Thank you for the thoughtful reply.
"He is not tone deaf, but he is firm in his objectives and beliefs. He is stubborn (which is exactly the trait that serves him best in the WOT), and he just disagrees with us on some issues such as immigration."
Immigration isn't that huge of a deal to me at this point. My opinion is actually slowly changing on the subject. Not so much due to the moral concerns, which do factor into it, but the pragmatic concerns for our future. Our national birth rate is at best, stable. Ironic as it may seem to many of us, including myself,....in 20 years I suspect that we're actually going to be looking for and competing for immigrants. We're going to need the added population.
My concern is not with immigration per se, it's the fact that illegal immigrants (and who knows who the heck they are?) are coming through the border without being vetted from a security standpoint. It's not just latinos looking for a better life, it's also members of criminal gangs and potential terrorists. I'm not for open immigration, but I am becoming a supporter of easier legal immigration as well as a policy that pro-actively seeks out the best potential Americans that other countries have to offer.
As for President Bush's character, by and large I think that he is a good person as well as a stubborn one. I don't regret voting for him. My concerns with him politically have been his willingness to go along to get along with profligate spending, and various legislation that has tended to reduce our freedom. The so-called campaign finance reform law is a prime example.
One thing that people grossly underestimate President Bush on is his intelligence. And frankly, it reveals a certain level of prejudice against southern males. He speaks with a drawl and is thus considered an ignoramus. The man went to Yale and (I believe) Harvard as well for his MBA. Family connections are not going to get you through a rigorous degree program like that. You have to have the raw intelligence to do it. He reminds me a lot of another southern politician, Sam Ervin, who used to play the dumb ol' southern boy routine to the hilt. Of course, he was a Harvard educated attorney, but he didn't let on to that.
"You may be correct and they need a little conservatism BUT they also limit the freedom of their members. How often do you see democrats stray from the "talking points" or the agenda? Look at what happened to Lieberman when he supported the president on the war. He was made an outcast."
I actually see it in almost the opposite light. But keep in mind that I'm speaking from the perspective of being an actual Democrat. The Democratic party is very populist. It's structured in such a way that you do have the opportunity to speak your mind. But that populism can be a double edged sword for those who are going against the majority in their local party. I think that Sen. Lieberman's problems need to be viewed in light of the circumstances within the CT Democratic party. This is a northeastern state with more than it's share of far left moonbats, particularly within the Democratic party. Sen. Lieberman was not representing the point of view that they wished to see represented. So they exercised their rights and ran a far left moonbat against Sen. Lieberman in the primary. And not that surprisingly, the far left moonbat won the primary.
You can view that as a "failure" of the Democratic party, or simply democracy in action. No one, not Sen. Lieberman, not President Bush is entitled to remain in political office. You tick off the folks who worked to elect you, and you may well find yourself out of a job. That's just the way it works in the Democratic party.
Interestingly, if Sen. Lieberman was running in a southern state, he would have never faced the primary challenge. Or if he did, the primary challenge would have been beaten down in short order. Why? Because southern Democrats are more conservative in general and would be more receptive to Sen. Lieberman's point of view.
"Not so today. It has been taken over by the far left/socialists. It has become anti-American, anti-God, anti-right to life (meaning killing unborn babies, live aborted babies, deformed babies, etc.)."
Yes, a lot of my fellow Democrats are socialist moonbats, including many in leadership positions. But do you know when and why that happened? I'll tell you. It happened in the 1980's and 1990's as a direct result of the mass anbandonment of the party by conservatives. As the conservatives departed, a power vacuum was left in their wake and you can see who filled it.
Let's also take a look at what this grand departure has brought about in the last 20 years. Has the abandonment of the Democratic party by conservatives brought with it a balanced budget? Has Roe v Wade been overturned? Is our contry more focused on the traditional principles of it's founding?
Funny. It doesn't look to me like the conservative strategy of abandoning the Democratic party in favor of the allegedly more conservative Republican party has played out very well for conservatives. I'd go even further in suggesting that it's been an unmitigated disaster for both conservatism and our country.
Interesting points.
So very nice to discuss politics with a democrat without all the rhetoric and hate.
I think you are right about conservatism being hurt over the years. One thing is the "water down" effect.
When liberal democrats gradually convert to conservatism they bring along many of their more liberal views and this tends to water down the conservatism. Of course without converts where do you get your growth.
And I think the worst thing that is happening to conservatism is the expectation of immediate gratification when conservative leaders are put in office. They can not comprehend that societies grow in one direction or another - they do not do "about faces". So our FR conservatives get mad when they don't see the immediate results and start griping and destroying our leaders along with the democrats.
Where does that leave us? It leaves us moving toward liberalism as the liberals are just hoping we will destroy our own. Conservatives need to keep on plugging as the socialists do. If you lose in one direction, move to another and keep on marching - always toward conservatism - never toward liberalism. And, it is not wise to join the enemy in destroying your leaders.
So, now we are at square one again - hoping to rebuild after the democrats under Pelosi wreck their havoc on America.
We are always in rebuild mode because of the ignorance of those expecting a superman to move into office - overcome all laws, all majorities, all things in the least possible and give them the conservatism of our founders.
It won't ever happen and they continually destroy us with their childish expectations so they in effect are working for liberalism and it is succeeding.
They should ask themselves why.
I hope you will open your eyes and see the damage happening to your party with the "moonbats". We have to protect this country, we cannot tolerate a media that supports our enemies, we cannot coddle those wanting to kill us.
And may I mention something I have noticed in the democrat party. Years ago we read the Communist Manifesto in which they laid out the planned steps of the march of communism.
Eerily I see those steps being put in place by the democratic party.
-Dumbing down of the citizens.
-Removing God from public places
-Undercutting our military
-De-arm the citizens
-Instilling communist doctine in the schools to teach the future generations in what they want them to learn
-Government control over all facets of life, increase dependency on government. Big, big government control.
These things evoke terror in me and I will never be a part of it.
I have also noticed from the democrats and their goals.
-Laws and legal system favorable to criminals (probably because of the potential voters
-Willingness to allow immigrants free entry (probably because of voting blocks)
-Anti-America teaching, blame America first, consideration that patriotism is to be downplayed.
-The goal of an international world government. Which is why they seek to pull down America as a superpower.
-The hampering of America by denying drilling in Anwar, by the environmental program gaining control of America's lands and putting them under the control of foreign nations (this is the actual result of environmentalists denying property rights over a "endangered species", a pristine area not to be touched by drilling. They then form treaties which put the control of these lands under the whims of foreign governments.
And I could go on and on.