Who’s Right? Who’s Left?
Jun 1, 2009 Political
Ever since the election, which saw a rookie politician win the presidency, (even a blind pig finds an ACORN every once in awhile), the Republican party has had a debate with itself over just what is the definition of a Republican. The words are flowing fast and furious, with Rush Limbaugh, as I understand it, saying that Colin Powell should just become a Democrat and get it over with, and Powell insisting he is not leaving the Republican party.
After every election loss ( and there have not been as many as the Democratic party) the Republican, and indeed the Democratic parties always feel as if there should be a “makeover” of philosophy- as if it was the philosophy alone that was responsible for the loss. Philosophy alone is never the culprit, the blame can and must be shared with the candidate who is the face of the party.
During the 1980 primary contest between President Carter and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Kennedy supporters worried that Carter had moved too far to the center to energize the party base; Carter supporters blamed the president’s loss to Ronald Reagan on Kennedy’s more-liberal-than-thou insurgency. Moderate and liberal Democrats are still arguing about whether Al Gore went too far in 2000 in abandoning Bill Clinton-style triangulation for a more populist pitch — or whether he didn’t go far enough. Limbaugh and like-minded, if less strident, Republicans can make the case for purity by citing the party’s capture of Congress in 1994 under the banner of Rep. Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America.
latimes.com
The Republicans are split now over ideology, and just how inclusive they need to be, when what they need is to develop a consistent, ethical platform that reflects the conservatism that is and should be the heart of the Republican party. Then they need to begin living that philosophy.
The most consistent fault I have found, was that the Republicans had relented on fiscal conservatism, and when they were in power, spent like drunken Democrats. Trying to emulate your opponent is not a winning strategy, and the Republicans, including Powell, came off looking like Democrat- lite. When a Republican, even Powell, votes for the opponent, it’s possibly not a black thing, but it is trouble in River City.
I have said before that Barama didn’t so much win the election as McCain lost it. I know there will be many libbies who will come on here with interminable stats to refute my assertions, but the truth is that as trashed as the Republican brand was, Barama should have swept every state. The fact that he didn’t reflects the fact that for many, even as faint as McCain’s efforts were, the idea of conservatism still runs deep and true among many of the people in the U.S., and if presented correctly, with a candidate who truly reflects this conservatism and free market values, the Republicans can win.
But I do have to caution the Republican party- you have to actually walk the walk as well as talk the talk. That was the big problem before
.
Not every Republican — or Democrat — agrees that inclusiveness is the ticket to electoral success. One of the hoariest debates in both parties is whether majorities are built by uncompromising allegiance to principle or a willingness to abide and even encourage diversity within the ranks. For some conservative Republicans, Powell, Ridge and Schwarzenegger are RINOs — Republicans In Name Only. From that perspective, the RINOs let both the nation and the party down by acquiescing in President George W. Bush’s overspending.It wasn’t so long ago that the Democratic tent seemed too small to hold its disparate elements. Through the early 20th century, Southern segregationists and Northern liberals met uncomfortably at the party’s quadrennial conventions; during the Vietnam War, Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson’s hawks and Sen. George S. McGovern’s doves similarly elbowed one another for position. Those tensions were refashioned but not eliminated at the century’s end.latimes.com
As can be seen, angst is in both parties, and the Democrats have done better in their ” big tent” philosophy than the Republicans, even though there is still rancor in their ranks. Republicans should heed that simple fact here demonstrated by the Dems- not everyone shall agree.
In this sense, the “Big Tent” can be large enough for most of the disparate views of conservatives, as long as there are core values all share, and central to this is the philosophy of smaller government, and fiscal conservatism. Really, all else is a distraction, side issues that are important to some, not as important to others.
Fiscal conservatism and smaller government are issues that transcend race, or gender- these issues affect everyone, and I’ll bet that if the Republicans can beat the drum of opportunity, and walk the walk of smaller government, instead of having a contest to see who can “out- republican” the other, conservatives will win.
Let’s face it- there are more people who are in the heartland of this country, and who are conservatives, than liberals who live on the coasts.
Conservatives have to learn to agree to disagree on certain issues.
Remember, an oak tree is uprooted by high winds and dies, but a willow tree bends with the wind and lives.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: conservatism, fiscal responsibility, liberalism, political parties, RINO
Straight Down The Middle
May 22, 2009 Political
Justice David Souter retires in June, at the end of the Supreme Court’s term for this year, and a new replacement for a Supreme Court Justice will be picked by Barama and his crew. A lot will be revealed by the choice of person he makes- will he/ she be an “activist”, a person who “champions the little people”? I expect so, although I will tell you why I think this is a bad idea.
First, a Judge is, by his/ her very nature, NOT supposed to favor any side in an argument, instead, relying on proper interpretation of the law to reach a reasoned decision. Any prejudice towards one side or the other, renders the Judge’s decision biased, and presupposes a predetermined position, in which case a responsible Judge would and should recuse him/ herself from ANY decision.
In an article in the Houston Chronicle, Tara Smith, a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas- Austin, says, “Judges are not to be passive spectators; adjudication is an activity, calling for the exercise of careful, objective judgment. Appellate courts’ responsibility is to police the Constitution. The rhetoric of “activism” notwithstanding, the proper interpretation and application of our law cannot be reduced to a purely mechanical process. If it cold, we would be replacing Justice Souter with a computer.”
Neither can these justices MAKE law- the best they can do is to interpret the laws that the legislators draft, in order that they conform to the Constitution- a hard job in and of itself, and made infinitely harder by the leading (some would say EXTREMELY MISLEADING) words inserted into various bills, designed to cause the reader of the bill to tilt for or against the content itself.
Some examples, “unfair methods”, “predatory pricing”, a “hostile or offensive work environment”, an “appropriate fair balance”, all of these terms and more are found in the content of actual bills, and the terms are put there to satisfy the constituencies that the lawmakers wish to appease, but these same terms make the job of Justices much harder, as the terms involve nothing related to law, but everything related to a specific perspective- something the Justices must not buy into, or their decisions are not true, but tainted.
Barama wants a Justice with “Empathy”- capital E- but as Tara Smith warns, it is not enough that the Justice must be an umpire, but also more than this in adjudicating law:
“In sports, umpires do not have a say in what the rules are. They are given a complete set of rules at the start of each season and charged to call the games accordingly. In the U.S. legal system, by contrast, courts are presented not only with the Constitution ( the fundamental rules of the game, as it were), but with specific laws made by legislatures, and by agencies of the executive branch (not to mention the court’s own precedents). The court’s responsibility is precisely to determine whether all of these purported laws are compatible with the Constitution, which is our ultimate legal standard.”
The route the court must navigate is fraught with dead ends and legal land mines, but in the end, what the court must determine is if these laws are indeed valid laws. In this sense, the Justices are more than umpires in that they have a say in determining these laws’ validity. The nine Justices, whatever their personal bias, cannot roll over and acquiesce to one side or the other- to do so would be gross dereliction of duty.
It is nice that Skinny B can consider a man, a woman, a Black, Hispanic, Asian, or whatever puts a tingle up his leg, but the one thing he absolutely should not do is to attempt to put an ideologue on the court with a built in agenda of social engineering. If he does this, the damage to the court could last a generation, at least, before common sense could purge the wrongful decisions made in the name of social engineering and activism.
There is no place for activism on the bench- if you want activism, hire a great attorney with passionate convictions to argue your case, but the Justices are supposed to interpret law, not be pre- disposed to one side or another. To not be neutral is to do this country an extreme disservice, bordering on traitorousness.
Let the judges judge.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: activism, liberalism, social engineering, souter
Arianna Huffington Drinks The Party Kool Aid
Oct 3, 2008 Political
Arianna Huffington wrote a piece about last night’s debate and shock of all shocks, she thought Palin was outclassed and lost. This should come as no surprise because Huffington is a far left lunatic liberal who used her MA in economics to earn a lot of money by marrying a rich oil man (say it isn’t so). Yep, she used her economic degree to gain money by divorcing her rich husband. She is kind enough to let him blog at her left wing nuthouse. She is an opportunistic liberal as well. Her bisexual ex hubby was a Republican and she ran as an Independent to try and beat Governor Arnold. She was a lousy candidate (as opposed to Palin) and she dropped out. She worked to stop the recall election putting her desire to stop RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger ahead of the state’s needs. He won despite her efforts.
Huffington writes:
Watching the debate at a Fortune women’s conference, I asked Meg Whitman, the co-chair of McCain’s campaign, what she thought of Palin’s performance. “Good enough,” she said. But good enough for what, exactly? After Thursday night, the only thing Palin proved herself good enough for is starring in her own reality show. Watching Biden and Palin on the same stage was like watching a tennis champion walk onto Centre [sic] Court at Wimbledon only to find himself facing an over-eager amateur from the local high school. The only subject on which Palin displayed superior knowledge was when she corrected Biden on the proper delivery of “Drill, baby, drill!” Christie Hefner thought Palin’s sex-tinged twist on the chant should be appropriated for a commercial. Perhaps for Viagra. My patience with Sarah Palin is waving the white flag of surrender.
Notice the outright sexism where Palin’s “sex tinged twist” would be good for a Viagra commercial. Was not Huffington in a snit during that recall election because of claims that Schwarzenegger has sexually harassed young women in the past? Imagine if during that campaign Arnold had said that she was better suited to doing Victoria’s Secrets commercials.
Huffington equates this debate to a tennis match so let’s keep that going. This match was like the Billie Jean/King Bobby Riggs battle of the sexes match. Palin kept attacking with hard shots and Biden committed a bunch of unforced errors. The newcomer to national politics kept pace with the crafty old veteran and was able to either return his best shots or parry them with evasive maneuvers.
Palin won, game-set-match.
I don’t know what debate Huffington was watching but the truth is that Palin could have been on stage by herself with a cardboard cutout of Biden and the wingnuts would have said that she lost. They are so deranged and have so much hatred that they refuse to see anything but bad in people from the other side. They have a failed political ideology that espouses murder of the unborn and they believe that those of us who do not agree with them are stupid rubes who don’t know any better. The Vatican refers to them as the party of death. Regardless of what Huffington says, Palin did well and Biden was not as good as he needed to be.
If Huffington knows so much how did she fail to be elected Governor in a state that is full of liberals? She might have helped California out with that economic degree of hers.
She could have erased the deficit by raising money the way she made hers.
On her back. Tennis at Wimbledon is played on the grass…
Tags: california, death, huffington, liberalism
Don’t Worry New York, It’s Just a Cold Sore
Jun 9, 2008 Political
The major US cities are heavily populated and an overwhelming number of those people are Democrats. Those cities are crime ridden and they have fiscal problems as Democratically controlled governments institute more and more social programs that keep people in poverty and keep them under the thumb of their task masters in government. These cities are so densely populated that a very small number of them can supply more votes for a Democratic candidate than the rest of the country combined. This is why Al Gore won the popular vote but won fewer than 1000 of the 3000 cities and counties across the country. This is also why the electoral college is very important.
A new study shows that 25% of the residents in New York City have genital herpes. The city also has the distinction of having higher rate than the national average for many other sexually transmitted diseases including Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and infectious syphilis.
The number of registered Democrats in New York City (which is comprised of five boroughs) is five times greater than the number of registered Republicans and that does not include the 5 million who are not registered (either not registered or too young). However, it is safe to assume that the Democrats outnumber Republicans five to one.
Given that the Democrats support the lifestyles associated with rampant STD infections it should come as no surprise that the incidence of them is highest where liberals congregate. The free love spirit of the 1960s is still a part of the liberal culture and it has been expanded to encourage homosexual sex and teaching children about sex in school. Teen aged girls have babies and young “men” father several kids with different girls before they are old enough to drive. This comes from liberal programs that keep people in poverty and single parent homes where people are encouraged to live on welfare and keep squirting out kids to get that check. The Health department gives those young girls the pill but they claim every time they stand up the pill falls out.
I am sure that there will be other excuses for this (and I can’t figure how they actually got an accurate number) but the bottom line is the liberal lifestyle fosters environments where STDs spread like wildfire. Go to any major city and it is very likely that Democrats are running it. It is also likely that it is full of social problems that one fails to see in areas with little or no liberal influence.
Liberalism has destroyed most major cities and now New York has 25% of its population infected with genital herpes and higher than average STD rates for other diseases.
Name any social ill and you are sure to find it in a large city run by Democrats.
Tags: herpes, immoral behavior, liberalism, new york city, std, teen age sex