Posted on 12/03/2005 6:27:44 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
By Tony Snow
Dec 3, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Democrats gibber about Republicans' writhing in a culture of corruption, they're on to something -- but not what they think. The Republican Party in Washington is in trouble not because it's overrun by crooks, but because it's packed with cowards -- and has degenerated into a caricature of the party that swept to power 11 years ago promising to take on the federal bureaucracy and liberate the creative genius of American society.
The collapse stems from the simplest and most natural of causes, the survival instinct. Within months of seizing power in 1995, Republicans began backing away from Big Ideas, from tort reform to the necessary overhaul of the Social Security system. They started consulting pollsters to assay "correct" issues and positions. They played it safe -- or so they thought.
Over time, imagination-grabbing ideas melted away. Gone was the Reaganite breadth of vision, and in its place stood the musty idol of Incumbency. Republicans drew the wrong morals from the decline and fall of Newt Gingrich. They thought his boldness got him in trouble, and chose to crib plays from the Bill Clinton playbook -- tacking left, at least oratorically, so as to appease, rather than confront, their critics.
Hence, George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" -- a slogan that exceeded skeptics' worst expectations. That phrase, aimed at reassuring suburban white moms and queasy left-wing Republicans, became a white flag on the core issue of government size and might. Bush insiders even began boasting about "big government" conservatism -- oblivious to the fact that big government does not conserve or preserve; it crushes and digests, devouring institutions that challenge its supremacy.
Leaders in the Party of Lincoln stopped talking about people, and started talking about programs and expenditures. They justified head-snapping shifts in policy by claiming the need to take issues "off the table." The multi-trillion dollar Medicare "reform" is a case in point. It was designed less to save a system than to deny Democrats a talking point. Yet, the only things Republicans really took off the table were their moral authority and the loyalty of their partisans.
This helps explain one of the great ironies of the age. We live in what ought to be an era of Republican triumphalism. The president's one reliable bit of domestic-policy conservatism, his tax-cut agenda, has succeeded brilliantly. The most recent Commerce Department figures peg the third quarter economic growth rate at a sizzling 4.3 percent -- despite the ravages of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the oil shocks that followed.
Republicans have won the battle over whether centralized bureaucracies can eradicate poverty, or perform social services more efficiently than private or volunteer operations. Throughout the country, the same patterns appear: Where elected officials govern with a light touch and without imposing onerous tax and regulatory burdens, prosperity flourishes -- and people flock to the scene. "progressive" states, on the other hand, are becoming empty husks, with more rigid class distinctions than in any other section of the country.
The GOP also wins big on values. Virtually every time the ACLU files a lawsuit, Democrats lose supporters. Despite these advantages, however, the GOP founders. Its Washington potentates simply refuse to embrace the party's ideals or successes (including the war). They have forgotten the most important rule of political survival: If you want to remain an incumbent for long, you don't jettison your principles. You act on them.
When House Speaker Denny Hastert broke arms to secure votes for a pork-packed highway bill, calling the legislation a "jobs bill," it was an embarrassment. When the president signed a campaign-finance bill he called unconstitutional, he seemed to lack not only conviction, but vision.
Fortunately, irate constituents roused some conservatives from their dogmatic slumbers. Young Republicans rebelled against the apostasy of their elders, especially in the matter of the federal budget, and state parties seized the initiative on everything from spending limitations to school choice.
Capitol Hill Republicans now admit their Democratic colleagues don't want peace -- they want the Alamo. So the GOP is fighting back. Hastert approved calling the bluff of anti-victory Democrats last week by demanding a floor vote on the idea of vamoosing Iraq immediately. He scored another triumph this week by restoring the good name of the National Christmas Tree.
Who knows, he may even figure out the Paradox of Incumbency. Politicians who run just to protect incumbency may save their seats, but only by destroying their party's heart and soul. If you really want to build lasting power in politics, you need to forget about mere incumbency -- and remember the principles that got you elected in the first place.
Bump!
Just because a Traitor has an (R) next to their name, they are no less a Traitor!
Bump!
I guess I expect more from a Republican Congress.
Music to the ears, ain't it?
You say NOT voting for Republicans strengthens Democrats, I don't see any difference any more. Under Bush and Republican Congress, federal spending has increased more than it ever did under Clinton.
I'll stay home, or vote Constitution Party or Libertarian Party, but there's no way in Hell I am punching the ballot for [R] in 2006.
Tony Snow, the Mozart of conservative columnists!
"While the Conservatives Gossip and argue, the world goes right bye them !!!
06' looks like a BIG loss !!"
1) There's a WAR on, moron.
2) If you could only garner votes as well as you spell ...
that's like cutting off your nose to spite your face! I suggest it's better to start calling, emailing, rallying..whatever....to let incumbent Repubs know 'the people' are not happy. I, for one, do not want to help elect any liberal Democrats! Problem seems to be that too many people (Repubs) who are not happy.....will talk but not act.
Sometimes the Cancer is so deep, it takes radical surgery to remove it.
If we tell the politicians.."we put you there to do a job, and to fight FOR this country and it's laws and Constitution; if you find yourself more interested in perks, parties and Pages...we'll be sending you home!"
We as Conservatives cannot effect change in the DemonRATs, but we can demand that OUR side not act like them!
Once we have REAL men and women who believe in the laws and Constitution, then we can take the field of battle for real...not this pretend dance that goes on with these "perfumed Princes" all the time.
No, it's long past any "play nice" type messages...turn the place UPSIDE-DOWN...dump them ALL out, confiscate their Pensions AND their "War Chests", and start with some REAL people who don't WANT this to be their career, just to do the job "Americans WANT done"!
Hi everyone,
Tony Snow article ping :-)
Sorry I am so slow -- I was out and about.
Cheers,
saveliberty
You are probable doing what we are ALL doing about now..working our "freeping job" around Christmas shopping..
I am beginning to realize how addicted I am to Free Republic, when I have days that I have too much to do to spend much time here, and I get frustrated...LOL
BTW...I posted earlier, that I bet that Tony will be SO HOT to go...that he might melt the snow in the north...
BTW...we need to remind him that the Barrett Report has been "hidden" from us again, while he has been away...
and we have been depending on him to keep the Senator's feet to the fire about getting the results released.
NOOOOO! Do not do this. We will set ourselves back years. We have a chance to have some influence on Republicans, we have no chance with dems. Do not cut off your nose to spite your fact. Start writing your reps real letters, not emails, if you aren't already. Do whatever you can to get your voice heard. But let's don't shoot ourselves in the foot.
Wow! I've been so busy I didn't see this until now, but I am certainly glad I caught it, and that you posted it.
Thanks, paic. Great stuff, isn't it?
Many of us refused to tolerate that a few years ago and left the GOP, absolutely disgusted, to a third party. We decided that we would no longer cast our votes for the lesser of two evils.
"Big Tent Boobs have got control of the machinery and purse strings"
I wonder if it's true- that, like the Dems famously patching together "coalitions" for their declining turnouts, some Republican bigwigs are doing the very same thing? Basing a diluted Republican platform on "coalitions" -based on the crappy polls! But the big thing is the political cowardice of our GOP people in Congress; not so long ago, it took a Dem- Zell Miller!!!- to speak on our behalf. Zell is more of a Republican than the likes of Lott, Snow, Collins, Chaffey ... Has more intelligence, wit, and courage, too.
LOL! Right you are! I took Mom shopping to a lot of stores and then we stopped by my favorite coffee shop on the way home (it's a small business).
Then I did some minor household repairs and tons of laundry, finally making my way to the third floor to log in :-)
I hope that you had fun shopping :-)
:-) And he will be careful not to walk into another brouhaha with his adoring female fans..... LOL
Amen, Tony!
Whats that supposed to mean!! ;-)
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