The biggest achievement of the GOP is probably their ability to dictate how discussions get framed. At the most basic level, they've been able to get labeled as conservatives despite sitting so far on the right that they are commonly indistinguishable from fascists nowadays.
Another example is the abortion debate where the two opposing camps are labeled as pro-choice and pro-life. Think about it.
The opposite of pro-choice is anti-choice which would give us an accurate description for each side. The opposite of pro-life is anti-life which means that it's easy to demonize the other side as being against life itself.
This is why I am glad that I live in a country where conservatives and the far-right are separate political parties. Because if that weren't the case, then Austria would have long returned to a dictatorship. Fascism is in Austria's blood, what's with the far-right commonly hovering around the 20% mark despite holding a myriad of unreasonable positions, including their current pro-Russia course.
Anyway, it wouldn't be a bad idea if left-leaning Americans would stop to use the terms GOP and conservatives interchangeably. Conservatism is about progress in a slow and very controlled manner, not about regression to values from previous centuries.
Legend11 correctly predicted that GTA IV will outsell Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was wrong.
