The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 5 of 13)

p> Fix it? First, the GOP has to get some backbone, something that has never been easy for them to do when the Democrats start "yelling" at them. Their backbones turn to jelly. Second, someone needs to tell the GOP they're the MAJORITY party. Third, those members of the GOP, Hagel, Voinovich and others need to be made to pay for siding with the Democrats. Fourth, Frist is toast. I could go on, but what's the use? br> -- Ray Rinaldi br> Waymart, Pennsylvania /p>

The Republican Party (you know, the one with an ideologically consistent foundation, the office of president, and the majority of the seats in both houses of Congress) is wavering in the face of a shrill, unprincipled, and intellectually bankrupt movement that is finding it increasingly difficult to muster nationwide majority support on a single issue. I happen to believe the president's reserve and immeasurable class have restored the dignity of the office and, in spite of the rubbish spewed from tired, old, envious cultures elsewhere, the seriousness with which the rest of the world regards what we see as our interests. I have sympathized with his desire to avoid the more public forms of partisanship leaving that to those whose positions are more suited to the work. However, I think there comes a time when the general has to ride into the fray, rally the troops, reform the line, and press the natural advantage of having a clear leader at the head of a relatively well-organized political force.

I realize that we are a nation at war, that the price of gas is staying persistently high, and that there may exist exigent matters about which I and the rest of the public know nothing. However, very little of that will matter if a weak and demoralized opposition with the assistance of our less presentable members (if-you-know-what-I-mean-and-I-think-you-do) is able to regain the initiative by boldly and very publicly blocking the president's nominations to the UN and the various judicial benches and, using the resulting momentum, stymieing all other Republican initiatives until they themselves regain power. There is only one person who can, individually, apply more heat to the opposition than the entire Republican Congressional Caucus. He happens, also, to be the one individual in the party that can single-handedly make the price of dissent, however "principled," rise in proportion to its cost to the party.

I am sure the president and his advisers know how best to project the power of the office; but my spirits sink as I watch good people torn apart by rabid partisans and by the weaker spirits among us seeking to distinguish themselves by wounding their fellows hoping, pitifully, to be thought well of by those whose opinions seem to matter. I do not know the emphasis Bush places on his legacy and would not blame him for not thinking of it at all. In fact, I think that happens to fit very well with his style and temperament. Nevertheless, I do know he has a sincere vision for the country, a future that is delayed by obstruction and hyperbole generated by a know-nothing minority in a do-nothing party with a believe-nothing leadership.

p>I am confident our truths will eventually overcome the left, or rather they will be defeated by their lack of anything resembling them. Whether Bush's successor comes in a shade of red or blue, whether he is able to place a good judge or two on the Supreme Court, whether we solve the problem of Social Security in this decade or the next, conservatism will succeed. But why wait? Let us press the advantage. I believe we hold the morally superior ground right now. I know the front lines are messy and dangerous but sometimes the leader has to take the point and the peril that comes with it. br> -- Lee Franks /p> p> Let's see...three more weeks with no UN representative. I don't think anyone would notice. In which case, if Bolton is not confirmed, the white house should just leave the position empty. Then hold our payments because we don't have a representative. Sounds good to me. br> -- Glenn Diehl

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John McCain, Joe Biden, Business, Social Security, Religion, Catholicism, Law, Military, Iraq, Russia, NATO, Communism, Conservatism, Immigration