Posted on 11/05/2009 10:34:17 AM PST by steve-b
This past weekend, a small brouhaha erupted over a Halloween display on Capitol Hill. The display, in essence, mocked the death of the Republican Party and the conservative movement...
Though distasteful, the display makes a point that has become increasingly common in American political discourse, that the Republican Party and American conservatism are dead...
Of course, this is oversimplification and hyperbole. Conservatism is not dead, just civil conservatism. You can still hear some semblance of conservatism in the streets when Tea Partiers march, still see it on the television when you watch Fox News. In ever more hysterical tones, conservatism lives sadly on in Rush Limbaugh and Joe Wilson, he of the "you lie" outburst on national TV.
The problem is not that Ronald Reagan's principles have faded into obscurity, it's that his style is no longer employed. The charm, the wit, and the intelligence that he exuded have given way to vitriol, anger and irrational outbursts.
Reagan's ideas maintain lasting import, but are parroted poorly by the Glenn Becks and Bill O'Reillys of American punditry...
It's no wonder that many independents, those who might once have listened if approached reasonably, are no longer interested in the party of Joe Wilson or a movement with birthers and 9/11 truthers. Who can blame them for being turned off by intolerance and parochialism?...
The Republican Party is just beginning its own stint in the desert, and the initial sense of hopelessness is giving rise to false gods. But perhaps, with a little flexibility, a spot of fresh thinking, and a respect for reasoned discourse, the conservative movement can emerge from its tomb faster than history might indicate...
(Excerpt) Read more at network.nationalpost.com ...
I for one am glad that civility is gone. Playing nice got us into this mess.
I had rather be bad winner than a good loser.
Yeah...we’re onto their ALINSKY rules.....and we’re playing by them too.....civility got us NOWHERE...at least the “civility” as the Libs describe it.
Oh, for... Who are these articles aimed at? Really? If you’re going to shoot, man, don’t use a water pistol.
Boy me too. Just like that movie 2012, they show a statue of Christ falling over, but allow Mecca to survive.
Give me a break!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
Awwwwwwwww!
Maybe it should go on OBAMACARE.
That is, until an appropriate death panel can be found!
This isn’t a high school debate, it is war.
Now Reagan is charming, witty, and intelligent. Before Tuesday he was the affable idiot. Wonder what happened?
In a country where the bearing of firearms is seen as a way to deter a totalitarian government, and is enshrined in the Second Amendment...
...the vigorous exercise of the Freedom of Speech provision in the First Amendment doesn’t seem too radical by comparison.
Civility loses elections.
Alinsky Rule # 4 Make opponents live up to their own book of rules.
Since the ‘Progressives’ have all branches, ask ‘Why are the little guys suffering?’
Redistribute the wealth? Why have wages gone down the past three quarters? (With a democratic controll of Congress since 2007?)
In other words, bend over, take it, and say “May I have another, please ?”
No thanks.
I wish that were true. Over the years I have been sickened by the lack of fire in the gut of most Republicans. It is far past the time. We should have yelling and screaming at these left wing liberal socialists and communists decades ago. The Dems have never been civil.
It’s funny how they mistake our resolve for incivility, and their own incivility for resolve.
LOL! Yea, maybe we should try acting more like those classy liberals...
This story was printed in the early afternoon of election day. Refuted within 12 hours.
“Civility” is overrated.
Besides, has anyone today ever seen what they said about each other two hundred years ago?
Can you say, “libel lawsuit”?
Ha, ha. Excellent.
This is disengenuous propaganda. The lunacy of the left that has now become the face and base of the democratic party is obnoxiously verbose and has made their presence and influence through bombastic antics. They get covered by the press and "normal" citizens roll their eyes at how goofy they are. Problem is, now it is these folks, planted in that camp, in positions of power in this nation, that are looking outside and assuming everyone else is goofy.
"Bush lied soldiers died?" Dem politicians were saying this radical stuff. "Republicans want old people to die?" Remember that?
Reality is, the message and discourse of conservatism has changed very little. Support and numbers have wained, but not the message.
The Republican party got drunk with power starting in the 90's when they took over congress and continued through Bush's two terms and lost their way.
It is the people that are trying to get our representatives back on track.
Finally - 9/11 Truthers are part of the fringe RIGHT wing? Truthers hated Bush and are liberal wackos and he lumps them in with those nutty conservatives.
The liberal/democrats are crapping in their pants at the
thought of a reborn conservative republican party.
I’m a born again Republican, now get out of my way!
“You can still hear some semblance of conservatism ....., still see it....”
You could easily find it in a nifty little document that was developed when this country was founded. The author is correct, to liberals that document is dead.
That's a very nice turn of phrase, and I believe the reason why it is true has to do with the Utopian nature of Progressivism. Opposition to any element of their belief system is taken not as the result of reasoned, articulated thought, but as evidence of wrongness at least, and evil intent at worst.
Conversely, Progressives become so confident in their own rectitude that they are almost uniformly non-reflective and obdurate.
Just like Obama; I guess the author of this article is pretending to ignore the election returns in NJ and VA too.
Independents flocked to the GOP in these states. So sorry Mr. Hack, go spin your wheels in your liberal mud pit. Your attempt to scare the Indies back to your Libtardedness is so Fail.
The Republican Party needs to recognize the mood of the nation and get the representatives in place that actually represented the conservative nature of this nation.
I was born a Republican but I became a conservative as I learned more and gained wisdom.
Civility went out the window when it was no longer reciprocated.
Now we are uncivil, fast approaching the need for violence in accordance with with Jefferson’s warning that the tree of liberty needs to be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
VA & NJ happened, and Conservatism is on the ascendancy. Which is why we're seeing more articles like this one. Liberals and RINOS are scared of what they see on the horizon of the political landscape.
perhaps we will be perceived as civil if we make a movie about murdering a sitting, opposition president. is anyone ready for the sequel to death of a president?
Seriously, all this talk of lack of civility is coming from people who have shrieked their throats raw screaming imprecations against Bush. It's good for a laugh but you can't take it seriously.
I first got involved in politics just out of high school in 1979 working on the ground game for Reagan's run in 1980. Then conservatives were the RINOs, the outsiders dooming the party to future failure. Reagan won based on ideals and understood that each piece of legislation needed the support of nonconservatives.
He understood that anyone who supports a majority of his agenda was a friend. Maybe not BFF but someone you don’t call out for not fully agreeing.
Fast forward to the gains in Congress during the Clinton years. Again, ideals codified in the Contract With America sweep Republicans and conservatives into power. A majority of voters likely did not agree with all the items in the contract but a majority agreed with a majority of the items; although the majority on any certain item might be a different mix than on another. That’s how the big tent works.
Hey, I live in the northern Mexico state of California so I have my problems with John McCain, the poster child of RINOism, he was not my 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice for Republican nominee for Prez but it was he that stood tall when things were not going well in Iraq while many “conservatives” seemed to be voting “present.” HE was also one of the few voices that had tried to call attention to the brewing mess in the mortgage industry from the early 2000’s, sure his strongest opposition to that came from the left but the Republicans were in the majority then. It was the collapse of the economy more than anything else that caused the Republicans to become the minority party.
Tim, this is why it’s so important to hold off on the election post-mortems until after the votes get counted.
Personally, I, like Patrick Swayze in “Roadhouse”, define civility as being nice until it’s time...to not be nice.
There is a psychosis in the liberal camp that is reminiscent of the 60's hippy high. It is devoid of logic and knowledge. Consider for instance, endangered species. If the human race were to be placed on the endangered species list, what would the left's reaction be? What actions would we be encouraged to take? Make babies? I doubt it. That is simple and logical.
Ironically in nature, history, science and math, there is logical cause and effect. It can be reviewed and proven. Social behavior has a long history in nature as well. Somehow, all things come down to one Utopian idea for liberals, we are too stupid to really take care of ourselves let alone advance our civilization for future generations. We need to be told what to do for our own good.
People act logically everyday, it is the essence of what makes us human. A moth flies into a flame of death because that's what moths do. A snake will eat their young. Birds push their young out of a nest regardless of their development. But humans slow down when they see someone crossing the street in front of them, even though they have never run over anyone before.
Liberals stop thinking and simply accept teachings and preaching about what is "good" for them without actually thinking about it. What is the basis of this trust?
You can't tell someone that jumping of a 10 story building will make them live for ever. But you can tell a liberal that the government can provide more healthcare, at a lower cost, for more people without going deeper in national debt and they just say, "OK! Right on!"
You can tell a liberal that because man invented an engine that produces power from fossil fuels the earth is warming and the total existence of the human population is at peril. We can solve the problem by taking more of your money and giving it to other people. "OK! Right on! Let's save the world."
I cannot figure out how or where the brainwashing took place that puts these people in this place where they believe they are helpless and will take marching orders without direction or question right into misery.
Pretty courageous in this echo chamber to:
—note that Reagan made compromises and was civil
—note the good things McCain did
Well, what the uppity journalist with all the big words doesn’t realize is that demure charm and wit doesn’t hold a candle to red-faced yelling. If you want someone to stop what they’re doing, turn their head, and listen to what you’re saying, you have to cause a scene. That’s just the way it is.
-DPW
We die at the hands of Democratic/RINO policies. Time to not take it anymore.
“Bipartisanship is the absence of opposition to Democrats.”
I can't decide whether I agree with this statement. I was in grade school when Reagan was electeed and his election is my first political memory so I can only speak from history.
I firmly believe that Carter did as much to move the country right as Reagan did. If there was a "conservative" movement that was considered outsiders or "fringe" that was ruining the Republican party, then the entire political spectrum has radically shifted left from the farthest leftist leanings to the farthest right leanings. I do not consider myself on the farthest right end of the spectrum. I think there are groups that are far more right than I. But this "moderate" republican mantra as the mainstream base of the republican party is false.
I say the current condition puts Ronald Reagan far right of what the general current republican party ideoligical platform is. Ronald Reagan spoke of healthcare reform and delivered a great speach on the subject in the 70's. Reagan unabashadly denigrated big government and cut taxes even as national debt skyrocketed (pretty bold). Reagan was vocally anti-abortion, specifically with the flawed Roe V. Wade ruling (privacy).
There were fears of combat in the skies. Weinberger asked the president what the orders would be if the Libyans fired on U.S. aircraft and returned to Tripoli. "What about hot pursuit? How far can we go?"
"All the way to the hangar," Reagan responded.
Do you really want to know?
It stems from the belief that reality is not that which we perceive, and that truth is therefore not knowable. It is a rejection of the most basic tenets of philosophy, specifically the branch of philosophy that deals with how we know what we know: epistemology.
Aristotle propounded two fundamental epistemological concepts: Existence is (the "primacy of existence"), and a thing is itself (the "law of identity"). Any further understanding of the world flows from either the acceptance or rejection of those precepts.
More people are realizing that the policies of our ideological opponents INVARIABLY, with history as our witness, devolve into enslavement, suffering, and genocide.
So, seriously, why should someone be “civil” when they are faced with an opponent that seeks to enslave and kill you and your progeny?
Aristotle discovered opium. (Just kidding of course)
That is far to metaphysical to explain the liberal logic conundrum (if not over simplified). If I put a liberal in eminant and obvious danger they will act logically to save themselves. But it seems I can talk them into climbing to the top of and jumping off a building if my name is Obama, Pelosi, Clinton, Reid, CNN, MSNBC, etc.
I know some intelligent people that simply are unable to: A) Explain the logic behind their liberal policy support B) Explore the cause and effect of that which they support.
If there is no objective reality or truth, and all is mere perception, what use is "logic" in attempting to describe the world around you? What is the relationship between cause and effect when neither can be proven to exist except perhaps as an artifact of our (flawed) human perception?
Liberals believe as they do because they operate on faith, not reason. They often fear and mistrust the world around them and look for meaning not in their ability to perceive and control it, but in others who pretend to explain it for them in ways that relieve them of any responsibility for their own lives and actions.
Whenever some writer thinks Bill O’Reilly is a conservative, I know they have no idea what they’re talking about.
I came to that same conclusion in a recent attempt to find out why my lib-in-law thought national health care was a good idea, even after she agreed to my economic analysis that would lead to severe shortages and rationing.
There was no way to get a logical flow from point A to point B. I was often accused of “putting words in her mouth” when I repeated an assertion stated 3 seconds before.
I came to the conclusion that libs simply HAVE FAITH, based on nothing but their own desire to have that faith,
in the “elite leadership” elected to governmental authority positions.
I will use that, with your permission. I think you are spot on. And it fits my only explanation which is this:
Liberals are folks devoid of accountability and in search of injustice to rectify. Their existence and self worth is based on acceptance from their peers. "Good Deeds" are the measure for which they will be accepted and embraced by their peers. Unfortunately they exist in a bubble and, lacking real issues for which they themselves should be accountable for and take action to rectify, reach out to invent problems to solve on behalf of others "not as fortunate as themselves." Their own self worth is tested by what their bubblemates think of them. Their social status in the bubble is elevated if they are denigrated for their "important" efforts (like embracing Chavez). Further, they are elevated and congratulated when they overcome one of "societies unjust challenges" like drug addition, alcoholism, etc.
The biggest problem liberals have is they do not realize they are in a bubble so the extent of their knowledge is based on the perception becoming fact imparted on them by their peers. They see the rest of America as ignorant minions that they can "help" based on the guidance of their bubblemates.
Al Gore? Barack Obama? Ted Kennedy? Nancy Pelosi? Gays and Lesbians? Minorities? Actors/Actresses? Academia? Look at the folks they are surrounded by. Look who their bubblemates are. I agree with you.
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