Just have some koolaid. All the contradictions and doubts will just slip away!
Posted on 10/10/2005 8:41:38 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
This past week, grassroots conservative leaders, not simply the clique of pundits who have been decrying the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, were able to vent their frustration, disappointment, and anger at officials from President Bush’s administration and the Republican National Committee.
Under a barrage of comments ranging from a why would the president nominate someone with no judicial experience to why isn’t the president willing to fight, the Bush representatives, and I feel the entire administration, have shown a complete lack of understanding of what grassroots conservatism is all about.
There are many core principles that embody the Republican Party and are principles upon which most conservatives and moderates can agree. The Republican Party is the party of smaller government and decreased federal spending. The Republican Party is the party of strong national security and an aversion to nation building. The Republican Party is the party of rewarding by merit and not affirmative action, and it is the party opposed to judicial activism.
Many of us have worked countless hours at the grassroots level in order to further these principles by getting quality Republicans elected to office. The victories were not meant to simply allow those with an “R” next to their names to hold office, but rather these election gains were a means to the incorporation of the Republican agenda.
Now, it seems that many have lost track of that agenda. Too often, those like me who are identified as both social and fiscal conservatives are not seeing our Republican ideals put into practice. Conservative principles have given way to pragmatism and politics.
There has been an undercurrent of misgivings building for sometime, but the nomination of Harriet Miers has allowed it to break the surface. Republicans are supposed to be the party of reduced spending, yet, non-defense discretional spending has jumped more in this administration than during the Clinton years. Republicans are supposed to be for smaller government, yet a massive expansion of the federal government in the form of the prescription drug bill was forced through Congress under the direction of the administration and congressional leaders. Republicans are supposed to be tough on national security, yet when it comes to protecting our borders, lawmakers are turning a blind eye to enforcement of immigration laws, all for the sake of cheap labor.
On issue after issue, conservatives have been asked to take it, and been given the question, “Would you rather have the Democrats in control?” The answer, of course, is no. However, that doesn’t mean the conservative base should be taken for granted, and that’s exactly the message that was sent to the grassroots conservative community with the Miers nomination. Conservatives were ready for a fight — a fight all of us think we can win. Over the last several decades, an incredible team of lower court judges has distinguished themselves as sound and capable judges, as well as possessing a conservative approach to constitutional issues. Yet, the president picked a nominee outside of that farm team, ducked the fight, and asked us to “trust him on this one.”
The political miscalculation could not have been greater, and it amazes me that those advising the president didn’t see it coming. Either they grossly underestimated the passion of the conservatives to move the court to the right, or they, once again, took the conservative base for granted and decided to go with a Bush loyalist who upon initial review does not measure up to other potential nominees.
Conservatives were ready to rally around the nomination. This was the nominee who could help swing the balance of the court, and we could send a strong measure that the days of liberal activism on the bench would not go unchecked. The administration would put up a true conservative, and we would all fight for the nominee.
Because that didn’t happen, there will no doubt be fallout from the conservative base regarding a number of issues. No longer will conservatives roll over when policies are pushed which do not fall in line with traditional Republican values. Case in point is Operation Offset in the House — a proposal to help pay for President Bush’s massive pledge for federal Hurricane Katrina aid relief by cutting pork barrel spending and unnecessary programs. This measure led several of the conservative House members to be taken to the “woodshed” rather than be praised for sticking up to true Republican principles.
The Republican Party needs the conservative base, and the conservative base needs the Republican Party. The best thing the administration could have done was put forward a nominee around whom we could rally. That just isn’t the case with Harriet Miers. She may turn out to be a stellar justice, but the nomination, in and of itself, was one more indication of an administration out of touch with its base. With 2006 and 2008 just around the corner, I only hope they see the error of their ways. The administration has lost the right to expect us to just go with the flow. If they want us on their side, then it is up to the administration to show that they are truly on our side. We deserve nothing less.
Amen BUMP!!
PING!
I feel sorry for ya
Republican does not necessarily mean conservative. Obviously.
No crap.
Congressional leadership is also out of touch with its base.
this article expresses my feelings exactly
i'm about at the end of my rope
You've got to quit blaming the entire party for this. If you are a Republican you are part of the GOP. Blame the people who are doing the things you don't like, get involved at the party level and work to toss their rears out. The GOP still stands for the things we care about. Unfortunately a few people running things are thwarting the things we care about. Get involved and change that.
The really sad thing I've learned over the years is that regular folks like you and I don't get involved at the party level as much as the trust-baby country club socialite types. For them it is a hobby to distract from the fact that they don't actually have a job. They fly around the country and sit in on committee meetings.
Unfortunately my job and five kids prevents me from doing that anymore. So we have to keep building our base and encouraging people on our side who can be involved to stay involved, and support them from where we are..
Democrats seem to be mostly the opposite. No one wants the liberal label. They all want to be "moderates." So the political term "moderate" means you are at minimum a social liberal. It's really stupid.
In the end, political terms are often meaningless. They're just marketing tools.
An absolutely astounding number of pontificators have emerged of late announcing that they speak for conservatives.
I'm a conservative and I think this nomination solidly advances the cause of conservatism. Most on FR either agree or will let the hearings play out.
But getting off the arguments that we've all already seen, isn't it fascinating to watch as talk show hosts, columnists and PAC committee spokespeople quiver in rage as they discover that they are insignificant and lead no one's opinion whatsoever.
Conservative thought is being led in the cauldron of FR and other conservative websites. No one cares what George Will thinks or Bill Kristol or Michael Savage. We don't need them to tell us what to think.
The assertion that Harvard at $30,000 per year tuition renders SMU at $28,000 per year tuition the equivalent of a community college has been hilarious. The University of Maryland is $14,000/yr, and less if someone is in state. Have a look at Maryland's faculty and count the ivy leaguers. Maryland is no community college, either.
George Will and his Oxford stint means NOTHING. In the age of the internet, he leads no one's opinion.
I trust President Bush to spend like LBJ, sign CFR, push through an Rx entitlement, wave through an illegal invasion, propose amnesty, and now elevate the cipher Miers to the Supreme Court.
Yep.
“Grassroots conservative leaders” -- pardon me, but I don’t recall voting for them.
But they know best for us all; you must remember them; it's the Patsies.
Who are you including is "us"? This story says most of the rank & file GOP support the President on Miers: http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20051009-111800-1989r.htm
But it is their biggest voting block and can not be ignored.
..as in Patsy Kline's oldie "Who's Crying Now?" ;-)
To all who want to give up: Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand. Can we at least agree that the Democrat party is the evil referred to in this thought? I don't always agree with the direction of the Republicans, but to abandon them and allow the Democrats to gain control is certainly not the answer.
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