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How Come I'm Not Devastated?
Human Events ^ | Nov 09, 2006 | Rabbi Aryeh Spero

Posted on 11/09/2006 12:00:39 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity

The Republicans lost big. I'm a Republican -- and yet I'm not devastated. For the first time, the loss doesn't feel personal. Why?

Because from President Bush on down, no one in the party seems to touch us the way some Republicans previously did. Many haven't gone out on a limb, in our behalf, to champion our causes. Many didn't respond to our offers of help.

Many of us who take the issues seriously were sickened every time Beltway Republicans and RNC leaders referred to those Democrats -- who mock us, and our country, and care more about terrorist "rights" than the safety of our families -- as "our friends" across the aisle.

It's hard to feel personal about elected officials who seem incapable of enunciating what I believe and what I stand for. If they understood what we hold dear and why -- who we are -- they would be able to express it themselves. Unless, of course, they really don't feel it. They don't seem to be one of us.

Fire begets fire. But this crop of Republicans seems unwilling daily to fight hard and say what has to be said. No passion. They leave us cold. What they do possess is loads of timidity and a pre-occupation with appearing "reasonable" -- Washington-like. It’s our party but not “our guys."

Never in my lifetime has the party been so bereft of individuals to whom one can feel a personal bond, an affection, a long-distance connection. Never before has the party been so comprised of colorless, political robots. The party has no personality. It has become a shell without a core, a hodge-podge without a germinating seed.

It has become a party of slogans, such as "stay the course" and No Child Left Behind instead of one with guts and patriotic heart. It is too globalist and Madison Avenue and not enough Main Street. They took our loyalty and belief in them for granted, giving themselves permission to prolong, much too long, Iraqi nation- building with American lives and dollars. Assured of our patience, they chose easy-way-out political-correctness.They didn't respect us -- until election eve.

They seemed so unrecognizable -- these pre 1980-like Republicans, as often does their President whose every other sentence starts with "compassion" as well as references that are alien to this life-long conservative. I often cringe.

It's a group who won't stand up for their own. The minute the media make a charge against a Republican colleague or supporter, they've shown they'd rather appease the media than stand by a brother. This is not an endearing quality. Nor is it manly. All along we’ve wondered: Would they stand up for us?

While we often find the party an ideological home in which to hang a hat, it seems to have lost the ability to touch us emotionally. Reagan did, as did “Bobbie” for the Democrats. Only that can explain why millions of die-hard conservatives are this afternoon, upon the heels of this week’s defeat, able to make reservations tonight for a dinner. We feel anxious about the country's possible new direction, but we aren't in mourning for friends. Too bad, unlike in the past, the loss doesn’t seem personal.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: killthenbeatthebody; spero
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To: nascarnation

I very much agree with term limits.


61 posted on 11/09/2006 12:38:16 PM PST by TAdams8591 (It's the Justices, stupid!)
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To: Obadiah

First on my list, too.


62 posted on 11/09/2006 12:38:42 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
How Come I'm Not Devastated?

You will be... You will be...

63 posted on 11/09/2006 12:39:42 PM PST by Mannaggia l'America
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To: docbnj

This was not about Bush for me. It is about rinos, and they were hammered pretty hard. Also, sometimes evil needs to be revealed before it can really be destroyed.

What would have happened to the world if Hitler had been assassinated by that bomb? What would have happened in the middle east if we had taken out Saddam in the first war? What STILL may happen?

The book of Revelation is a good teacher about what is, always has, and with a vengeance will happen in the end.

Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. And YES, I expect a VERY devastating attack on our homeland in the next two years.


64 posted on 11/09/2006 12:39:51 PM PST by RobRoy (Islam is a greater threat to the world now than Naziism was in 1937.)
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To: RobRoy

At first I was despondent,I guess it was the shock. However the more I think about it, the more I realize that htis is an opportunity to rediscover conservative values. While the repubs didn't raise taxes they certainly weren't shy about spending. And every dim that got elected outside of the NE and Westcoast ran as a conservative


65 posted on 11/09/2006 12:40:35 PM PST by appeal2
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To: Catholic Canadian

I believe I heard Pelosi say that Iraq isn't a war, it is a "situation that needs to be resolved". If that isn't a cut-and-run attitude, I don't know what is.


66 posted on 11/09/2006 12:40:39 PM PST by Pan_Yans Wife
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To: ichabod1
...Sure hope something comes along to give me some hope. Hope is a commodity in short supply right now

YOU KNOW WE WILL COME BACK... we just have to take it one step at the time. It's just like a death in the family... this is time for grieving... it's ok to be sad, ambivalent or even depressed... for some time... then we'll snap back, you'll see :)

67 posted on 11/09/2006 12:40:58 PM PST by ElPatriota (Let's not forget, we are all still friends despite our differences)
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity

68 posted on 11/09/2006 12:43:52 PM PST by pabianice
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To: appeal2

"And every dim that got elected outside of the NE and Westcoast ran as a conservative"

Immediately begin forcing them to choose, party loyalty or loyalty to their voters. We'll pick up a few votes from across the aisle or expose hypocrites ... a winner either way.


69 posted on 11/09/2006 12:44:35 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry
I know and if we rebound from this "smartly", it wouldn't be impossible to retake all in 2008.

But we've got to do a lot of soul-searching, brain-storming and act sensibly, not emotionally.
70 posted on 11/09/2006 12:44:42 PM PST by MrRights
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity

I think he gets pretty close to how I feel.


71 posted on 11/09/2006 12:46:19 PM PST by tiki
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To: BeHoldAPaleHorse

The end is nigh... I meant a long haul to get America back on track.


72 posted on 11/09/2006 12:46:19 PM PST by snowrip (Liberal? YOU HAVE NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT. Actually, you lack even a legitimate excuse.)
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To: Brilliant

LOL, Dick Morris who called the election for the Dims and then the GOP and then the Dims....


73 posted on 11/09/2006 12:47:27 PM PST by tiki
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To: snowrip
I meant a long haul to get America back on track.

Problem is, we aren't going to have enough time to do that.

74 posted on 11/09/2006 12:48:03 PM PST by BeHoldAPaleHorse (I dare call it treason.)
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To: Old_Mil
"Will you still feel that same connection to President Bush when he signs a democratic amnesty/open borders bill? Or when the next supreme court justice he nominates is a pro-choicer?"

If CFR (efficiently used to cut the Rights own throat), PRx that'll run into the trillions & several other kinder gentler *nuggets* didn't sway this one do you honestly expect a paltry 12,000,000 to 23,000,000 million illegal soon-to-be legal aliens will do the trick?

...hardly.

75 posted on 11/09/2006 12:48:06 PM PST by Landru (That does it, no sleep number for you pal.)
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To: Brilliant
Maybe, but how could something like that possibly be predicted? These very same political experts failed miserably to predict the fall of the USSR and the rise of the GOP in 1994.

In the end, this election is a good thing. There's nothing worse than a bunch of RINOs sitting around refusing to represent their constituents and refusing to do anything that doesn't involve making them or their friends richer (in essence, acting like a bunch of Democrats). The DNC is run by total nutjobs, so the GOP figured they're easily the lesser of two evils and they could get elected by just sitting on the status quo. Nope.

If that's how they're going to do things, they'll never be elected. If they start doing conservatism instead of just talking it, they'll win a landslide and a few years from now, it'll be like this election never happened. It's their choice to either step up or go sit in the back of the bus.

76 posted on 11/09/2006 12:50:19 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity ("A litany of complaints is not a plan." - GW Bush, referring to DNC's lack of a platform on ANYTHING)
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To: ichabod1

I sure hope someone in the party structure reads what's been posted here over the last few days and takes it to heart ,, if we get the right leadership and real conservatives are nominated we will not be in the wilderness for long.


77 posted on 11/09/2006 12:51:16 PM PST by Neidermeyer
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To: MrRights

"But we've got to do a lot of soul-searching, brain-storming and act sensibly, not emotionally."

A couple of basic questions should get the ball rolling, externally. Who are the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in 08, and what are their greatest weaknesses from the vantage point of now? How can this be capitalized upon, in a manner that resonates with our understanding of the mood of the voting public?

Internally, the party appears to have alienated several key voting blocs, and blaming them for lost elections is a fool's errand that will only guarantee further losses down the road. Some boundaries need to be set and core objectives agreed upon, before the infighting can be put aside.


78 posted on 11/09/2006 12:53:43 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: ElPatriota

From a friend in AZ, they are counting the absentees-there are quite a few. The race is quite close, so it ain't over.


79 posted on 11/09/2006 12:53:48 PM PST by bordergal (John)
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To: af_vet_rr

Yup. The news media, even the few conservative news outlets, claim that the American people have no will to fight a war. Nonsense!! It's the fat govt. officials that are weak in the knees, not the people!! Fire all of them and make them re-compete for their jobs. Most of them won't be back and that's a good thing.


80 posted on 11/09/2006 12:53:59 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity ("A litany of complaints is not a plan." - GW Bush, referring to DNC's lack of a platform on ANYTHING)
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