Un****ing the Donkey ( Rick Perlstein Says Free Republic More Crucial than Heritage Foundation)

The Village Voice ^ | Thursday, July 28, 2005 | Rick Perlstein

[Mad Mammoth]

What this silly sonuvabitch does not seem to understand (and most 'Rats won't or don't) is that old saying from (of all people) Thomas Jefferson, who stated in no uncertain terms:

"A government big enough to give you anything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."

Now war, or no war, it continues to concern me that we have seen a continued expansion of federal power under our esteemed 43rd President, and I have seen nothing to suggest that President Bush has any intention of scaling back the massive size and power of the federal government.

That (limited government) is a core tenet of conservatism.

If I'm wrong, somebody please point out the error of my ways and tell me where I missed (for example) the elimination of the Department of Energy (noting Ronald Reagan's famous quote during his 1980 debate with Jimmy Carter, "The Department of Energy has a multi-billion-dollar budget in excess of $10 billion. It hasn't produced a quart of oil or a lump of coal, or anything else in the line of energy.").

That's just for starters.

[bert]

.....Building a New Idea Infrastructure for Progressives......


But compare the complex multiple syllabic sophistication above with "A chicken in every pot"

The have moved so very far away from the core.

[kabar]

They'll be drawing on the capital from Medicare 35 years from now. Congressional Democrats won't let them kill it. Because they understand: These programs make life in America fundamentally better. And because these gooses, Social Security, Medicare, lay golden eggs. They manufacture Democrats.

If they keep on laying these golden eggs, they will kill the goose (America). You can only keep a Ponzi scheme going for so long. Once people start seeing their benfits cut and taxes increased, they will realize they have been had.

[wyattearp]

It is the duty of every generation of Democrats to produce new geese to lay 70 years of golden eggs.

Hint to Democrats: We've seen your iron-pyrite electroplated coprolites, and we know that they aren't real golden eggs...

[Celtjew Libertarian]

If I was a Democrat and wanted to win the Presidency here is exactly what I would do:

A somewhat left-wing Democrat would have a chance of winning, if he ran on this:

1. Our social programs were created 35-70 years ago, for an economy based on manufacturing. We are now an information-based society. We can help people, but we need new structures and governmental programs to do it.

2. FDR led us in our defense against fascism. We must likewise defend ourselves against radical Islam, not for the corporations; not for any apocalyptic religious beliefs; but because we are a society in which women can pursue their own interests, with or without the involvement of men; because we live in a society where we are free to believe in a god, many gods, or no god at all. Our free society is not something that radical Islam can face and maintain its integrity. Therefore, they are attempting to destroy us.

Those two would go a long way to put a Democratic President and party back in power. Note: I do not entirely the first statement -- though the second pretty much reflects my views.

Point is, at present, the Democrats are stuck in reactionary socialism -- trying to turn back to the welfare state and foreign policies of 1980. They can politically succeed in the short run (if not economically in the long run) with socialism if they recognize that times have changed and are willing to defend the country, as strongly as FDR did.

I would be highly unlikely to vote for it.... But a lot of people would.

[hoosiermama]

YELP!

[jpsb]

"It is the duty of every generation of Democrats to produce new geese to lay 70 years of golden eggs"

Democrats will just never get it. Too bad Republicans turned into Democrats.

[crazyhorse691]

So well said it bears repeating;"Well, a large part of that stems from the core philosophical differences between the hard left and the hard right. For all the talk of freedom and individuality from the left, they are actually intensely conformist with a strong belief in government. So they are by nature pre-selected towards a top-down system of politics.

Wheras most of the conservatives on this board are ornery, individualist cusses who don't like being told what to do and what to think. We believe in government as a last resort instead of the desired outcome. We're more inclined to a forum such as FR where thousands of folks have as much standing as their respective arguments merit.

But since the left doesn't have that mindset, they simply cannot fathom FR and instead try to shoehorn their understanding of it into their worldview. That's what's happening here."103 posted on 07/28/2005 3:26:16 PM PDT by dirtboy (Drool overflowed my buffer...)

[pollyannaish]

I don't know. It's the system in place they just don't think any differently? Who knows. Somebody must think it's nifty. My friends have been in the states for a lot of years. I have other Canadian friends that only lived there for a short time as adults and absolutely love the HC system, so there must be plenty of people who like it.

I wonder what our friends at Free Dominion have to say about it. I know there are several Canadians that hang around here too.

[Shazolene]

"Democratic congressmen can do that, for example, by making a credible collective pledge that if you vote Democrat enough you will never pay another medical bill as long as you live."

I guess economic illiterates will believe this. The rest of us understand that we will have to pay for the medical costs... PLUS 'handling charges' for the govt agency that oversees the bureaucracy. Not to mention the loss of time (and perhaps even LIFE) that comes with the govt being in charge of rationing health care. As someone in England just said, after the govt there lost a lawsuit on the subject, "Guarantee to health care should not be just a guarantee to wait in line."

You don't have to look as far as England, or even Canada, to see what a wreck 'free' health care is. Just ask, "Do you REALLY want your doctor's office to look like the DMV?" That usually brings anyone around to a true understanding of the true costs of 'free' health care.

[bjcintennessee]

FReepers fame is growing.

[Warhammer]

Let's talk about Social Security.

The most glorious thing about congressional Democrats is that they have drawn the line and said: No further. Don't. Touch. Social. Security. It is a heroic stand. What's more, it's been enormously politically effective.

If it's been enormously politically effective, why did Tony Snow have poll numbers on his show late last week (or earlier this week, I'm not sure exactly) that showed support for privatizing SocSec up from when President Bush first started pushing it.

I like Dave Ramsey's take on SocSec privatization: Why can't we have a choice about opting some of our SocSec contributions into private accounts? I thought that Demos were all about "choice"?

[libs_kma]

I think little Ricky boy has an unhealthy obsession with Bill Kristol

[Jim_Curtis]

The only people who get banned from this site are obvious liberal trolls who are attempting to promote their agenda on FR, or people trying to promote border vigilantism and other wacko causes.

Do you have something against being vigilant regarding our borders?

[blam]

Good Post.

The ageing of the Boomers has much to do with the present Conservative successes. We will be successeful for another 15-30 years and if the Democrats are still around after that, look-out.

[Pukin Dog]

Wow, thanks for the humor.

They are truly losing their minds. Sometimes it is hard to accept that these people actually believe their own nonsense.

But, just in case, I've got marching orders for everyone coming next week. The memo is called "Slap a Liberal today."

[Doc Savage]

Yes, I agree. I keep thinking back to Clinton being impeached. Had Gore gone before the media and demanded Clinton resign, he would have become President, and in a strange way, the incumbent in the race. Florida never would have happened.

But these RATS are all the same. No one wants to stand up and admit the Emperor has no clothes. Now granted Lieberman took one issue and got his head handed to him, but I'm talking about young influential who realizes he has to kick Hitlery's ass out of the way (a large flabby task).

Call your own party dead. Out of step with mainstream America. Demand Howard Dean commit suicide. Start a 3rd party movement. Just imagine all those REP's who are salivating for a President to close the borders. They'd all be his!

[Billthedrill]

This is nothing more than the ancient Democrat "hook 'em on entitlements and they'll have to vote for us to keep them" program. It's theoretically flawless. In practice it's patronizing to a point where people will vote against it just because it irritates them.

Rick isn't wrong about the "ideas" topic, but he hasn't really talked about any new ones. The truth is that the Dems can't hold fast on Social Security, Medicare, old internationalist pablums for foreign policy, etc, and still claim to be a "progressive" party. And everything he talked about made reference to policies that are 70 years old. That isn't progressive, it's paleoconservative, and we already cornered that market.

[pissant]

He's right. FR is way more important than the Heritage Foundation.

[Tijeras_Slim]

And the wimmen are cuter too!