Posted on 05/07/2011 11:21:40 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
Of course you can't, but you can convince moderates that conservative principles are the best principles like Reagan did.
Moderating to the mushy middle isn't the way to gain the respect of moderates, nor is it the way to hold on to the truth, it just drives the process leftwards in a mushy way. Bold colors, strong contrast (particularly against demonstrably bad leftist policies) is the way to win.
First, it was a truck bomb, not a car bomb used in Beirut. Second, you make a long leap from a Hizbollah and Shiite operation carried out by Imad Mughniya to more than a decade later and the explosions at the U.S. embassies in Africa carried out by Al Qaeda and its Sunni adherants. In between was the support for the muj operating in Afghanistan. Then there was the operation to restore Kuwait independence. Undoubtedly, the most egregious US error was to allow US troops to stay behind in Somalia in 1993 after the humanitarian task set by the Bush Administration was accomplished. The rest I’m sure you know. Add to that the feckless Clinton administration failure to bring Bin Laden to justice.
Your argument is similar to attacking the United States for not reacting more strongly after the Japanese attack on the US Yangtze River fleet, and then blaming that event for all Japanese actions that took place thereafter.
When people cannot become great, they tear down what is great in an attempt to lower the standards.
Here is something I found interesting. I am not a Ayn Rand bot, but she did make this very unique observation about Ronald Reagan:
“Such is the swamp of contradictions swallowing the two most prominent issues of today- Vietnam and the draft. The same is true of all the other issues and pseudoissues now clogging all the avenues of public communications. And, adding insult to injury, the anti-ideologists, who are responsible for it, are complaining about the public’s lethargy.
“Lethargy is only a precarious psychological cover for confusion, disgust, and despair.
“The country at large is bitterly dissatisfied with the STATUS QUO, disillusioned with the stale slogans of welfare statism and desperately seeking an alternative, i.e., an intelligible program and course. The intensity of that need may be gauged by the fact that a single good speech raised a man, who had never held public office, to the governorship of California. The statists of both parties, who are now busy smearing Governor Reagan, are anxious not to see and not to let others discover the real lesson and meaning of his election: that the country is starved for a voice of consistency, clarity, and moral self-confidence- which were the outstanding qualities of his famous speech, and which cannot be achieved or projected by consensus-seeking anti-ideologists.
“As of this date, Governor Reagan seems to be a promising public figure- I do not know him and cannot speak for the future. It is difficult to avoid a certain degree of skepticism: we have been disappointed too often. But whether he lives up to the promise or not, the people’s need, quest for, and response to clear-cut ideas remain a fact- and will become a tragic fact if the intellectual leaders of the country continue to ignore it.
“Since the elections of 1966, some commentators have been talking about the country’s “swing to the right.” There was no swing to the right (except, perhaps, in California)- there was only a swing against the left (if by “right,” we mean capitalism- and by “left,” statism). Without a firm, consistent IDEOLOGICAL program and leadership, the people’s desperate protest will be dissipated in the blind alleys of the same statism that they are opposing. It is futile to fight AGAINST, if one does not know what one is fighting FOR. A merely negative trend or movement cannot win and, historically, has never won: it leads nowhere.
“The consensus-doctrine has achieved the exact opposite of its alleged goal: instead of creating unity or agreement, it has disintegrated and atomized the country to such an extent that no communication, let alone agreement, is possible. It is not unity, but intellectual coherence that a country needs. That coherence can be achieved only by fundamental principles, not by compromises among groups of men- by the primacy of ideas, not of gangs.”
-Ayn Rand, “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, Page 234-235. 1967
It is interesting she saw the potential in Reagan this early, framed left and right from statism versus capitalism, and saw the Republican Party as a bunch of ‘consensus-doctrine’ morons.
I think the passage above can be summed up about the nation today. It is not enough to oppose Obama. One must fight for certain ideas. Reagan was great because of those ideas he communicated.
Huck is talking about himself.
How can you say that the man who said we have to abandon the free market in order to save it was a better President than Reagan? You say you can remember Ike. From Ike to the present, W is 4th at the absolute best. I’m only 28 and one could certainly argue he’s only the 4th best in my lifetime. You are right when you say W was consistent on the economy. It was spend, spend, spend, etc. He’s a good man, but was a mediocre President.
It’s safe to say most of the Huck bashers don’t like Romney either. Huckabee would be “compassionate” conservatism on steroids.
Thank you for pinging me and thank you for citing the book and the page numbers.
Very interesting. I agree with you as well.
Nice work, JLS.
Reagan had more pardons than any Governor since he was in office. He also pardoned hundreds as President.
How many of Mr. Reagan’s pardon recipients went on to shoot police officers? My point is that some of Mr. Huckabee’s pardons were clearly unforced errors that impact his record and credibility.
Unless you can show that Huckabee should have known a particular offender would repeat, I don’t think we should consider it an error. Yes, he is responsible for his part in the release of Dumond, for example. But remember, Arkansas doesn’t give full pardon power to the governor, the final decision was made by the parole board.
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