Ohio Ping!
Posted on 09/12/2009 12:44:51 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Talking heads' lack of civility hurting GOP, ex-leader says Saturday, September 12, 2009 3:24 AM By Mark Niquette THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Robert T. Bennett
Robert T. Bennett The former longtime chairman of the Ohio Republican Party yesterday criticized the furor that conservative talk-show hosts and others raised about President Barack Obama's speech to schoolchildren, saying it contributes to a lack of civility and hurts the GOP cause.
Robert T. Bennett also said U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who shouted out "You lie!" to Obama during a speech before Congress on Wednesday, is "a complete idiot" who should resign.
Referring to the uproar over Obama's televised speech Tuesday to mark the start of the school year, Bennett said former Republican presidents gave speeches to kids that weren't political and Obama's wasn't, either.
"This has nothing to do with who the president of the United States is," Bennett said during an impassioned, impromptu speech yesterday at a meeting of Ohio GOP Central and Executive Committee, the party's governing body. "It has to do with the civility and the process and respect for the office of the presidency.
"Not one Republican senator, to my knowledge, stood up and objected to what was being driven as a Republican message by some of our talking heads, and you know who I'm referring to. I just think that we have to bring civility to the process if we're going to have any credibility as Republicans and as a Republican Party."
Asked about his comments afterward, Bennett, who retired as chairman this year after a 21-year tenure, said he doesn't support Obama's position on health care, spending and a host of other issues.
But he said criticizing a benign speech to children hurts the GOP's ability to be "the loyal opposition on those things that are important."
"We can (disagree) in a civil manner because we're losing the battle with middle America if we don't understand that," Bennett said. "Every time that something like that happens, we lose."
Bennett said he respects and agrees with much of what conservative radio and television talk-show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck say, but, "They aren't the spokesmen for the Republican Party. If they are, then they ought to run for positions in the Republican Party."
As for Wilson's "You lie!" remark, Bennett echoed comments that U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich made to The Dispatch in July when the Ohio Republican said, "We got too many Jim DeMints (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburns (R-Okla.). It's the Southerners. They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr.' People hear them and say, 'These people, they're Southerners. The party's being taken over by Southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?' "
Said Bennett of Wilson: "I'm sure that he's got a lot of people throughout the South that's probably cheering him on. We have to bring civility to the process; it's too important."
mniquette@dispatch.com
Ohio ping.
Bennett is the idiot.
Bennett should shut up.
Throw this bum out!
I no longer care about the GOP cause. I care about the American cause.
Ohio needs to start cleaning up their Republican party.
TRAMPLE THEIR CROPS AND SOW THEIR FIELDS WITH SALT!
That’s right you idiot . .criticize your own.
Never mind the absolute trash that comes out of the enemies’ mouths
Odd how they don't do that for dems who want to trash dems.
Anyone know why? /s
LLS
These country club douchebags days are numbered
Great, another ex-’Republican leader’ to be heard from. Now I know why he’s an ex-leader. He should go all the way and become and ex-Republican
Where were these hack republicans when democrats made obnoxious comments about our troops in Iraq and about President Bush? Their heads were contorted towards their posteriors then, and apparently remain in that position today. These are the type of politicians who need to go bye bye.
I don’t know about the GOP, I mean who cares about the GOP? They can drop dead! But OTOH have you morons been paying attention? Like what is happening in DC today for example and has been building to a crescendo for some time now? It isn’t hurting the PEOPLE one bit, in fact it is energizing the Conservative/Traditionalist/ to new heights! The giant has awakened and he is not in a real good mood. God Bless America!
These elitist, country club republicans were represented by their HERO—Juan McCain—in last years election debacle. You’d think the embarrassment of McCain’s spinelessness, stupidity, pathetic lack of passion and desire to apologize to everyone, for everything would make the Bennetts of the party finally SHUT UP! But no. They are convinced that it is WE, the LITTLE PEOPLE who are embarrassing the “party!” Won’t these clown be surprised when the next election takes place without them.
Unfortunately, as leaders, they have a profound weakness: they dislike seeing people in their crowd getting their feathers ruffled at them or anything they are associated with. Divisive issues like abortion and sharp comments against the opposition give them the willies -- just like cursing in the card room at the country club.
Fundamentally, this kind of leader is loyal to their own social set and not to their political party, and certainly not to its rank and file and their ideas.
If us bums would just be civil, Jim Wright could still be House Speaker:
Jim Wright says he resigned as House Speaker in 1989, after an ethics attack led by Representative Newt Gingrich, to shock his colleagues into a return to civility. “As it turns out,” he says, “that was a forlorn hope.”
Rinos to the majority conservative voters: Shut up. You are scaring us!
The rest of the party to the Rinos: Get to the back of the bus with your bi-partisan socialism and constitutional back stabbing where you belong.
Go Joe, Go
Imcivility? You talk about *Republican* incivility?
No wonder the GOP under you, was incompetant and short sighted. Robert T. Bennett No one cares what you think, because you are a nowhere man Robert T. Bennett. How’s that for incivility. Apparently you think civility means letting lying screaming temper tantrum throwing criminal opponents running all over you, with their Army Surplus boot marks all over your face.
“Robert T. Bennett The former longtime chairman of the Ohio Republican Party”
Part of the problem.
I agree completely. 15 years ago the late Gene Watts (solid conservative Vietnam vet) was my state senator. He and Bennett butted heads constantly.
Gene Watts was awesome! I miss him.
The latest Rasmussen Reports shows that 44% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 37% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent.
This is now the 11th straight week GOP candidates have held the advantage.
Support for both parties rose one point over the past week, giving Republicans their highest level of support of the past several years. Support for Democrats last week reached its lowest point during that same time period.
Thanks for the ping, (I see TonyRo76 has pinged the list).
I think Robert T. Bennett is an idiot. Period.
Long before George W. Bush the democrats killed civility (Bork and Reagan for example), but they murdered it with the treatment of George W. Bush.
In fact, they aided and abetted our enemies, and they led to greater deaths of our own troops with their near-immediate counting of the dead and clamoring for withdrawal from Iraq. They orchestrated that. They did. I will never forget it. And, with Vietnam, I will NEVER forgive them.
I am not a republican.
I don’t think it’s hurting anything, yet.
However, most of the time in the past decade (going back to the Lewinsky stuff), the Right/GOP has consistently over played its hand each and every time when there was an advantage to be had.
And like now, since they have aces over kings, they need to extract the MAXIMUM advantage out of the hand. If they go all in too early the other side will fold and not follow them into the hand.
Yes and it deffinitly seems to work for them.
For a large number of voters passion seems to turn some kind of primal switch in their heads. They seem to equate passion with truth. “That guy really seems to believe what he is saying. I think I believe it too.”
Sort of the old tent revival meeting effect; a so called come to Jesus moment, people respond to perceived honest passion.
Can you argue with success?
I do see Republicans like Bennett as a problem not for his desire for civility, I to would like civility in politics, but for his choice in when he chooses to advocate for civility.
Joe Wilson had an honest objection to Obama’s lack of honesty in his speech and he voiced that objection, heard a lie and he called Obama on that lie.
Had the speech been made by a Republican to a majority Republican congress and Wilson been a Democrat the Democrats would have run to his defense and voiced the need for a strong minority as a democratic ideal, and made points about the “Rights of the Minority.”
It is about time that the GOP starts learning how to use the successful techniques of the Democrats. We can not become an enduring majority party until we learn how to use passion to influence the swing voters.
We must defend our own as the Dims do and not attack them when they voice honest opposition to the lies the Dims try to spread.
I do wish that we could have civil discourse in politics but as GWMcClintock has said it is dead, killed by the radical Left. The old guard Republicans have been performing CPR for 15 years now and I do not see any signs of resurrection on the Left. It is high time to call the time of death.
Their lack of civility OTH, is justified and shows how classy they are./SAR
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