The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 2 of 12)

br> -- Jack Hughes br> Chicago, Illinois /p>

Sweet God in heaven, Quin Hillyer is just another example of the whiny right. The problem with too many conservatives is they've adopted the crybaby persona of the liberals. Since the temper tantrum over Harriet Miers conservatives have shown they can act just as juvenile as the left. It's time to suck it up and act like adults.

To reverse the "bad news," "negative polls" and BS of the left it is time for so-called Reaganite conservatives to adopt President Reagan's 11th Commandment not to speak ill of other Republicans. In a rush to prove their "independence" conservatives are trashing President Bush and Republicans with ferocity only slightly less intense than the left's. How does such knee jerk "me too" behavior prove anyone's "independence?"

There are also needs to be some historical honesty and integrity in the conservative movement. Ronald Reagan, the conservative icon, was not perfect, nor were the 1980s the lost golden age of America. President Reagan for all his conservative rhetoric and true greatness actually governed quite pragmatically. Let's not forget he granted blanket amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, raised taxes to accommodate Democrats, adopted a Democrat scheme to supposedly "fix" Social Security that merely pushed the problem off on future administrations, grew the Energy and Education Departments, appointed moderates to the Supreme Court and refused to punish terrorists when they murdered hundreds of U.S. military personnel in Lebanon.

When judging W's Presidency honestly by Reagan's real record it is amazing not only how similar they are, but how much more conservatively Bush actually governs. Maybe there is a three-fold problem in the modern conservative movement -- (1) some conservatives prefer losing to governing (it's easier being on the outside complaining than actually having to do something), (2) recognizing leadership in D.C. requires compromise and incremental victories to change the governing culture in the U.S. and (3) they can't handle the truth that Ronald Reagan was a pragmatist first and a conservative second.

The time has come to quit thinking like losers, fixating on the polls and allowing the old media to set the agenda. Republicans and conservatives need to begin accentuating the positive and when disagreeing doing so with a modicum of civility. We're winning the war in Iraq with an incredible low casualty rate (compared to all other major U.S. conflicts), the economy is the best in the last 50 years, tax rates are lower, government revenues are up, aside from defense and entitlement spending discretionary spending is flat (according to Senator Rick Santorum), tax freedom day is earlier than during the 1990s and America is still a great country.

p>Quit "b_ _ _ _ _ _g" now, because things could get a lot worse -- Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Pelosi and President Mrs. Bill Clinton. br> -- Michael Tomlinson br> Crownsville, Maryland /p>

Seems to me the problem with ethics could be helped greatly by TERM LIMITS on both houses. Two terms is good enough for the President and should be good enough for them also. Just think maybe in that short time they would do the work of the people that sent them and not have time to get into the pockets of some lobbyist.

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