GOP Establishment Rallying Around RINO Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)

The Boston Globe ^ | December 5, 2005 | Rick Klein

[Clintonfatigued]

But with the Republican Party's hold on the Senate looking tenuous, the party of Wall Street and the religious right is suddenly chummy with its most prominent environmentalist. With a tough race looming, and a solid conservative challenging Chafee in the primary, Republican elites are sending checks to Rhode Island -- to help Chafee.

[aligncare]

I guess the camel stuck his nose under the tent a long time ago.

[aligncare]

Does anyone here have any thoughts on how the MSM plays into this whole issue of politics and constitutional government?

[Conservative Goddess]

I'm not a single issue voter either....but until Federalism returns to prominence....we must look to the Feds to overturn Roe v. Wade. Then....states rights, and our elected state reps, will be able to make the decisions. Until then....substantive due process issues forth from the Feds.....so for now, it's a federal issue. I draw your attention to Federalist 84, found here: http://federalistpatriot.us/fedpapers/fed_84.html

Where Hamilton discussed how dangerous a bill of rights would be...giving men inclined to usurp a plausible pretense to claim the right to regulate more than was actually delegated......and while reading it, I was reminded of the language of Griswold...where the court resorted to examining the emanations of the prenumbras of the BOR to 'find' a right to privacy. The Founders were brilliant and prescient men....foreseeing the contortions of the Supremes 200 years hence.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

The MSM are a bunch of Marxist Deconstructionists who's mission is to revise or erase our History, destroy our culture,(multi-culturalism is an attack on our culture)
and corrupt our language.

If the language is sufficiently corrupted words lose their original meanings. Gay is classic, There's nothing happy about homos. Without accurate History, the original intent is gone.

Without the original meanings and intentions the Constitution becomes a jumble of words.

Then it's easy to turn the Public Use, into some Bolshevik's version of the Public Good, easily interpreted as siezing property from one and giving it to another. Not at all the original intent.

God given rights of self defense become collective rights of the State. Free Speech becomes only what the leftists want to say and Political Speech, the most protected speech, can be easily curtailed. (Thanks McMainiac and Jorge.)

They are enemies of the Nation, consumate propagandists who's every word is carefully weighed to deliver just the right innuendo so that even if they speak the truth, it is twisted to their purposes.

[napscoordinator]

As it should be...he is the worst of all.

[aligncare]

Damn, you're good. I'd like to continue exploring some of you're comments in future. It's hard to develop a theme and follow-through, while I'm at work.

As you may note from my tagline, I might have a few thoughts to contribute to this subject.

[Conservative Goddess]

That is a very good question. Unfortunately, I think that as a society, we've been taught to feel instead of think. We've been set up to accept the 30 second sound-bite as Gospel. I don't know who or what is responsible for that state of affairs. Is the MSM responsible or just riding the existing wave? I don't know. To the extent that truly constitutional government requires thought, not emotion, the MSM is at the very least complicit by feeding us a steady diet of ads and 'news' that emotionally based.

In fairness, it's much easier to package an emotional message in a 30 second sound-bite, than an educational message that requires some deep thought. But with resepct to news stories, MSM reporters are clearly biased and there is little pretense of objectivity anymore.

To turn this country around, we need to ask the electorate to do some intellectual heavy-lifting. Are they willing or able? I don't know, but I suspect that EVEN if the MSM started producing and airing 2 minute public service announcements on original intent and the proper role of government, the electorate would probably be too tired or too busy to listen....dismiss it out of hand.

Too many people who are on the rat wheel will look to anyone or anything to provide some relief...even if it means trampling on the Constitution...even if previous tramplings of the Constitution are responsible for their current state of affairs. We also seem to embrace victimhood far more readily than our forefathers. That goes hand in hand with Socialism.

I contend that creeping socialism and the associated tax burden, in direct contravention to the vision of the Founders, is what has driven mothers to work outside of the home....unfortunately...many look to more socialism to bail them out....government sponsored daycare, tax breaks, food stamps, LIHEAP, the mis-named Earned Income Tax Credit, etc. Government is the problem, not the solution.

I don't know how to stop the cycle...the downward spiral....but I'm certain that the Dims have captured the emotions of the people. Perhaps we should require a reading of one of the Federalist Papers before the evening news. LOL. I'm glad that FOX news came on the scene...and that the people are responding. Perhaps we just need to be patient, educate when and where we can and work to expose socialism when and where we see it. Pray, never ceasing for a return to the thoughtful, self-reliant vision of the Founders.

[aligncare]

...'your' comments. Hate when that happens.

[aligncare]

...I don't know, but I suspect that EVEN if the MSM started producing and airing 2 minute public service announcements on original intent and the proper role of government, the electorate would probably be too tired or too busy to listen....dismiss it out of hand....

Whoe, there missy. That's an excellent suggestion. And I disagree that educational spots would not go over well - production values can 'soup-up' a message, and be very engaging.

[Conservative Goddess]

I leave souping it up to your creative side. I love reading the words of the Founders....they are like poetry now...but I confess, when I first picked up a copy of The Federalist Papers...it was like slogging through wet snow...a very hard read. Maybe translate to modern day English...then SOUP IT UP!! GO FOR IT!

[aligncare]

You have both made excellent points. I would add my support to CG, that it may be just a matter of time to effect change in attitudes and perceptions. Liberalism (The Camel), has been very stealth, subtle and patient. Me, I want change to occur rapidly, like yesterday.

[libertyman]

No, I think that just about everything we need to do to achieve our goals is based on electing constitutionists into the House of Representatives: finding only 218 members (out of a population of 300 MILLION! The odds should be in OUR favor @ that rate!) should be the starting point. After all, the House controls all of the fed's purse strings, therefore, if the House refuses to bring up a bill that spends our tax $ in an unconstitutional manner, then it will dry up & go away--regardless of what the Senate, the White House, & the Supreme Court say. :-)

Also, rather than looking to the federal courts to fill our every need, we should look to Congress to limit the jurisdiction of the courts.

Also, don't forget that the states (regardless of what the courts say) have the ability to judge federal laws & decide whether they are constitutional or not.

[Badray]

We run conservatives and elect them.

Then WE MAKE THEM GOVERN AS CONSERVATIVES.

Our conservative principles work if they are applied. (We were asked by the GOP to give them a majority so that they could do just that and then they stabbed in the back.) When our ideas are put into place, conservative governance becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Winning as a conservative, but behaving like liberals just chases people away. They don't see a difference or a reason to vote for us again.

Take my local area as an example. I live just north of Pittsburgh in a fairly affluent, but by no means wealthy area. The town is and has been Republican. Tax increases are few and far between. The area grows and attracts business and new families.

Compare it to Pittsburgh. 70 years of liberal Democrat one party rule and the city is a hell hole (Last one out, please turn off the light.)

The problem is not in our ideas. The problem is party loyalty -- ours and the politicians. People make the mistake of thinking that the party is there to advance our principles when nothing could be further from the truth.

The Party exists to win and hold power. If all we do is vote blindly for whoever the Party puts up, we serve their purposes and gain nothing. We need to withhold support when they don't perform. Rather than pledge our undying support a year from an election, we need to make them squirm. Once we are counted as 'in the bag', forget it. They can safely ignore you at that point. They want your money, but they need your vote. Don't cheapen it by guaranteeing it to them until they have earned it. Acting like liberals, supporting liberal causes, and expanding government should cause us to withhold our support and put pressure on them to correct their course. If you don't hold their feet to the fire and threaten them with the lose of their jobs, you can't expect an improvement.

The GOP needs conservatives every bit as much as we need them. I haven't left the Party because I believe that our best chance is from within the Party. We don't have time to build a new party. But we need to clean house. Even allowing liberals to run under our banner is a mistake. If they are liberal and want to run for office, let them fight it out on the Democrat side. We don't enhance our strength by diluting our philosophy, we weaken it.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...Wasted my time...got my Journalism degree...

It's only wasted if you let it be.

There's a huge, hungry market for conservative journalism.

Probably more for accurate journalism. Perhaps a tell-all of the inside view of the Journalism Education Camps.

Gulag-An insiders tale of the Bolsheviks and Bluebloods of Journalism.

[Badray]

LOL

I've been called a Nazi, a communist, and a troll, and have had my parentage and intelligence questioned. Anytime my antagonists resort to insults, I know that I've won the battle.

The trouble is that too few recognize and appreciate the utility of liberty. Liberty is a messy thing and we all will do things that someone will find offensive whether it is celebrating Christmas or having a drink or smoking a joint or spending time with the partner of your choice.

My problem isn't in saying that some things are sins or are bad for you to engage in. But I don't need or want the government to criminalize consensual behaviors. As bad as I might personally believe a particular behavior to be, ceding power to the guys with the big guns is worse. How do you detect the 'illegal' behavior without becoming a police state?

OMG! I do sound like a libertarian. But that's a good thing.

[aligncare]

I would say to you, respectfully, that the vast majority of discord regarding the Constitution's role in modern American political life, results from ignorance and not from evil intent or even treachery or treason on the part of politicians, media or citizens. It is a disagreement. We have to come to a consensus. If our ideas are so righteous, let us convenience them of that. America belongs not to any one political party, but to all of us that love America and call ourselves, Americans.

[steve-b]

have admitted on previous threads that they are libertarians, not conservatives

A non-distinction:

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.
Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals. The strongest man on the block will run the neighborhood. We have government to insure that we don’t each one of us have to carry a club to defend ourselves. But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are travelling the same path.

[Antoninus]

Yeah, Thomas Jefferson, who signed a law outlawing sodomy as governor of Virginia, and making the punishment for such acts castration would sure be a libertarian today.

And he was the most libertarian leaning of the Founding Fathers....

[steve-b]

Non Sequitur.

[Badray]

What's a voter to do?

Unelect them.

They aren't guaranteed that job. They don't deserve to keep the job is they can't abide by their oath.

The Party wants power. We want to advance principle. If they don't give us what we want, don't give them what they crave. The politician wants his job as much as he wants life itself. Threaten him with losing it.

In PA, the legislature voted in an 2 AM session for a payraise that ranged from 16% to 54% without debate. Not only that, they tied their future salaries to the Federal Congress making 50% of what the congresscritters made. Then they topped it off with an 'unvouchered expense' provision so that they could take the money immediately instead of waiting for the next election as that pesky old Constitution mandated.

It took 4 months, but activists worked their asses off for 4 months and forced them to rescind the raise. Normally, very few of them retire in any given term, but so far about ten of them have decided not to run again. For the first time in PA, we threw out a Supreme Court Justice just because the Chief Justice was complicit in the raise, but he wasn't up for a retention vote. So we did the next best thing.

The voters need to realize that they do hold power and learn to exercise it. You need to be vocal, active, and persistent. Hound them out of office. It works. Try it.