"even the most sainted conservatives--Reagan, for instance--harbor nonconservative thoughts."
Like?
Reagan didn't have a Republican House and a Republican Senate to work with.
Great insight. We each should understand this but need to be reminded.
A president has to do all he can to help elections of conservatives, therefore, some issues have to come off the table.
On immigration - Bush holds to the point that family values do not stop at the border. But, he has come around to understanding our borders have to be safe. But, will he get anything at all - I doubt it. The issue is too controversial and neither side will give.
Bush is a poker player and Bush is the most attacked president in many years. He is looking at impeachment efforts if we lose the house, so expect him to consider his own welfare in this mess.
How he can get anything through with all the GOP caving on him, all the dems attacking him, I can't see. So, all of this griping we all do is really the fact that the GOP representatives do not support his goals, do not stand firm, are weaklings caring more about bribing the dems than helping us.
Might help us to cast the blame where it goes - our representatives that are worthless.
If Republican "victory" is defined as implementing Democrat policy, why bother voting at all? Was Fred wearing his Goebbels lapel pin when he wrote this?
If he is in fact a politician, he'd follow the will of the vast majority of Americans and secure the borders and deport the Illegals.
Barnes is a sycophant
Yea , isnt Bush doing great?! 4.7 % unemployment and a booming tock marhet, and not only are his poll number in the toilet, but he has lost support of his base in the congress. Shmuck
Fred Barnes is lost in the ozone. This is all about leadership.
When political conservatism is advanced, it triumphs over liberalism. PresReagan didn't have a GOP Congress, yet he changed the direction of American politics and set a conservative governing course for America. In 1994 Newt Gingrich came along and won a huge victory for conservatism and the GOP.
The course that PresBush and the GOP Congress has set for the future of the federal government is not a direction that will advance a conservative agenda. The federal government is headed down a path of increased welfare entitlement spending and a larger federal bureaucracy. Not to mention, a ongoing liberal policy of open borders and amnesty for criminal immigrants.
While the liberals and their media cohorts make a lot of noise, they have no power. The GOP controls the whole show in WashDC, however, they haven't used that power to craft a conservative government. The GOP has basically wasted an historic opportunity to reshape American politics.
Finally someone who gets it. I don't know what everyone was expecting. Some people seem to think that every time President Bush has a thought different from theirs, we should hang him. It's about time people get a clue. You can't always get what you want. I don't always agree with President Bush but he is the best person for the job.
Of course, he is neither.
But Fred is a whore who drank the Kool-Aid when he wrote the embarrassing book about Bush's reputed heroism. After all, Bush had gotten Part D when the book was written. Fred's trying to take an emetic with this one.
I feel sorry for Fred. I have always said--and he keeps proving--that he is a mental lightweight, a dottering uncle that conservatism would prefer to keep in the attic.
Politicians do have to compromise, but it comes a whole lot easier to some than to others. They only have so many options. Nixon, for example, had to work in very liberal times. Reagan, like Nixon, had a Democrat Congress to put up with.
I don't blame Bush for not having the best hand -- he would never have Reagan's popularity nationwide -- but it does look as though he didn't make the best use of the openings and opportunities he did have.
Fred, Mort and Kristol should get a room....Romping RINOS
Shades of Lindsey Graham's, "Just Shut up.", here?
I don't like elites. Fred is an elite. An elite would dismiss people and tell them to basically sit down and be quiet because they find them bothersome pests.
I respect the President. I support him. I have NOT been a part of the crowd dismissive or bashing him at every turn. Infact, I've defended him on immigration threads concerning points where the critisisms are unjust and against those that freely speak of impeachment. I've no common cause with that mindset.
With this said, I'm not going to delve into response to the specifics of this column because I don't respect Fred. Fred is being disingenuous here. And, everyone that has followed him knows it.
Fred wrote this column for one reason only. It has dawned on him that a significant minority of the base is unhappy. Unhappy enough to debate sitting an election out. It is STILL only debate, hold off on assigning committee chairs Dems....but for the base to even consider that option is NOT a good thing in an election year.
Fred's response to this dawning realization? Write a weak column using Reagan, a conservative "icon, rather deceptively, to silence critics. And, if not willfully silenced, he concludes with telling them to shut up. I'm suprised he didn't work in pelosi as Speaker.
Now do I deny Reagan compromised? Nope. Am I a "Reagan conservative"? Nope. I have few memories of Reagan, I'm afraid, I brand myself rather unromantically as a plain conservative as a result. But, Reagan was a part of the conservative movement and sought to advance it. Our President currently never has really been a part of that movement, his goal has been to advance the Republican Majority. At times our goals have been compatible, but they do diverge from time to time. I find nothing wrong with either of their goals, and don't think too highly of conservatives who are upset the president hasn't advanced the movement when he never claimed he'd do so. Just as I lack some sympathy for people upset about him being for Big Government, did he claim otherwise? As for amnesty, I knew when I voted for him he supported it. It's pushing boundaries to claim betrayal now.
But Fred surely knows there is a difference here. May I suggest Fred Barnes stop rationalizing reasons for a Republican Majority not to have led on conservative promises, and instead tell his in the beltway collegues on the Hill that they simply do their jobs and spend the next few short months rectifying their errors? It's a far better use of their time that using scare tactics to entice voters to the polls.
Here's what I think it all boils down to, folks:
The Democrats are the enemy. The Republicans are the good guys, but they often don't fight hard enough. So what are you going to do? Are you going to punish the Republicans for their weakness by making them even weaker? Are you going to punish them by putting the Democrats in charge? Now, that would be a brilliant move, eh?
Folks, has it occurred to you the Republicans might just show a bit more backbone if they get more votes. Imagine what they could do if they had 60 Senators. If they get fewer votes, they will just cave in even faster. You really need to know that.
You may not like everything the Republicans do, but if you think they are as bad as the Democrats, you have a hard lesson to learn. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
Fred's a beltway bonehead. I vote for term limits not only for politicians but pundits as well.
Here's what I think it all boils down to, folks:
The Democrats are the enemy. The Republicans are the good guys, but they often don't fight hard enough. So what are you going to do? Are you going to punish the Republicans for their weakness by making them even weaker? Are you going to punish them by putting the Democrats in charge? Now, that would be a brilliant move, eh?
Folks, has it occurred to you the Republicans might just show a bit more backbone if they get more votes. Imagine what they could do if they had 60 Senators. If they get fewer votes, they will just cave in even faster. You really need to know that.
You may not like everything the Republicans do, but if you think they are as bad as the Democrats, you have a hard lesson to learn. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
I think people who hire illegals to cook, provide maid service, etc are completely oblivious to the border problem ...
You can't push ANY agenda if you CAN'T win an election.
bttt