It must be tough to be a Republican right now. We have a popular, capable Democratic president who's doing a lot of good things for the economy and our country and looks even better when compared to his inept predecessor. The apparent spokespersons for the Republican Party are a bullheaded ex-vice-president, a mouthy radio personality and wingnut columnists who seem far more focused on self-aggrandizement than on representing all Republicans. The more moderate element of the Republican Party, personified by Colin Powell and Tom Ridge, are misfits according to this smug, self-righteous group. There just seems to be no place in the party for moderation as far as this bunch is concerned.

Traditionally, the Republican Party has stood for, among other things, fiscal responsibility and limited government interference in individual behavior. That seems to be gone now. Former President George W. Bush and his Republican Congress turned inherited budget surpluses into large deficits in a spending and tax-cutting binge. No spending bills were vetoed in Bush's first six years in office. While the current president and Congress have been giving huge sums to help business, let's remember it was Bush's Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, who started the bailout movement by racing to rescue his Wall Street cronies when the financial crisis hit.

The other current issues the party champions, prohibiting abortion and gay rights, also seem to be contrary to the party's traditional philosophy. What can be more intrusive than a government that tells a woman what she can do with her body or wants to assign individual rights on the basis of sex partners? What can be more interfering than government defining and enforcing morality? Yet this is precisely what the leadership wants the party to support. In pandering to the so-called base, these self-anointed leaders support actions in direct conflict with traditional party beliefs.

While I take some schadenfreude in the problems besieging the Republican Party, I confess to having some sympathy for my reasonable Republican friends, both moderate and conservative. I'm a strong believer in the two-party system and think it's necessary to have a "loyal opposition" to the party in power, regardless of who it is. No philosophy or ideology corners the market on good ideas. We live in a dynamic, changing society, and we must always be seeking better and fairer ways to do things.

Most political differences center on contrasting values, and there never is a right or wrong where values are concerned. Of course, we can have shared values and we also have values that are held by a majority of the population. But in neither case are they necessarily right. Whether we are talking about fiscal policy, abortion rights, gay marriage or a host of other social issues, there almost is never a correct answer. This is why we have such a hard time resolving values issues, and they are usually ultimately determined by legislative action or, in recent years, more frequently by judicial rulings. When there are conflicting values and society feels the need to define a course of action, if compromise cannot be found then some entity is forced to make a decision about where the appropriate rights should lie.

There is a thoughtful, conservative view that has traditionally been espoused by the Republican Party. While I don't share it, it is critical to have it presented. Having said this, if the Republican Party continues to reflect the same values they displayed over the past decades, I'm glad it is being marginalized. I want enlightened, reasoned discourse on broad topics, not the arrogant, monomaniacal dogma espoused by the Republican leadership.

Loyal opposition is welcome.

Counterproductive self-interest is not.