Once upon a time ...

"The Republicans were once a rational party."

That's the first line in Spiegel Online commentary by Veit Medick, Flüchtlingsdebatte in den USA: Die verunsicherten Staaten von Amerika 20.11.2015. ("Die Republikaner waren einmal eine vernünftige Partei.")

My title wasn't accidental. A common opening for Grimms' fairy tales was, "Es war einmal ...," of which the familiar English translation is, "Once upon a time ..." Medick's "waren einmal" could be taken a invoking the fairy tale introduction. At least that's the way I took it.

And when I think back to when the Republicans Party was rational, it does seem like kind of a fairy tale, something that happened long ago and far away.