Republicans are not a funny national joke

The world is going to hell and taking America's wealth, military power and geopolitical influence with it.

Thanks to the terrorists of Hamas, we're slowly being pulled deeper into a war in Israel that could set the whole Middle East on fire.

And remember the bloody war in Ukraine?

It's been blasted off the front page, but after 20 months it's still an ongoing slaughter, despite more than $100 billion from U.S. taxpayers to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

It would be fair to argue that if Donald Trump or any random Republican had been in charge of our country's foreign policy since 2021, these two bloody wars would never have started in the first place.

But now, given the clown show that's been playing in the House of Representatives for weeks, I'm not so sure.

Republicans have become a running national joke that is bigger than the Biden presidency because they can't even choose a Speaker for their own party.

As of this writing, everything is still up in the air -- or going down the GOP toilet, whichever you prefer.

It's no wonder so many Republicans I talk to say they aren't going to vote for Republicans next year.

If Republicans can't choose a leader of their own party, only a fool would trust them to lead the country out of the deadly swamp Biden and the Democrats have led us into.

Republicans have gone so crazy I fear that in 2024 voters -- especially independent and moderate Republicans -- are going to elect more people like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib who are anti-America, pro-Hamas and anti-Israel.

Things look super-grim for the GOP today. But there is still some hope for the future of Reagan Republicanism and the country, I pray.

I saw a glimmer of it Wednesday night when I welcomed 130 high school kids from 18 states and Canada to a conference at the Young America's Foundation's Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara.

They came to learn about the values and the virtues of Reagan-style conservatism from guest speakers like former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Boston Celtics star Enes Kanter Freedom.

Their stay also includes a visit to the nearby Reagan Ranch, where they can walk in my father's footsteps and go into the humble house he lived in.

I often give a welcome talk to the kids visiting YAF and this time I told them how fortunate they were to be able to learn what Ronald Reagan and his kind of leadership were all about.

I told the future conservative leaders of North America to listen closely to the guest speakers this week. But I also told them that if they want to learn how to solve a problem they need to read and understand history so they can learn where the problem came from.

My dad was able to do so much, I said, because, unlike a lot of people in politics, he actually read all of the books in his library. He even memorized some of them.

I also told the kids they have to be able to sit down with people they disagree with and try to understand them and learn from them -- not ignore them or cancel them.

I pointed out that my father had two children, Patti and Ron, and neither one of them ever voted for their dad. Yet, at Thanksgiving Day dinner they were still at the table.

As for RINOs -- those much-hated Republicans-in-name-only you hear about in the media all the time -- I reminded the kids that RINOs helped elect Ronald Reagan twice: With the size of the GOP, you can't afford to kick people out and still hope to win.

Learning to love RINOs -- or at least not to hate them -- is something a few dozen Republicans in the House who are acting like high school students need to learn.

Maybe they should come to a YAF conference before it's too late.

Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, is an author, speaker and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation.