Couldn't resist weighing in on Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts last night. Frankly, it's akin to a ton of bricks being removed from my shoulders. Haven't been this relieved and hopeful for a very long time.

So, hooray for Independents! Capturing over 70 percent of Massachusetts "Indies," Scott Brown, grassroots Americans everywhere, and the Republic triumphed! Big time!

But will the GOP machine get the message, or will the tin-ear plague that has ravaged Democrats in DC infect and throttle the Republican establishment as well? In short, will the GOP blithely ignore the message and continue to myopically accommodate the Left, thus continuing to destroy themselves and the country in the process?

Will the wisdom borne of this seismic victory be squandered by the GOP? Will Republicans finally understand and digest what has just happened?

The wind is at our backs, but the burning question is will the GOP unfurl its sails?

Let's just hope this Progressive reversal in the bluest of the blues finally brings clarity, honest self-appraisal, self-confidence, gumption, purpose, and enlightenment to the GOP - indeed, to all political leaders on both sides of the aisle.

As I commented in a T.Sowell post on FrontPage recently, "while it's always politically risky to speak the truth to voters, conservatives must do exactly that! There's something remarkably elevating and liberating about telling it like it is. More important, it is the responsible thing to do. To prevail, commonsense and conservative American principles - not parochial self-interest - must drive the GOP message. Talk about what makes America work and why liberal policies don't, not what handouts should be expected of government.

Republicans must relentlessly and roundly expose the outright lies, elitism, shameful hypocrisy, adolescence, illogic, and destructiveness of the Left. And, yes, APOLOGIZE for having shortsightedly accommodated Progressive policies in the past merely to get elected.

The trick, of course, is to no longer succumb to temptation by adopting the Left's insanely self-serving and destructive policies merely to achieve a "big tent" and fleeting political power. Conservative Republicans should no longer allow - indeed, no longer need to allow - Democrats to shape the debate, the issues, the priorities. To continue to allow this is exasperatingly stupid and politically suicidal.

Is it any wonder so many voters don't perceive a whit of difference between Dems and Reps? When liberals talk about cap and trade, national health care, don't get sucked in. Openly and forthrightly dissect those policies head-on for what they really are: careless, self-serving expedients to achieving personal political power and absolutely nothing more. Doggedly shift the debate to the real issues which are fundamental to the economic and social well-being of the country.

Progressives will have a hard time with that. Control the debate! Continually shift the ground from beneath them with truth and objectivity. With cataclysmic upsets in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, by now the Republicans must surely know what they have to do. The question is, will they have the courage, fortitude, clarity of purpose, and integrity to do it? Frankly, I have my doubts."

Finally, a word of heartfelt gratitude and encouragement to the Tea Partiers, whose courage, activism, and unstinting dedication to fundamental American principles contributed so signficantly to the string of recent Progressive defeats. Don't throw in the towel just yet, and don't get complacent or in any way corrupt your America-first mission.

And to those regular Joes or Jills out there who so earnestly desire a return to limited and responsible government, now's the time to throw your hat in the ring. Be that Constitution and America-first "citizen representative" our founders so cherished and whose time may have, at long last, come again.

JIM DELANEY, GREECE