Please let me know if you would like to be on or off the Laura Ingraham PING list.
Posted on 04/25/2005 12:07:45 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day
ANGER ON THE RIGHT
There is an undeniable fury building among Republican voters coast to coast. It has now been almost six months since that euphoric day last year -- November 2nd -- when Republicans stunned Democrats across the board. Not only did President Bush handily beat John Kerry, but the GOP did what few predicted -- it managed to pick up four seats in the Senate. John Thune's victory over Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota was extra sweet.
That seems like six years ago, not six months ago. Talk to your average Republican voter today and you will find a mood that ranges from anxious/concerned to enraged/frustrated. Yes, the Iraqi elections were amazing. Yes, the President's commitment to the spread of liberty is stalwart. Yes, his European "Unplugged" tour was a necessary step. The focus here is not President Bush (although in an ideal world he would be stronger on the stump on issues beyond social security reform). After the mid-term elections, President Bush will be on his way out, a "short-timer." The future of the Republican Party depends more on what happens now in Congress.
So what has our Republican majority in both houses of Congress gotten us lately? Well, the Terri Schiavo bill-regardless of what you think about its merits -- was at least bold. Then there was the bankruptcy bill. Good stuff, though hardly the legislation that will get voters running to the polls next election.
Of course being in the majority sometimes requires deal-making. Sometimes it requires delaying victory on one issue in order to win support on another more important issue. But sometimes being in the majority just requires that you act like you are in the majority.
This year, with a Republican majority in Congress, we have watched as 20 percent of the President's appellate court nominees are left twisting in the wind. With a Republican majority presiding, we have watched as John Bolton, the President's nominee for U.N. ambassador, has been personally and professionally maligned. With a Republican majority, we have seen spending skyrocket to obscene levels. With a Republican majority, we have seen the Democrats out-maneuver Republicans in the public-relations game with lame lines and gross misrepresentations.
Okay, the Senate did pass tort reform.
But a bill here or a bill there is simply not going to be enough to stem the tide of Republican voters' righteous anger about what many are calling "Creeping Wimpiness." Did thousands of volunteers work tirelessly to give the GOP this majority only to allow the minority to roll them on judges, policy, and other nominations? Did millions of generously open their wallets to the RNC only to see John McCain, Chuck Hagel, Lincoln Chafee, and George Voinovich help the Democrats when we needed them most?
Now is not the time for Republican Senators to cling to niceties. It is not the time to call for more discussions or negotiations. Now is the time for action. Allowing the Bolton nomination to be delayed was unforgivable. (Chairman Richard Lugar was caught totally off-guard by Voinovich's joining the Dems push to delay the Bolton vote.) Allowing Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer to brand nominees such as Janice Rogers Brown (an African American California Supreme Court justice) "extreme", was a colossal mistake. Most of the country still does not know that never before in the history of this country has the filibuster been used to block a vote of an appeals court nominee!
The frustration felt by many GOP voters has created a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for conservative politicians. For the first time in decades, we have no clear front-runner for the next GOP nomination. For the first time since George W. started his presidential campaign in the late 1990s, there is no clear standard-bearer for conservatives to rally round.
If a senator or governor can seize this moment, and create the type of bond with conservatives that Bush created during his nomination battle with McCain, that person could be on his way to the White House. If no one steps forward, and conservative voters increasingly watch their party kowtow to the McCains, Hagels, and Chafees of the mushy middle, then those voters will disengage from this party, meaning that the mainstream press will enjoy covering the elections of 2006 and 2008 a lot more than they enjoyed the election 2004.
Please let me know if you would like to be on or off the Laura Ingraham PING list.
Also, if anyone is interested in handling the Laura Ingraam PING list from now on (very low volume, unfortunately), please FReepmail me.
Caught off guard is a putting it mildly. Lugar was AMBUSHED.
Man, spelling is not my strong suit today.
What have *you* done for me lately?
"Ingraham*
Man, spelling is not my strong suit today.
What have *you* done for me lately?
"Ingraham*
What really upsets me is that we are losing courageous young people in Iraq, yet these senators are too weak-kneed to stand up to Chucky Schumer and Joe Biden?
The bankruptcy bill "good stuff?" Evidently Laura has a lot of MBNA stock in her 401k. People saying anything good about this pinata for the big banks have been few and far between, even on FR.
Frist actually makes me long for Bob Dole.
That's gotta hurt to say.
I agree with Laura. If the GOP senators do not start acting like the majority then there is no hope for our party. We might as well let the Democrats lead and let us act like the minority that we were for so many years.
Yes it do.
I'm all for making it harder for people to declare bankruptcies in most instances, just as it shouldn't be the easiest thing in the world to get a divorce in most circumstances.
That said, something SHOULD have been written into the bill restricting how aggressive the bloodsucking credit card companies can be in marketing to poor pople, dumb people, and young people (who are often both poor and dumb).
Marry me, Laura...
You're too late, sorry.
I didn't mean to threadjack your post. I just thought it was odd that she would single out that particular bill as something good the GOP has done.
| Frist actually makes me long for Bob Dole.
|
Will you please just shut up and sing...that's why we all are here
We don't care for your leftist tripe...I think we've made that clear
Will you please just shut up and sing...that's why you're up on stage
Or you will find you have ex-fans who've gone into a rage
Will you please just shut up and sing...don't diss our president
He really does know more than you...that should be evident
That stuff doesn't ring...'cause you don't know a thing
Because of us, you've made big bucks...so just shut up and sing
Will you please just shut up and sing...don't speak so foolishly
We want to hear your music...that is why we buy CDs
Will you please just shut up and sing...it's time to entertain
You think you are so very smart...but all you are is vain
Will you please just shut up and sing...your words are such a crock
Take our advice or soon you'll see...that you're a laughingstock
Pity she doesn't speak as well as she writes. She's an amazingly sloppy speaker.
Our problems are deep and complex. A sudden change to what many consider to be the "constitutional intent" of the founders would be a budget shock of which we may not recover in these competitve times and requires a new look at a very impresive document that was created before the advent of world economies, mass communication and other technological advancements. I am not advocating scraping those documents. Simply, we need an understanding going forward appying the intent and principals in todays world.
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Now there's an idea. Maybe we could slip some Viagra into Frist's fru-fru coffee.