Monday letters: Republicans reaping what they sowed

Bob McAlister’s Feb. 15 guest column, ostensibly about an electorate full of fury, is actually a diatribe against Democrats. It’s not just describing Bernie Sanders as “a 74-year-old socialist curmudgeon who’s a dead ringer for a Walmart greeter” or Sanders and Hillary Clinton as “the two white politicians with AARP cards” or even the assertion that “The bosses will reestablish control and nominate the candidate who is not trusted by a majority of Americans.” This piece goes much deeper, and is a sad commentary on our society.

Remember when the South was a solid wall of Democratic voters? It is now a solid wall of Republicans. Why? The so-called Civil Rights era, when segregationist Strom Thurmond switched parties and became a Republican. The driving force behind his decision was integration, and the South followed his lead.

It’s the Republican Party that has lost control. The clown car of presidential hopefuls has totally discombobulated the party. Republicans who were so happy that the Supreme Court came down on their side in Citizens United are now experiencing the law of unintended consequences. The decision unleashed a deluge of dark money from ultra-rich oligarchs, each buying the candidate of his choice who would run the country in a way that benefited that man and his cronies. These oligarchs have billions of dollars, much more than the entire Republican Party, and they are in charge, not the GOP. Mr. McAlister should wake up and smell the roses.

This story was originally published March 6, 2016 at 5:30 PM.