Here’s my advice for the Republican Party:…
…don’t take “helpful” advice from columnists on the left about what you should or should not do.
They are, by definition, concern trolls.
And I’m not at all impressed by articles like this one about how Obama’s popularity has fallen. So what? He only needed to be popular until November 6th, 2012. And now he only needs to be more popular than the Republicans—which isn’t such a difficult feat, especially since he blames them for everything.
As long as Obama is president, he can get around the restrictions of the office to a great extent by executive actions that circumvent the legislature, and he has the bully pulpit and the undying support of the MSM (and “support” is really too weak a word for it) in this and all his other endeavors.
Obama has long-term goals, too, which are really even more important to him than the short-term ones of passing legislation. It has often been said that Obama is on a never-ending campaign, but I think it’s often misunderstood what this campaign is about. It’s not only about being re-elected, although that was certainly a top priority. It has also always been about the transformation of the electorate into a permanent Democratic-voting majority demanding of a European-style welfare state.
And he may have accomplished those goals, the culmination of a century-long campaign by the left. So I suppose I shouldn’t give Obama all the credit (that is, blame); it’s not like he did this all himself.
“. . . it’s not like [Obama] did this all himself.”
I agree. As he’s fond of saying, he didn’t build this. He’s just the crummy hood ornament of 90 years of a Gramscian trend.
For me, the only surprise is how easy it was. Give a speech about the dire need for this one time trillion dollar infusion to the economy while in reality it becomes the new budget baseline. Increase unemployment compensation from 26 weeks all the way to 99 and triple the length of time it’s doled out. No problem, no debate.
Obamacare, of course.
And now the final nail will be immigration reform.
Do any of your readers remember who it was that mentioned the Bitterroots, a couple of weeks ago? Love to hear more about them.
T: good one!
Instead of support, what about devotion?
Devotion
noun
1.
profound dedication; consecration.
2.
earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc.
3.
an assignment or appropriation to any purpose, cause, etc.: the devotion of one’s wealth and time to scientific advancement.
4.
Often, devotions. Ecclesiastical. religious observance or worship; a form of prayer or worship for special use.
eeyore: “devotion” is certainly a better word for it.
The Republican party may or may not be a lost cause. I’d like to hear some advice for “we the people” from your commenters.
Someone here, recently mentioned that they weren’t going to take medicare. With more seniors competing for fewer doctors, I’d like to know how viable of an option that could be.
And the Bitterroots.
I’m thinking of buying futures in tar and feathers.
And he may have accomplished those goals, the culmination of a century-long campaign by the left.
In a nutshell.
I think you’ve pinned down the main reason for the continuing feeling of depression among conservatives since the election. A sense of game over.
Well, he couldn’t have done it without the help of the RINOs.
Now that Boehner has declared that Obama is totally trustworthy, I went and visited my town hall and officially changed my affiliation from Republican to Independent. I’ve come full circle. Started as an Indy when I was 18, became a Dem at the ripe age of 23, then a Repub at 33, and now back to an Indy.
The Speaker’s comment this week was the final straw… we need a new party and I will happily join in if it happens.
physicsguy: well, I’ve never registered as a Republican.
And I like to think that Boehner was being cagey, and that he didn’t believe what he said. But I’m not at all sure that’s correct.
In 1788 Thomas Jefferson wrote “The natural course of things is for government to gain ground and liberty to yield.” The irony is that government grew significantly under Jefferson 1801-1809. Liberty resists, but it does yield.
At moments when I think I may go mad watching this process evolving faster and faster, I re-read a comment by Andrew Klavan:
“As with lives, so with republics. Freedom is a living thing. It dies. Conservatives are like doctors. They can only win for the moment, the day, the year, the election cycle. And no matter the victory, time only goes one way. The republic grows older every day, the people travel further from their founding values and nothing lasts forever.
There are many responses to that situation. Only one of them is wise: good cheer and defiance. Keep laughing; fight back; fear nothing. Mortality makes time too precious for despondency and death makes a fool of fear. . . .”
As a physician I had to accept the limits of medicine, even as I tried to extend those limits. Still, it was sad when a patient died.
Jim Nicholas: that’s a great quote.
But I think it’s necessary to take the long view. The very long view.
I think liberty has more phoenix-like qualities than living creatures do.
“He’s just the crummy hood ornament of 90 years of a Gramscian trend”
I so love that … and yeah, I’m so going to steal it.
To take a very long view places the deliberator in the camp of those who try and “resist the temptation to assume that the tools of the kind we now have are in principle sufficient to understand the universe as a whole.” (Thomas Nagel)
Limits. How liberating!
The RINO’s continue to expand limits unto absurdity while the tyrant in the White House continues to toss out, one by one, his limits. Maybe that is why Boehner absolutely trusts the President. They are both involved in a delimiting process.
The people are seeing a return of limits: poverty, mobility, the crowd you can feel safe in-these are some of the limits Obama has provided.
Neo,
I trust you are right about the rebirth of liberty. From a selfish perspective, as I think about my grandchildren, I hope that the cycle of rebirths is not as long as the 500 to 1000 years mentioned in most of the phoenix legends.
we have all kinds of new ways (re: not really used by us yet) ways of fighting. I think we need to adopt the left’s refusal to follow rules they don’t want to.
I hold up all the things they do to enable illegal immigration. Just do similar things for their programs (like obamacare). I’ll pay the fine (to keep the irs away) but if I can get coverage and care off the grid I’m going for it… and if it is better than what everyone else is getting… instead of being quiet about it… I’ll tell everyone so they know why they’re getting bad care….
Sgt. Mom Says:
““He’s just the crummy hood ornament of 90 years of a Gramscian trend”
I so love that … and yeah, I’m so going to steal it.”
Except that car companies put more effort into hood ornaments than other more important parts of cars. I have an old lincoln.. there are stories about the trouble they went to on the them (subbing the work out, before that was common / the norm, to get them just right)… and some of the old ones (in general; not lincoln) from the 20s and 30s are in the ‘work of art’ category.
Republikan, overthrow democracy! Says:
March 20th, 2013 at 9:01 pm
Yeah, pretty much.
There is absolutely nothing “liberal” about leftists. They are totalitarian to the core.
rickl Says:
“Yeah, pretty much”
I was going to say he was half right but didn’t want to feed the troll.
Thomass if we refuse to follow rules that we don’t want, what do we have? Who are we?
I don’t mean that we should be lambs led to the slaughter, but I do insist that we follow the rules. By follow the rules, I refer simply to the Constitution, and the laws that have been legitimately enacted. Any actions that fit within those parameters are fair game.
One thing that always bothers me is the “throwing of stones at Rinos”. This insistence on ideological purity, or nothing, is a great mistake.
Ancient civilizations learned as a lesson that we now consider a cliche, but cliches have a basis. The lesson is, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. I cite this to illustrate that anyone who opposes Statism is an ally. It matters little if they do not go as far ideologically as one would wish. Anyone who will stand with in opposition to the present trend is to be embraced. Arresting the trend is the highest priority. Reversing direction can only occur once this has been achieved. Then the degree and nature of the reversing turn can be debated.
The Conservatives who shouted Romney down with cries of Rino during the campaign, and withheld their support on election day, are culpable in the events that are occurring today. Can anyone now doubt that Romney would have been a step in the right direction? We need to take that first step, before we can contemplate the next.
Oldflyer Says:
“Thomass if we refuse to follow rules that we don’t want, what do we have? Who are we?”
Free.
I’m not saying lie about it. Just don’t comply.
It’s not there anymore, Oldflyer. Or more correctly, it’s not here, in our America, that is, enough to save the old. Because there is an America that doesn’t belong to us anymore and that America is not our America.
We have an issue that can’t be solved with the old. It requires a new. And RINO’s just aren’t part of that new. They let us down; they didn’t have the answers.
The RINO/progressive claim that compromise is required is anathema to our country’s founding and to its endurance. Compromise is built in and adherence and belief in the system is the compromise. We’ve lost a majority who believe and adhere. We’ve already lost.
Something new is on the way.
I am with Oldflyer in this discussion. In my profession most would think it malpractice to refuse the best treatment available on the grounds it was not a cure. Unfortunately, often the best treatment available simply slows the progress of an illness. But, with luck, it may even buy time while a better treatment is developed.
Let’s break the medical metapher down a little further.
In diagnosis, I think everyone wants “purity.” In treatment, we want the best we can get. Consider diagnosis as the upstream culture and treatment as politics. Truth should drive culture, or perhaps at least the search for truth. Politics is the implementation of the general truth.
It certainly is wise to politically, as utility, to have as many agreeable and effective coalitions as possible. The “perfect is the enemy of the good” meme articulates that thought.
However, the perfect is still the guide and at times “the good” does not advance or even accept the perfect as it is understood and believed by the majority. We have that now. Perhaps two majorities: the old and the new Republican Party. The new believes the old is corrupt, self-serving, and ineffective.
Why should a larger tent always be viewed as the winning strategy?
Oldflyer,
I partially agree… that’s why I supported Romney. When I refer to RINOs, it’s the likes of Boehner, Graham, McCain, Rove, etc. As far as I can see they are the enablers of the Democratic socialist agenda. And , that seems to include most of the RNC. “Enemy of my enemy” they are not.
Gay marriage is a useful illustration.
Compromising on gay marriage might seem like a good strategy. Apparently the people support gay marriage, so why oppose it?
Because gay marriage is a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of religion. As the hysterical state enforces gun laws and hate speech so will it enforce gay marriage and force Christians, Jews and all other people, who believe gay marriage is immoral and wrong, to be silent and even “celebrate” gay marriage. To even abstain from celebration will immediately mark the person (and it will usually be a powerless very young person) for “re-education.”
The Left’s power knows no bounds. Mostly due to the historical inability of many people to imagine the true nature of evil. They saw nothing. They heard nothing. Thus, they did nothing to stop evil in its tracks when it could be stopped.
The Left closely associates with “liberal” because of the libertine roots. Meaning, free from the strictures of societal morality and sexual regulation. Gun regulation, yes the Left loves. Sexual regulation, not so much. And the result is that of sex slave trafficking, immigration human trafficiking, slavery in Detroit and Chicago, and Leftist run for profit prostitution rings: Planned Parenthood run for profit abortion businesses, and college hookup rapes, both fake and real, so on and so forth.
Because the tactic of eroding sexual morality and thus creating a weapon out of sex to indoctrinate and destroy the core spines and strength of the generation meant to replace the current one, was so much a part of the Left’s creation, they have a strong fidelity to their roots. Often times to the detriment of their own short term goals.
This has no impact on their ability to create a totalitarian doctrine and enforce it, namely because totalitarian regimes often destroy religions and replace it with a cult of personality. Often times a cult of personality run on sexual attraction, favors, or punishment. Obama + Putin + Ted Kennedy + Clinton= ? What does it equal?
It = http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/0320/Steubenville-s-troubling-question-Is-rape-just-a-part-of-hook-up-culture
I suppose it can be very convenient for a ruling class to create a permanent sexual liberty in the peasants as that would make snatching playslaves easier.