Posted on 06/20/2006 12:15:17 AM PDT by RWR8189
I wouldn't regulate them either.
527s drain off money that would go into Democrat party coffers.
In return we get whackjob ads that we can point to and ask the public, "Do you really want those freaks running the country?"
The 527's enable the Far Left to control the Democratic Party openly.
This doesn't sit well with the moderate middle who liked to think the Democrats listen to them.
Now it is obvious who the Democrats listen to.
(Now, if only we could figure out who the Republicans are listening to, because it isn't the Left, Middle, or Right...)
George Allen PING!!!!!!!!!!
I don't get it. If it was not for the 527's, it is possible that we would have President Kerry. Why are folks against this. Remember that 527 brought us the rebuttle of the Kerry story of Vietnam. I must not understand the entire process.
You are so right. I don't care how much MONEY the rat 527s bring in. It's not a question of MONEY. The important thing is the content of the speech. In true David & Goliath fashion, that tiny group of swift vets, with far less money than the Soros Commie Hordes, took on the monolith of the leftist media and it's hero-of-the-moment (the new improved JFK) and won.
That's the thing that campaign-reform scumbags completely fail to understand:
It's not a question of MONEY. What matters is the freedom to speak out. No matter who you are. No matter what time in the political cycle it is. No matter what the MSM thinks or says and no matter what John The B@st@rd McCain thinks or says.
Out of curiosity, is MoveOn.org a 527? If so, Id sure like to see them muzzled. Im tired of seeing their commercial attacking Thelma Drake. It runs several times a day on all the local networks Ive put it into the same category (extremely annoying) as the Billy Mays ads. As soon as it comes on I switch channels.
I think Allen is the one. Taking the right position on a lot of issues, nice family, no big honking warts.
Broadcasting in general is a government-licensed activity. Which means that the people without government licenses are censored. Without that censorship of competing voices, radio transmission is not "broadcasting" because the transmissions cannot necessarily be received clearly.Broadcast journalism nearly turned the 2000 election from Bush to Gore by (incorrectly) announcing that Gore had won before the voting in the conservative Western Florida panhandle was completed. Yet there have been no legal repercussions against the broadcasters. Where is the plaintiff bar when we actually need it???
At this stage of technological history, with the Internet, it is far from clear that there is any justification for broadcast journalism. Ironically explicitly partisan advertisement is less tendentious than claiming to be objective is. Because arguing from a claim of superior virtue (whether it be called "objectivity" or "wisdom") is inherently arrogant.
Which is why I have always preferred the editorial page to the front page of a newspaper.
It sounds like you get it just fine. It's mainstream Republicans that don't get it. Mainstream Republicans think that they must track to the left to win elections. It's mainstream Republicans that have "nuanced" positions that conservatives stand against. Mainstream Republicans don't want to silence Democratic 527's. Rather, it's the voices of conservatives they want to mute.
George Allen is no mainstream Republican. He's a conservative Republican, and you can bank on that.
The DemonRats spent a lot more on their 527's in 2004, but the Republicans won with theirs, the greatest of which was the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Input does not necessarily equal output. Allen's on the right track here.
Thanks for the ping.
The SwiftVets were not a "Republican" 527; they were a Vietnam Veterans' 527. Their chief spokesman, John O'Neill, was a Democrat. Their membership, and their donor base, consisted of as many Dems as Repubs.
In fact, President Bush, to his discredit, came dangerously close to repudiating them when he allowed himself to be sucked into the machinations of John McCain and his Democrat allies' in their attempt to "close the loopholes" in the 527 regulations in order to silence the Swiftvets.
This is why Allen is so right to oppose regulating 527s.
Although the Swiftvets were Nerte organized as a "Republican" 527 nor coordinated with the Republican party in the 2004 election, I still think it's correct for us to view them as a "Republican" entity because of the great service they did in proving Kerry was a fake "war hero" and reelecting President Bush. I'm a Republican and, once I saw how effective they were, I sent the major portion of my 2004 contributions to them.
Okay.
I've hit Allen over the following:
1) Poll watcher
2) Shows timidity in face of media assaults (Cindy Sheehan for one)
3) Professes Reagan conservatism and pursues the conservative base, but doesn't take the lead on ANYTHING merely joins the conservative pack after others like Sessions had beaten the path.
This if the first thing he's done that sounds promising.
Standing against regulations on free speech, and standing against McCain in particular, would take some of that conservative spine I wasn't sure he had. He has hit to McCain hard though, one letter doesn't do it. It's not enough to be right on the issues, you have to be willing to lead on them and fight those that are not. Even if it jeopardizes "Senate civility". This is why Allen hasn't led the straw polls, even though he's usually anywhere between 2-4 in them. It's an embrace of conservatism that he does that well, but he needs to demonstrate leadership to land first and have conservatives say, "This is our guy". Right now, the race is still open.
It was the very fact of McCain creating the 527 law, with all its unintended consequences, followed by his unconscionable attack on the Swiftees, that made me realize what a pox he is on our party.
George Allen is not perfect but he is one of the best we have.
As far as I know they are a 527. And I totally agree with you in regard to the anti Thelma propaganda. It's horrendous.
Unfortunately this part of the Shore has been leaning more and more left. I'm doing what I can, but to be honest, it's your side of the Bay that's going to make or break her re-election. There is no base and no momentum over here.
When I resigned my positions with my local district and the Kent County (DE) Republican party because we were moving to VA, I had long thought we had become a joke. I didn't understand the meaning of the term until I got involved in the Accomack County Republican Party.
I posted prior to the crack of dawn this morning, prior to having gotten any sleep, and my post makes far more sense than yours.
I get the idea you don't think George Allen is enough of a conservative for your taste. There are times when I find him to be TOO conservative for my taste because he tends to avoid knockdown dragouts - and by nature I'm a brawler. Which is why I never chose to run for office - at any level.
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