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Arise!
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Re: Philip Klein's Conservatism Can Rise Again:
Mr. Klein, I have my own convictions on the matter, identity
politics, etc., but I'd like to know: why the first black
president had to be a Marxist?
-- Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas
16 years is too long to wait so your message is not very encouraging. Since speech will now be severely restricted. I think you are too optimistic. No one will be taught anything accurate about conservatism, and then they will forget it existed. What am I fighting for? If people are stupid enough to re-elect John Murtha I do not see any hope. I have a young son. I do not want him to be brainwashed by teachers and the media. How is anyone supposed to dissent and fight when information is not available to them?
Well, I hope Peggy Noonan is happy!
-- Karen Kelly
As a federal employee (this message is NOT, in any way, to be taken as representing an official government position) who has also worked at the state and local level in various capacities, it has become all too evident to me that the purpose of government has been corrupted from that envisioned in the Constitution. This is a problem with both parties, but especially so for the GOP.
Limited government should be the mainstay of any successful party wishing to be an advocate of liberty. Fiscal responsibility is a major tactic within that goal, such that it is long since time for ALL federal spending to be placed on the books, and the Executive/Legislative branches required to identify and eliminate spending which is duplicative, cannot be shown to serve a delineated purpose, or is clearly not producing the intended benefits. It would also be useful to impose a mandatory restraint on spending; no increase for the next two years and shifting of funds to priorities as determined by the budget and appropriation bills until such time as the financial crisis has been stabilized, if not solved.
This also requires federal employees to be responsible partners in this effort. I propose that pay and benefits be frozen until such time as the financial crisis is stabilized and any future increases be limited to an appropriately devised "misery index" i.e. a ratio to unemployment, inflation, student achievement on national tests, etc. If this means a freeze of several years or more, so what? Employment with an increased cost burden, given the pay and benefits available to most federal employees, is by far better than the situation faced by many of our counterparts in the private sector--the folks who actually generate the wealth which funds that compensation package.
A party that promotes both liberty and fiscal responsibility will
have a message consistent with the original republic concept--and
perhaps will provide suitable basis to draw adherents from all
spectrums.
-- John Furutani, CPA
Philip Klein writes that conservatism is not dead. I am not so sure.
During the Bush years I came to wonder whether or not I was still a conservative. Did I leave the movement, or did it leave me?
The corruption of the Tom Delay Congress reminded me of the days of Jim Wright and Dan Rostenkowski, when power is wielded for its own sake. Bush's foreign policy tilted hopelessly away from realism into what we call neo-conservatism but is more accurately understood as neo-Wilsonianism. It has been disastrous abroad and at home. The most grotesque moment of the last eight came in the Terri Schiavo case, when the US Congress, in violation of the separation of powers and the 10th amendment, intervened in a single family's most private and sacred business. Meanwhile, mean-spirited talk show hosts bash illegal immigrants who are only in the United States because we give them jobs, and gays who just happen to be born that way. Nothing about any of this reminds me in the least of the noble spirit of Ronald Reagan, for whom I worked as a college student in 1984.
Something new must rise from the ruins to counter-balance the
left. A complete reformation is needed to attract people who now
call themselves centrists.
-- Stephen Erickson
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Comments
Leave a Comment
- Michael Ledeen on Iran and Democracy
- An American Tragedy
- When the Party Was Over
jean| 11.6.08 @ 7:37AM
We, the American People have lost by this election many freedoms we have always enjoyed.Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Bear Arms.(just to name 2) Talk Radio will be shut down(example kicking reporters off plane who wrote stories the Senator did not like. The senators stance of gun control Plus America will go into a depression to rival the 1930's. America face attcks from foreign countries.
frost| 11.6.08 @ 8:22AM
Good to see Pete back; it's been a while. Awaiting Diane and Beverly's suggestions about the future as we plan a little visit to Costa Rica next month, one which could certainly turn into a semi-permanent move.
Gotta face a few uncomfortable facts, gang. There's really no one with the cojones necessary to turn this mess around, the media are cheerleaders, and we're outvoted by those who want what we've earned: the Something-for-Nothing bunch...
Chucky Schumer, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Dick Durban types will force thru the badly misnamed "Fairness Doctrine" and, just like that, you can stick a fork in it... we're done. End of story.
I'm an old guy, so it's not for me I worry. But our kids? Their children?
And we observe this once-great country flush itself down the toilet....
Don Werenko| 11.6.08 @ 8:53AM
An observation RE the recent election. Many explanations have been given about the election of a Marxist but very few have stated the patently obvious: the ignorance and downright stupidity of the electorate. Our education system from kindergarten to universities has virtually been controlled by liberals/Marxists for decades. Could we reasonably expect different election results from people who have been indoctrinated in socialism for years? (You don't believe me about the schools? Sit down and have a talk with your children and grandchildren about the cirriculum.)
Until we get a handle on all aspects of our education system we will never return to those principles which made our country great. All great countries have been destroyed from within and we will not be any different.
Don Werenko, Crescent City FL
Bob Garvey| 11.6.08 @ 10:10AM
Time to take stock my fellows-the demographics are not looking good for the wingers. The African American vote is now out of reach for another hundred years. The latino vote is compromised (no offense wonderful millions of Latino Americans) in that they have sold their principals to defend the idea that millions of their fellow ethnics can illegally invade this country each year and that those opposed to this have no right to defend the rule of law. Add to this the effective liberal (and GOP abetted) campaign to pass the "tipping point" where most Americans seemingly have no choice but to hop on the socialist bus to keep the lights on. The present GOP leadership has failed us as badly as the national leadership class has in general failed the nation. The " financial services and information" economy has embarrised us before the world. The only hope our side now has is to find some smart warriors with genuine integrity who can utilize every last penny we can spare them over the coming years to build new legions. As a nation we need to get lean, hard but heartful, live like the Swiss, manufacture again, not be stupid in ignoring our own national resources, replace our putrid celebrity class with real heros, and SAVE a few bucks if we can. It's crunch time.
Geoff| 11.6.08 @ 10:52AM
Amen, Don. I've heard of military veterans being conned into voting for a first-term senator who would never dream of lifting a finger to defend this country in war. And Bob, you're quite correct. We need heroes and we need sanity. The GOP needs to make itself the party of personal responsibility again ... but we've done so much bashing of our heroes and their straightforward, Puritan ethic, that we're ever more becoming that class of decadent, weak-kneed society that engineers its own demise. On the average, I feel it's quite safe to say that an Obama voter hasn't a shred of the pioneer spirit that founded this country and that gives them the shelter to spew their heinously dimwitted venom. Let's face it: About half our country hates the very existence of the USA and those who founded it. Why else would be teach everything in schools BUT the heroics of those who founded this country? The Obama demographic cares only for a type of revenge, a payback for our "guilt" ... while, of course, never mentioning the overt racism in a country like Japan, or even Haiti (dark vs. light skin barriers). This election was about race, was about taking yet another step toward dismantling the created culture of America. My hope is that a lot of Republicans simply stayed home or switched parties to spank McCain a bit for not being as conservative as they'd like. A big gamble if they did. But we who side with the GOP where it counts (national strength, security, the ability to achieve personally, and the minimization of government interference in personal/societal decisions and values) have to work hard now to define new leadership; we got lazy and satisfied because we had a good machine in place with Bush ... and how can you top Reagan?
Our electorate is full of selective ignorance, which we'll never get past. Same as we'll never get past race. We're humans, and we will always find a way to divide ourselves. Just like siblings do, just like families do. Obama has a critical mission, if he's going to truly cement the Democratic foothold this time around. And if he fails/oversteps (as many of us, of course, sense that he will, his obvious poise and intelligence notwithstanding), we'll be ready. But we need to stop filling the primary stage with a bunch of losers and shape a core of vital beacons of GOP strength who can appeal to all demographics ... at least, all those who don't favor a welfare state and being babied throughout their lives.
Sheryl| 11.6.08 @ 11:13AM
Don Werenko's comments regarding the education, or lack thereof, of the electorate, couldn't be more correct or relevant. As he said, schools, from kindergaten on, are incubators for new generations of leftists and other useful idiots. We are now reaping the fruit of the last thirty or so years of this garbage being fed to our young people. Is it any co-incidence that Bill Ayres and other assorted terrorists--I mean, guys who live in Obama's neighborhood--end up in "education"-- educating future (and current) leftists of America? We need to look to the schools to begin to fix our country's many problems. The left is not only looking there--they have taken over. And the rest of America has let it happen.
Appleby| 11.6.08 @ 11:53AM
I hope all you people who voted for Hope/Change will be happy with what you receive. And when you wake up on January 20 and discovery you are still homeless, jobless, fat, uneducated and there is no gas in your car, and that the Obamination is not going to invite you to the African-American House -- he's got that all booked up with Beautiful People, none of whom look like you -- I hope you realize, as Malcolm X tried to tell you, that "ya been had." And I hope you enjoy it.
I will be staying up here in Canada until the dust settles.
labrialumn| 11.6.08 @ 12:06PM
There is nothing private or sacred about murdering someone by thirst in order to gain an inheritance by the man who tried to kill her several times and who had shacked up with another woman. When the parents and brother wanted to care for her.
Chuck Baylot| 11.6.08 @ 2:10PM
I want to respond to David Ballard's letter. He talks about how an issue like abortion is a stae issue, and does not belong in our federal government debate. I think it needs to be pointed out, that many of us agree with him, and that is why we rally against Roe v. Wade. Decisions like that one took issues like that out of the States' hands, and put it into the national debate. So while his point sounds reasonable, in the end it is ridiculous, or shows a lack of understanding on what is truely going on.
These social issues should remain at the state level, but they can not if liberal courts take them away from the states.
Chuck Baylot
frost| 11.6.08 @ 3:24PM
Thank you -- finally, a voice of reason, Chuck. Yes! States' rights; to push for a national bann on anything sounds a whole lot more like those demented Democrats -- yet, the zealots ('specially among the anti-abortion bunch) have their narrow view(s) alienating those of us pro-Choice types with their tunnel-vision, their thinking that the abortion issue precludes terrorism, crime, open borders and corruption (it too often gets totally ignored by those aforementioned fanatics that, yes, pro-choice people might even choose to have children -- my wives and I have accounted for seven total, and we're all pro-choice, really; pro-Choice does NOT mean pro-abortion, honest...). Painting with too broad-a-brush screws things up immeasurably!
Chuck| 11.6.08 @ 6:39PM
Frost, I appreciate your comments. But I need to point out that I am not pro-choice. I agree with you and Ballard, that it should not have to be a debate dominated by federal elections. But my point is, that decisions like Roe v. Wade make it that way. I live in CA. And while I disagree with abortion, the fact is that CA would probably legalize abortion. Which is CA's voters and legislators right to do. But as long as pro-choice people support decisions like Roe v. Wade, they should understand they are the cause of making this a national issue, rather than a state one.
David Govett| 11.6.08 @ 10:26PM
Watch for the Democrats to legalized tens of millions of illegal Hispanic aliens, most of whom will vote for guess which party.