Canaries in a coal mine

Townhall ^ | 2/14/07 | Jonah Goldberg

[areafiftyone]

((({PING))))

[dfwgator]

Now I got that darned Police song playing in my head.

[areafiftyone]

LOL!

[Little Ray]

In other words, they're both lying SOBs.

"How can tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving."

[Corin Stormhands]

In other words, they're both lying SOBs.

Thanks for getting right to the substantive issues.

[CDHart]

It's criminal when human lives become political footballs.

Carolyn

[Sunsong]

Good article, thanks.

[Peach]

At conservative conferences, on blogs and on talk radio, pro-life issues have faded in their passion and intensity compared with the war on terror. Taken together, terrorism, Iraq and Islam have become the No. 1 social issue for conservative base of the party.

William Bennett, the famed "virtue czar," emphasizes the civilizational struggle more than any other and gets an enormous response from social conservatives. Even before the war on terror, evangelicals embraced Israel for myriad reasons, among them a theological affinity for the Jewish state and a faith that it is an imperiled sister democracy.

Thanks for the ping.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

So, if you are a Democrat you have to be really really really liberal and if you are a Republican you just have to be liberal. Hmm...count me out of both.

[Alberta's Child]

The war on terror hasn't just changed Giuliani's profile as a crisis-leader, it's changed the attitudes of many Americans, particularly conservatives, about the central crisis facing the country. It's not that pro-lifers are less pro-life or that social conservatives are suddenly OK with homosexuality, gun control and other issues where Giuliani's dissent from mainstream conservative opinion would normally disqualify him. It's that they really, really believe the war on terror is for real. At conservative conferences, on blogs and on talk radio, pro-life issues have faded in their passion and intensity compared with the war on terror. Taken together, terrorism, Iraq and Islam have become the No. 1 social issue for conservative base of the party.

Note: I didn't say it's become the No. 1 foreign-policy or national-security issue for social conservatives. It's become the No. 1 social issue, at least for many of them.

And yet some of us recognize that the most devastating impact of 9/11 has nothing to do with terrorism. The so-called "war on terror" has deluded many people in this country into believing that we can enhance our focus on some issues at the expense of others. The simple, brutal truth is that radical secularism has been -- and will continue to be -- far more devastating to this country than radical Islam could ever dream of being.

The fact that so-called "conservatives" would even consider an avowed big-government leftist like Rudy Giuliani shows how far we've come along this road.

[MilesBennell]

Excellent article. Thx for posting it.

[redgolum]

On many threads I have asked why the Rudy supporters like him. There are only two answers.
1. He "is the only one who can Beat Hillary"
2. He "Will be great in the war on terror."

Neither is a provable statement. But we are just supposed to march along like good little girls and boys and not worry about it.

[beltfed308]

You forgot #3. He stopped public urination also.

[MilesBennell]

The simple, brutal truth is that radical secularism has been -- and will continue to be -- far more devastating to this country than radical Islam could ever dream of being.

I certainly agree that secularism is a huge danger, but the men and women whose lives are on the line in Iraq, Afghanistan and, soon possibly, over Iran would differ with you.

Many of our leaders have said that the nuclear destruction of an American city isn't a question of "if"...but "when." IMHO, that puts the war with islamofascism number one.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I like Rudy, because,
In addition to the two you cited, I add:
1) He has demonstrated leadership in his career as a crime fighting US attorney and Mayor;
2) He has demonstrated strong convictions on several occasions regarding the treatment of terrorists like Arafat and others;
3) As mayor he cut taxes, balanced the budget and significantly reduced crime.
4) I like the majority of his positions (I don't totally agree with his position on abortion or immigration)

[Rudder]

I don't totally agree with his position on abortion...

I learned an interesting tidbit today from Hannity: It is accurate to say that Giuliani is more pro-life than was Reagan. Reagan, when governor, promoted and signed a law that authorized abortion.

[Mia T]

Romney and Giuliani, both immensely attractive, savvy and well-funded politicians, are in effect the canaries in the coal mine of conservative politics. If either emerges from the dark tunnels of primary season alive, it will tell us a great deal about the future ¹ of the GOP and American politics.--Jonah Goldberg

December 7, 1941+64

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL AMERICANS

RE: a not-so-modest proposal concerning hillary clinton

 

Dear Concerned Americans,

hillary clinton's revisionist tome notwithstanding, 'living history' begets a certain symmetry. It is in that light that I make this not-so-modest proposal on this day, exactly 64 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The context of our concern today--regardless of political affiliation--is Iraq and The War on Terror, but the larger fear is that our democracy may not survive.

We have the requisite machines, power and know-how to defeat the enemy in Iraq and elsewhere, but do we have the will?

In particular, do we have the will to identify and defeat the enemy in our midst?

Answerable to no one, heir apparent in her own mind, self-serving in the extreme, hillary clinton incarnates this insidious new threat to our survival.

What we decide to do about missus clinton will tell us much about what awaits us in these perilous new times.

COMPLETE LETTER

December 7, 1941+64
Mia T
AN OPEN LETTER TO TIM ROBBINS, DAVID GEFFEN, CHRIS MATTHEWS, MAUREEN DOWD + JEANINE PIRRO
RE: a not-so-modest proposal concerning hillary clinton


COPYRIGHT MIA T 2005, 2007

STALINIST RISING?
HILLARY CLINTON ABUSE OF POWER
(WHERE IS THE UNREDACTED BARRETT REPORT ANYWAY?)

[areafiftyone]

No problem! :-)

[wolfcreek]

So, We can't elect a known Conservative like Duncan Hunter because he JUST a House member but, We can elect a MAYOR?