Posted on 01/05/2006 6:18:00 AM PST by Theodore R.
Judgment day for Republicans
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: January 5, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
This year marks the 12th anniversary of the "Republican Revolution."
It will also herald a judgment day for the GOP.
Republicans in Congress have several factors working against them:
Despite having control, at least in theory, of all three branches of the federal government since 2001, it is difficult to perceive any significant positive change of course for the nation. Spending is way up – even if you don't consider the expenses of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly five years after America was the target of a devastating, unthinkable terrorist attack, the borders remain unsecured.
A major scandal that touches the president and many members of Congress – including the Republican leadership – is unfolding in Washington. Though lobbyist Jack Abramoff bought favors from both Democrats and Republicans, it is clear that, when the smoke clears, the party in power will pay a much higher political price.
According to a new poll, about half of Americans believe – correctly – that most members of Congress are corrupt.
These factors, and others, lead me to believe Republicans will be punished badly in this year's mid-term elections – worse than anyone now imagines.
Somehow Republicans have managed to squander every advantage they had a dozen years ago as "mavericks" who were going to make government more accountable to the people, less corrupt, responsive to the rule of law, more moral.
It hasn't happened. That's obvious to one and all – even the most hopeful of us. The Republican Party is clearly part of the problem. A significant portion of the GOP base now recognizes, rightly, that no fundamental change in the direction of the country will occur because of the election of Republicans to office – even if they occupied every single seat in the House, Senate, Supreme Court and the White House.
"Republican" no longer connotes smaller government, more freedom, less intrusion in our personal lives and a more vibrant economy as it did after eight years of Ronald Reagan. "Republican" today more likely connotes – even for those who tend to vote for the party – incompetence, corruption, compromise, betrayal.
None of this, of course, is to excuse or rationalize the Democratic Party as a viable alternative. That would be like rejecting the frying pan for the fire.
But, nevertheless, think what will happen on Election Day when 2 to 3 percent of the previously most passionate "Republicans" stay home. Think of what it will mean when 20 to 30 percent of the grass-roots activists Republicans have counted on to work for them don't show up this year.
That's what I expect to happen in 2006.
I expect the Democrats to make tremendous gains in the House and Senate by default – simply because the Republicans have blown it over the last 12 years.
They have squandered the greatest historic opportunity to rein in unconstitutional government in Washington since the War Between the States.
They may be finished for another generation as a majority party. If it doesn't happen in 2006, it will surely happen in 2008, because the party leadership shows no signs of "getting it." They have put personality above principle – and there is no chance of going back.
There are no Ronald Reagans waiting in the wings. Instead, the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 are Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Neither holds a candle to the legacy and values of Reagan.
But there is a silver lining under this dark cloud.
Maybe Americans will understand there is no national salvation to be found in one political party or the other. Maybe they will begin to understand that we are not supposed to be a people ruled by elitists in Washington. Maybe we will start acting like the self-governing people we are supposed to be. Maybe we will start taking charge of our own lives again instead of looking to Washington to solve our problems.
Maybe 2006 will be the year we begin "Taking America Back."
Joe Farah does comedy.
Is America ready for another President Clinton, more terrorist attacks and more condescending, snotty liberals running the executive branch and appointing ACLU judges?
A lot of Republicans are quick to criticize GWB, but we have not had a terrorist attack for quite a while now (knock on wood), the economy is doing nicely despite all the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the past six years, and we have two new supreme court justices appointed by a Republican.
Why the hell would anyone want to put the brakes on that by caving in to the liberals with nominating McCain or Giuliani to face Hitlery or Skerry??? Myself, I don't want anyone tainted by the senate to be in the White House...
Of course, I am tooting my own horn by saying this: I publicly predicted GWB would be the next president for two terms back in 1995 and that Bob Dole would lose. Everybody said I was nuts... I think if Jeb wants it, he will sweep the election.
* Interesting note on Bob Dole - - a REAL hero on the battlefield!
Hillary Clinton will never be President.
And McCaine will not be the Republican presidential nominee in 2008.
"OK, I apologize ***for*** you."
I just love free speech. You either learn something useful, or you learn about someone's character.
Incidentally, I agree with some of your posts. [Shaking head.] I'm no fan of Buchanan. In fact, I think his fear of Jews tends to blind him. Nor do I think third parties are the answer. I would just love to see a fair, bi-partizan purging of scumbags in DC, and I think a strong dose of skepticism about a politician's purity is healthy.
That includes GW. He may be a war champion. He may have spurred a strong economy with tax cuts. But he called the Minutemen 'vigilantes', he spends like a drunken sailor on liberty after being at sea for three months, he panders to the most perverse elements of the beltway [such as the Clintons and the National Endowment for the 'Arts'], and he's doing nothing I know of to straighten out our insane tax code.
Can't we find someone better in 2008 than a Bush?
FRegards....
I think one of the major problems of some conservatives is their lack of practical politics and an obsession with absolute principles. President Bush is not an “absolutist” and he is much more practical in getting what he wants, and he got a lot of what he wants so far. The fact the President Bush is not an “absolutist” causes the “absolutists” among us to get angry at him regarding some issues like illegal immigration, spending, and not being “nasty” to our opponents. The “absolutists” should realize that we can never win anything if we cannot be practical and we do not want to be a defeated and bitter minority. After all it was President Reagan who said, paraphrasing, that it is better to win little than not to win anything.
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