Republicans need to make room for moderates

Seattl P-I ^ | 01/16/2004 | Gov. Christine Whitman

[Abram]

OLDWICK, N.J. -- On May 5, 1996, when I was halfway through my first term as governor of New Jersey, there was a picture of me on the cover of the Sunday magazine of The New York Times, accompanied by the headline "It's My Party, Too." I liked that message so much, I had it framed and hung it in my office in Trenton and, later, Washington, D.C. To moderate Republicans like me, that headline proclaimed our belief that there was still room for us in the party of Lincoln.

Now, almost eight years later, many moderate Republicans feel even less certain of their place in the party. When President Bush, arguably one of the more conservative presidents in recent history, is under attack from the right wing of the party for his proposal regarding immigration and migrant workers, is it any wonder moderates feel out of sync?

[Abram]

I guess it depends on the definition of the word "is" is. For my liberal friends...I am a rabid conservative...for my conservative...I am a RINO, but they cannot doubt my dedication to elect Republicans. I eat, drink, and sleep politics. I don't watch football, I watch election returns and polls, and spend evenings glued to Fox News, the internet, and reading papers.

[Abram]

Thanks for the support. I like the interchange of ideas regardless of the tone. I love to hear things like "screw the moderates"...very enlightening...It is stuff like that would have ended the Constitutional Convention vs. some of the wonderful compromises that allowed the establishment of this wonderful democratic-republican that we live in. No one in that room got every issue that they wanted addressed or included. It wasn't going to happen. Those that are unwilling to play don't win points in my book.
I understand that this forum is about the intelligent interchange of ideas vs. personal insults. If I want to be personally insulted...I will go and register at DU and be called a troll, a neo-con, or even worse. Here I am called a RINO...fine, but I am a happy one!:o)
Good line..."forgive them for they know not what they do"...He is such a wonderful example to all human kind that when humanity was at their ultimate low, he still rose above the fray and forgive them for their shortcomings. Inspiring. Thanks for the pick-me-up at 7:00 am on a Saturday morning. Cheers...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And that is why full articles should be posted whenever possible!

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Why is it that the Democrats in this country see the President as "extreme conservative"?

Does'nt it alarm you that if the Democrats get control of this country again, we might not have the chance to "take it back" as you and your fellow "purist conseratives" believe can so easily be done?

[Abram]

Sorry, I understood that violated copyright laws. From what I can remember reading only the first two or three paragraphs can be clipped and proper credit given where credit is due. Is that not true? My expertise on that field of the law is minimal.

[Willie Green]

Why is it that the Democrats in this country see the President as "extreme conservative"?

That's easy. They're demented.

Does'nt it alarm you that if the Democrats get control of this country again, we might not have the chance to "take it back"

Dubya's "compassionate conservatism" is merely global corporatism's rendition of Third Way global governance. I don't see much opportunity for "taking back" control of our country under either faction of the Republicrat party. No matter which faction you choose, we still lose our sovereignty, independence, self-sufficiency and get buried by a Big Government socialist nanny-state. Nope, not much of a "choice" when it comes down to it.

[reg45]

Conservatives threaten to leave, not vote, or vote third party when all their issues are not addressed 100% of the time.

These same Conservatives will be apoplectic with President Dean.

[wardaddy]

Bump...you and me both.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The Fair Use doctrine would allow full documents (except for LA Times and Washington Post ) to be posted for educational use, where the posting does not represent a commercial and intended profitable use!

[Kevin Curry]

Some of us get tired of setting the record straight, but as long as half-baked assertions such as yours continue to get served up as the truth, those of us who know better will have a duty to label it as crap unfit for consumption by intelligent and informed people.

The First Amendment was designed to do two things: 1) disempower completely and forever the federal government from sticking its nose into religious matters, and 2) to preserve the power of the states and the citizens of those states to do anything they desired in the realm of religion up to and including the establishment of state religions. For over 170 years this is the way we did things in this country: we had a collection of (to use your snide term) "mullah" states.

It wasn't until the 1940s that a liberal SCOTUS employed a taken-out-of-context sentence from an obscure letter by Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists of Massachussets to completely invert the First Amendment from its original meaning. As a result the federal government now expends an enormous amount of time and resources aggressively sticking its nose into matters of religion, having re-interpreted the free exercise clause to require freedom from religion instead of freedom of religion. And states have been wholly stripped of any authority to legislate concerning religion. If you examine state constitutions you will find a great many have religion clauses that have been completely made into nullities because of the federal SCOTUS anti-religion jihad begun in the 1940s.

And I strongly disagree with you on the effect of allowing religious sentiment and moral guidance in government. To suggest that this would turn us into an 8th Centur Islamic state is to ignore the historical truth of the American experience for over 170 years. It is more than hyperbole-it is a lie.

The alternative, which you seem to delight in, is not a just and free society, but one marked by moral relativism, anomie, and reckless personal indulgence to the detriment of society as a whole. Your atheist vision is not of a City on a Hill as envisioned by the founders, but of a Hollyweird hell in a chasm of atomistic creatures inventing and re-inventing their own laws on the fly.

[Miss Marple]

Gripe all you want. I am not very fond of the education bill, although I appreciate the sentiment behind it.

I wish there was more Medicare reform in the Prescription Drug Bill, but there was some, so its a start. Howard Dean was on Fox just now ranting about how evil and conservative that bill is.

You are never going to get all you want. I am older than you, and a generation ago tax cuts were a pipe dream, criticizing the UN was anathema, abortion in all cases was assumed normal, and affirmative action was something no one would criticize. It also was assumed that NO president would engage in a foreign war again. It also was assumed that the best we could hope for was detente with the Soviet Union.

Progress has been made, but it comes in small steps, just as the liberals took small steps to take over the government. It will probably be my grandchildren that reap the fruits of conservative progress, but that's ok with me. I encourage you to look at the big picture, rather than focussing on one issue or two. It is hard when you are younger, but you should give it a try.

At any rate, even if you don't agree with all the issues, try to remember that Bush is a decent guy who is doing what he thinks is best. I don't agree with everything he does, but at least we aren't dealing with someone who is trying to destroy the country.

[tpaine]

Dubya's "compassionate conservatism" is merely global corporatism's rendition of Third Way global governance. I don't see much opportunity for "taking back" control of our country under either faction of the Republicrat party. No matter which faction you choose, we still lose our sovereignty, independence, self-sufficiency and get buried by a Big Government socialist nanny-state. Nope, not much of a "choice" when it comes down to it.
-Willie-

And those who see the President as "extreme conservative"?

"That's easy. They're demented" -Willy-


______________________________________


You admit Bush ignores the constitution in the areas of sovereignty, independence, & self-sufficiency, thereby burying us in a "Big Government socialist nanny-state"; --
-- Yet when the opposition accuses Bush of ignoring our constitution in areas of individual rights, you claim ~them~ to be "demented".

Your own blindness is obvious.

[Willie Green]

Not blind at all, tpaine.
I simply recognize the inconsistancy and hypocrisy of the "alternatives" they offer.

[Moby Grape]

DITTOS!!!!! The GOP should PURGE the moderates.

[Capt. Tom]

Capt. Tom on moderates:
"Anything done in moderation shows a lack of interest."

A much higher authority on moderates; 15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot. [16] But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.

[Lazamataz]

I appreciate your take, but the Founding Fathers established the Constitution to keep a clear delineation between church and state.

No they didn't.

[Lazamataz]

Laz: Keerist! That's all they got in that party these days! Any time I object to massive prescription drug benefits or universal health care insurance or renewing the assault weapons ban, I'm told to sit down and STFU.

Then I'm told it's strategery.

I guess 'strategey' is code-speak for becoming a liberal.

Thanks for makin' my point for me. ;^)