, seeking big government just as their idols in the ruling class do. You see this, not only in the "elected", but also in the rank and file of the republican party.

This is a great article, and I´m somewhat shicked to see it running in Forbes, as that is certainly a mouthpiece for the Rockefeller branch. But, there it is, and I truly hope that reading this will light a fire under those still on the fence, getting annoyed at the condescention from the Rockefellers.

A new party? Yes, it IS time.

The brand "republican" is tainted and meaningless. We need a conservative party.

#2, why is someone who isn´t in agreement with you a "kool-aid drinker"? Can´t we have reasonable, different opinions and still be in the same army? I see you like to use "kool-aid" on the threads. Let´s give up the categorizing and hope we´re all independent thinkers? Perhaps I can read this article and think Codevilla over-generalizes. That doesn´t mean I don´t share many of the same principles as you.

Spinning spinning.

The fiscal cliff vote saved the entire middle class and forced higher taxes on some few millionaires and billionaires.

Should we all have gone over the cliff to protect the likes of levin, hannity, and rush.

Their loopholes and exclusions keep them solvent while the rest of us are on the edge of the cliff all the time.

How brave they were. Oh, lets go off the cliff.

Easy for them to say. How about the rest of us.

Why owuld they care. Are they pretending to care about us little guys who watch and listen to their ranting.

Because some of the kool-aid drinkers not only don´t get it, they refuse to face facts no matter how politely they are explained. I no longer have the patience to be one of those who keeps trying to explain. Rove and other elitists are only protecting their positions in DC, they do not care how the voters feel. I have done my own reading and research, it is time for you drinkers to do yours. It takes courage to admit that one has been duped by party elitists.

Should be MUST READ.
The article has so many money quotes that I can see why Levin was impressed. He sort of leaves the 3rd party idea dangling but I think many forward thinkers believe it´s inevitable.

But, do you see #12, that those who don´t agree with you could just as logically decide you are the "kool-aid drinker"? Without using that phrase, #11 nicely makes that same point.

This long article should be a weekend must read.

The conservative - tea party dilemma is that they are supporting the republicans without getting any real representation as in 2010 when they put Boehner in the speakers chair where he proceeds to strip their leaders any power. This cannot continue.! The goal must be to correct this problem with as little disruption, and fewest democratic victories as possible. When Mark Levin read this he gave emphasis to the words: " Well or badly, its demand for representation will be met." The easy way is for the Taft - Reagan republicans to get the representation their numbers deserve in the party. The hard way is to set up a third party which restores representation to this majority of republicans with many probable democratic victories at a critical time in the nations history. I respect greatly the judgement of Mark Levin. If he decides to support a third party to resolve this problem he should be followed by all for the good of the nation. The establishment republicans must see the writing on the wall before they will concede any power to tea party republicans and avoid this debacle. The Rats and Rockefeller republicans are all about dividing up the spoils. The Taft or Reagan republicans are about cutting out the spoils and having honest government. Many men gave their lives for the nation. These establishment republicans should give up their spoils for the good of the nation and save all of us from a horrible fate at the hands of Obama. Ironically if this problem is not corrected by having "no taxation without representation" Obama´s demagoguery about the "greedy rich" will have been validated in the case of the Rockefeller - Country Club Republicans!

Let´s see. The Talk Show Host Party is too conservative for Karl Rove, has foreign policy right of Likud, wants to shutdown the federal government and impeach the President... Sounds like a winning REAGAN coalition there.

Wow, the RINO trolls are out in force tody.

The Democrat Party has been hijacked by the Socialists.
The Republican Party has been hijacked by the RINOs.

These days, there isn´t much difference between Socialists and RINOs, is there. Both want power (and are not picky about "values" other than as a way of attracting voters). Right now, the RINOs are content with just a piece of the power, probably hoping to get full power in an Obama Backlash.

I´d just as soon form a Conservative Party and invite all hijacked voters to take a look at it. However, changing a Party name is sometimes detrimental to the early elections. Name-recognition and all that.

So I´m with Levin...Conservatives must take over the Republican Party. Now.

And get rid of Rove and other RINOs who sneer at the Tea Party.

I agree -- this should be a must read. Maybe tomorrow morning.

And here is Codevilla´s previous article that gives useful background to this one. It was widely read when it came out and it´s so good that I´ve read it more than once since then:
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/

Codevilla gives shape to what we already know. "Ruling class" has become a frequently used term since his 2010 piece came out because it describes reality briefly and accurately.

I too was listening to Levin last night.
We conservatives will have to fight a 2 front war. I´m ready.

Self evidently, the pom-pom boys for the status quo are a brainless bunch but do they even have a pulse? Still, many can´t grasp that the R Party, since its inception was never a conservative party in the tradition of Hume, Burke, Pitt, Disraeli, Babbitt, etc. Never! It has always been a secular progressive vehicle and party of government; small then, large now. The fatal error occurred in ´12 when the R Est. choose Taft over Roosevelt; thereby abandoning Samuel Gompers non-socialist working class and embracing big business and corporatism; an albatross they carry to this day. But a demurral. The difference between Rockefeller and Taft R´s was one of style not substance. Both were part of the No. East progressive axis and hostile to conservative principle. Reflective comments from Codevilla befitting a thinking mind free of cant and cliche´.