An excellent analysis by Bret Stephens about the flaws in Republican strategic thinking. I think what we should do is become what the Democrats were in the 1940′s and 50′s – the party of the middle class, the working class, and of small-businesses. Let the Democrats be the party of the rich, the elitists, and the out-of-touch crowd.
by Bret Stephens
In January I was rebuked by some readers for predicting that the GOP would lose, and for saying it deserved to lose, too.
“It doesn’t matter that Americans are generally eager to send Mr. Obama packing,” I wrote. “All they need is to be reasonably sure that the alternative won’t be another fiasco. But they can’t be reasonably sure, so it’s going to be four more years of the disappointment you already know.”
[........]
Fellow conservatives, please stop obsessing about what other adults might be doing in their bedrooms, so long as it’s lawful and consensual and doesn’t impinge in some obvious way on you. This obsession is socially uncouth, politically counterproductive and, too often, unwittingly revealing.
Also, if gay people wish to lead conventionally bourgeois lives by getting married, that may be lunacy on their part but it’s a credit to our values. Channeling passions that cannot be repressed toward socially productive ends is the genius of the American way. The alternative is the tapped foot and the wide stance.
Also, please tone down the abortion extremism. Supporting so-called partial-birth abortions, as too many liberals do, is abortion extremism. But so is opposing abortion in cases of rape and incest, to say nothing of the life of the mother. Democrats did better with a president who wanted abortion to be “safe, legal and rare”; Republicans would have done better by adopting former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’s call for a “truce” on social issues.
[........]
Which reminds me: Can we, as the GOP base, demand an IQ exam as well as a test of basic knowledge from our congressional and presidential candidates? This is not a flippant suggestion: There were at least five Senate seats in this election cycle that might have been occupied by a Republican come January had not the invincible stupidity of the candidate stood in the way.
On the subject of idiocy, can someone explain where’s the political gold in demonizing Latin American immigrants? California’s Prop 187, passed in 1994, helped destroy the GOP in a once-reliable state. Yet Republicans have been trying to replicate that fiasco on a national scale ever since.
If the argument is that illegal immigrants are overtaxing the welfare state, then that’s an argument for paring back the welfare state, not deporting 12 million people. If the argument is that these immigrants “steal” jobs, then that’s an argument by someone who either doesn’t understand the free market or aspires for his children to become busboys and chambermaids.
And if the argument is that these immigrants don’t share our values, then religiosity, hard work, personal stoicism and the sense of family obligation expressed through billions of dollars in remittances aren’t American values.
Here’s another suggestion: Running for president should be undertaken only by those with a reasonable chance of winning a general election. It should not be seen as an opportunity to redeem a political reputation or audition for a gig on Fox News. Mitt Romney won the nomination for the simple reason that every other contender was utterly beyond the pale of national acceptability, except Michele Bachmann.
[.........]
Though conservatives put themselves through the paces of trying to like Mr. Romney, he was never a natural standard bearer for the GOP. He was, instead, a consensus politician in the mold of Jerry Ford and George H.W. Bush; a technocrat who loved to “wallow in data”; a plutocrat with a fatal touch of class guilt. His campaign was a study in missed opportunities, punctuated by 90 brilliant minutes in Denver. Like a certain Massachusetts governor who preceded him, he staked his presidential claims on “competence.” But Americans want inspiration from their presidents.
Mr. Romney was never likely to deliver on that score. And though I have my anxieties about the president’s next term, I also have a hunch the GOP dodged a bullet with Mr. Romney’s loss.
It dodged a bullet because a Romney victory would have obscured deeper trends in American politics the GOP must take into account. A Romney administration would also have been politically cautious and ideologically defensive in a way that rarely serves the party well.
Finally, the GOP dodged ownership of the second great recession, which will inevitably hit when the Federal Reserve can no longer float the economy in pools of free money. When that happens, Barack Obama won’t have George W. Bush to kick around.
So get a grip, Republicans: Our republican experiment in self-government didn’t die last week. But a useful message has been sent to a party that spent too much of the past four years listening intently to echoes of itself. Change the channel for a little while.
Read the rest- Earth to GOP: Get a Grip
Tags: Bret Stephens
It seems that Mr. Stephens does not understand that the push for same-sex marriage is not about the homosexually-inclined “leading conventionally bourgeois lives,” but about destruction of the First Amendment protections of free speech and freedom of religion; the destruction of the concept of objective fact; and the reinvention of sex and sex roles, under the compulsion of law, according to the most crackpot wishful-thinking narratives of the far left.
If Stephens wishes to reward the gay lobby for the social destruction it has already wrought out of all proportion to its numbers, he should recognize that the concessions he wishes to extend to it can and should be adequately met by domestic-partnership laws, not by furthering the invention of same-sex marriage.
Great article. I think the GOP needs message discipline. Train our candidates not to stray off message or fall for gotcha questions.
And while we’re at it, lets demand I.Q. tests for the electorate too.
Anything below 120 and you’re disqualified.
this is ground control to Major Tom…
Yes, the GOP, if it is to survive, has to learn to craft its message better and ensure that its candidates stay on message. But for all the talk of IQ tests, or soft-peddling social issues, any candidate that the GOP runs—any conservative candidate, whether GOP or not—will be attacked on that basis alone. And any such candidate will be immediately characterized as “anti-science,” as a “Bible thumper,” or “opposed to gay rights” if s/he expresses a sincere belief in God, admits to actually being guided by his or her faith, or contradicts, in any way, the gay lobby’s wish list of the moment.
It is better to recognize that truth at the outset, and then to learn counter-arguments (against the unlikely event that one will get the opportunity to present them), and to craft language describing conservative positions which are different from the Leftist buzzwords by which these positions are currently defined. Ceding definition of issues to the Left’s linguistic construction means that any conservative candidate begins any race playing catch-up.
the author lost me when he said that M Bachmann has national acceptability, where here my dumbass self is repulsed with her brain dead, socon misery she wants to inflict on the rest of us…she’s a lunatic
Excellent article.
The economical plunge we are about to experience will hopefully bring most Americans to a realization we need a visionary that will salvage what will be the (D)’s and America’s worst 8 years.
maybe the message should not advance any further than presidential obligations…the economy and national security/global interests…that’s it folks
heysoos wrote:
Bachmann is what we need to get away from. Her, Santorum and Huckabee are perfect strawmen for the Left.
heysoos wrote:
Agreed, that would be very simple.
heysoos wrote:
She’s no worse than anyone on the opposite side of the aisle. How is she any less sane than Pelosi, Waxman or Wasserman-Schultz?
I agree, dump the social-con bit , but on fiscal issues & responsibility this woman is one of the smartest in the room.
Rodan wrote:
You’re saying that Bachmann is stomach-turner overdrive?
heysoos wrote:
That would really be great, but we all know the left would never give up on a conservative until they have denied Christ and Christianity and thrown Israel under the bus three times on the public stage. Then they’d move on to the anti-science/global warming meme!
Rodan wrote:
yup, they are oblivious to the damage their sermons do
@ Storagemanager:
But Republicans want a police state! I swear Jon Stewart told me!
////
Storagemanager wrote:
Remember when the left claimed Bush created DoHS as a new SS to enslave us all & put us into camps? Remember when they thought after Obama was elected like Gitmo, he’d shut it down?
Good times, good times.
@ heysoos:
Unfortunately you and I are in the minority on this.
@ John Difool:
GMTA! See my #17!
John Difool wrote:
to bad she wasted herself against a wall of independent thinkers…POTUS transcends all these socon issues…she appeals to some and turns off as many or more…serving the feds does not, in my mind, concern abortion, gay rights, or rights of trees and mammals
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
heh…a colorful way to put it, but yes
Rodan wrote:
I dunno, with these new developments maybe it wasn’t such a good idea signing all those seceding from the union petitions today over at whitehouse.gov & then posting one to Facebook.
@ heysoos:
The funniest stunt Bachmann did was when Obama gave his state of the Union speech in 2011, Paul Ryan gave the official Republican response. Then Bachmann then gave the Tea Party response. I was like, who elected her the leader of the tea party? I don’t recall voting.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
Over drive!
heysoos wrote:
How can that be true when they regulate/push all the above!
heysoos wrote:
In that, you are correct—but the federal government very much has its fingers in those pies, and any candidate for federal office will have to deal with them, if only to say that they should be left to be dealt with at the state level.
That said, there has to be pushback on so-called socon issues at the state level, or the field will be abandoned to the Left, to the larger detriment of society.
I’m an atheist…but I will stand at the door of the nearest cathedral with my ax handle in hand when the feds come calling mandating what the CC will or will not due….I propose separation of church and state to the extreme….if some church wants to play politics, tax them…if they want to be left alone, I’ll stand with them…my believe does not trump others….and btw, I hate the feds
heysoos wrote:
I agree on the soc-con bit & her being too toxic & too Tracy Flickish. She really lost me when she compared Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan to 666 crazy eyes and all.
But on fiscal stuff she really knows her shit & who are we to say how the folks in Minnesota should vote if that’s who they want as a Rep?
With that said, that’s where she should stay, as a rep.
I would love for the conservatives politicians to say “State Issue, next question” and let it be at that.
heysoos wrote:
As long as he’s not a major Uncle Tom…
@ 6 heysoos:I interpreted him as saying she was the only one not considered in any category.
@ 13 Storagemanager: And the actor from Homeland sent OBama a DVD set of the series with a note from one muslim to another muslim.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I see almost everything in black and white, but I understand the shades of gray…if folks at the state level overwhelm some notion, then we have to live with it, but it works both ways…if your sex life may require abortion then you’d better be living in a state that accommodates you…I just feel that voters fight harder for their beliefs at the state level, where they might see real results in their favor….there has to be some space where people like me just want to be left alone
Tanker wrote:
Message discipline is the key.
@ 30 Tanker: I think strategically that is a good thing for conservatives to attune to on socon issues. Move it to the states or to the school boards and stay away from it on the national stage. Focus on jobs and foreign policy and trade.
Rodan wrote:
Discipline and focus. And knowing to keep ones ignorant mouth shut on rape/abortion questions.
Tanker wrote:
Amen brotha!
heysoos wrote:
I agree totally with your statement. Next question, now do we get the Federal Judges out of the equation once the state has decided?
heysoos wrote:
Bachmann is a self parodying joke.
Nice losers
Rodan wrote:
Huckabee should have convinced his buddy Todd Akin to “take one for the team” and withdraw.
heysoos wrote:
I appreciate and agree with the wish to be left alone; the problem I am pointing out is that if certain issues are not engaged, then the entire issue is under the control of the Left, alone—and that is unacceptable.
I have argued here strenuously—and will continue to argue—that the acceptance/legalization of same-sex marriage is a disaster for the First Amendment and various other aspects of liberty. I say this as someone who, back at Yertle’s place, once argued in favor of it. I am not opposed to domestic partnership protections—indeed, I support them—but the marriage push is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and needs to be understood as such. If someone decides that makes me a “socon”—a term I do not accept—then so be it.
Rodan wrote:
That really was almost like a Saturday Night Live skit.
Tanker wrote:
fire them, by the dozens if necessary….we are talking survival as a nation here….people are gonna get burned, so be it
@ Rodan:
We could use a good rebranding campaign as well, but the current “leadership” doesn’t inspire me much.
John Difool wrote:
She lost me with her “Gardasil causes mental retardation -- some woman told me so” bull shit which she refused to walk back.
@ Speranza:
Charles Johnson when he was still rational back in 08 called Huckabee a Leftist. He just hides his Progressive economic ideas by using red meat that Conservative seat up.
darkwords wrote:
That show is so absurd.
@ Speranza:
She was Romney’s attack dog against Perry.
Speranza wrote:
but NOOOO!…he has to pound out his lunacy for the left to feast on…he’s a self absorbed idiot
Bumr50 wrote:
I agree, they are not serious about change. But the problem is not just the leadership. Many Republicans like the way things are with the party.
heysoos wrote:
Federal judges serve for life. They cannot be “fired”; they can only removed from office by impeachment—and it is not an impeachable offense to make an overbroad ruling.
darkwords wrote:
If we had any chance of winning this year it was with Mitt Romney.
heysoos wrote:
Clinton did that with all judges when he took office (his right to do). Bush fired 7 and all hell broke out! I wish it was so easy!
Rodan wrote:
He is a wealthy rich guy who uses his Bible to hide his statism.
Rodan wrote:
Yes she was. I noticed she never once criticized Mitt Romney.
Tanker wrote:
No. Those were not judges. Those were federal prosecutors.
@ buzzsawmonkey: All the pro gay marriage ads here in state stated 2 people who love each other should be married. I am wondering how they settled on the number two where their is a large in state contingent or polyamorous 3′s. Why did pro gay marriage people exclude the 3′s? Because they think 2 is the divine number? How do they know that?
Tanker wrote:
Never mind ,I mixed up judges and prosecutors!
Speranza wrote:
I hope Todd Akin is happy right now. It was all about him after all & not putting the brakes on Barry’s socialist agenda & potential two new SCOTUS picks.
I’m not a very religious person but if there is indeed a hell, I hope he gets to spend a little time there for his selfishness & hubris.
@ 55 Speranza: I agree but he was too nice and the ads came too late. A Romney presidency would have stabilized the future of the country. Plenty of time to adapt to the new electorate. The defeat will make the adaptation faster.
heysoos wrote:
In a nutshell,the Huckabee/Akin/Mourdock fiasco symbolized the ineptitude of Republican campaigns the past couple of years.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
agreed…it’s their problem not mine…I want everybody to be happy, but just because you aren’t don’t come crying to me…put it to the voters and find out just who your friends are…and I use socon very loosely, just to move ahead…maybe I should be busted for not being more specific
Obama to open fiscal talks with plan to raise $1.6T in tax revenue from rich
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I thought the POTUS could fire them…my bad
I think socon work is better done from the grassroots up. It’s an educational process. friend to friend talking about actual values.
@ Guggi:
Cutting spending is a better idea; but that ain’t going to happen. Not with this bunch.
Charles Johnson was not rational in 08. That die had already been cast earlier. You just weren’t paying attention.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
they all look the same to me…I never claimed to know what I’m talking about
heysoos wrote:
I just want to be left alone and I am tired of wasting our time on issues that have already been settled. Forty years this coming January after Roe v. Wade was settled (and prior to Roe, 41 out of 50 states had some sort of liberalized abortion law) there are still folks seeking the impossible i.e. criminalizing an established procedure and who have “abortion repeal” as their number 1 obsession.
@ 67 heysoos: WE treat judges too well in this country. A lot of them start to think they are above the law and forget the little peon.
Mike C. wrote:
No he was still rational but the signs were there that things were changing.
Exhibit one was the “Creationism” obsession.
Israel made me beat my wife.
@ Mike C.:
Anybody who read the archives of 1.0, as I did, knew he was a liberal from the get to. His epiphany that led people to believe he was a conservative was his backing of Bush and the WoT. That’s about it to the Right he ever moved.
darkwords wrote:
Socon work needs to be done via persuasion not political coercion.
Moe Katz wrote:
Dem Joooos!
darkwords wrote:
A good idea. I know I changed the minds of a few co-workers this cycle
Speranza wrote:
there you have it…in these dire times, if this issue divides your base, you’re out of the running, done….there is a huge difference between protecting the party or obsessing over some matter already settled
darkwords wrote:
You will note that I do not use the term “gay marriage”; I use the term same-sex marriage, which is accurate. Nor do I use “gay” unless I am talking about the political lobbying effort.
“Gay” is a 19th century slang term that originally encompassed whores, theater people, artists/bohemians (i.e., “hipsters,” 19th-century style), drug addicts, and the homosexually-inclined. These were all part of what was then called “the gay life” or “the life,” which distinguished them from “respectable society.” “Gay” had narrowed to refer primarily to the homosexual subculture by the mid-1930s, but prostitutes still refer to themselves as being “in the life” (much as police refer to themselves as being “on the job”), and the gay-news program PBS used to run was called “In the Life.”
There is no scientific definition of “gay” or “homosexual”—and the parameters of who or what is included under this umbrella expands or contracts by the community itself according to what it perceives as political advantage.
@ John Difool:
He is, he’s now a Martyr in his mind.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
You’re damn right they won’t. In fact they’ll just keep spending more & growing government. That train will never stop.
I laugh at the “fiscal cliff” fearmongering from the left since we’ll be revisiting this issue at least every six months as long as the socialists are allowed to remain in power.
darkwords wrote:
I agree that he sat on his hands too long. A Romney victory (along with a repeal of Obamacare) would’ve encouraged businesses to start hiring again.
Mike C. wrote:
I meant in one of his few rational moments. He played everyone for a sucker with his Conservative act.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
And in the extremely rare event that one is impeached, he just runs for Congress as a Democrat.
Rodan wrote:
He is a fool with saw dust between his ears. He can go to hell.
darkwords wrote:
I was warning people about Romney not fighting back in June, July and August. Those 3 months cost Romney the election.
@ lobo91:
Like Alcee Hastings!
lobo91 wrote:
he shoots…he scores!
Rodan wrote:
That you did and I thought you were being a bit of an alarmist and that the Mitt Romney people knew what they were doing but deep inside I feared that you were right and you were.
Rodan wrote:
Yea, except most religious martyrs didn’t get to continue on living like he will.
What he did was martyr us, not himself.
@ Speranza:
Plus I did not express it on the blog, but when Sandy hit I told people personally Romney lost it. Chris Christie got Obama re-elected.
@ Speranza:
That comment just changed before me very eyes.
John Difool wrote:
He also made Claire McCaskill one happy woman.
@ John Difool:
Yet he will be viewed as a hero by some Republicans. There is an element in the GOP that loves the purity of defeat.
Rodan wrote:
I thought that was an exaggeration but again, you were right.
Speranza wrote:
Akin smothered the Constitution in it’s crib.
Rodan wrote:
It really is a sickness. Show me a noble loser and I will show you a loser.
Rodan wrote:
Yes, that was who I had in mind.
John Difool wrote:
I hold him and his “handler” Mike Shmuckabee responsible.
Rodan wrote:
There is a part of me that actually believes this guy was a false-flag operative & got a bag of loot for what he did.
Rodan wrote:
I get a headache trying to think this through…bottom line…if Christie makes out with BO and it cost Mit the election, then I don’t want those voters…it’s beyond the pale
@ Speranza:
I just didn’t express it on the blog to not demoralize people. But once I saw the photo ops from Christie, I knew the election was lost. FYI- Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen also said that sealed Obama the election.
What too many Conservatives didn’t grasp, people wanted to vote for Obama. He’s a cultural icon and voters wanted an excuse to support him.
John Difool wrote:
Yep, and now you’re on Обама’s list…. 8)
@ John Difool:
I feel that Santorum, Angle and O’Donut were all false flaggers. I suspect many Republicans are false flag operatives.
Storagemanager wrote:
Building the new American police state one E.O. at a time.
Frog.
Water.
Heat.
We Are So Screwed.
@ lobo91:
Hey if you are a Democrat, you could be in the Mayo clinic and get re-elected!
Rodan wrote:
There’s a Hellman’s joke in there somewhere, what with the mayo and all…
@ buzzsawmonkey:
What dems get away with!
@ heysoos:
Obama just has a hold on people. The American people love the man. It’s just a sad fact.
Macker wrote:
My gist is on his list…because my gist, my gist is on his list…..because my gist is on his list….for the best things in liiiii-eee-iiiiife
@ Speranza:
Sorry, but no. The wheels started coming off that cart back in 2006, no question about it.
Rodan wrote:
No. The American people love the Dear Leader image they have been fed for five years by a treasonous press.
They know nothing about the man, or his actions, or his administration, or the effects his actions will have on them.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
That’s what I meant. They do not know the real Obama. JUst this image of some semi-divine cool hip Black guy.
@ Mike C.:
Yup 2006 was when the mask started slipping.
Rodan wrote:
What I had to laugh at is when Jesse Jackson came out and said blacks deserved a return on their investment from Obama because they stood so long in line to vote to put him back into office or something….
Then on the very same day news broke the DoJ is actively working on throwing Jr. into prison.
Who says Barry doesn’t have a sense of humor?
@ John Difool:
If they lived in Philly or Cleveland, it doesn’t sound like they needed to bother standing in line. Their votes would have been counted for Obama anyway.
John Difool wrote:
Evvabuddy in Cleveland got Obamaphone™!
…and evvabuddy in Ohio gettin’ their welfare benefits cut back, now that Obama no longer needs their votes.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Historically, people love to be told what to do and what to think while worshiping & bowing down to a king or a despot.
Through recorded history Democracy has been the exception not the rule.
Rodan wrote:
Check my new thread in pending.
Mike C. wrote:
Wrong. Some of that crowd that wound up on your blog were a bit how shall I say -- wired.
heysoos wrote:
We are parking our cars in the same garage.
@ Speranza:
Great article!
Rodan wrote:
It sure is.
Yeah…go right ahead and sign those petitions on the White House website…
@ heysoos:
Bachmann was fine when she organized the rallies against the passage of Obamacare. They were good, they were impromptu and she was able to get the troops motivated. She rode the TEA Party wave when then new Congress critters arrived in 2011 and started a caucus. Her real problem is that she would have mainstream appeal, which she wouldn’t. She should have stayed the face of repealing Obamacare, reductions in spending and keeping taxes low. Instead she had delusions of grandeur and found out she was seriously not ready for prime time.
Speranza wrote:
well, that’s an army of two
Uh oh….
POLICE FIND PAULA BROADWELLS DRIVER LICENSE IN D.C. PARK
50 Shades of Vince Foster….
Tanker wrote:
Return control of the U.S. Senate back to the States by repealing the 17th Amendment. This would put the States in charge of the conformation process. This was one of the original checks against Federal power that the Founders had put in place and the Progressives’ had to remove so they could expand their own power over the States.
@ lobo91:
If it was something posted derogatory about Republicans & their followers not a peep would’ve been heard.
As for me, I’m not living in fear dude, I look forward to being put on Jarrett’s enemies list.
Assuming I & present company included haven’t already been put on that list long ago, that is.
@ John Difool:
WTF?
Sounds like her sister isn’t the only crazy one in the family…
@ heysoos:
I found it amusing that the bozos running Cumulus Broadcasting somehow thought they would unseat Rush Limbaugh with Huckabee in his time slot.
Wonder how much money they’ve lost. Huckabee is marginally bareable for one hour on Fox TV -- three hours on radio -- dreadful.
@ lobo91:
It looks as though Stan won, but in the end, he won’t.
Carolina Girl wrote:
politicians don’t understand their limits, and where they best serve…HC is a prime example of a person that should have stayed in the Senate…she wouldn’t listen to me tho…serving the public is their veil of conceit….the opposite is more true in that they are served….the whole gig is upside down and we worship these assholes that cut our throats…I hate the feds…now look at us
@ buzzsawmonkey:
Yep -- he fired every single U.S. Attorney.
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
thanks for that…I didn’t know
Carolina Girl wrote:
Which was absolutely within his authority to do.
As it was when Bush fired 7 of them.
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
It wouldn’t really put the states in charge of confirmation; the Senate still would do that. What it would do is make the Senators, once again, the representatives of the state governments, as they were supposed to be, by having the Senators selected by their state governments, not by popular vote.
lobo91 wrote:
This woman got consulate plates for her car & was made an honorary consul member or general or whatever the hell it is.
No way she wasn’t fucking Petraues or Allen or both of ‘em.
And now Broadwell’s drivers license was found in a D.C. park.
Wonder if she dropped it meeting a Russian agent? Or perhaps it’s a set-up?
John Difool wrote:
They turned to her for consul-ation…
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
@ buzzsawmonkey:
Wait, was this woman actual expecting consul protection from the Obama administration because her home was now an embassy?
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHahHaHaHaHa, boy is she a hoot.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
The States would have an indirect influence on the confirmation process through their choices of Senators. It’s a complex topic that really can’t be summarized in just two or three sentences.
It really needs a book just to get started down the right path…
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Can’t wait for the new series to hit HBO next year…..Sex & The Citadel
@ heysoos:
Yep -- and she doesn’t get that resigning as Secy of State takes her completely off the public stage. Obama has absolutely no use for either one of them and you watch -- he will spend the next four years working overtime to destroy them politically. He’s got the Presidency for four years -- he’ll move what he can but in 2016 he’s off to the $20,000,000 estate in Hawaii to live off his pension, get his Secret Service protection and not give a shit about the country.
@ lobo91:
Yes it was -- and I believe Congress hauled Gonzales up to the Hill to answer for it.
John Difool wrote:
Ha!
@ John Difool:
An “honorary consul general” has roughly the same powers that kids used to get when airlines gave them those plastic pilot wings back in the day.
Moe Katz wrote:
Oh c’mmon, commenters at the WaPo are now claiming the Petraeus/Allen/Kelly/Broadwell scandal was set up by Nethanyahu and the Mossad. Such comments get the highest ranking. Not kidding you.
Carolina Girl wrote:
Doesn’t matter, Obama neutered her back in ’08 & I don’t think she has any spirit in her left for any kind of fight.
In fact, I think it drove her into being a raging alcoholic & she just want’s to retire back to her digs & hit the bottles.
heysoos wrote:
I believe the governor nominated the senators, and the state legislatures voted to confirm them.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Yup.
Carolina Girl wrote:
Bush caved on the firing of the U.S. attorneys even though it was standard practice & offered up Gonzalez as a sacrificial lamb to appease the Democrats.
That was when I lost all respect for him.
Carolina Girl wrote:
you sound almost as jaded as me…I don’t give anyone inside the Beltway a break…the presidency is being used as a pulpit of popularity, partying and the bastion of liberalism…it’s sickening to see so many Americans fall for this celebrity politics…I blame everybody equally….liberals by their action and conservatives by their omission and enabling…they all suck
It would be good to go back to state selection of Senators instead of popular vote; I think it would hold the Senators to a higher standard.
lobo91 wrote:
Yea but don’t tell her that, she probably had to let a certain someone or someones stick it in places that it’s not normally supposed to go just to get those plates.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
In some states, anyway.
I doubt that it would make any difference in, say, California.
lobo91 wrote:
I think there’s an “enhanced” status when you have big casabas.
@ John Difool:
heysoos wrote:
The way some of these judicially activist decisions read, they damn near ARE prosecutors!
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Or in some States the Governor could appoint someone without the state legislatures’ vote to confirm them. As is done now to fill a vacant seat until the next election.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
It would also give the States more input as to what is happening in DC Town.
@ lobo91:
And now it’s being reported that Jill Kelley’s cray-cray sister once was hot & heavy with Charlie Crist.
This story is putting out just as good as all these women combined.
@ song_and_dance_man:
And Rathergate made him famous -- except he didn’t do shit in that, as we’ve later found out.
John Difool wrote:
John Difool wrote:
we’re gonna need a chalkboard by tomorrow
John Difool wrote:
I say we round up everyone involved and deport them.
Maybe to France.
lobo91 wrote:
waterboard them for the details first…I smell a sitcom here
@ heysoos:
It would have to be a sitcom.
Nobody would believe a movie with a plot like this.
@ heysoos:
@ lobo91:
There were quite a few rumors floating around a few years back that Crist was fond of dressing in drag & going to underground gay bars & liked to be penetrated with objects.
If anyone would know & would spill the beans it would be these two sisters. You just know they’re going to get their own reality t.v. shows after this is all over with.
Rodan wrote:
Now the other side is complaining he was too mean and negative. So being more mean and negative would have worked against obama?
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
Back in the Progressive Era, when cities were smaller and there were more individually-owned farms, there were both urban and rural machines. Hard to believe now, but in some states rural political machines dominated the statehouses, to the detriment of the cities. The popular election of Senators was supposed to be a blow against machine dominance.
At this point, however, the population of a state’s major urban center can dominate the popular vote; returning selection of Senators to the statehouse would go a long ways towards getting the process in balance again.
Speranza wrote:
Oh but if obama lost and threw a hissy fit all would be condemning obama for not being a noble loser.
lobo91 wrote:
right, the BO admin is becoming a parody of itself…they already have the cameos down
John Difool wrote:
Miss Khawam once dated Charlie Crist, the state’s former governor, a Republican source said, while Pam Bondi, its Attorney General and a close ally of Mitt Romney, attended a function at Mrs Kelley’s home.
Rodan wrote:
That there is the truth for once without the finger pointing. 1/2 the American people cannot see obama for what he is. How do you beat that? You can say this or that about Romney but this here what you wrote is what got obama re-elected.
lobo91 wrote:
Broadwell’s drivers license was found in Rock Creek Park. The same park where Chandra Levy’s remains were found.
It’s as if Tom Clancy, John Grisham & Jackie Collins all teamed up to write a novel.
@ John Difool:
Wouldn’t surprise me. I’d feel sorry for her, being married to that sexual pig, Bill Clinton, except that she was a complete enabler and dragged these women through the briar patch (or sent her surrogates to do it) and ruined them in order to further her political gains. I hope the rest of her life is lived as miserably as possible. Personally, I’d love to see BJ Billy ask her for a divorce so he can chase 24 year old poontang.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Excatly they voted for a mirage the press painted.
@ Lily:
If you can find a way to make Sarah Palin the villian, HBO will make it a movie of the week.
almost overnight, the mighty CIA has become a laughingstock, complete with dead people, sex and the greed for power….I’m sure our foreign assets are thrilled….unbelievable damage to our intel community…what’s next?
lobo91 wrote:
Excatly.
Carolina Girl wrote:
Why would she do that when he could drag some of that poontang back home to her.
Carolina Girl wrote:
Get Aaron Sorkin to write it.
@ John Difool:
Is she missing?
@ Lily:
Yes, that is the only way to win. Romney never tried to destroy the Obama man-god image. He came close a few times, but backed away.
heysoos wrote:
The CIA has always been a laughingstock.
The world would be a very different place if they could actually do 1/10th of the stuff books and movies show them doing.
John Difool wrote:
One shouldn’t call people who don’t sign it *living in fear*. Watching and waiting is purdent for many reasons.
John Difool wrote:
my thoughts too…srsly
heysoos wrote:
Bread & circuses, smoke & mirrors, dog & pony show, kabuki theater…..anything to deflect from the real scandal of 22 embassies burning and 4 people needlessly & senselessly dying.
@ Lily:
Romney should have went after Obama the person. But part of me thinks Obama is just politically invincible and Americans just love him.
Speranza wrote:
According to exit polls conducted by the Pew Forum, that wasn’t the case. Romney failed to make any gains among the demographic. In fact, 21% of Mormons voted for Barack Obama and only 78% voted Romney.
Beating up on all others using the Obama win is counter productive
@ Lily:
I see no point in raising my hand and jumping up and down in front of them.
Lily wrote:
Every movement, every revolution has to have it’s sacrificial lambs & martyrs to kick things off.
You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.
I offer myself up as one of those eggs. I’m not living on my knees.
John Difool wrote:
New TV reality show. Real Penatratresesses of Miami.
@ John Difool:
There’s truth to that.
Carolina Girl wrote:
Excatly! OMG she didn’t abort her baby because he wasn’t PERFECT!
OMG…she wears her hair up!!
/it was insane.
heysoos wrote:
That was a given with obama at the helm for 4 years..you think he kept our secrets from the enemy…LOL!
huckfunn wrote:
Keeping Up With Kelldashians
Rodan wrote:
Obama—and his backing and handlers—have been carefully constructed over several decades. People joked, before, about “the Manchurian candidate”; well, he may not have been built in Manchuria, but he is as much a construct as Laurence Harvey was in the film. That does not make him invincible; but it means that those who go up against him on a catch-as-catch-can basis, as any of the Republicans would have done, meant they were up against a machine that was already in place for defense in depth.
Romney, having planned his run for so long, was probably the closest to a match for Obama’s backers—but even he did not realize what he was up against, was not prepared to do what was necessary to combat it had he realized it, and was hampered by not only his own decency, naivete, and ignorance, but by being undercut by his supposed allies.
Rodan wrote:
I honestly don’t know with the media in the bag for obama that could have been done. But I’m not going to say you are wrong. My point is 1/2 the people in the United States didn’t know and didn’t want to know the mirage the media put up about obama. What’s done is done.
I have said before, and will say again: if you want to know what Obama is, read the second half of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, where the narrator is built up by “the Brotherhood” (the Communist Party) into a community organizer/racial spokesman.
The Brotherhood builds up hope in the community, then pulls the narrator out in a way that sparks a race riot. The narrator, realizing he’s been used, pulls out of the situation. Life does not mirror art exactly; Obama, unlike Ellison’s narrator, is a willing tool who either does not believe he’s being used or does not care as long as he gets his. But the creation of a bogus leader and the creation of division and discord are Obama all the way.
Rodan wrote:
You know Rodan that is a very nice answer to me and I honestly think you are right here. I’m sorry for being hostile at times I sometimes see things differently than you and that doesn’t make me right all right all the time and often I’m not. I am only showing the other side of what you see. Doesn’t mean I’m against everything you say. One thing is I don’t want to see our side the mirror image of the other side. I am truly disappointed that the American people voted in a liar, a murderer, anti-American president….
@ buzzsawmonkey:
I agree, Obama is an invention.
30 States Petition Federal Government to Secede After Election
@ Lily:
You are not alone. He really got away with so much that it boggles my mind.
I never took it that way. I just was warning people we were dealing with a political freak of nature.
John Difool wrote:
And you think I am??? For one you lie in wait of your enemy and not throw yourself in front of his army and get shot down immediatly does nothing to defeat your enemy you out-think your enemy and you make sure he doesn’t know you are his enemy. Purdent thinking.
Carolina Girl wrote:
Or Monica Lewinsky?
@ Rodan:
There in a nutshell is the truth…political freak of nature that has been groomed for a long time.
@ Lily:
Exactly.
Signing your name to some silly petition on the friggin’ White House website, of all places, makes about as much sense as volunteering to be one of the kids the Iranians used to clear minefields in the war with Iraq.
The problem is not Obama. The problem is so many people feel like this regarding the Union of 50 States
lobo91 wrote:
I take this as a compliment coming from someone who was in the military.
Rodan wrote:
That may be, but she’s the only one so far leading the charge on the MASSIVE infiltration (yeah my ass, they were welcomed with open arms) of the muslim brotherhood in this administration.
We need people willing to call this crap out get someone else doing it and she can go away.
I say Boehner and miss lindsay are the real problem.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
http://www.wnd.com/2012/09/1979-article-ties-obamas-real-father-to-saudi-financier/
There was a link on here the other day that had a great list of O’s connections and how it wasn’t coincidental. But, I can’t find it again.
@ Lily:
That’s not how Independence in this country started to begin with. It started when the British massacred on folks who were peacefully protesting.
Even after that it was the three percenters who actively engaged in sedition. It was the three percenters who met the British out on the field of battle.
While the rest of the population either were indifferent or supported the crown during the war it was the three percenters who the British surrendered to at Yorktown. It was the three percenters who gave us a Constitution & a United States of America.
I plan on being a three percenter and not a ninety-seven percenter.
I understand your ire & concern but keep in mind, if there is indeed an enemies list out there you & I are probably already on it for the dissent we’ve posted on this or any other right-wing blog, Facebook or Twitter.
I doubt you have to go to whitehouse.gov to sign some silly petition to get on their radar & jotted down on a list anymore. We’ve probably been on J-Nap & Jarrett’s enemies list for three years running already.
waldensianspirit wrote:
Well Harry Reid (a Mormon) did not vote for Romney. Mormons are not monolithic.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Don’t worry, they’ll find a way to blame it on Republicans, and YT in general.
@ Mars:
Don’t even get me started on Miss Lindsey!
Rodan wrote:
I don’t know anymore. I can’t help but think he and Boehner were actually desperately hoping O would win so they could start with that “bipartisan” nonsense again. God knows they wasted enough time the last couple years so they didn’t actually have to take a position on anything.
Rodan wrote:
Lately, Linseed has started to look like someone just hit him with some smelling salts vis-a-vis the Benghazi scandal but I’m sure he has a lot more let-down left in him.
lobo91 wrote:
As incompetent as this administration is whitehouse.gov is probably the one place they’re actually not looking.
@ John Difool:
There is that…
John Difool wrote:
That would be par for the course
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
We need a Constitutional amendment permitting recall elections to fire ANYBODY employed by the federal government, whether they were elected to that office or not. The effect of the recall election should be solely to put that person out of his or her job.
As a practical matter, nobody will bother launching a recall election except to get rid of the biggest fish, but there should be no exceptions.
This could be used to get rid of crooks, crazies, and tyrants of every stripe, from POTUS and SCOTUS to generals/admirals to regulatory agency heads to cabinet members to senators/congressmen who have enraged their constituents -- you name it. In the latter cases, though, the recall election should be limited to their own state or district.
John Difool wrote:
He gets his marching orders from John McCain so you can count on it.
1389AD wrote:
Recall elections were one of the things put into place by the Progressives one hundred years ago in the states where they were powerful. You will recollect the huge disruption in Wisconsin earlier this year when the Left attempted to recall Governor Walker. That effort fortunately failed, but at great cost to the functioning of the state.
Recall elections—do-overs—are a huge disruption, and a two-edged sword which can cut either way depending on the mood of the mob. The just-concluded presidential election should give anyone pause about the notion of inserting a new quick fix that tinkers with the electoral machinery. Quick fixes are always a disaster in the end; we have been talking here, somewhat, about the error that another Progressive quick fix, the popular election of Senators, has been. There is no substitute for an involved and informed electorate; no quick fix patch can compensate for the lack of it.
@ Rodan: I couldn’t agree more, Rodan.
When Santorum really gets rolling, he goes into these screeds about bestiality and paedophilia. He is so vocal about it that he comes across as a self-denying closet case. Another Roy Cohn or Terry Doland. In short, methinks the laddie doth protest too much.
Huckabee seems no more or no less than a televangalist on a public-access cable channel.