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How the conservatives crumble
Jewish World Review ^ | 10/28/5 | Rod Dreher

Posted on 10/28/2005 3:55:27 PM PDT by Crackingham

William F. Buckley, American conservatism's gray eminence, was recently asked by a writer for The New Yorker what he thought about the state of the movement he helped found 50 years ago. Said Mr. Buckley, "I'm not happy about it." More and more of us on the right feel his pain.

Conservatism, said Buckley, is "to a considerable extent, the acknowledgment of realities. And this is surreal."

He was talking about President Bush's grandiose wish to frog-march liberal democracy around the globe, but he could have been speaking of any number of unconservative things foisted upon the country by an ostensibly conservative president and a compliant Republican Congress.

American conservatism is in crisis at the moment because the bizarre Harriet Miers nomination imposed a surreality check on the right, forcing us to consider just how much nonsense we had gone along with for the sake of party discipline.

Where to start? With the LBJ-level spending? The signing of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, which candidate Bush had denounced as unconstitutional? The race-preferences sellout in the University of Michigan cases?

There was also the cynical use of the federal marriage amendment, which the administration dropped after turning out the social conservative vote in 2004. And grass-roots conservatives cite the president's intent to liberalize immigration policy with Mexico.

Then there is the Iraq quagmire, which, even if initially a worthy cause, has become a rolling disaster.

On top of this came the Katrina debacle, which further damaged conservatism's claim to competent governance.

Conservatives, consciously or not, looked the other way for far too long, mostly because we felt it important to back the president in wartime and because nothing was more important to the various tribes of Red State Nation than recapturing the Supreme Court.

(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: conservatism; gop; republicans; roddreher; walkingthewalk
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To: Crackingham
Then there is the Iraq quagmire

When you start adopting the most blatant codewords of the moonbat left as your own, you're no longer sure what team you're playing on.

61 posted on 10/28/2005 6:34:26 PM PDT by Dont Mention the War (Pirro '06 - Save New York!)
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To: Crackingham
Then there is the Iraq quagmire, which, even if initially a worthy cause, has become a rolling disaster.

OK, I'm going to use the 'F' word in its entirety here. Stop reading if you'll be offended.

Iraq is NOT a fucking quagmire. It's not even really a war at this point. We WON!!! It's OVER!!! It's now just us holding the country until the terrorists can be defeated and the Iraqi government is stabilized enough to govern and hold the terrorists at bay.

When will these moron journalists / columnists learn that?

62 posted on 10/28/2005 6:34:59 PM PDT by Hardastarboard
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To: q_an_a

Actually, Dreher's from Louisiana (northwest, I think). I've been disappointed in his columns since he left NR.


63 posted on 10/28/2005 6:41:52 PM PDT by born in the Bronx
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To: nopardons
Southack's personal page.
64 posted on 10/28/2005 7:29:16 PM PDT by Milhous (Sarcasm - the last refuge of an empty mind.)
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To: thoughtomator
And you've just outed yourself; not to mention completely validated my posts. All that you do is COMPLAIN!

The partial list ( yes, it had been updated, but Southack hasn't put it up yet ) on Southack's page, is a list of the good things. You and your ilk do nothing but whinge and whine and complain ;every day, every night, year in, year out, without ever seeing/acknowledging any of the good stuff.

"Take abuse"? You take it and take it and take whatever is handed out and then ask for some more, because you love being miserable. Nothing is any good, nothing is worthwhile, and it never will be; for you. The glass is empty; even when it is 1/2 full.

If you've never read the fairy tale, THE FISHEREMAN'S WIFE, read it.

65 posted on 10/28/2005 7:30:03 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: Milhous

Thanks. :-)


66 posted on 10/28/2005 7:33:11 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: Dont Mention the War
Dreher. Then there is the Iraq quagmire.

Dont Mention the War. When you start adopting the most blatant codewords of the moonbat left as your own, you're no longer sure what team you're playing on.

Although Dreher makes some good points using the phrase frog march makes Dreher sound like a crack brain burnt out 1960s Wilsonian stoner. IMHO.
67 posted on 10/28/2005 7:36:16 PM PDT by Milhous (Sarcasm - the last refuge of an empty mind.)
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To: MNJohnnie
Sorry Bush and the Republicans are NOT 100%ers. Sorry you don't get your way on EVERY issue.

Oh, please. We're not even getting 30% from this President. And he recently made the big jump from merely disappointing us (Medicare expansion, etc.) to a flagrant, public slap in the face (the Miers nomination). There's only so much crap we will take.

68 posted on 10/28/2005 7:39:54 PM PDT by Sloth (You being wrong & me being closed-minded are not the same thing, nor are they mutually exclusive.)
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To: nopardons
I just have a sense of humor. I do a lot more than complain. I cheer when good things are being done. I supported the President's elections in 2000 and 2004; I support the war effort fully. I support the efforts of Mike Pence and Tom Coburn and Tom Tancredo, all of whom are doing the right thing for the nation. I support all effective efforts to reduce the power of the Democrats.

At the same time, we are drowned in a sea of propaganda originating mostly from our enemies, and even that which is not is not necessarily friendly. The proper response to the stream of lies, misrepresentations, "fake but accurate" news reports and "fake but accurate" lists of Tom Delay's campaign donors - and also the preposterous falsehoods given about border policy and quisling SCOTUS nominees - is to complain.

Want to shut up my complaining? Get me a SCOTUS nominee like Luttig or Brown. Get me a border policy that preserves our sovereignty, and an illegal immigration policy that doesn't give felonious aliens a privileged legal position. Get me the head of Kofi Annan on a pike. Cut spending and reduce debt - government is 9/10ths waste, fraud, and corruption, other than DoD. Punish Syria and Iran, kick their behinds like they are begging for us to do. Punish open treason at home. There's a heck of a lot that I would not complain about - and I don't think any of these or all of them are unreasonable at all.

69 posted on 10/28/2005 7:42:24 PM PDT by thoughtomator (Ninety-nine Republican Arlen Specters aren’t worth one Democratic Zell Miller)
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To: msnimje

Rumble! I'm with you, and its about time. I propose a three-pronged strike:
1) Find the most ideologically pure SCOTUS candidate and back him/her to the hilt.
2) Use all the resources of the internet to unmask that sociopath Wilson, his ditzy wife and their CIA accomplices for what they are -- criminal conspirators.
3) Boycott the MSM until they bleed.


70 posted on 10/28/2005 8:24:36 PM PDT by Dionysius (ACLU is the enemy)
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To: thoughtomator
Untrue, trite, childish post and one that doesn't help you any.

And all of your complaining has gotten you nothing and nowhere and wasted a great deal of bandwidth.

Brown asked for her name to be withdrawn for any nomination to the SCOTUS; get over it.

Koffi's head will remain where it is. ( ^$@@$^&**&^%$#@!!! )

And the "border problem" is never going to be fixed. We have FOUR borders. I'd take you people seriously, if you ever bothered to talk about the terrible problems on the other three; but nooooooooooo, you only ever complain about the Southern one.

What you want is immediate gratification of how YOU see things, in a manner that is never going to be taken.

71 posted on 10/28/2005 8:41:08 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: thoughtomator
Tax cuts are only meaningful in the context of commensurate spending cuts.

If this is true you'd need to explain how the budget deficit is shrinking in light of large spending increases and revenue (tax) reductions.

Could the supply siders be right when they say that tax cuts increase economic activity resulting in increased revenue for the fedgov?

In any event the goal, IMHO, is to increase the wealth of American citizens. Public debt as a percentage of household wealth has been dropping. We're creating wealth faster than debt. Allowing Americans to keep more of their money is the reason for this. Besides, what's better: The government borrowing money at 4.3% or taking my money, by raising taxes, that I can earn 10% with?

The ball, without question, has advanced in our direction on this issue. Increasing American household wealth along with the war on terror should be two of the most important issues for conservatives. On these, GWB has performed admirably.

72 posted on 10/28/2005 9:35:49 PM PDT by Mase
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To: Wiseghy
Beware of how much contempt you pile on the big tent types. They are the ones who know how to win elections.

LOL! I don't seem to recall "big tent types" being the ones that brought the GOP out of the wilderness.

73 posted on 10/28/2005 9:58:31 PM PDT by Major Matt Mason (The U.S. Senate - Freedom's Graveyard)
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To: Crackingham
Bush gamed the right. The Bushes of Kennebunkport were never declassé rightwingers. Bush 41 peered down through his monacle and sniffed at Reagan in the early years. And his son prefixed the venerable identity of "conservative" with the wishy-washy, politically empty adjective "compassionate," something only an East Coast Establishment Rockefeller Republican would feel impelled to do.

Like Rockefeller at Attica, Bush responded with toughness when state security was at risk, and conservatives were mollified. Whatever troubling fiscal tendencies he might have exhibited were overlooked. And after all, they said, he was a Texan.

But he's not a Texan -- not really. He's a Phillips Andover, Yale, Kennebunkport representative of the very privileged GOVERNING CLASS, with a governing pedigree going back centuries. And he has gamed the right.

74 posted on 10/28/2005 10:04:04 PM PDT by beckett (Amor Fati)
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To: nopardons
re: You adored the Clinton years, didn't?
 
It's fair to say that during that era we did actually have an opposition party that actually opposed massive government growth, spending etc, rather than...well... what we got now.
75 posted on 10/28/2005 11:05:05 PM PDT by tomakaze (Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.)
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To: tomakaze
You either have a selective memory of those long, wearying 8 years, or just enjoy fabricating the facts.

What we had as a leader ( Newt, remember him ? ), was a flame thrower, who caved quite a lot, had his own scandals, that enabled our enemies to ride him out on a rail, and a couple of wins; which were like two grains of sand in the Sahara.

Heck, the GOP Senators wouldn't even allow a full trial, after the Impeachment; let alone do ANYTHING about massive government growth.

76 posted on 10/28/2005 11:24:34 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: born in the Bronx
I think some of his articles for the NRO and Dallas News have covered his experiences of living in NYC and their "neighborhoods" which are his reason for writing "cruncy con". He is not only disappointing he is a jerk.

Like many writers he now thinks writing commentary is the same as running a business or joining the military. The market has gotten so large that even a hack can make a living - if he gets hands laid on by one or more conservative magazines. /just my rant

77 posted on 10/29/2005 7:47:09 AM PDT by q_an_a
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To: Tax-chick
too right. what has happened to writers on the right? they have lost the optimism of Reagan and have become shrill.
78 posted on 10/29/2005 7:50:42 AM PDT by q_an_a
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To: q_an_a

I think they're imitating William F. Buckley, Jr., except that he has the excuse of being Extremely Old, and these other guys don't.


79 posted on 10/29/2005 8:14:51 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("Neither the depth of despondency nor the height of euphoria tells you how long either will last. ")
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