FIGHT! (National Review)

National Review The Corner ^ | November 5, 2008 | Peter Kirsanow

[greyfoxx39]

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Fight   [Peter Kirsanow]

Now back to the real world. It's traditional that a new president get a honeymoon of some indefinite length. It's also traditional for Republicans (and many conservatives) to act as Charlie Brown to Lucy with the football.

 

Obama will get the most lavish and extended honeymoon in history. Every time he walks to the podium without falling down will be trumpeted as the greatest accomplishment since MacArthur returned to the Philippines. It will be the natural tendency of Republicans to join in the praise, and worse, to try to be "bipartisan" when it comes to legislation that is manifestly bad for the country and abhorrent to conservative principles. This tendency will be magnified by the Republicans' fear that any opposition to Obama's policies will be portrayed as motivated by racism rather than principle.

 

Senator McCain is an American hero, a remarkable man. I can think of few I respect more. But he's likely to be the first to be leading the charge toward bipartisanship. This would be a mistake of galactic proportions. This must be resisted.

 

It's all well and good for Republicans to congratulate Obama today, and on Inauguration Day. The GOP shouldn't oppose merely for the sake of opposition. But if they were paying any attention to what Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Rangel, Schumer, etc, have been saying over the last year, they should realize that on the major issues of the day, liberals are determined to take the nation down a hard left path that will,  in the words of Obama, "fundamentally transform" America.

 

Republicans and conservatives will be taking a needed hard look at ourselves. Losers usually do. We must reassess, recalibrate and argue.

 

But in the meantime, we still have principles to defend and we must defend them vigorously. Particularly in the first 100 days when many of the most objectionable bills will likely be brought up.

 

For those inclined to make nice, which of the following Democratic agenda items are you prepared to sign on to so that you'll get invited to the right parties?

• Employee Free Choice Act
• Fairness Doctrine
• Freedom of Choice Act
• Nationalization of health care
• Estate tax increases
• "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" (driver's licenses for illegals)
• Capital gains tax increases
• Defense cuts
• Liberal judicial appointments
• Racial and ethnic preferences
• Income tax increases
• Bans on oil drilling
• Global poverty tax/Kyoto

These are but a few. Perhaps the most worrisome agenda items are those that will betray a fecklessness in foreign policy that could lead to a nuclear Iran, a vulnerable Israel, an imperial Russia, and an imploding Pakistan.

In many cases, the congressional math may preclude Republicans from little more than voicing principled opposition. But that's not nothing. It's imperative. Republican politicians for too long have been spectacularly inept in communicating their ideas, principles and positions. They've been unconscionably silent in defending their own. They shouldn't then be surprised when they get their hindquarters handed to them.

Last night was Obama's night. January 20th too. Watch for genuine opportunities to work together for the betterment of the country. But on every other occasion fight. Fight every attempt to entrench a new entitlement. Fight every attempt to redistribute wealth. Fight every attempt to radicalize the courts. Fight every attempt to weaken our defenses. Fight every attempt to restrict political speech. Fight every attempt to revise history. Fight for what's best about America.

11/05 10:33 AM

 

[AngelesCrestHighway]

The insane have taken over the asylum.....

[43north]

McCain REALLY p!sses me off last night during his concession speech when he referred to Joe Hairplugs Blowhard as “my good friend”. He STILL doesn’t get it.

He’ll still be there in the Senate reaching across the aisle to all of his good friends who plan to dismantle the Constitution and turn this country into a Socialist Third World sh!thole.

Thanks John, you stupid man.

[3AngelaD]

Repeat after me: Everything bad that happens from today, on, for the next four years, is Obama’s fault. Now say it ten times a day, as things arise.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Amen.

[elhombrelibre]

Time thank God we’re a democracy and time to resist and be vigilant of our liberties ping.

[bcsco]

FILIBUSTER JUDGES. FILIBUSTER APPOINTMENTS. FILIBUSTER LEGISLATION.

[Lancey Howard]

Fight? For what?

An America populated by parasites who expect government to hand them “free” stuff, confiscated from their neighbors, in exchange for their votes? Nahh. I don’t feel like an “American” anymore. The real America is dead and gone. I just live here.

It was a grand experiment, though, and I bet the founders would be astonished that it lasted as long as it did.

Every man for himself!

[Mariebl]

I just wonder how Rush is feeling about the whole Operation Chaos thing now. Seems he was working to get the wrong candidate defeated.

Operation Chaos was devoted to weakening Obama, in the hopes that he'd be more easily defeated in the primaries. You've forgotten so fast?

[Antoninus]

Yeah, well, I don’t need National Review to lecture me on how to fight. Maybe they should clean up their own backyard first.

Amen to that. The Republican brand got sullied over the past 4 years, but NRO's brand has been flushed down the cr@pper.

[Names Ash Housewares]

“Fight for what’s best about America
******************************************
Absolutely! I won’t surrender this country. My children deserve better.”

We do not have kids, but I swear, we will fight for yours!

I am incredibly charged up and ready to go forward.

The dust will settle and the conservative direction to go and leaders will arise soon.

The era of the RINO is going to set.

[KoRn]

"I am wearing all black today."

Same here, from head to toe.

[woofie]

The American people rejected a 2 term President with low approval numbers

The American people put in charge of everything a congress with even lower approval numbers

[greyfoxx39]

Speaking of black, I heard that Obama is taking bids from painting contractors (minority preference only, of course,) to paint the White House black after January 20.

After all, the color "white" is a reminder of all the persecution suffered in America through the years by the African race.

"This is a new beginning for this country, and the Black House will be a symbol to all the world that America is on the correct course to gain world popularity again", he proclaimed from his Senate office. (Note: New journalistic rules demand that the word "proclaim" be substituted for "said" when quoting the new world leader, Chris Matthews explained.)

[Thane_Banquo]

Employee Free Choice Act
Fairness Doctrine
Freedom of Choice Act
Nationalization of health care
Estate tax increases
"Comprehensive Immigration Reform" (driver's licenses for illegals)
Capital gains tax increases
Defense cuts
Liberal judicial appointments
Racial and ethnic preferences
Income tax increases
Bans on oil drilling
Global poverty tax/Kyoto

If they remain true to form, Senate Republicans will go along willingly with all of these initiatives in order to appear "bipartisan" and not be labeled "racist."

[MrB]

The Fairness Doctrine will be very difficult to implement without hurting their allies in the media.

A common misconception among FReepers. The FD exempts "news" orgs, ie, those that are deceptive about their biases. It only targets outlets that are honest about their bias (ie, conservative).

[scooby321]

He lost any chance to Win when he suspended his campaign on the bailout. He might have had a little chance but that was his last chance.

He might have won if he voted against it.

[MrB]

Oh, and the Russian bear is already growling - putting in more missiles and jammers to defeat the European ABM systems (that Buttock has promised to remove).

[greyfoxx39]

My condolences about what happened in New Mexico.

I expected it. Bill Richardson has worked to make NM a permanently blue state ever since he was elected, and the democrat legislature was only too willing to do his bidding.

[pepperhead]

Rush told people to vote for Hillary so Obama would be bloodied up. Next time pay attention.

[ncpatriot]

We will fight and we will win. Our cause is right making their positions, by converse, wrong. The fight for 2010 starts today.

Yes! And we start by loving our country, supporting our troops, flying our flag, and fighting for what we believe in. How can we give up? We are conservatives and we love our freedom, liberty and Constitution. They are all worth fighting for - even protesting if necessary.

FWIW, I do not think it helps our country to bash the new president like they did Bush; we should bash his policies, not his person, IMHO.