"Thank you ever so much, Bill."
Posted on 02/22/2010 2:09:25 PM PST by Steelfish
February 21 Saturday Night Beck
There’s a lot to say about CPAC. This morning the major papers are highlighting Glenn Beck’s speech. I like Glenn a lot and I think he has something to teach us. But not what he offered last night.
Analogizing his own struggles with alcohol to the problems of our polity and in our politics, he said, “Hello, my name is the Republican party, and I have a problem!” “I’m addicted to spending and big government.” ”It is still morning in America.” ”It just happens to be kind of a head-pounding, hung-over, vomiting-for-four-hours kind of morning in America. And it’s shaping up to be kind of a nasty day. But it is still morning in America.” And, again, “I believe in redemption, but the first step to getting redemption is you’ve got to admit that you’ve got a problem. I have not heard people in the Republican party yet admit that they have a problem.”
Glenn is among the best talkers in the business of broadcast. I am not sure he’s a very good listener.
First, there is a good and strong tradition in alcohol and drug treatment that personal failings should not be extrapolated into the public sphere; that too often when this is done, conclusions are reached based on the wrong motives and, often, the wrong analysis. Glenn has made that mistake here and taken to our politics a cosmologizing of his own deficiencies. This is not a baseless criticism; they are his own deficiencies that he keeps publicly redounding to and analogizing to. It is wrong and he is wrong.
Second, for him to continue to say that he does not hear the Republican party admit its failings or problems is to ignore some of the loudest and brightest lights in the party.
(Excerpt) Read more at corner.nationalreview.com ...
Sounds like Bill Bennett is in severe denial. How sad for him.
Second, for him to continue to say that he does not hear the Republican party admit its failings or problems is to ignore some of the loudest and brightest lights in the party.
No. He is not ignoring those lights...he is pointing out how they were suppressed.
Uh, precisely how did we get Arlen Specter the Defector over Pat Toomey? What he is onto is the total LACK OF REPENTENCE from the worst offenders who either need the "come to Jesus" moment...or they need to be permanently branded, tarred and feathered, and yes, OUSTED from the tent:
George W Bush. His father. His brother Jeb Bush. Karl Rove. Colin Powell. Peggy Noonan. And yes, the rabble of RINOs in their camps, such as Michael Medved.We will never hear W apologize for his wrongheaded liberalism and massive overspending. And his liberalism didn't stop at spending and the hidden agenda of the North American Union. His Defense policies were lame, i.e., obstructionism to our having a GLOBAL missle defense. Of having a true counterforce deterrence with the MX...which he dismantled UNILATERALLY. Because of his trade weakness, our trade deficit and hence our national debt (yes, they are linked) exploded. And he always rationalized and outright lied about these kinds of things under their progressive watch. Because, as Beck correctly identifies...the man is a progressive...and W mistakenly thought that this was cool.
Beck is dead on, on the Republican Party. When the Republicans have had power, in recent times, they have added huge spending programs. Here is one example, only.
W Bush pushed the Prescription Drug Program, and he teamed up with the GOP and Democrats, so that Grandma wouldn’t have to choose between Dog Food or Prescription Drugs.
That huge additional cost to our country, put in by the GOP, will never go away. Where were the Republicans in opposing W Bush on this Progressive Spending Program.
I don’t remember too many. And surely not Bennett. The GOP, thought that by courting the Seniors, they would gain favor in the elections.
They lost their principles and their way, and that is just recently. The GOP has been slowly adding costs to the budget for years, when they get in power. Not as bad or as fast as the Democrats, but, still adding programs. Once the Socialist Programs get in, no Republican has the guts and/or leadership to cut those programs. They stay forever. That is the problem with past Republicans. They should not agree to anymore spending programs, not one more, with the Democrats, by reaching across the aisle. That is killing this country.
If the GOP takes over the House and Senate in 2010, how many Republicans will want to cut a deal with Obama, to get something done, and compromise their principles, between 2010 and 2012???
Beck, and other Conservative/Libertarians need to call out the GOP, so that when they finally get their power back, they don’t screw it up again.
Republicans are lost in the wilderness, with only a handful of exceptions. Prescription drug benefits....massive government expansion.... warrant-less electronic eavesdropping....votes to fund fund extra-constitutional programs. They are all guilty.
Benett thinks he is a republican because he supports ‘lite socialism’. He is part of the problem.
Then again they are part of the problem also.
A year ago, we were told the Republican party and the conservative movement were moribund.
Bill, your problem is you equate the GOP with the conservative movement. It is NOT. Yes, they have a conservative platform, and yes, people like DeMint, Coburn, King, and a HANDFUL of others are conservative.
But Bill, you were fellating Romney, Rudy and McCain during the 08 primaries. While CONSERVATIVES were telling you time and time and time again that nomintating one of these boobs was a sure way to defeat. You ignored WE THE PEOPLE. Beck's success is due in large part because he is a conservative first, not a party hack.
Party hacks like Michael Medved tell us that JD Hayworth is corrupt and McCain is a virtuous conservative. Hacks like Hugh Hewitt spend an entire election season telling us a flip flopper extradinaire is the heir to Reagan.
Sean Hannity was probably as responsible for Arnold defeating a genuine conservative opponent for CA governor as anyone alive. And followed that disaster up by pimping Rudy G for president!
It goes on and on.
I certainly do not agree with Beck on a number of things. But his indictment of the GOP and its enablers like you Mr. Bennett, as being socialist light, is right on the money.
Remember, the Amnesty Plan was a Bush-McCain-Kennedy-Graham connivance. That's 3 GOPers and one marxist. The idea to close Gitmo was most prevalently pushed by Graham and Mccain. The global warming hoax was also perpetrated by myriad RINOs, despite conservatives telling them it was a HOAX. The onerous attack on the first amendment was called McCain-Feingold-Thompson!! Your boys Rudy and Mittwit were pimping right along with Slick Willy for the ban on those scary looking "assualt weapons". And Rudy tried to sue the gun manufacturers out of bizness, yet to you, Mr. Bennett, he was viable GOP presidential material.
And what about the retard Michael Steele, head of the RNC, who just recently complained that the attacks on him from the right were "racist"?
So wake up Mr. Bennett. We are trying to re-start and finish the Reagan revolution, and have been doing so for years without the help of the GOP and their big government enablers like you.
>> Bill Bennet is not a RINO <<
Well, it seems Glenn and most of the Beckistas believe that if you don’t think Pubs are just as bad as Dhimmis, then you’re a RINO. QED.
Who is Proposing actual cuts in the size of Government? Who are the Republicans Pigging out in federal earmarks??
Will Bill Bennett recomend closing Education Dept!??
We have to Cut the size of Federal Gov’t 50% that is the Figure that Might be sustainable.. we need to reset the Gov’t fiscal responsibility Button. When Gov’t ee’s make 70K a year thats Ridiculous and retire early Thats Over.
Bill Bennett is unfortunately into Mental masturbation... not problem solving!
No, Bill your argument makes no sense, since the GOP DESTROYED its credibility. You truly are missing that part. That is why Obama got into office with his huge supermajority of RATs. The GOP had self-destructed ideologically, swallowing the progressive Kool-Aid of "W".
The stakes are too important to go through that kind of exercise, which will ultimately go nowhere anyway — because it’s already happened.
No. It hasn't. Where is Bush asking for foregiveness from the Republican base of Reagan voters who gave him multiple benefits of the doubt...until it just became undeniable he was a Progressive liar...when he was busted over and over again on Amnesty, the National Debt, the Trade Deficit, the Housing Bubble , the NAU, coddling up to the Islamist CAIR jihadists, the Log Cabin "republicans" and on and on. Undermining States police powers from the White House Counsel's office and encouraging the Supreme Court to err in decisions such as the sodomy decision, the affirmative action decision, and on, and on. His damage was incalculable. But the results were plain for all to see. The party was carefully and slowly denuded of every last vestige of Reagan ideology and integrity.
Those are not restored overnight, and not without massive repentence.
After 9-11, Reverend Jerry Falwell pointed out that America should come to Jesus in humility, asking whether God had lifted his hand of protection, asking for foregiveness for its allowing many sins, including what the liberals call "rights". What did W do? He had his minions immediately attack and accuse Falwell of condemning "the innocent victims".
That said, I finally got so sick of listening to his morning drive-time pap show and switched the dial. There is no place for his brand of Gentlemanly discordant discourse in the politics of today. He is milquetoast where a firebrand is needed.
Regarding Beck:
Anybody who states that the GOP has a segment of RINO big government lovers is correct.
Anybody who states that the GOP is the same as Obama and his Dem minions is deluded.
Beck is schizophrenic...one day a conservative, one day an anti Socialist, on other days so Libertarian that he is into nutty Ron Paul territory.
What Levin said was right on the mark, and Bennett’s primary message was correct too...The Republican Party is not the Dem Party.
Oh c'mon, man. Reading something like that is boring. It's much more fun to bash Bennett and undercover RINO agents like Levin.
What's more, now that even Rush has come out of the closet to be revealed as a Beckism denier, it looks like the fun is just beginning!
"Thank you ever so much, Bill."
They must think we don't have any ability to remember.
Sort of like Obama, coming out with a Deficit Commission, forgetting or hoping we would forget this little tidbit...from Sept. 18 of 2008:
Really? That is clearly what Harding and Calvin Coolidge provided. But not FDR, or Barack Obama."Just today, Senator McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book - you pass the buck to a commission to study the problem. But here's the thing - this isn't 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out. I'll provide it, John McCain won't, and that's the choice for the American people in this election. History shows us that there is no substitute for presidential leadership in a time of economic crisis."
Remember Jumpin Jim Edwards? Remember Specter the Defector? Remember Newt Gingrich toadying up to Al Gore's phoney-science Global Warming agenda? Remember Colin Powell? Peggy Noonan? Mayor Bloomberg? Christopher Buckley of National Review? Governor Schwarzenegger? They voted for Obama...
REMEMBER who either put them in, or tried to keep them in the party...when there were viable alternatives.
I could care less what Bill Bennett says. I used to like him and thought he had a lot of credibility. Why did he switch from FOX anyway? Anyone know?
There is still a huge difference between the 2 Parties.
The Republican Party has a great Platform, if we can get more politicans to follow it.
Equivocating the 2 Parties is wrong and dangerous, often the purvey of loony Third Party irrelavents.
I missed Beck today. But I’m reading that he made it clear he did not support a Third Party today.
That is a great step on his part.
Totally agreed. But of course, that is the problem. The platform committee was just the way to placate the hard core.
Equivocating [sic. Equating ] the 2 Parties is wrong and dangerous, often the purvey of loony Third Party irrelevents.
No. Demanding open debate...and Constitutional and Ideological INTEGRITY... is not wrong and dangerous. Especially when we have seen countless times how RINOs, truly progressive infiltrators have undermined the conservative agenda from within by discrediting its strongest adherents.
And remember this: the Communists explicitly targetting infilitrating not just the Democrats, but the Republicans [who do you really think the RINOs are?], AND BIG BUSINESS [ not small ].
Don't think Wall Has been successfully invaded, despite Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner or Henry Paulson? [Ann Coulter is onto them, and I totally have thought the same thing for over 5 years] Now, with Goldman Sachs, as just ONE EXAMPLE OF WALL STREET, giving 95% of its campaign donations to democrats and Obama...do you still honestly doubt that the Communists don't have their agents in the executive chairs???
“Demanding open debate...and Constitutional and Ideological INTEGRITY... is not wrong and dangerous”
No problem there, but the people who claim the 2 Parties are the same or nearly the same are deluded. They often find adherents in the irrelavency of Third Parties or near anarchical libertarianism like Ru Paul.
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