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Sweet Home, Alabama
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Laying Down My Pen
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Laying Down My Pen
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Putting Heritage in DeMint Condition
May 10, 2013 | 57 comments
Streetcar Line
To Beat Political Despair, Tell Better Stories
The Silent Majority needs small victories to find its voice.
(Page 2 of 2)
All of which leaves us… well, where, exactly?
Well, first, it means that in terms of approach, Paul Ryan might be on the right track in urging a marriage of well-chosen aggressiveness with a little bit of prudence. It also means that conservatives need to relearn the art of telling a narrative, which was one of Ronald Reagan’s greatest strengths. (Credit to Fred Barnes, by the way, for highlighting both of these ideas in recent articles.) A narrative is needed not just to persuade the undecided or to change minds about policies — although both goals are, of course, tremendously important — but also to give allies a sense of how and why things can get better. The “Real Americans” (a moniker used only as a convenient shorthand) aren’t paying rapt attention to politics, which makes it all the more necessary for them to hear, in those times when they do pay attention, that there is a believable counter-narrative to the lies of leftist inevitability peddled by the establishment media.
The soul-sapping feeling of deep unease I’ve described here in the hinterlands can be lightened, and reversed, only if somebody tells an alternative story that resonates with everyday lives.
Dr. Ben Carson did some of that the other day, which is why he suddenly is such a cause célèbre on the right that some are ludicrously suggesting that he run for president. The calls for a Carson presidency, without any other background in statesmanship or large organizations or politics, are a sign of just how deep the desperation has become.
(By all means find a serious office for Dr. Carson to target; but when was it ever a conservative idea to think somebody should start at the top?)
The lesson from Dr. Carson, though, is that few of our elected leaders have this sense of narrative, and that even fewer marry the narrative with solid principles and with the sense of how to weigh means against achievable ends. Mike Pence of Indiana has some narrative abilities; so does another Indianan, Mitch Daniels. Almost nobody in Washington, however, seems to boast those skills.
The unease in Real America won’t start to lift until a significant elected leader on the right starts using narrative skills to achieve small but clear victories. Despair is a real enemy, and right now it’s not an unreasonable feeling for Real America to have.
Not unreasonable — but not irreversible, either. Winning begets winning. People who want to be left alone are more likely to make time for politics if they think it might actually do some good.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
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Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 6:44AM
The Republican Party is full of toadies that want to kiss the boot and hand of the real power in America, the corporate elite.
They are not interested in leading. They are interested in getting into K Street consultancy firms and corporate boards after they leave and getting paid millions for giving bad advice.
If they are part of the few that are dedicated to leading politically, most of them are so far to the right of the real "Real" America, that they could never be elected to the presidency, aka Sam Brownback.
Pence is a possible candidate, but probably has too much baggage from the Bush years to win.
And as this article points out, mainstream Republicans just don't care.
It reminds of a scene from the movie, Ride With the Devil, where the 2 young Missouri confederates are meeting with a southern businessman about the state of the Civil War, and the businessman says,
"But my point is merely...
that they rounded every pup up into that schoolhouse...
because they fancied that everyone should think...
and talk the same free-thinkin' way they do...
with no regard to station, custom,
propriety.
And that is why they will win.
Because they believe everyone should live and think just like them.
And we shall lose because we don't care one way or another...
how they live.
We just worry about ourselves."
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 8:28AM
"The Republican Party is full of toadies that want to kiss the boot and hand of the real power in America, the Corporate Elite."
Meanwhile: Down in Florida, at a Very Exclusive Yacht/Golf Club, President Shared Sacrifice spent 3 Days hobnobbing with Millionaires and Billionaires.
I don't begrudge him his R&R. After all, President Fair Share just got finished giving Facebook a Billion $ Gift. Not only did they NOT Pay their Fair Share, but they got a $423,000,000 REFUND.
Plus, he just got finished Rejecting the Keystone Pipeline, and the Thousands of Jobs that it would bring with it - Not to mention all of that Crude Oil and Natural Gas from a Country that doesn't use "Death to America" as the Ringtone on their phones - so as to keep Warren Buffet's Trains running the stuff from Canada to the Gulf. Thereby making Million$ of Dollars in Profit, while still paying less in taxes than his Secretary.
GE doesn't pay any Taxes. Neither does GM. The Unions don't pay any Taxes. And, President Death to the 1% just finished giving MILLION$ to all of the destitute Movie Stars, Directors, and Producers, as well as Rum Makers in Bermuda, Cootie Shots for 9 year old Hookers in the Dominican Republic, and a $900 Bill for Valentine's Day Dinner for him and Fat Asss.
If anyone watches American Dad, you know that "Arnie" is the Retarded Squirrel that lives in the Tree House.
And anyone who comes to this site, knows that the same holds true for the Arnie that we're stuck with.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 8:36AM
"The Limp Penis" strikes again, with incoherent garbage and loose, pseudo Rush Limbaugh (another Viagra pill pooper) inspired rants.
Nice to see that Viagra pill popping hasn't given you a heart attack TLP.
loulou| 2.19.13 @ 11:03AM
TLP--please, please just ignore the loser.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 12:49PM
Why would I ignore him, if all he can answer me with is My Penis?
And it's: The Large Penis, bye the way.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:09PM
Joseph Watson
Infowars
January 22, 2013
2009 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Jim Garrow shockingly claims he was told by a top military veteran that the Obama administration’s “litmus test” for new military leaders is whether or not they will obey an order to fire on U.S. citizens.
Garrow was nominated three years ago for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize and is the founder of The Pink Pagoda Girls, an organization dedicated to rescuing baby girls from “gendercide” in China. Garrow has been personally involved in “helping rescue more than 36,000 Chinese baby girls from death.” He is a public figure, not an anonymous voice on the Internet, which makes his claim all the more disturbing.
“I have just been informed by a former senior military leader that Obama is using a new “litmus test” in determining who will stay and who must go in his military leaders. Get ready to explode folks. “The new litmus test of leadership in the military is if they will fire on US citizens or not”. Those who will not are being removed,” Garrow wrote on his Facebook page, later following up the post by adding the man who told him is, “one of America’s foremost military heroes,” whose goal in divulging the information was to “sound the alarm.”
Pecos Pete| 2.19.13 @ 7:10PM
Tim: Thank you for posting the Infowars article.
merlin| 2.20.13 @ 4:00AM
So the colonel up for promotion says "Of course I'm willing to fire on Americans. Do I start with the executive brance or the legislative branch?"
Pecos Pete| 2.19.13 @ 6:51AM
Republicans could refuse to confirm Hagel for Sec. Def. That would be a start. A small step, there is nothing dramatic in NOT confirming Hagel.
And so many more beyond enumeration.
Joellen| 2.19.13 @ 7:06AM
Senor Pete excellent point; above your comment, though there's a whole lot of empy space, what's up with that!
Pecos Pete| 2.19.13 @ 7:49AM
Joellen: I call that empty space you refer to as Stupid is as Stupid Does; or, Stuck on Stupid.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 8:38AM
They're not gonna refuse to confirm Cornhole.
They're not gonna block Jihadi Boy Brennan.
They're not gonna force the Senate to Pass a Budget.
They're not gonna call for any resignations for Benghazi.
They're not gonna hold up the Crook that's up for Treasury Secretary.
They didn't even Stop the Free Arms Shipments to The Muslim Brotherhood or the Nuclear Reduction Treaty with Russia. And they won't vote against the next one, either. Or, the one after that. Or, the one after that.
They look in the Mirror, and they see God's Gift.
And, God's Gift doesn't get his hands dirty.
CrackerHound| 2.19.13 @ 12:13PM
Excellent starting point Pete. The Republicans should be beyond the point of declaring war on any and every Obama agenda out there.
They should be in court right now fighting for the Keystone Pipeline. Obama is NOT king, his word on the subject is not final. I would also be challenging...in court, his "appointments" and new government agencies that seem to pop up everywhere without input from anyone.
We should also be trying to erase or curtail the power given to unions and agencies such as the EPA who are getting away with making actual, enforceable laws.
Fear of the state media and left wing attack dogs has the Republicans frozen and paralyzed.
Cowardice is NOT a conservative trait
Joellen| 2.19.13 @ 7:18AM
Mr. Hillyer, the other day I was in an Italian Restaurant. The owner, a legal resident of Italian heritage, and I were talking of the current situation. He absolutely couldnt believe that obama got re-elected. This small business man, who left one doomed country for a once vibrant country that offered opportunity, feels the same despair that Americans who were born and raised here are dealing with. His words to me - "why did I bother leaving if America is turning into what I left?".
Last night, the great Mark Levin has a lady of Latin heritage on air, and she expressed similar words to Mark. She explained how how family voted for obama cause "he was giving them stuff". Her despair and angst was well heard throughout the tri-state area.
Two great Americans who know what the problem is; two NEWLY great Americans who've join those Americans who will fight to restore America to a world power once again.
It's not going to be the politician that brings us back, I am counting on Ma & Pa America to do it.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 8:42AM
Don't you mean- Just Ma?
In case you haven't noticed?
"Pa" is a 4 Letter Word in the Black and Hispanic Communities, as well as in Joe Biden's head.
Cobalt| 2.19.13 @ 8:06AM
Do the math. Even if you suspend the belief that voter fraud wasn't a factor in electing Obama, Ma & Pa America have become outnumbered at the voting booth, by the kind of people who voted for Obama.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 8:43AM
If Democrats were not so dependent on fraud to retain office at all levels, they would not so vigorously oppose voter ID laws, claiming it was voter suppression; the sons of prominent Democratic congressman would not be so well versed in how to fraudulently register, and Al Franken would not be a Senator.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 8:48AM
Really, do you have any evidence of fraud that brought about Democratic (Obama, Franken, anybody..etc) wins Albert?
I'm guessing not. Like always, you are just making sh*t up.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 9:08AM
We have Evidence of Fraud with Charlie Rangel.
We have districts in Philadelphia that had a Voting Turnout of 110%. Black Panthers stationed outside Voting Places, once again. And, Republican Poll Watchers PHYSICALLY REMOVED from their Posts, needing a Court Order to get back in the building, whereby they were promptly PHYSICALLY REMOVED, again.
The NAACP was running the Voting Places in Houston. They had Posters of Obama INSIDE THE BUILDING.
We've got one of the Democrat Election Officials in Ohio BRAGGING that he Voted Twice for Obama.
And, of course, you've got Jew Hating Jack Moran's POS kid on tape, instructing a would be Democrat Scumbag, how to Vote Multiple Times.
And that's just off the top of my head, which, unlike you, is not ensconced in My Ass, every day.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 9:24AM
TLP, then why haven't the states prosecuted these supposed instances of fraud, according to you? I mean, how could all this evidence of fraud not get it's day in court?
Plus, these people after being prosecuted, you would have to show that all these cases added up to 5 million votes which gave Obama the win, which you are not even close to doing.
So maybe your head isn't up your ass, but your mouth sure shits like one.
George S| 2.19.13 @ 12:39PM
Hey, you asked for evidence -- he gave it to you.
Here's more:
Pt St Lucie Florida: 141% voter turnout.
A lot of districts in Cleveland amazingly did not cast a single vote for Romney.
Touch screen voting machines in NV registered votes for Obama when Romney was pressed.
Since there is evidence in OH, FL, NV and PA, there is the election.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 12:55PM
And, they wouldn't have to flip 5 Million Votes, since most of them come from Two States - New York and California.
But he already knows that, even if they aren't in his Talking Points, this Morning.
DRed| 2.19.13 @ 4:37PM
http://twitchy.com/2012/11/13/.....-persists/
That took me all of ten seconds to find.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:14PM
Twitchy?
That's your source?
Apparently, Fred's was off line, today.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:15PM
I noticed you didn't find anything on Twitchy, about what I mentioned.
I wonder why?
GobBluthe| 2.20.13 @ 10:28AM
Port St Lucie has been debunked. What happened there was the ballot was do long, people were given two ballots to cover all the offices and issues. Real turnout was 70%. Conservstives also point to precinct after precinct where Obama got 100% of the vote as proof of fraud. But when obabs wins 97% of the black vote it isn't difficult to believe he won many places with 100% of the ballots. It says more about black folks mentality than about vote fraud.
Obaba won PA by something like 500,000 votes. A few places in PHL where there was 110% turnout isn't the reason why Romney lost. The numbers simply aren't there. Want to know why Romney lost PA? In 1988 GHW swept Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware counties. In 2012 Romney lost all three. The suburbs the source of GHW Bush's 1988 win are now swing at best at DEM in states like PA MI, IL and CO.
John Navratil| 2.19.13 @ 5:56PM
Arnie,
I know you wouldn't like any "right wing" sources. How about one of your MSM guys.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/.....ter-fraud/
It reports: "In Minnesota, the Court Information Office said they’ve convicted 156 people of being a felon and voting. That is illegal."
Of course, you libs when confronted of evidence of fraud say, it's de minimis. Franken won by 324 votes.
Why do you lefties fight so hard against Voter ID? If you can give millions in handouts, perhaps you can find a way to get an ID to then. Surely, if you can give these voters a ride to the polls you can give them a ride to the DMV for the free id.
GobBluthe| 2.20.13 @ 10:31AM
Franken won due to fraud in 2008, but not Obama in 2012.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 9:24AM
Like always, Arnie, your uncontrollable urge to be obnoxious while stupid leads the way. Since you ask, as Byron York noted:
In the eyes of the Obama administration, most Democratic lawmakers, and left-leaning editorial pages across the country, voter fraud is a problem that doesn't exist. Allegations of fraud, they say, are little more than pretexts conjured up by Republicans to justify voter ID laws designed to suppress Democratic turnout.
That argument becomes much harder to make after reading a discussion of the 2008 Minnesota Senate race in "Who's Counting?", a new book by conservative journalist John Fund and former Bush Justice Department official Hans von Spakovsky. Although the authors cover the whole range of voter fraud issues, their chapter on Minnesota is enough to convince any skeptic that there are times when voter fraud not only exists but can be critical to the outcome of a critical race.
In the '08 campaign, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman was running for re-election against Democrat Al Franken. It was impossibly close; on the morning after the election, after 2.9 million people had voted, Coleman led Franken by 725 votes.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 9:25AM
Franken and his Democratic allies dispatched an army of lawyers to challenge the results. After the first canvass, Coleman's lead was down to 206 votes. That was followed by months of wrangling and litigation. In the end, Franken was declared the winner by 312 votes. He was sworn into office in July 2009, eight months after the election.
During the controversy a conservative group called Minnesota Majority began to look into claims of voter fraud. Comparing criminal records with voting rolls, the group identified 1,099 felons -- all ineligible to vote -- who had voted in the Franken-Coleman race.
Minnesota Majority took the information to prosecutors across the state, many of whom showed no interest in pursuing it. But Minnesota law requires authorities to investigate such leads. And so far, Fund and von Spakovsky report, 177 people have been convicted -- not just accused, but convicted -- of voting fraudulently in the Senate race. Another 66 are awaiting trial. "The numbers aren't greater," the authors say, "because the standard for convicting someone of voter fraud in Minnesota is that they must have been both ineligible, and 'knowingly' voted unlawfully." The accused can get off by claiming not to have known they did anything wrong.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 9:25AM
Still, that's a total of 243 people either convicted of voter fraud or awaiting trial in an election that was decided by 312 votes. With 1,099 examples identified by Minnesota Majority, and with evidence suggesting that felons, when they do vote, strongly favor Democrats, it doesn't require a leap to suggest there might one day be proof that Al Franken was elected on the strength of voter fraud.
And that's just the question of voting by felons. Minnesota Majority also found all sorts of other irregularities that cast further doubt on the Senate results.
The election was particularly important because Franken's victory gave Senate Democrats a 60th vote in favor of President Obama's national health care proposal -- the deciding vote to overcome a Republican filibuster. If Coleman had kept his seat, there would have been no 60th vote, and no Obamacare.
Voter fraud matters when contests are close. When an election is decided by a huge margin, no one can plausibly claim fraud made the difference. But the Minnesota race was excruciatingly close. And then, in the Obamacare debate, Democrats could not afford to lose even a single vote. So if there were any case that demonstrates that voter fraud both exists and has real consequences, it is Minnesota 2008.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 9:26AM
Yet Democrats across the country continue to downplay the importance of the issue. Last year, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, denounced "the gauzy accusation that voter fraud is somehow a problem, when over and over again it has been proven that you're more likely to get hit by lightning than you are to [be] a victim of voter fraud."
Wasserman Shultz and her fellow Democrats are doing everything they can to stop reasonable anti-fraud measures, like removing ineligible voters from the rolls and voter ID. Through it all, they maintain they are simply defending our most fundamental right, the right to vote.
But voter fraud involves that right, too. "When voters are disenfranchised by the counting of improperly cast ballots or outright fraud, their civil rights are violated just as surely as if they were prevented from voting," write Fund and von Spakovsky. "The integrity of the ballot box is just as important to the credibility of elections as access to it."
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 9:50AM
Yes, but still, "and so far, Fund and von Spakovsky report, 177 people have been convicted -- not just accused, but convicted -- of voting fraudulently in the Senate race. Another 66 are awaiting trial."
Still that doesn't mean all these are all votes for Franken.
"with evidence suggesting that felons, when they do vote, strongly favor Democrats, it doesn't require a leap to suggest there might one day be proof that Al Franken was elected on the strength of voter fraud."
This is pure conjecture. So simply, they haven't proved Franken won the election by fraud.
So Albert, quit making crap up. I know you WANT TO BELIEVE Franken won it by fraud, but wishes and reality are much different my friend. If the day ever comes, that Franken won the election outright by fraud, then I will sincerely apologize and tell you your instincts were correct, but in the meantime, don't assert such unsupportable statements. And plus, there were tons of other elections where the Democrats won big time in 2008.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 9:57AM
"Yes, but"...
Nice attempt at recovery. The article lays out quite compellingly evidence of frauds which likely resulted in Franken's victory.
"then why haven't the states prosecuted these supposed instances of fraud, according to you? I mean, how could all this evidence of fraud not get it's day in court?"
Of course, now that at least 177 have, and been convicted as of August, 2012, for the 2008 Minnesota race, you try to dissemble more.
Asked and answered, Arnie. Back to the Tides Foundation for more blogging seminars for you.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 10:17AM
Sorry Albert.
Franken still won.
"The article lays out quite compellingly evidence of frauds which likely resulted in Franken's victory."
"quite compelling" you mean like TLP makes compelling arguments.
"likely"; Well, likely doesn't get you a decision of any sort. It usually has to be definitive.
But nice try Albert. Better luck next time. When Coleman is awarded the seat, I will congratulate you. Until then, quit making stuff up.
As I recall, you wrote "If Democrats were not so dependent on fraud to retain office at all levels"
But so far you have a "likely" case, but not proven, case of fraud in one race. It seems like you'll need to come up with a lot more "likely" cases to even come close to be "somewhat" correct.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 11:39AM
"But so far you have a "likely" case, but not proven, case of fraud in one race."
I know that you are devoid of math skills, as well as logic skills and reading comprehension, but there is not merely one case proven from this election, but at least 177 convictions. To prove those convictions, as the article points out, both intent to defraud and the act of fraud were proven.
Meanwhile, the article points out that over 1,000 votes by ineligible felons were cast. Regardless of whether all 1,000 are convicted, over one thousand ineligible members of a demographic which votes overwhelmingly Democrat were cast in an election in which the Democrat won by 312 votes.
The case is made. Like just about everything else you believe, your point is debunked.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 12:05PM
The case is not made. If it was, Mr. Coleman would the be senator from Minnesota. Again, they have not found enough instances of fraud to prove that these cases of fraud gave Franken the election. Say all you want Albert...that has not happened.
I know reality has a liberal bias.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 12:26PM
That Franken was eventually ruled to be the Senator does not diminish the facts presented here, or change the fact that his victory was obtained through fraud, which is why the mechanisms to prevent fraud which Democrats oppose are critical for the restoration of integrity in the elction process.
Now, why don't you go help OJ search for the real killer of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.
George S| 2.19.13 @ 12:44PM
You really are dense, aren't you?
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 12:59PM
I wonder if he thinks that Bush won in 2000?
Ya think?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 1:42PM
By Arnie's way of thinking, all of those homicide victims in 2008 whose killers have yet to be arrested are not murdered; in fact, they're not even dead.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:18PM
Hey Armie. If Convicted Felons voted?
I guarantee that they voted for the Guy Running Guns to the guys they buy their Drugs from.
Okay?
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:19PM
That's for Arnie, too.
Goldwater Girl| 2.19.13 @ 9:59AM
Awnie,
There's a story on Fox News today about a Democrat poll worker that admits she voted twice, and completed ballots for a granddaughter and someone else.
R Martin| 2.19.13 @ 9:36AM
Albert, you may want to refer that uninformed dufus to J. Christian Adams's book, "Injustice". Evidence? Mr. Adams provides 300 pages of evidence from INSIDE the Justice Department.
If anyone can't see evidence of voter fraud, it's because the fraud is hiding in plain sight.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 10:05AM
As Arnie himself is a clear fraud, it may be difficult for him to distinguish, like searching for a needle in a stack of needles.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 10:23AM
Albert, you throw around accusations more often than TLP pops Viagra. You really should stop that. It's quite dishonest, and very unbecoming of a man that claims to be so moral. But then, I suspect you don't really believe your own bullshit sometimes.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 11:41AM
Arnie, you are a fraud.
Now, using the Harry Reid system of political accusation, prove me wrong.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 12:06PM
You sir are a dumbass. Prove me wrong.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.19.13 @ 12:30PM
I confess that to the extent that I engage here with you, I might be exhibiting such characteristics as the term dumbass describes.
Meanwhile, of course, your fraud label stands, unrefuted even by you.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 1:02PM
Every label attributed to him goes Unrefuted by him.
For obvious reasons.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:25PM
And, I'd like to recommend the Book - Final Exit - to Arnie.
He'd be doing everyone a favour of he read it, and followed the Instructions.
Including himself, and everyone he comes in contact with.
GobBluthe| 2.20.13 @ 10:35AM
You're liberal. It's axiomatic you're stupid.
Cobalt| 2.19.13 @ 10:40AM
"was a factor"
GobBluthe| 2.20.13 @ 10:20AM
Correct. The new Silent Majority is liberal.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 8:12AM
Cobalt, Obama won by almost 10 million votes in 2008, and 5 million votes in 2012. The elections were not stolen. Get over it.
The only election that was possibly stolen was 2000, by the Bush regime, which didn't even win the popular vote and had a helpful brother as the governor of Florida to get him the few extra hundred votes needed to win that state.
You guys lose because most of the country does not like your contrarian, hypocritical, and cruel vision.
Nancy in NC| 2.19.13 @ 8:34AM
No, we lost because America has become the land of the takers rather than the makers. We lost because people just looove obama; he's such a rock star. The fact he couldn't think himself outside a wet paper bag is of no interest to those who prefer charisma over character.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 8:37AM
Really, so are all those takers including all the old people on Medicare and Social Security that voted for Romney?
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 8:53AM
No.
But then, nobody's talking about them. That's your Straw Man. That's your talking point.
We're talking about people who have been CONDITIONED, over the last 50 Years, to sit on their asses til Election Day.
We're talking about people who have been CONDITIONED to Raise their Kids without a Man in the House.
We're talking about people who are 4th and 5th Generation Welfare.
People who don't even know anybody who's ever had a Job.
People who have been CONDITIONED to Salivate at the sound of the Mailman, like a Dog and the Ring of a Bell.
People who will never escape their Poverty, because people like You, like them just the way they are.
On their knees, with their hands out, Free Cradle to Pauper's Grave.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 9:36AM
Oh, so no people on welfare over the age of 65.
Are you talking about injured, disabled people?
I'm just trying to come up with how 51% of the population that voted for Obama are somehow like you described TLP.
I mean, I know a lot of poor ass white on welfare people that voted Republican. Are you talking about them?
GobBluthe| 2.20.13 @ 10:33AM
Soc Sec and Medicare are social insurance not welfare.
Arnie| 2.19.13 @ 9:36AM
Oh, so no people on welfare over the age of 65.
Are you talking about injured, disabled people?
I'm just trying to come up with how 51% of the population that voted for Obama are somehow like you described TLP.
I mean, I know a lot of poor ass white people on welfare people that voted Republican. Are you talking about them?
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 1:10PM
I'm talking about EVERYBODY that fits the Criteria that I just laid out.
Or, can't you read, with your head up your ass?
Apparently not.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 1:14PM
He got 98% of the Black Vote and over 80% of the Hispanic Vote. I wonder how many Millions of them fit that Profile.
He would not have won without them. Not even close.
Even a Retarded Squirrel knows that.
Right?
PolishKnight| 2.19.13 @ 10:24AM
The stolen election of Y2K is one of those lies they try to repeat over and over to make it stick, and it doesn't work. But like Bill Clinton who can't resist lying, they can't help themselves. It's almost cute.
The Democrats designed the butterfly ballot that their welfare 47%ers couldn't figure out. Al Gore rushed in crying "every vote counts" and then tried to throw out military ballots. Under Federal law and the Supreme Court (the same court they proclaim as infallible when it suits them), the election was held, the ballots counted, and that was that. Get over it.
A leftist newspaper later commissioned a recount and Bush won. Again. And they buried the story.
Leftists are liars. And they are anti-white and anti-male liars. And they are in love with Sweden which is full of (weak, granted) white males making them INSANE, racist liars. At least the few of them in the Democrat party which is now largely a bunch of third worlders that most leftists don't want to associate with.
tminus1| 2.19.13 @ 8:30AM
"when was it ever a conservative idea to think somebody should start at the top?"
Until now, never. (Although it didn't stop the Left from nominating a shave tail in 2008.) There may be reasons for not nominating Carson, but his vision for America and his lack of bad political habits are not among them.
Mike G| 2.19.13 @ 8:48AM
"And they see almost nothing from conservative leaders, inside or out of government, that gives them confidence in those leaders’ abilities to reverse the current political tide."
Wait...ALMOST NOTHING? I haven't seen anything that tells me the current GOP leadership is trying to do anything except support the current tsunami of government growth. Oh sure, they say things we all want to hear, but when it comes time to act, they either support or give in to the Dems. They are a bunch of traitors. And I'm not saying they have betrayed the GOP--they have betrayed the country.
Hardcard| 2.19.13 @ 9:07AM
Troll funding georgi soros (horovitz), and his a-hole buddy warren buffet, are sick with evil and greed. They pull the strings of their puppet obamao jdingo. God Bless Ted Cruze, stay strong brother, I will pray for you!!!! The recent golf outing by dear leader was a blind, the real game was after the 18th hole, with the power brokers and obamao.
C. Vernon Crisler | 2.19.13 @ 9:32AM
It is sad that Republicans would have to use "narrative" in order to get people to vote for good policies. It puts one in mind of the critics of small r republicanism, that the people are morons, and can't be trusted to govern responsibly. They need bed time stories to get them to do the right thing.
I'm also reminded of Plato's noble lie, that people often have to be lied to because they're too stupid to do the right thing if given the truth. That seems to be what America has become -- a nation of people who need to be lied to. I think Democrats have learned that lesson all too well.
So yes, let's have "narrative" from the Republicans, but let's not kid ourselves that it's anything other than telling fairy tales to children.
PolishKnight| 2.19.13 @ 9:47AM
No mention of the biggest issue for the past 50 years: the left's use of anti-white and anti-male scapegoating to buy votes and build economic and political power. Sitting in a kitchen and fretting about "limited government" while advocating outlawing gay marriage and abortion at a federal level is a joke. Not only because it doesn't make much sense and invites leftist derision but also because it won't win elections either in the short or long term.
The left has spent years claiming to represent "minorities" (which is their "code" for non-white males) but in reality, they seek to build a majority consensus via scapegoating a minority and blaming them for the failure of their economic agenda. That's been their game since Karl Marx wrote about getting rid of "racial trash".
Addressing the left's sexism and racism could be a bigger vote getter than many realize. So-called minority men have suffered tremendously due to feminism. More black men are in jail now than during Jim Crow. On the race side, the left is intellectually and morally bankrupt in trying to make the world into Sweden while bashing whites in America as the source of the world's ills. CALL THEM ON THAT. That's the winning narrative.
Oh, wait, let's say the same thing over and over again until it works. Small government and anti-abortion. Yeah, sure. Good luck with that.
Bob Grant| 2.19.13 @ 10:06AM
Because of the corrupt media's successful attempt to keep the electorate as "low information" as possible, the democrats and, more specifically, obama, will never be held account for their assault on this country.
Obama and the democrats fully exploit this advantage.
They play chess while republicans play checkers.
They know precisely who to blame when this thing comes crashing to the ground and the republicans, as usual, will be left in awe at how they were able to walk away unscathed.
But don't listen to me. Just look at how they walked away from Benghazi. Did you know Barack and Hillary's poll numbers INCREASED after this debacle.
Expect the same after the Economic Debacle.
I don't know how effective telling a better story would be if The Corrupt Media is against you.
PolishKnight| 2.19.13 @ 10:17AM
Forget chess. The left plays rugby.
I think most of the electorate know about Benghazi despite the left trying to cover it up. The fact is that most of the leftist electorate doesn't care. They want race and gender entitlements and that's it. In fact, the corruption of the left is a turn on for them because it means they can win. If they can burn someone's house down and then cry they're a victim because of "profiling", then that means they are winners and the other side are helpless victim losers. That's how they think.
On the other side, the right sees the burning building of their supporter and proclaims: "I'm going to do something about gay marriage right now! Don't you worry! I'll keep it illegal in Texas! I'm sure that makes you happy!"
Idiots.
RAM| 2.19.13 @ 10:43AM
Is Obama inducing decline or only accelerating it? That he ever got elected to anything was already an indicator of decline. Conservatives need a way to make enough voters better motivated, better informed, and unwilling to take lies at face value.
CrackerHound| 2.19.13 @ 12:38PM
Well, unfortunately we also have people like our very own Doctor Right, who are involved and informed but still stay home if the candidate is not perfect.
Mitt Romney, while not my first or second choice, was pretty darned conservative and was tailor made for what we are facing now. But instead...what do we have? Another term for the worst and most inexperienced president ever to serve....and probably twenty more years of extreme leftism as our guiding force. If we make it that long.
I've come to accept that not everyone is as conservative as me so I keep that in mind when I only have two choices...a solid conservative who has been less than consistent versus a raging, America hating Marxist...
Hmmm, I'm not staying home on that one but many,many conservatives did.
Bob Grant| 2.19.13 @ 10:58AM
Polish,
The one undeniable fact is the new electoral makeup of the country would PREFER to blame all of the ills of the country on conservatives and/or republicans. That is their tendency. We could have a nice/long discussion of why that is if you prefer. But that's a fact. And the democrats have a fuller understanding of this than the republicans. If they can blame the republicans on ANY issue that sounds plausible, they will do so, with the help from a complicit/corrupt media.
My belief is that if the republicans want to move forward, they need to accept this fact and devise a strategy with this in mind.
Simply "telling better stories" wont cut it if (A) the story wont be heard anyway and (B) people aren't open to the message you're trying to convey.
Forget stories. How about re-education through economic basics AND by object lessons such as California or Illinois. Proceed like a prosecutor, not a story teller.
Do you not think the democrats have a nice little "story" at their disposal about how the republicans destroyed the country when The Collapse occurs?
Again, chess VS checkers!
loulou| 2.19.13 @ 11:16AM
Yes, enough with this ruminating about tweaking the message, etc. Give us a PROSECUTOR with a conservative core who can communicate clearly and effectively precisely because of his core beliefs. And brilliance. Someone like Ted Cruz.
Ben Carson can communicate effectively because he too has core beliefs. He doesn't have to think about what the RNC tells him polls better or what his handlers whisper in his ear.
We have Palin, West, DeMint, Rand Paul...
PolishKnight| 2.19.13 @ 11:19AM
When I have encountered leftists talking amongst themselves they seethe with hatred against WHITE MALE republicans and conservatives. That's the bottom line now. There is no need for a complicit press to even bother making up a story. For at least 40 years, it's all been about "getting whitey".
Funny stories: I was on a college campus in the 80's and a friend of ours was a white woman from a wealthy neighborhood and a massive leftist feminist. Her father paid for a luxury apartment, a new car, and her tuition (I was not so lucky). She griped all the time about how oppressed she was due to historical oppression. It didn't occur to her that perhaps even if her great-grandfather had owned a slave plantation and beat women in the basement for a buck, she certainly wasn't "oppressed" by the money!
That's the universe they've been in for the past 40 years and the right has done NOTHING about it. NOTHING! If someone even breathes a hint of addressing the leftist race and gender entitlements, they go into freak out mode. One commercial attacking affirmative action would get more votes and traction than a thousand anti-gay marriage ads.
Burke| 2.19.13 @ 11:09AM
"The message is: Stop the disaster first. Then go for the gold."
This has been the Republican strategy forever. When have they ever gone for the gold? Look at the recent Republican Presidents; Nixon stabilized the country after LBJ, Regan saved it after Carter, and W. Bush sort of looked like he was gonna continue the 'Contract With America' after Clinton. The Republicans never roll back the left. The Republican party is the party of slower government growth, not limited government. From the perspective of a low information voter, if you're going to implement collectivism, you might as well vote for the party that does it right.
PolishKnight| 2.19.13 @ 11:20AM
Burke, the joke is the right puts in speed bumps to slow the panzers down. That'll show 'em. Instead of an increase of a trillion, Obama only gets 990 billion (with the 10 billion cuts to appear 10 years from now.)
It's such a joke that the leftist media machine doesn't even need to discredit the right. It's a joke. So perhaps... raise taxes on the ultra rich. Maybe then they'll care about winning elections.
Kingofthenet| 2.19.13 @ 12:04PM
There is no hidden silent 'Majority' just an ever shrinking fearful Minority, bitterly clinging to your Bible and Guns.
C. Vernon Crisler | 2.19.13 @ 12:28PM
Yes, the Bible & Guns, that which our country was founded on.
markenoff| 2.19.13 @ 1:18PM
And so you are a king?
markenoff| 2.19.13 @ 1:58PM
And when the EBTs stop working we'll be redy to use them.
Who Knows?| 2.19.13 @ 12:34PM
“The unease in Real America won’t start to lift until a significant elected leader on the right starts using narrative skills to achieve small but clear victories.”
There are words, and there are actions. And, I’ll grant you, that using words is an action, so “using narrative skills” is important. However---
How’s it go---you may not like war, but war likes you?
It seems to me that we are ALREADY swimming (upstream) in a raging flood of words, and have been for many years. After all, what do our ruling elite, to wit the MSM and their minions, most of them lawyers, excel at, except slinging words and connected images nonstop?
No---despite your call for better “blocking and tackling”, the takeover by Obama and his gangsters is like a football game, with them being the best agile, mobile and hostile players on earth, with the best coach and game plan, verses a weak college team. Hey, from Obama’s point of view, even to rarely get tackled, when they run the ball---try to do anything, like any of the many ACTIONS promulgated--- is a fluke!
Don’t cross the street without looking twice, both ways---that’s what a wise parent teaches their precious kids.
The many-years dumbed down voters NEVER “look”, ANYWHERE, even once, let alone twice.
Thus, only being run over by actual EVENTS will bring about any awakening about Obama and all his gun molls.
Anthony| 2.19.13 @ 1:24PM
Naw Quin, we don't need better stories to tell, we just need fewer whores in the media, like Obozo has.
As the media whores in the Politico tell us, the media whores are tired of being dissed by Obozo.
Well, no time like the present to take a long shower and put your whoring ways behind you.
Stkman| 2.19.13 @ 2:13PM
I leave for a little whil only to come back and find purp has a new name. Hi Arnie, err purp. Can you tell me the difference between whats on the bottom of my shoe and you? Neither can I and both smell bad.
C'mon Tim. Keep the kids under control will ya?
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:28PM
Speaking of Kids?
We're you playing Hookie this weekend?
You missed a good one.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:32PM
And, speaking of Arnie?
I write a lengthy Masterpiece (Above) debunking all of his Media Matters/Ed Show Talking Points, and he responds by talking about my Penis.
Maybe he IS Purp, after all?
Petronius| 2.19.13 @ 2:16PM
Forget stories. Voters make emotional investments! Republicans do NOT Understand that! They have nothing to offer politically except graft, and Joe the Plumber can't get in on it. Real philosophical Conservatives have no place to go on election day.
Bob Grant| 2.19.13 @ 3:06PM
"Real philosophical Conservatives have no place to go on election day."
So, you're one of THOSE.
You stayed away on November 6th because you didn't see much difference between The Dictator and Romney.
Whether you acknowledge it or not, YOU own this president almost as much his flock.
Thanks for nothing!
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:34PM
Indeed.
cicero| 2.19.13 @ 3:40PM
Everybody is focussing on Washington, where corruption reigns supreme. The conservative narrative has to remain the same, and has to be consistent. Washington is anything but consistent philosophically. The real battle is being waged, and won, on the state level. Here, the grownups have more control. The governships and the legislatures are all turning conservative, and Republican.
If the conservative movement keeps up the pressure on the state level, and continues to elect conservative leaders there, the States can exercise their power and refuse Washington its desire to lead over the leftsit cliff. Obamacare can be beaten by non-participation. It will fall of its own weight. The gov of Nebraska has shown what can be done to push back against the idiots in the EPA. With Medicaide back in the hands of the states, it can be controlled. This is the battleground Quinn should be talking about.
TLP| 2.19.13 @ 5:35PM
He might, IF he was a Conservative.
John II| 2.19.13 @ 3:42PM
I would like to say a few words on behalf of Arnie, alluding principally to the role he plays on this site as an avatar of the Left. He is a reliable reminder of what the American experiment in limited government is now up against. Consider the premises he displays in his comments:
1. There is no God of the Judaeo-Christian sort and no Natural Law.
2. Inasmuch as the human heart needs something to call "god," the State therefore is the real god--the final and only arbiter of right and wrong. My students--like Arnie, all products of the same degenerate culture--reveal this unexamined assumption every time they mention in their essays the "rights" the State "gives" us. They have never heard of the premise that American is founded on: that the State has no power or authority to "give" rights; it can only acknowledge or suppress them. Arnie is the product of a culture no longer capable of understanding such a notion even conceptually.
John II| 2.19.13 @ 3:43PM
3. Since the State is the god of the Left, the fervor of the Left in its advancement of State power is essentially religious in nature. The Left is not just unpersuaded by arguments for limited government; it is OFFENDED by them.
4. Arnie therefore, as avatar of the Left, displays no serious interest in argument--responding to any contradictory evidence with various dodges of an essentially formulaic character. As another avatar of the Left (Associate Professor Al Gore) indiscreetly acknowledged, he would prefer to deal with his political opponents by "tearing out their throats." Arnie just doesn't feel the need for making arguments against positions he regards as blasphemy against Holy State and her anointed.
We must welcome Arnie into our bosom and continue to hector the moron lovingly, lest we forget what we're up against.
Pecos Pete| 2.19.13 @ 7:15PM
Well, John, I don't want Arnie banned. But, welcoming him into our bosom is a wee bit strong.
However, I do agree that with his, and the other trolls comments, we shan't forget what we're up against.
John II| 2.19.13 @ 7:49PM
Point taken. Actually, I just said "bosom" to get a response from Tim. I'm grading papers today, and I need a laugh.
Pecos Pete| 2.19.13 @ 8:13PM
Tim and bosoms, they go together like a horse and carriage. :-)
dgrimes99 | 2.19.13 @ 5:58PM
Quinn:
I wish I could be this optimistic. Unfortunately, I think we HAVE passed the tipping point. It doesn't matter to me. There is enough sheer momentum in this economy to get me through my dotage and my ashes spread. I feel sorry for my children though, and only hope they will find it in their hearts to forgive me.
This is the first time I have been ashamed of my generation (I just turned 65).
Good luck and I hope you can remain optimistic. For me, I will just try to manage the long slow decline to the best of my ability.
John II| 2.19.13 @ 8:00PM
I'm on the threshold of 70, and I've been ashamed of my generation for about 35 years.
I owe the realization in great part to Carter, who belongs to the preceding generation that gave us my generation. Maybe it's the downside to widespread prosperity, although it doesn't affect everyone; mostly it brings out the worst in the busybodies among us and their huge retinues of drones.
Connection Not Compromise| 2.19.13 @ 6:04PM
"What I do not hear, though, is a cry for some sort of ideological crusade."
Are you deaf, Quin? Every grass-roots Conservative that I know or meet in conversation is raising this cry. We are calling our elected officials, rallying for our 2nd amendment rights, and engaging in dialogue with our friends and neighbors. However, with a few very notable exceptions (Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and a few others), we work to elect leaders who then move to Washington and completely forget why they were sent.
This is not a problem with grass-roots America. It is a problem with the GOP as an organization. I do not hear the leaders of the GOP whether they are members of Congress (again there are a few notable exceptions), GOP consultants, or those in the GOP who make their livelihood running around the Sunday TV circuit clearly articulating a narrative of Freedom.
.
Connection Not Compromise| 2.19.13 @ 6:05PM
Even in this last election, Mr. Romney failed to connect the dots. (He meant well. And, yes, I did vote for him.) Conservatives who love and cherish our Founding Documents thronged his rallies by the thousands, but when it came time for Mr. Romney to articulate to the American people how our current president is systematically dismantling our Bill of Rights one at a time, Romney was mute. Instead, he portrayed Obama as a basically good person who was just “in over his head” on the economy.
Except for that noteworthy first debate (which definitively kicked up his lagging polls), Romney failed to explain to the American people how a government that gives, can also take away. Instead of educating the American people about why our Founding Fathers were willing to risk their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for this idea called Freedom, Romney spent his time convincing us that he best knew how to create jobs. Take note: Yes, the economy is important. But economic prosperity has never created freedom. (Just look at China.) However, the foundation of LIMITED government upon which our nation is built has created some of the most unparalleled prosperity in history. For some reason our GOP leaders are scared to death to articulate this narrative.
Connection Not Compromise| 2.19.13 @ 6:06PM
And, as I mentioned above, when we do get them elected to office, our GOP leaders somehow seem to forget themselves. Once in Washington, they fall over themselves to prove that they really don't want to hurt grandma's Medicare benefits, Social Security check, or you name the entitlement. And, another ill-devised government program, entitlement, or department remains as enshrined and untouchable as apple pie and motherhood. In fact, some of the greatest encroachments on / infringements of our freedom came under our former GOP president. (Again, well meaning! And, yes, I voted for him twice!) Intrusions on our freedom like the Patriot Act, Medicare D, No Child Left Behind have become “Bush tested and Obama approved,” only now that he has the precedent, Obama will take them as far as he can go.
No Quin, the problem isn't that the American people need to find a narrative. The problem is that our GOP leaders and the GOP Establishment need to catch this narrative. Ronald Reagan dialogued with us as Americans. He talked with us about Communism, and he didn't just call it evil, he reminded us why it is. And, when he celebrated the fact that we as Americans are free men and women, we rose to live up to that higher standard. If the GOP can't adopt this narrative, then maybe it is time to find a party and leaders that can.
Pecos Pete| 2.19.13 @ 7:17PM
CNC: Well said!
John II| 2.19.13 @ 8:14PM
Whoa--that about sums it up. As things have devolved, I think the main difference between most prominent Republicans and almost all Democrats is that the former tend to be "well-meaning."
The latter no longer bother to pave the road to hell with good intentions. It's among the oldest insights of moral philosophers: the habit of doing what is objectively evil, regardless of intention, eventually makes us evil.
geronl| 2.19.13 @ 9:03PM
"And they see almost nothing from conservative leaders, inside or out of government, that gives them confidence in those leaders’ abilities to reverse the current political tide."
Nor desire. How many of them are just going through the motions with no intentions of actually winning?
farmerinthedale| 2.20.13 @ 12:52AM
A good start would be seeing our side cease with the "My good friend" references when talking to or about the political enemies. I realize there is zero chance I would ever survive a campaign for township dog-catcher due to my indelicate manner of going for the throat when arguing with left-wing idiots, but it would sure be a breath of fresh air to see some of these political cowards on our side grow a pair and body slam these left wing bastards. That would at least be a refreshing sense that we have some warriors willing to fight and not hide behind their nanny's apron. I'm so sick and tired of our side continually yielding ground to these unrelenting leftist zealots.
hrgfue | 2.20.13 @ 2:33AM
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