Posted on 02/23/2006 10:04:55 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Gloom, despair, and agony on me Deep dark depression, excessive misery If it weren't for bad luck I'd have not luck at all Gloom, despair, and agony on me" - Hee Haw
As you listen to and read all the talk about "unity" at the upcoming state Republican Party convention this weekend, keep in mind that nothing unites people as quickly as a common enemy. But alas, we've no good enemies in plain sight right now other than ourselves.
Oh sure, Cindy Sheehan makes a good foil every time she puts on her t-shirt de jour and parades herself in front of TV cameras. The problem is Sheehan is such a crackpot that it's hard to do more than roll your eyes at her and the lemmings in the Democratic Party like Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Senator Ted Kennedy, the uncle of all crackpots, as they chase each other breathlessly down the path of political defeat.
The two Democrats running to win their Party's nomination for governor in June are such nobodies that it's difficult to muster more than a nagging annoyance toward them. Uniting Republicans against Treasurer Phil Angelides (a dead ringer for Count Chocula) or Controller Steve Westly (a.k.a., "Arnold's little buddy") will be difficult because it's hard to take either of them seriously.
Yes, I know, they want to raise our taxes. Yes, they'll give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. And yes, they'll sign into law same-sex marriage. I know, I know. It's a rerun of the recall.
I think I speak for a lot of Republican activists and volunteers who will converge on San Jose in a few days when I say that politics is pretty uninspiring right now. In fact, some days it's just plain demoralizing.
The ethical scandals going on in Washington, D.C. are a complete sellout of the 1994 Republican Revolution. Headlines about Congressman Duke Cunningham and his "menu" of bribes evoke one image: whore.
President Bush and the Republican majority traded in their budget-slashing machetes for a couple of dull butter knives at the K Street Pawn Shop, giving away the one unifying message that binds together Republicans of liberal, moderate and conservative persuasions: fiscal responsibility.
A year ago, hundreds of Republicans activists and volunteers were stirred to their feet in loud and cheerful ovations for a speech Gov. Schwarzenegger adlibbed at the state Party convention.
"The unions and the special interests will fight us," he predicted of the inevitable special election, "but ... we're going right there where all the evil is. This is going to be a great battle."
Evil is consistently a really good enemy for Republicans. The only thing we like fighting more than ourselves is evil.
What Republicans at this weekend's convention need, however, is more than just another enemy because they are currently in a funk not of their own making.
Republicans didn't know what a crook Duke Cunningham was or how ethically vacuous the Republican leadership in DC had become. Republicans could never have guessed that the penalty for defeat in last November's special election would be a massive spending proposal by Gov. Schwarzenegger that Democrats are spinning costs too much and creates "not only new bureaucracies but unprecedented central government support…"
What Republicans need to hear at the upcoming convention is the ghost of Winston Churchill imploring them, "Never, never, never give up."
Republicans need encouragement and inspiration from someone who will tell them that defeat is not surrender. To realize long-term success, the Republican Party must unify behind more than poll numbers, the recall election and yesterday's victories.
Long-term success depends on a unified front to hold back the spending excesses of the Democratic Party; a unified front that shouts from the rooftops when the radical extremists in the Democratic Party try to undermine public safety by protecting violent sexual offenders and child predators; a unified front that is not afraid to talk openly--yet thoughtfully--about protecting our borders from the intrusion of illegal immigrants and the employers who hire them.
Without these words of conviction, the Republican Party is left with little more than doom, despair and the agony of an uninspiring election cycle this year. Or, at the very least, apathy.
Electrify the rank and file?
electrocute might be a better word.
.
Leadership..?
How's 'bout CA State Assemblyman VAN TRAN,
...who came to America after the Fall of Saigon 30 years speaking just 2 words of English.
And now, just look him.
TRAN Blasts DEAN: Calls for Solidarity in Iraq
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1536289/posts
.
The same enemy still exists; it is called Liberalism. It comes in all colors and stripes, and even party labels. Perhaps if we started to "unite" against this enemy, presenting a strong platform to fight it, the base would be energized. Instead, the party seems to want to respect it's "self esteem" or give it "a big hug." Cuddling up and embracing the enemy, Liberalism, will only turn off more and more of the old faithful.
This is what non-competitive districting has led to. Our elected leaders chose us, not us them. Is it any surprise that the electorate has lost interest in the obviously corrupt process?
Organizing in CA is a real challenge. And the only way to make legislative progress is to grovel before scarce dem "moderates" to try to slip in what you need to keep in business. Most of time, you are being shaken down by radicals who want to destroy the economy here in order to set up their progressive paradise.
Why didn't she write like this when she was the CAGOP mouthpiece?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.