The American Spectator

Eric Dondero| 7.4.09 @ 9:53AM

Zak's a nice guy. I've had some email communications with him. His heart is in the right place, and I'm sure his book is a good read.

But his instincts are way far off. Does anyone honestly believe that younger voters give a flip about Republican Party history or heritage?

My gosh! Wake up fellow Republicans. We need to seriously make our Party more hip.

Michael Steele has it right. Zo has it right. Glenn Reynolds, RS McCain and a few other GOP hipsters are on the right course.

Serious face lift is needed for the GOP: More hot babes, more Grunge and Hip Hop music, more Hip talk and fist bumps, more in-your-face and yes curse-laden language. That's what will connect with younger voters.

Boehner oddly got it right the other day, when he said Pelosi's bill was a "pile of shit."

We need much, much more of that in your face attitude. Leave the heritage stuff for the old foggies.

Michael Zak| 7.4.09 @ 9:57AM

Just as Americans celebrate and cherish their nation's heritage, Republicans should celebrate and cherish their Grand Old Party's heritage. July 4th, of all days" is not the time to be denouncing our heritage as "for fogies only."

John - The Mighty Fahvaag| 7.4.09 @ 10:33AM

Michael,

I suppose that their is some hope, somewhere. However, without any sort of control or input into the popular culture and education system, I am afraid that we will require what we Catholics call a "Late vocations".

My eldest who is a rising sophomore at a Architecture student at a prestigious eastern public university, relates that the GOP offers nothing to his most of his peers. (He was a delegate to the GOP State convention this year.)

"They want to go to pay nothing for anything, work as little as possible, get paid lots of money and above all [fornicate] (he didn't use that word for which he was hit with a $5 fine for the house kitty) and not have to worry about the consequences."

The young are not a lost cause, but it is extremely difficult for them to operate in their "world" as conservatives. The entire deck is stacked against them. They have to spout liberal BS for grades, go along with libertine and often illegal personal behavior from friends in order to just have any friends... In addition, if they are painted as a "conservative" they are systematically bludgeoned with name calling, snide remarks, rude comments, accusations, and social destruction beyond what one would ever imagine.

I graduated from said same Eastern Public University back in the early '80's. There was a "gay rights day" done some time in bleak dizzily week... The gay gimmick was for everyone who supported gay rights or was gay to wear jeans....

First were the howls of protest from the guys who didn't have any other pants to wear... Then were the runs on the local clothing stores for any sort of "Cords"... Well "gay day" came... and you never saw a more colorful campus of guys wearing a rainbow of colors of corduroy pants.. White, offwhite, tan, brown, black, no - blue-- they looked like jeans....

The local outdoor clothing store sold out of Cords, fatigue pants, khaki pants, whatever weren't jeans.

30 years has meant many changes. Now, everyone is "gay" or expected to shut up. My guess is that wear jeans on Gay Pride Day would be met with a blank stare or a shrug. Rolling of the eyes would result in immediate personal attack and a vitriolic name calling tantrum.

You are right, Conservatism must be somehow taught to the young. I am not sure how we are going to get through all of the easy sex, easy money, easy drugs, easy values, easy... well life of getting everything handed to them...

Maybe that's why us old fogeys are so depressed right now.

R/John - TMF

Old Texican| 7.4.09 @ 10:37AM

Would one of our Arabic readers please translate the above?
Thank you sincerely.

Old Texicann| 7.4.09 @ 10:43AM

John...heh!

""You are right, Conservatism must be somehow taught to the young. I am not sure how we are going to get through all of the easy sex, easy money, easy drugs, easy values, easy... well life of getting everything handed to them... """

If we old farts cannot turn things around very quickly, none of that "easy stuff" will remain for them. OOPs!

.....and we won't have anything to "hand them".

Maybe that's why us old fogeys are so depressed right now.

Michael Zak| 7.4.09 @ 10:57AM

To quote my book: "How can we expect voters to place their confidence in us when we lack confidence in our own heritage."

Republicans make a big mistake by acting as if the world began five minutes ago.

Martin| 7.4.09 @ 10:59AM

We don't need to connect to that crowd, thank you very much. Ike, Ford, Nixon, TR and both Bushes -- not to speak of Lincoln, a bunch of big government types to a man. Where were the real GOP heroes, Garfield (a great President cut down) McKinley and Coolidge?

William R| 7.4.09 @ 11:00AM

Republicans have lost identity

http://onlineathens.com/stories/070309/let_458725928.shtml

Mary| 7.4.09 @ 11:13AM

I do think we need a more "in your face" attitude, but it can't be like the Left's. It has to be more intelligent lest we lose what makes us not them.

Serious face lift is needed for the GOP: More hot babes, more Grunge and Hip Hop music, more Hip talk and fist bumps, more in-your-face and yes curse-laden language. That's what will connect with younger voters.

Even if true, this is a real bad position to be in for republicans. And just reading it makes you throw up a little in your mouth. Especially if you remember your own youth and how the Country would have looked if people pandered to your views:

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
My next stop is Vietman [Author of chant unknown]

Or this:

Military madness is killing our Country,
So much sadness between you and me. [CSNY]

For the yuts, the Republicans are going to have to cease and desist with War because the young still think, as they should, "War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" "Say, say, say it again!"

Oh, and the young want universal health care. Maybe you can talk them out of that with Republican babes. Maybe. I think the younger generation might be pretty close to being sexed out.

I took a class a couple of years ago. A 50 year-old among 21 year-olds. I liked them. They were smarter than I remember being. They were every bit as doctrinaire as I remember being. I had a few of them over for espresso after class and sat there in slack-jawed study at how androgenous they seemed.

The young hate war, love socialism and the freedom to make any mistake they want. I don't know if they'll be players again following Obama. Maybe they really will become a permanent electoral force, like the old geezers are now.

Changing of the guard or not; Happy Fourth to all.

Scott | 7.4.09 @ 11:20AM

That quote at the beginning is part of a longer quote that has been around since at least the early 20th century (it's been attributed to Lincoln, but most scholars dispute that).

Mary| 7.4.09 @ 11:28AM

All of those ex-presidents in the picture; what would be the unifying theme you'd write about using all of these men and all of the ways their policies buttressed the liberty outlined for us in the Constiution of the United States?

William R| 7.4.09 @ 11:29AM

Purge the Neocons. Start with Bill Kristol Meth.

Red Phillips| 7.4.09 @ 11:44AM

"Republicans make a big mistake by acting as if the world began five minutes ago."

I like sparing with Mr. Zak who is a virtual friend, but his idea of getting back to basics and examining Republican history is basically appealing for PC approval. How Lincoln freed the slaves, the GOP passed the 14th Amendment, supported civil rights legislation, etc. etc. etc. and it was all those evil Southern Democrats who stood in the way. Hence, much like Bartlett's new book, the GOP is pure and pristine on race despite what the current batch of PC thought police say, and it is the Democrats that have historically been the party of racism.

I guess if one simply wants to shill for the GOP this is OK, but if one wants to advance CONSERVATISM, then you can't do so by trying to placate the PC gods. Lincoln was a radical and it was the South that was the force of conservatism that was trying to salvage the Republic the Founders had left us. The 14th amendment was passed under duress and is hence invalid, federal civil rights legislation was grossly unconstitutional, etc. This should all be Conservatism 101.

Historically the Democrat Party was the conservative party in America. It represented decentralization, limited government, localism, and rural and agrarian interests. The GOP was born a radical revolutionary party that supported centralism, business and big money interests, "internal improvements," nationalism at the expense of regionalism, and was strongest in the North. Up until fairly recently although the precise date is difficult to determine, it was the Southern Democrats who most represented the conservative impulse in this country (although they did like their pork.)

In many respects the parties have flipped roles. So it is impossible to defend conservatism by defending the GOP which used to be the radical party.

Indeed Mr. Zak, the world did not begin 5 minutes ago.

Michael Zak| 7.4.09 @ 11:58AM

Nowadays, too many Americans suffer from having learned their history from textbooks written by Democrat professors, whether of the loonie left variety or the neo-Confederate variety.

Mary| 7.4.09 @ 1:10PM

**From the statesman’s point of view, there is a problem with thinking about presidents simply as "leaders." "Leader" is an amoral term. It does not signify right or wrong. For example, most historians would say that Adolph Hitler was a leader. He moved Germany from one place to another. Indeed, he was the head of a movement. But Hitler and the Nazis moved Germany (and the world with them) to a terrible place, and only a committed Nazi would say that Hitler was a statesman. So how is a statesman different from—and better than—a mere "leader"?

As Washington and Lincoln knew, the answer lies in the goal that the statesman pursues and in the way he pursues it. Washington and Lincoln understood that politics is, above all, concerned with justice – with doing what is truly right for the country. As Lincoln once said, he always clung to the hope that human beings could live by a rule greater than self-interest. Now this might seem a little idealistic to some of us (as it did to some in Lincoln’s time, and in Washington’s time, too), but we often have too low a view of politics, as though everyone in politics talks about what’s right just so they can get elected. That’s not true of statesmen. They don’t talk about justice for the sake of getting power. They seek power for the sake of doing justice.

Of course, to do what is right you have to know what is right, and for that knowledge, both Washington and Lincoln turned to the same source: the fundamental principles of our country, especially as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. As soon as the Declaration arrived in the field from Philadelphia, Washington had it read to the assembled American troops. This is what our country is fighting for, he told them: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." That was the foundation of our Revolution and the basis of Washington’s understanding of justice—a government that protects the natural rights of the people and derives its just power from their consent. Lincoln believed the same thing, as he said to a crowd at Independence Hall just a few days before he became president in 1861, "I never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." In fact, he said almost prophetically that, concerning the principle of human equality and the right of government by consent, "I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it."**

The rest is here.

In case link is a dud: http://tinyurl.com/neh5s7.

Red Phillips| 7.4.09 @ 2:30PM

Michael, that wasn't even a remotely credible reply. Please, please tell me the "neo-Confederate" "Democrat professor" that you had in mind? I might like to read his work, but I know of no such person.

If being for federal civil rights legislation is something to be proud of, which is one of your themes, them perhaps you should begin by defending the constitutionality of that legislation. And once you're done with that task of fairytale jurisprudence, then perhaps you could explain why being so was now in hindsight the conservative position, when at the time it was self-evidently liberal forces who supported it and conservative forces that opposed it.

Again, as you said, the world did not begin five minutes ago.

Red Phillips| 7.4.09 @ 5:06PM

Could someone at Am Spec please get rid of the book length spam post. Thanks.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 12:08AM

The trend is clear liberalism is winning. Take for example homosexuality many of you mention how much less it was accepted in pass decades. Can you honestly say that what has happened in gay rights is not reflected in every other issue that matters to you. This goes beyond election cycles it is a societal trend. The America you loved is never coming back. So bend over Republicans it's sodomy time.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 2:27AM

Rob, an a$$hole like you would know a lot about sodomy time. Liberal pervert--but I repeat myself.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 2:43AM

@Smitty
Hey we can't all be conservative paragons of virtue like Catholic priests or Republican governors.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 3:32AM

Or the 'married' New Jersey demoncrat governor pervert, Jim 'gay boytoy' McGreevey. Or congressman Barney 'homo whorehouse' Fwank. Or pretty boy 'bastard love child' John Edwards. Or disgraced 'legal enforcer' $5000 whore buyer, Eliot Spitzer.

Snort. There's so much moral sewage in your stupid demoncrat party that your stench is overwhelming.

Nice try, liberal loser--but I repeat myself.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 3:40AM

@Smitty
We could trade names of philandering bad boys in both parties nearly ad infinitum. But aren't you guys supposed to have some kind of moral high ground? Or did hurricane Katrina flood that to?

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 4:27AM

You have lots more garbage, stooge--at least we aspire to a higher standard. You scuzzballs don't. Billy Boy Clinton the rapist and Teddy 'swimmer' Kennedy the killer are your heroes.

You are the absolute dregs of our society.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 4:47AM

You aspire to a higher standard? Given the magnitude of your failure I don't know what that says about the Republican parties aspirational ability. What I do know is that if you walked down the street today and asked people which side had more garbage stacking up people would tell you that the Republican party is beginning to resemble New Jersey. We're the dregs of society? Liberals? Not pedophiles, or murderers, or Scientologists but liberals? Or does it all look the same to you Smitty?

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 4:59AM

Research studies prove that most serial killers and pedophiles are liberals. I know it must hurt to admit it, but surely you know this.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 5:12AM

You know I've always suspected that, because surely the most important factor in whether someone chooses to chop up and eat their neighbors child is whether or not they believe in big government.

In any case that must mean we should be keeping an eye on Obama? Have you picked up on any signs he might be ready to go postal on us?

I'd love to see this study by the way.

Sammy| 7.5.09 @ 5:14AM

What republican party? 30 years from now the two major parties will be the Democrats and the Socialists. The GOP will be the size that the peace and freedom party is today.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 5:24AM

Thanks, Sammy, for offering more liberal mental-giant musings. Another democrat moron's inanities on display. Lucky us.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 5:26AM

What's love got to do with it, Robby?

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 5:30AM

Love has everything to do with it Miss Smitty. I've always wanted to see something miraculeus and now you hint at its existence but won't send me a link. Don't be a tease darling, if you've got the goods pony up.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 5:59AM

All you're gonna get is a tease, Robby. It's that anonymity thing, you know? I've got the goods, alright--but I don't got to pony up nothin' fer yew.

Besides, why do you care; where's your male squeeze?

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 6:06AM

Anonymities important but I'd still think you could send me a link to a PDF of the study that backs up those claims you made on the liberal murder correlation. I'd settle for it in .doc format if I must.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 6:10AM

That was what I meant by ponying up by the way.

Old Texican| 7.5.09 @ 9:53AM

Smitty,
Leave the poor suckers alone!
They are like four year olds batting their heads on the floor so we adults will notice them and make them stop.
Oh!
I went to our Tea Party here Friday. About 20,000 folks showed up. I was delighted to see the "voice" become clearer, and the ideas coalescing around some simple demands.

From now on, I think I shall use the phrase "we in the TEA Party".
I think it might be the catalytic crystal to allow us to avoid armed revolution. I hope so.

Miss Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 1:38PM

He started it, Old Tex--I'm just the closer. :)

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 2:23PM

@Smitty
Any luck finding that paper. It should be in the same file as Obama citizenship papers.
@Old Texican
Yes these tea parties seem to be the start of something. How could a few thousand uneducated, angry, increasingly irrelevant white people not lead to vast political change. If only we could use righteous anger and to power turbines we wouldn't need any of this green energy Obama keeps talking about.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 4:03PM

You saying Obama's American citizenship doesn't exist? You're right, and so am I about the preponderance of you liberals among the ranks of pedophiles and perverted serial killers.

It's just common sense--but unfortunately, common sense ain't so common with you Libtards.

With Obama's 10%-and skyrocketing ever higher -unemployment numbers, let's see how irrelevant we Conservatives are in 2010 & 2012, moron.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 4:15PM

Ahh what a fine psychological institution you must work for, I cannot imagine the alacrity with which they can advance psychological science once irrevalencies like studies and research are abandoned. Why heed these meager instruments of liberal deceit when the cold hard truth of assertions can guide your way. Smitty your wisdom brings tears to my eyes.

As to unemployment I cannot pretend like you to know what it will look in 2010 or 2012. I can only envy your ability to know with such certainty what has mystified so many economists.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 5:03PM

Somehow, for some reason, I just don't think the average American voter is mystified by double digit, skyrocketing unemployment numbers.

Anyway you look at it, Robby, you sweet young liberal thing--that's real bad news for you and your Obummer. Kinda' hard to put a smiley face on that little factoid--ain't it?

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 5:10PM

You have me there, the economy is vary worrying. I hope for the sake of the Democratic party and for America that the economy improves. The indicators point in different directions and the future remains hazy.

I'm not sure how much Obama or any president can do to fix things. The economy is a complex beast largely outside the control of the presidency. Still I sleep better at night with Obama in charge of it than I would with Palin at the helm.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 5:21PM

McCain would have been better than Obama--at least he's not a marxist. Regardless, Rob--I like you. You're funny and you're not really mean--just a wise @ss--like me!

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 5:28PM

Thank you Smitty. And I will be honest with you I do have doubts about Obama's economic policy at times. To much debt is obviously a bad thing. But not enough stimulus to restart the economy is also a mistake, as the great depression proved. It's a delicate balancing act and I hope ten years from now we'll be able to say Obama got it right.

Old Texican| 7.5.09 @ 8:07PM

Rob
Ten years from now...without US to bail you out...once again...you will only get to say "yassuh mastah!"...or starve.

Its NOT economics, fellow. Is is simply power over you........ and I.
We real Americans WILL win. The cost is the only thing still to be determined.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 8:17PM

Sadly, I believe you're spot on, Old Texican.

It's worrying about the 'cost' that brings me nightmares--and sorrow.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 8:37PM

Old Texican when I'm in the mood for good old fashion incoherent screeds you don't disappoint. Who exactly is this enemy your talking about? I admit he sounds terrifying. Who's our new mastah Texican?

Old Texican| 7.5.09 @ 9:44PM

We will try to cover your hiney, rob. No guarantees though.

I am deeply sorry that you got suckered by Obama and crew.
..."reap the whirlwind"...uh that's in the Bible screed which is obviously also incoherent for you.

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 10:02PM

Thanks for the offer of protection Old Texican but my hiney is to large a target for me to be confident in your offer of cover.

The future is as alway an obfuscating cloud of competing possibilities blown back and forth by chance and the ambitions of man. But I have some hope that the whirlwind that has been Obama will at least blow in the right direction. It is my hope that, at least, I will not be left reaping.

Smitty| 7.5.09 @ 10:17PM

Rob, you're smart--why would Obama want to create a national security force that rivaled the numbers and funding of our military? He said that more than once during the campaign--I heard it!

The only reason is to control the population--like those vicious b@stards in Iran--the guy who killed Neda. It ain't rocket science, doll; Old Tex is right.

Also, I truly apologize if I've offended you regarding your weight. I wouldn't have said that if I'd known you had a problem, okay?

Rob| 7.5.09 @ 10:30PM

Smitty I have to admit to being confused. I have not heard about this plan of Obama's. Could you post links? With regard to Iran I think we're on the same page. Thank you for your sensitivity regarding my weight, but I did not take offense. In fact to better reflect my inner being I think in future I will use the agnomen, half-ton socialist sodomite, in my future posts.

Smitty| 7.6.09 @ 2:46AM

Why does your weight always get heavier? You're crazy--you're probably skinny as heck and are just messing with me.

Smitty| 7.6.09 @ 2:53AM

Ew! I just noticed your sodomite comment. Disturbing to say the least.

Rob| 7.6.09 @ 4:44AM

Ya I admit that one wasn't a gem. I blame it on the absynthe and intense recollections of the Bush era. Not an excuse I know but mitigating factors perhaps.

JP| 7.6.09 @ 7:47AM

There's nothing like an economic collapse to get the youngs attention. Perhaps when their internet connections get disconnected and they must sell thier iBooks to pay for rent and food they will grow up.

Childhood cannot last forever, and an entire 2 to 3 generations of Americans are stuck on 19.

Smitty| 7.6.09 @ 1:15PM

You attribute your fascination with the butt to President Bush? Wow, that's a new Bush Derangement Syndrome wrinkle for me--I thought I had heard every liberal whine about W there was.

The absynthe sounds good but your BDS is a little bit of a turn-off, you know?

Smitty| 7.6.09 @ 1:35PM

On second thought, I reread that absynthe recipe and I don't think I could keep it down.

Champagne's always a big winner, though. ;)

Rob| 7.6.09 @ 1:45PM

I think BDS as you call it will turn out to be something future historians may well suffer from as well. In my opinion Bush may have done more to hurt America than anyone else alive, and that include Osama Bin Laden. Don't get me wrong Bush loves America, I'm convinced of it. He was just a horrible president, and we are going to have a difficult time recovering from his misrule, and the problems he left behind from Iraq to the economy.

Smitty| 7.6.09 @ 3:21PM

Sorry--but I'm calling BULLSH!T on your screed. Don't get me started on Obama 'cause I don't want to fight with you anymore. If you beg to differ, and that's fine--I will adios your a$$, babe.

Rob| 7.6.09 @ 3:37PM

"adios your a$$" How do you intend to accomplish that? I think talking about Bush would be a waste of time as we're unlikely to find common ground. Though I would like to see any evidence, any at all, regarding your incredible claim that Obama is assembling some kind of domestic security force to control the populace.

Miss Smitty| 7.6.09 @ 3:53PM

He didn't try to hide it, Rob. What the hell is wrong with your Google finger?

I'm going down to the beach now to get some fine California sun and sea. Life's too short and I love mine too much to waste it on senseless bickering. Adios!

Rob| 7.6.09 @ 4:56PM

Smitty I like you I really do. But your fixation on these absurd conspiracy theories indicates a sizable disconnect from reality. No mainstream Republican figure I knew of has made claims like these because they know that if they did they'd be laughed into retirement. If there is substance to them maybe you should be avoiding the beaches you never know when you might run into one of Obama's amphibious assaults forces after all.

Smitty| 7.6.09 @ 6:14PM

Whatever, troll--enjoy your boring, humdrum life while I bask in the warm California sun. The Pacific Ocean is my beat and I'm loving it.

Nothin' like the sweet surf, sand and sun to invigorate the body and soul and to feel oh, so alive.

I'll be thinking of you, though. Maybe I'll even raise a cool glass of the bubbly to you. Take care.

Love, Miss Smits