The Republican Party has raised stupidity to an art form. Those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So we have seen the re-enactment of no regulation in the marketplace. George Bush starred as Herbert Hoover. He chanted, “The fundamentals of the economy are strong,” while foxes left nothing but feathers in the henhouse.

Now President Barack Obama is re-enacting the role of Franklin Roosevelt, trying to reinstate oversight and to put the country back to work again. Rather than helping get the nation out of its mess, Republican leadership brags about obstructing Obama’s plans.

If fiddling while Rome burns is what Republicans do best, remember Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, both Republicans, both extraordinary progressives, way ahead of their time. Lincoln was so radical he transformed the nation from slave to free. Roosevelt believed women should have the right to vote. Roosevelt was such an out-of-the-box freethinker that sit-on-your-hands Republicans denounced him as a cowboy.

Republican is not synonymous with stupid, and it is time for the rank and file of the Republican party to put their house in order for the sake of everyone. Give this nation leadership that will either support the recovery effort or provide some constructive criticism. Enough of this blind cult of free market, of deregulation, of tax breaks for the rich.

The time is now for dealing with reality and a good dose of pragmatism.

Tom Bulger, Avon