Redstate

CFR, Amnesty, Spending, Corruption,
Earmarks, Socialized Medicine:
”Your Silence Is Your Consent!”

Could you shrink the image some? It's a bit big and visually disrupting when reading the site. Thanks :-)

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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater

The person you describe? They're a "get" - so why treat them like crap?

And it is worth about as much as any free psychoanalysis is...

It has to do with the fundamental assumption that the battle is already lost... along with a little bit of the resentment felt by Esau for Jacob receiving Esau's Birthright... which, keep in mind, Esau traded for a mess of pottage.

For the last 8 years, FisCons (and, certainly, their brethren the Libertarians) have felt like the DefCons and NeoCons and the SoCons and PaleoCons have gotten everything they wanted.

Spending is up. Kelo happened. Steel tariffs. The Farm Bill. Ashcroft.v.Oregon. Ashcroft.v.Raich. The Prescription Drug benefit. The first veto Bush used was in service to denying federal funds to embryonic stem cell research. Yes, there were a handful of tax cuts and, yes, they were nice... but spending didn't go down at all. As in, at all at all. And every complaint received a response ranging in temperance from "Do you have BDS too?" to "Don't give aid and comfort to the Democrats" to "The only thing that matters is the War on Terror" and, at their kindest, "The Democrats would be worse." On top of that, the Libertarians have abandoned their dreams about expanding Liberty for citizens and have started dreaming about gridlock. And with all these dues we've paid, they're now questioning *OUR* bona fides because of our hesitancy to the new guy???

And, interestingly enough, the HawkCons and the NeoCons have resentments too. The War on Terror has not been waged effectively. Bush's heart was in the right place, of course... but his subordinates have screwed things up. Rumsfeld was great when it came to winning a war... but awful when it came to winning a police action dedicated to nation building. Not only are we still in Iraq, there is a nagging feeling that had Shock And Awe lasted months and months rather than hours... well... maybe the insurgency could have been nipped in the bud. Sadr City could have been made an example of... so many missed opportunities. Meanwhile the SoCons are getting everything they ever wanted. Pity about the FisCons but they, at least, understand that sacrifices have to be made in war and buying off Congressmen with pork was what needed to happen to keep people on board. And with all these dues we've paid, they're now questioning *OUR* bona fides because of our hesitancy to the new guy???

The SoCons, on the other hand, didn't get anything they wanted. People keep bringing up gay marriage, but so what? Keeping the status quo is considered a "victory" now? Hey, people can't marry horses either! Hurray! All SoCons should rejoice! The *HECK* they should! The abortion holocaust continues unabated. They wanted to do this big bill allowing vouchers and charter schools and all they got was "No Child Left Behind". Yes, a handful of "evolution is just a theory!" stickers got placed on a handful of textbooks. This is not a victory. Yes, Bush's first veto was on embryonic stem cell research and you'd think that the FisCons would have appreciated that but no, they just kept whining and saying that we should have seen it as a victory. A victory? There wasn't any funding for this stuff the year before and now there isn't any now. It's called the status quo, people. The status quo is the status quo. It's not forward progress. Especially since the FisCons get bones thrown at them with the tax cuts and the DefCons kept getting more and more and more chances in Iraq using soldiers from primarily SoCon parts of the country. Remember isolationism? Why did that become a cuss word again? Oh yeah. Ron Paul. Don't our ideological brethren, the PaleoCons like him? And who keeps saying he's beyond the pale, again? Oh yeah. The folks who keep saying that we should be happy because we got every single bone thrown to us for the last 8 years when, really, we just had the status quo. And with all these dues we've paid, they're now questioning *OUR* bona fides because of our hesitancy to the new guy???

And, in a unified voice, all three legs of the stool cry out.

"And now you're asking me to sell off just a little bit more of my soul so we can cater to swing voters?"

And... if you mix that in with a good healthy dosage of rememberance of 2006, it's a reasonable assumption to think that there's a good chance of a loss in November. Even if the Republicans have fought back to a 50/50 shot from a sure miss, that's just a 50/50 shot... and the request is to sell just a little more of the birthright for another spoonful of pottage?

Treating the potential "get" like crap feels a lot like saying "you know what, I'd like my soul back".

Five cents, please.

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. --Voltaire

You must be under the mistaken impression that someone else is the presumptive nominee.

------------

You want to know why people are treating potential gets like crap, that's my theory for why people are treating potential gets like crap.

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. --Voltaire

CFR, Amnesty, Spending, Corruption,
Earmarks, Socialized Medicine:
”Your Silence Is Your Consent!”

Someone you can get to vote for you.
Swing-voters.

Persuadables.

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. --Voltaire

You could have called several voters in the time it took to write your indignation.

Seriously, man. I get it. I really do. But dude - spending NEVER goes down. Or at least, it never has. It's not that we should stop advocating for less, but I can guarantee you - Mr. Obama will torch this economy beyond anything George Bush could dream of.

And I think I should restate this again just to prevent potential misunderstandings:

I am not a potential get.

I am here to offer my insights and advice in good faith and you can ignore them at no cost to you... hey, I'm one of those crazy libertarian types who is part of that perpetual 1% you keep seeing every 4 years (no, not a Ronulan, I'm a Libertarian, not a Paleocon).

But as a Libertarian, one of my absolute favorite things to do is talk about theory at length. I'm right sometimes, I'm wrong sometimes, but, for the record, the posts are posted in good faith... to be ignored at no cost to the reader.

If the last 8 years have taught me anything it's that the Republicans are as alien to me as the Democrats are. I used to think that there was a potential coalition there... but the Paternalism is strong to the point of no return on both parties. They just paternalize over different things.

The other thing the last 8 years have taught me is that "the Democrats would be worse!" is not necessarily a statement that is factually accurate, no matter how sincerely stated.

So, once again: feel free to ignore anything I have to say.

After all, you've got an election to win.

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. --Voltaire

I really am. But my enthusiastic support for McCain comes from the very things you describe.

I consider myself a fiscal conservative above all, and my support for McCain comes from the fact that he fought the earmark explosion, and he fought the Prescription Drug Benefit, and he fought the failure to include spending cuts with tax cuts. From a libertarian perspective, I think McCain is a great catch, possibly one of the last true small-government conservatives remaining in the Republican party. I think this analysis is backed up by his character, his willingness to put principle before party.

I consider myself a hawk of sorts; I don't know that the war with Iraq was entirely unavoidable, and I go back and forth over whether it should have been waged in the first place. But I do believe that once you start something, you have a responsibility to see it through, and that is all the more true now that there is a fledgling democracy depending on our support. We made a promise as a nation, and we should keep our promises. Nobody is more dedicated to keeping that promise than John McCain. Hawks should be overjoyed with him -- he was criticizing Bush's war management back when such a stance got you accusations of liberalism from Hannity et al.

I do not consider myself a social conservative, and yet I consider the goal of constructionist judges an admirable one -- it encompasses a lot more than just the issue of abortion. We had two SCOTUS justices trying to argue that international rulings could provide precedent for U.S. courts -- why is ANY Supreme Court justice making that argument?! McCain's history on judges is nearly spotless. Getting upset about the gang of 14 seems quite petty considering that even Rick Santorum, a social conservative figurehead in his own right, agrees that it was beneficial to the cause. Social conservatives who do not see the next few years as absolutely crucial for finally turning the tide on the SCOTUS are being short-sighted. Victory is within their grasp. I can't understand why they would be so willing to throw it away for another generation.

We all have good reasons to support McCain, especially the libertarian-minded fiscal conservatives who have felt so betrayed in the last 8 years.

Heck, I'll give you 5 bucks and a Mike's Hard for that. Conservativism and the party needs to be more aggressive as opposed to being simply a hindrance to the left. As we stand here today, the status quo is left of center.

"Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em. I'm a whale biologist."

CFR, Amnesty, Spending, Corruption,
Earmarks, Socialized Medicine:
”Your Silence Is Your Consent!”

------------
The Red Sox Republican: Burkeanism, Baseball, and Sundries.

there appear to be people not enamored of ANY of the presidential candidates. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080507/pl_nm/usa_politics_divide_dc

In an absolute sense, neither party represents very much of America any more.

"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.

as advice for all sides.

And I endorse every word of Mike's post. Republicans aren't our enemies: the terrorists are. And Republicans aren't our adversaries: the Democrats are. Perspective, people.

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

in regards to both Mikes post and EPU's...seems like the smart thing to do would be to adopt these ideas for good, not just to get through an election cycle..

" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised

Primaries are for fighting ideological wars within the party. We need those to get our agenda pushed or we end up just a total squish party. I'd like to see it done with a bit more civility than we had this time, but that's probably not realistic.

Having said that. The primaries are OVER! Wether your guy won or not, it's time to support the party's nominee.

Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.

IMO, when you call someone a RINO, you're calling them a fraud.....you think that's right?

Last I checked, we were trying to build a party, not tear on down.

" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised

I was under the impression that you were calling for the end of partisan wars within the party during primary season. I didn't realize you were requesting an end to the use of the term RINO. Fine with me. I don't think I've used it much myself with the possible exceptions of referring to Chafee and maybe Bloomberg.

Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.

Yea...lets make a list of things that offend some here and prohibit their usage...while we're at it...lets just write out what everyone here is required to say in order to remain a member in good standing and prohibit everything else!

CFR, Amnesty, Spending, Corruption,
Earmarks, Socialized Medicine:
”Your Silence Is Your Consent!”

" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised

I don't give a rats arse what RS decides along the lines of "offends" or not.

My point is that after reading both posts by Mike and EPU, they both seem to be somewhat phony IF all they call for is to extend civility to fellow R's/C's only through an election cycle.

" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised

Sorry you didn't get the message!

CFR, Amnesty, Spending, Corruption,
Earmarks, Socialized Medicine:
”Your Silence Is Your Consent!”

The other subtext was, 'don't be an ass.'

no matter who wins this election. But at least if McCain wins, we'll be battling for the soul of the party rather than fighting to save the Republic from the Left.

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

Just a typical, small town, white girl...

Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J

----JUST ANOTHER------

I think the day after he wins we'll start second guessing his cabinet, heh.

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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater

...but for the life of me I can't even recall if I was the one to ban you the first time.

The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!

He must not have been that memorable

I just smile every time I read a Buckeleyism on this blog.

Gives me hope, you hear?! Hope!!

Regards

Must not have had much of an impact at RS huh?

Poor thing

CFR, Amnesty, Spending, Corruption,
Earmarks, Socialized Medicine:
”Your Silence Is Your Consent!”

Redstate is a little fiefdom of about 10 people, who are very sensitive, and are always angry.

THEY'RE the only ones that get to have a any opinion on the current state of conservatism, if someone has a different take, they're obviously a troll and need to be banned immediately. Thank goodness these posers have no real power in the conservative movement, or we really would be doomed.

Why they even make Redstate a public site is beyond me, they should just close it off and talk amongst themselves.

There are much better conservative sites for intelligent discussion elsewhere, but sometimes I like to slum it and watch these people hyperventilate.

Oh, and I'll also cancel my own d*mn subscription. At least this one.

they sure do go to a lot of trouble. Too bad they really don't upset us. It's just a lot more of an amusement.

CFR, Amnesty, Spending, Corruption,
Earmarks, Socialized Medicine:
”Your Silence Is Your Consent!”

HTML Help for Red Staters
"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater

(and it seems like you have been reading too much DailyKos)

If you really believe that Senator McCain's platform is the same as President Bush's then you need to look a lot closer.

many here keep the faith. It's reading between the political statements that cause heartburn. Keep the faith. Now for the bad news... McCain with Global Warming, Open Borders, and his tendency to agree with Kennedy will cause all the downfall needed. Not to question your faith though...

Formally known as Deagle... "Golf is a way of life..."

I'm certainly not worshiping at either McCain or Bush's altar if that is what you mean. I'm just pointing out that the two are distinctly different in many ways (unlike what the Kos meme of McSame would have you believe.

by those who would support Rep Paul to try to throw some rocks at the windows.

There is certainly a contingent that feels that the war was a bad idea, but the Bildeberger stuff is exclusive to the Paulbots.