Indeed. And, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. And this one encapsulates the RINO waste of the 2004 voter mandate:
Posted on 10/25/2006 7:02:29 AM PDT by 13Sisters76
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Holding my nose and voting Republican By Linda Chavez Wednesday, October 25, 2006
I am not happy with the Republican Party, but on Nov. 7 I will cast my vote for my incumbent Republican congressman and senator nonetheless. I don't feel I have any choice -- and it's not just that the Democrats running in my state are particularly unappealing candidates.
I'm angry at Republicans for abandoning their principles. This Republican president, aided and abetted by Congress, has increased federal spending at a reckless rate, even when the costs of the war in Iraq are taken out of the equation. I'm embarrassed by the scandals that have plagued some Republicans and by the abject failure of the leadership to do anything meaningful on lobbying reform.
I'm sickened by the cronyism that protected former Congressman Mark Foley and put children at risk. I'm disappointed that after years of claiming to be the party of colorblind equal opportunity, Republicans have actually expanded racial preferences in federal programs. I'm disheartened by the demagoguery on immigration and the refusal to do the one thing guaranteed to stop illegal immigration, namely, enact a broad guest worker program.
But none of these issues will make me stay home, much less vote Democratic. The fact is I don't trust the Democratic Party to lead this country in a time of uncertainty and war. While the Democrats say they want to refocus the nation's energy on the war on terror, they've demonstrated time and again that they oppose the most effective means of fighting terrorism.
Democrats would interfere with the National Security Agency's ability to intercept communications between terrorists abroad and their agents in the United States. They would extend to terrorists being held overseas access to the U.S. civilian court system, which could jeopardize national security by making classified intelligence available to the terrorists and their attorneys. They would treat terrorists like common criminals rather than as combatants who are at war with us.
Nor do I trust that Democrats would do the right thing in Iraq -- not that the current administration has had a stellar record there, either. I'm tired of debating whether we should or should not have gone into Iraq -- both Republicans and half the Democrats in the Senate voted to authorize the war in 2003. The question is what the United States should do now. It's clear the war is going very badly and that Iraq is on the verge of a civil war. Democrats have offered no clear plan except to leave Iraq as quickly as possible, regardless of the consequences.
And I don't think the Democrats would back tough measures if Iran and North Korea continue to pursue nuclear weapons either. Certainly the Clinton administration's record with respect to North Korea doesn't inspire confidence. Democrats like carrots a lot better than sticks and are more concerned with "world opinion" than American interests.
Democratic control of Congress also worries me when it comes to the economy. Democrats always want to raise taxes in order to pay for social programs, transferring money out of the hands of ordinary people and turning it over to bureaucrats. Most Democrats are also infatuated with government regulation and rarely find a government directive they don't like. Higher taxes and more regulations are a recipe to cool our healthy economy. Democrats seem to want to punish businesses rather than encourage the creation of more wealth. And they have a nasty propensity to encourage envy and class warfare, which benefits no one.
Politics is sometimes about making the least bad choice. I know some of my fellow Republicans will stay home on Election Day, hoping to send the party a message that they're fed up with the current leadership. But putting the Democrats in control won't bring about needed changes -- it will make matters even worse. The place for revolt is within the party itself, by urging the elected representatives to pick carefully when they choose House and Senate leadership in January and by challenging incumbents in primaries next time if they don't stand up for basic Republican principles.
Linda Chavez is chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity and author of Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics .
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Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.
Always struck me as such.
The same article seems to gets dredged up every two years, with a different byline.
BUMP
None, that's why we hold our noses to vote. Someday perhaps we can vote without holding our noses.
Oh come on, there is no avoiding the 800 pound gorilla in the room. We need to be reality based. And the reality is that Republican power favors government growth. The reality also is that we don't have the luxury of punishing them for their big spending ways because the alternative could very well be the end of us.
"What Conservative or Republican in their right mind wants to be responsible for putting Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in charge of the war on terrorism?"
What? Are they going to become co-presidents this year? I wonder if they'll share the same bed in the Lincoln bedroom (eeew what an unerotic thought that is!) Seriously, Dubya, for better or worse, is in charge of the "War on Terror" until 1/20/09.
There are MANY unhappy conservatives who are p***ssed as HELL about the republicans and their spinelessness. I am one of them. I WANT conservatism. I WANT libertarianism (sometimes) at the federal level. But I sure as HELL don't want the demonRATs running things. They are enemies to this country and to all of us and I want them GONE- for good. Right now, there is only one way to accomplish that- vote republican.
One cannot sit at home bitching about the candidate that the party has "given" us if one did not get off his/her butt to vote in the primaries. The campaigns and the primaries are where we win the battle- NOT by handing the government over to the RATs.
When did we forget that WE run things?
The same can be said for voting back in liberal RINOs. They always side with the Dhimmicrats at crunch time!
That was a quote from april15Bendovr, not mine. I am fully aware that a Democratic Senate or House is powerless as long as a Republican is in the White House. In reality, we would have two years of do-nothing, just as in the Eisenhower Administration.
Indeed. And, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. And this one encapsulates the RINO waste of the 2004 voter mandate:
No, I think it is more like choosing between sickness(R) and death(D). Ironically, it is the "cut and run" Republicans that are supporting euthanasia, metaphorically speaking. They think it is time to remove the feeding tube. I don't.
Never gonna happen if we keep sacrificing long-term objectives for short term hollow victories.
Remember that the same RINO-coddlers who are insisting that conservatives hold their noses now are the same ones who screech that conservatives are "unelectable" in every primary.
Don't buy the Bravo Sierra. And don't buy this asinine Dhimmicrat scarecrow tactic either. RINOs are no better than the Dhimmicrats and if it takes losing the RINOs to reinstate an honest-to-God limited-government, fiscal responsibility Republican Party, then so be it.
I don't want the left running things either. But as long as the "two" party establishment has a stranglehold on ballot rules and election laws, we are screwed in the long run. Inbreeding is as dangerous to good government and political philosophy as it is to any living thing.
She's still bitter that more people didn't hold their nose and vote for her, which is how Maryland ended up with Barbara Mikulski.
I'm not thrilled with the GOP right now, but people like Chavez sure aren't the answer.
The problem with Iraq is the same thing we've run into before. Everyone is too busying trying to make everyone happy, they won't take the gloves off and really go at it.
--The problem with Iraq is the same thing we've run into before. Everyone is too busying trying to make everyone happy, they won't take the gloves off and really go at it--
Great. Maybe we start acting like the SS did in Yugoslavia and just start killing everybody who looks at US funny. Worked real great for the Germans. </sarc>
I understand what you are saying, but short term 'hollow' victories is how the leftists have achieved so much. You can't let the leftists win and gain more ground, then expect that 'some day' a 'real' conservative will get in there and rewind years of leftist wins.
As the leftists win, the hearts and minds of the 'moderates' get yanked farther to the left. Makes it that much harder for a conservative to win next time around.
Agreed...Well stated! It's nice to find someone here these days who actually is a conservative. We have been overrun by the Rudy Giuliani and John McCain RINO fanatics.
So turning congress over to the Dems will have no impact on our ability to get the Alito and Roberts type justices on the supreme court? Are you smoking crack?
BUT, on this issue Linda is right on target!!!!!
Blame it on the Rats, they do not present a viable alternative.
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