Posted on 07/23/2016 7:46:56 PM PDT by Hojczyk
For these post-Reagan Republicans, conservative was passé. They needed to be “compassionate conservatives,” as if there were something vaguely inhumane about the liberty enterprise. Government was no longer the “necessary evil” envisioned by the Framers, the butt of the Gipper’s aforementioned quip. It was our beneficent guardian who “has got to move” whenever “somebody hurts.”
These Republicans doubled the national debt before Obama came along to double it again. The new and improved GOP swelled the size and scope of government; created new entitlements even as the existing ones were bankrupting us; enacted “campaign-finance reform” well aware that it flouted the First Amendment; and derided their own base as racist xenophobes for resisting amnesty for illegal aliens. And was there any Obama overreach that they weren’t happy to foot the bill for?
Take away the conservatism, the limited-government constitutionalism, the devotion to liberty, the fiscal discipline, the clear-eyed recognition of America’s enemies, and what are you left with? A Republican party whose only real boast is that it can do statism with more adult moderation than the hard Left that has captured the Democratic party. To the extent that, a generation ago, “Republican” was fairly thought synonymous with “conservative,” it thus became a party “Republican” in name only — a party in which all principles were negotiable.
That made it a party ripe to be taken over by Donald Trump. But what is now officially Trump’s party has not been my party for quite some time.
Whoever wins, I know that come January, I will be in the conservative opposition to a statist administration, and in search of a new party to call home.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
To be fair, he says Hillary would be terrible, but it’s clear he doesn’t see Trump as much better. Nevertheless, we don’t have any other options at this point. If the #NeverTrumpers are serious, then they should vote for the best option given the circumstances—Donald Trump. They can try again for a better nominee in four years, but Hillary must be defeated. That is clear.
....is this guy for real?
Well, if he wants to join the Socialist party go for it.
I only hope he does the same amount of nothing for them that he’s done for us.
Truth from the Z Man:
“The so-called Right has evolved into a wish list of policy positions dreamed up by government spongers living in the Imperial Capital. All of the boys and girls of Conservative Inc. are shrieking in terror at the Trump speech, yelling some version of “See? He is no conservative!”
Because Conservative Inc. insists they own the trademark for “conservative”, they insist they get to define what is and what is not “conservative.” Conveniently, everything Trump says is defined as outside the bounds of conservatism, while everything they say is within the bounds of conservatism. Professional conservatives pretty much spend all their time proving they are inside the lines as currently drawn. The death rattle of every mass movement is when they begin to turn all their efforts to rule making and enforcement.”
The way to fight radical Islam starts with NOT supporting the Democrat party. Walking away from the new and improved “big umbrella” GOP (which they always said they were and wanted more) supports the evil of the opposition.
They were all hoping the delegates could become unbound from Trump before the convention and then get Cruz in. I believe Kasich has had the hopes he could become the savior as well. The plan did not work out and now I see the Never Trumpers are calling Trump crazy because he is into “conspiracy theories” and hoping somehow they can cause those who support him to back off. (Stephen Hayes) Although some do not say that outright, I saw a few of them “retweeting” this on twitter. From the very start these people signalled to Trump they were against him and for Cruz and so he cultivated the Bernie voters instead. Furthermore, they continue to do things which confirm they are against Trump and continue to alienate themselves. The louder and more rediculous they get the more shut out they are and they hoped people would not see some of the contradictions, lies and far out accusations. If they have “concerns” they would have been smarter to try to influence Trump in support of him over time rather than set themselves adamantly against him more every day. Now they are not relevant and they don’t see that they caused it.
I seem to recall a great teacher giving a parable about a “righteous man that just walked by”. Seems appropriate here.
I’m late to this thread, so few, if any may read this, and maybe not even you. It’s worth noting, though, that the responders mostly attack you or McCarthy, personally, though none has challenged the facts in what he actually wrote.
And now we have a sinner, an imperfect man, who sees the nation wounded and dying, in extreme need that no one else has attended to. He puts his comfortable life and business aside, and works every day to defend, heal, and restore the fallen nation. Yep, Donald J. Trump has sinned, and did not make his living selling and living conservatism or the right religion. I'm praying, and voting, for him.
God Bless and Protect him.
Hillary can use your principled help Andy and I know the phrase President Clinton is all the rage at NRO. There is no other conclusion I can make as President McCain and President Romney were perfectly acceptable statist to you Andy.
That’s the thing these elites really do consider it their Party and we the people are allowed by our betters to participate as long as we are good little peasants and do our masters bidding.
I agree with him on waterboarding.
“That’s the thing these elites really do consider it their Party and we the people are allowed by our betters to participate as long as we are good little peasants and do our masters bidding.”
But we do have a BREAKING POINT. And we are there. Losing one more election tips the Supreme Court into Democrat hands (along with what’s left on our side on the lower courts). At that point our side will simply have NO RECOURSE to stop Hillary. Congress has already been reduced to an ‘advisory’ role by Obama - he considers the laws passed by Congress to be suggestions, open to his interpretations, with his right to enforce, re-write, or ignore as he wishes. With the courts in their hands, Hillary will be able to go MUCH FURTHER, as the courts will then be giving her their SEAL OF APPROVAL, as we hopelessly try to use them to stop her.
...and then the UNTHINKABLE happens, and a state, maybe Texas, maybe some other state, simply says ENOUGH, and tells the feds that they have NO AUTHORITY to enforce their laws on the territory of that state. One can only imagine what happens next.
This is what is at stake in this election and the idea that National Review, the Weekly Standard, Ted Cruz, or ANYONE ELSE claiming to love this country can plot to get Hillary elected, by either directly by telling people to vote for her, or indirectly, by telling people to vote Third Party or stay home is SICKENING and, more than anything, supports what the liberals have been saying for decades - which is that REPUBLICANS ARE IDIOTS (at least many of them at the top).
(this one is so good, I think that I’ll post it as a separate thread)
There are two problems with this.
I've learned by playing chess than even the best strategy you come up with is easily defeated if you neglect the tactics of the immediate situation.
And secondly, you cannot always determine what the situation will be in the long term. Four more years of Dem judicial appointments, military destruction, and electoral fraud? We may never recover.
That policy is just plain wrong. Not only is it worse than ineffective (people will say anything, true or false, to avoid torture), but the global reputation damage to a US that has an official policy of torture is high. Who’s going to take moral leadership from an admitted-and-proud torturer?
It’s a policy that is all downside and no upside.
I can't remember a single column by him. Compare and contrast William F. Buckley Jr., Milton Friedman, Joe Sobran, P.J. O'Roarke (yeah, he jumped the shark, but in his day), Pat Buchanan or Robert Novak. Since Buckley retired NR has been a slightly right leaning version of The New Republic, never rocking the boat, never breaking a story. Even before that Emmett Tyrell had stolen Buckley's thunder with his dynamite expose's of the Clinton's crimes.
Free Republic itself has made far more contributions to conservatism than NR has in the last 18 years.
These days it would be a challenge for me to even name three NR writers. Sad!
You’re a liberal. It worked when it was used.
The sword of democles? (spelling intentional)
Wrong twice in 9 words, impressive.
He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. A Republican, he is most notable for leading the 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and eleven others. The defendants were convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and planning a series of attacks against New York City landmarks. He also contributed to the prosecutions of terrorists who bombed US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He resigned from the Justice Department in 2003.
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