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Conservatives Shouldn't Abandon Bush
Townhall.com ^ | July 13, 2007 | Mike Gallagher

Posted on 07/13/2007 5:15:02 AM PDT by Kaslin

Watching a steady stream of Democrats like Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and Chuck Schumer each take their turn delightedly pummeling President Bush over the war in Iraq today, I couldn’t help but think of fellow conservatives who are starting to give aid and comfort to these Democrat Party loyal oppositionists.

According to Byron York of the National Review, the Republican Party base has simply decided to throw Mr. Bush under the wheels of the bus. Since so many of us disagree with him on things like illegal immigration and Scooter Libby, York opines that a whole bunch of Republican loyalists are practically counting the days until Jan. 20, 2009, when a new commander-in-chief takes up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Other conservative voices are jumping on the Bush-bashing bandwagon. The other night on Fox News, I saw a radio host proclaim that the president’s soft stance on illegals has cost him support for the war in Iraq.

Just what, precisely, is the point?

Why do conservatives believe that trashing the Bush Administration’s efforts on everything from this complicated war to a commutation of a vice-presidential aide will accomplish anything but give Democrats more ammunition against the GOP in 2008

Look, I’m as disappointed in this administration’s attempted amnesty for illegals as anyone. But I looked President Bush in the eye in the Oval Office and saw a man who truly believes in his heart that giving illegals a “path to citizenship” is the right thing to do.

I believe he’s wrong. But I know that this good and decent man believes he’s right.

So because of this issue, I’m supposed to abandon my president?

I’m expected to go on radio and TV and give miserable attack dogs like Dick Durbin more ways to say, “See -- even Republican supporters of Bush are defecting!”?

From the day the bombs started dropping on Baghdad, President Bush kept telling us that nothing about this war would be easy. Our nation has never attempted something as bold as installing democracy in this troubled part of the world and attempting to make a country like Iraq stable enough so that they can handle their own terrorists without our intervention.

Simply put, the vast majority of Americans supported our country’s pre-emptive strike. The longer this battle rages, the more we see impatient Americans start complaining. I guess that’s what a society in a Tivo/Iphone era does.

And I certainly expect that from Democrats who blame George W. Bush for everything from hurricanes to health care.

But I think it takes some guts to stand behind a president who is doing what he believes to be right, even in the face of enormous opposition.

Liberals are emboldened by Republican-fueled criticism. And if good folks like Byron York aren’t careful, we’ll be handing over the White House on a silver platter to Hillary or Barack. After all, just how far can Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson distance themselves from the Bush Administration?

Liberals are emboldened by Republican-fueled criticism. And if good folks like Byron York aren’t careful, we’ll be handing over the White House on a silver platter to Hillary or Barack. After all, just how far can Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson distance themselves from the Bush Administration?

Besides, who really wants to be on the same side of the political fence as Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy…or Betty Williams?

Betty Williams won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for creating a group that helped initiate peace talks in Northern Ireland. This week, she was the keynote speaker at The International Women’s Peace Conference in Dallas. According to the Dallas Morning News, during her speech she told the thousand or so attendees, “Right now, I could kill George Bush.” The paper said she went on to demand his impeachment since “the Muslim world right now is suffering beyond belief” as a result of this administration’s foreign policy.

What a woman of peace. That’s some “peace conference.”

I’m not sure what would happen if an American traveled to Northern Ireland and expressed a desire to kill Mary McAleese, the current President of Ireland. I doubt that such an opinion would be met with cheers and a standing ovation, as was reported had occurred when the Nobel laureate said what she said in Dallas.

And when we tracked Betty Williams down and put her on my radio show, I was shocked to hear her claim that any published report that quoted her as saying, “Right now, I could kill George Bush” was lying. I reminded her that according to numerous published reports, she used the exact same phrase in a July 24, 2006 speech to schoolchildren at the Brisbane City Hall. At that point in the interview, she sounded totally defeated and said she not only “regretted” saying it, when I asked her if she was sorry for saying it, she said she was. In fact, the Dallas Morning News sent me the audio of the speech which confirms their reporting of Ms. Williams comments about the president.

You can hear my interview with this awful woman at www.mikeonline.com.

People like Betty Williams and Michael Moore and Nancy Pelosi and Keith Olbermann and so many others on the left have made it quite clear what they think of George W. Bush. They teem with hatred and contempt.

They sure don’t need to get any assistance from us. Now, more than ever, we ought to stand behind President Bush.

But if people on the left OR right don’t want to support him these days, I have a heartfelt reminder: November of 2008 will be here soon enough.

Until then, how about getting off the president’s back?


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: amnesty; bashbotbait; bbs; bds; bush; bushbotbait; bushbotslaststand; conservatives; gop; mikegallagher; republican; republicanbase; term2; vampirebill
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To: laurie_d
Name the policy of President Bush that changed? Specifics, please.

Alrighty then, careful what you ask for...

Bush: Rumsfeld 'exactly what is needed'

Bush Wants Cheney, Rumsfeld To Keep Jobs

Bush Says Rumsfeld Is Stepping Down

Bush Faces GOP Ire Over Rumsfeld Timing

Rumsfeld Resignation Bodes End of Bush Doctrine

Bush says Rumsfeld replacement is agent of change

281 posted on 07/13/2007 9:11:39 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner ("Si vis pacem para bellum")
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To: Kaslin
I couldn’t help but think of fellow conservatives who are starting to give aid and comfort to these Democrat Party loyal oppositionists.

What a bunch of drivel.

Why support a man who won't even fight back?

Bush's New Tone has done him in, Democrats are repeatedly harping on him and yet Bush refuses to denounce these fools.

The author clearly doesn't get it.

282 posted on 07/13/2007 9:13:26 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: laurie_d; philman_36

Notice he signed up over three month after you did


283 posted on 07/13/2007 9:13:49 AM PDT by Kaslin (Fred Thompson for President 2008)
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To: laurie_d
His policies have not changed. Why did you vote for someone you disagreed with?

Because he was the Republican candidate, and the Dem alternative was far worse? Duh! You really need an education in politics, laurie_d. Your view of politics is way too simplistic, as is obvious by the inane question you keep asking over and over. In the end, we can only vote for the candidate that is the closest to our beliefs, and that actually has a chance to win. Bush, for better or worse, was that candidate in 2000 and 2004. Has he been the worst president ever? Of course not. But we thought we were getting a different guy than Bush I, and as we've found out, the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. So we move on to 2008, a Bush-free environment. That's the way politics goes.

284 posted on 07/13/2007 9:15:06 AM PDT by Major Matt Mason (Learning the Mexican Hat Dance.)
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To: Colorado Doug
His name is George not Jorge get it?
285 posted on 07/13/2007 9:16:58 AM PDT by Kaslin (Fred Thompson for President 2008)
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To: Soul Seeker
I am with fighting the scumbags 100% My 2 buddies and I almost got our asses blown in half at a nice restaurant in Alcala, Spain 20 years ago. And nobody paid attention. The same scumbags as exist today. ETA actually worked with the OSI and the Guardia Nacional to find them. They did. They "disappeared". They have to be killed immediately when found. There is no reasoning. There should not be a Camp Gitmo.

Around here, Laura Ingraham is correct. Amnesty for illegal aliens and support for the greater war is linked. Make the logical connection. When over 14,000 American citizens are killed every year here by illegal aliens, what should be the level of support for a war to secure a foreign country?

286 posted on 07/13/2007 9:19:05 AM PDT by BobS
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To: hosepipe

“The ONLY question is, is he stupid or traitorous savant.. or a democrat mole..”

For years, I’ve thought the entire Bush clan was forced on us in order to destroy the Republican Party. From Papa “read my lips” Bush to Jr. the bonehead, they are all Rockefeller Republicans at best. Barbara is a dyed in the wool east coast lib, too.


287 posted on 07/13/2007 9:19:30 AM PDT by Pining_4_TX
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To: Kaslin

Not to me, and I guarantee I and others I know have called him things that can not be repeated here.


288 posted on 07/13/2007 9:20:29 AM PDT by Hydroshock (Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
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To: DevSix; kabar
Did you excuse R.R of losing our large majority in the Senate in 86 because he "wasn't a leader" or a "true conservative".

The senate was probably more conservative when Reagan left than when he arrived. Although the republicans had control of the senate for a bit Reagan's vetoes were often overrode.

This highlights the problem we face today, "Republican" is not the same thing as "conservative". The party loyalists that just want to stay in power just can't get through their head.

289 posted on 07/13/2007 9:21:10 AM PDT by JeffAtlanta
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To: Kaslin

Oooooh good one Kaslin. Too bad I’ve been here since 2000 and chose to abandon my old screen name in favor of one less specific.


290 posted on 07/13/2007 9:21:44 AM PDT by Anonymous Rex ( For Rent)
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Comment #291 Removed by Moderator

To: Hydroshock

My2Cents said it much better than I.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1811600/posts?page=459#459

The Caucus of the Angry, generally, consistently exhibits certain character traits —

— Perfectionism
— Inflexibility
— Stridency and argumentativeness
— Impracticality/detachment from reality
— A tendency to view the world from the perspective of the ideal, and inability to consider practical alternatives
— Aggressiveness
— Narrow viewpoint and the inability and unwillingness to consider other viewpoints
— Inability to see the big picture
— Elitism, and a tendency to consider only their position as being the “right” one
— Rigidity and the inability to accommodate, compromise, or exhibit flexibility
— Judgmentalism and defensiveness
— Lack of civility
— Negativity
— A preference to destroy what they disagree with rather than build on previous progress
— Inability to focus on an overall goal and to work cooperatively with others toward that goal
— Individuality, to the point of personal isolation

Interestingly enough, these character traits are found in extremists of every stripe, left as well as right. These character traits seem to be common to extremists, independent of ideology, which is why their behavior and attitudes are symptomatic of a personality disorder rather than a political philosophy. In fact, many of these traits closely parallel the symptoms of Paranoid Personality Disorder as identified by the American Psychiatric Association (see http://mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=569&cn=8 for confirming information).

FR has some great people on it. Unfortunately, it also has some rude and infantile morons. Sadly, the morons seem to have the run of the place.

____________________________________

Me? I’d use two words “Your Mama”

I’d recommend you go too
www.dumbertanapost.net
I think you’ll be much happier there, with the rest of the slack jawed moral midgets.


292 posted on 07/13/2007 9:25:31 AM PDT by Valin (History takes time. It is not an instant thing.)
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To: tgusa
You Bushbots disgust me.

GWB is the first president since Lincoln who has waged a war against those who want to destroy America with less than majority popular support at home. I can't imagine the personal burden this guy faces every day knowing that our best are in harm's way and that some will pay with their lives. Can you?

While the rest of us are hunkered down in our foxholes, GWB has grabbed the battle standard and is leading an assault against our enemies and continuing the fight for all the conservative principles at home. So no I won't deny support to our commander in time of need over an issue as silly as the immigration bill which he was RIGHT to the position of Ronald Reagan on. I will stand with him because I don't abandon my friends and am proud to be responsible for his administration over the Gore/Kerry alternatives.

293 posted on 07/13/2007 9:29:23 AM PDT by AmusedBystander (American by birth, Republican by choice.)
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To: Anonymous Rex
If his name is George Bush then why was the company he founded called Arbusto Energy?

That's bad; I didn't know that. I sure don't appreciate his pandering to Mexico or his allegiance to that country over ours: in speeches, meetings, having his men call us names and locking up the Border Patrol, etc.

294 posted on 07/13/2007 9:29:50 AM PDT by Borax Queen
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To: Alissa
I think we need to support the president when it comes to our military and the WOT. I don’t see why we can’t be selective with our support. The WOT is just too important and he’s steadfast on that subject.

By leaving our borders wide open and encouraging foreign nationals to cross it?

295 posted on 07/13/2007 9:31:17 AM PDT by JeffAtlanta
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To: Kaslin

Gallagher is right.

We got the dems in control when some tried to teach a lesson to Congress Critters. It backfired. Trying to teach a lesson to the president by abandoning the Republican Party will backfire too. When I was a kid we called it cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I agree that there are things that need to be done to send a wake-up call to D.C. from the country, but abdicating control to the Democrat Party is not the way to do it.


296 posted on 07/13/2007 9:31:36 AM PDT by LucyJo
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To: Suzy Quzy

You are 100 percent right. After Hillary wins in 2008 and signs are out there that she will be elected, all those Bush bashers on our side are going to realize how good they had it under President Bush


297 posted on 07/13/2007 9:35:58 AM PDT by Kaslin (Fred Thompson for President 2008)
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To: AmusedBystander

Well put!


298 posted on 07/13/2007 9:38:22 AM PDT by Valin (History takes time. It is not an instant thing.)
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To: Alissa
It also involves supporting our troops!

Did you give Bill Clinton your undying support when he deployed troops?

299 posted on 07/13/2007 9:38:51 AM PDT by JeffAtlanta
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To: Valin
I don't like the use of degrading terms to refer to out president. However, I can understand why so many conservatives have had it with President Bush. When a political base has to fight tooth and nail to oppose legistation proposed by it leader, there will certainly be disenchantment. Furthermore, when that same leader insults his base, outrage is the probable outcome.

The fact that so many previous supporters are this outraged says quite a bit about the disconnect between President Bush and conservatives.

I don't think this administration still understands the degree of disaffection that exists between him and conservatives. If he has, he has done little to show it. The easiest way for him to start mending fences between him and conservatives would be to start building fences. Yet, there is still no real progress in that regard.

300 posted on 07/13/2007 9:39:44 AM PDT by CharacterCounts
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