Posted on 06/22/2008 5:12:39 AM PDT by shrinkermd
For the first time since 1964, Democrats have a good chance not just to win the White House and a majority in Congress but to enact a sweeping new liberal agenda. Conservative ideas are widely discredited, as is the Republican Party that the right has controlled since Ronald Reagan was elected. The war in Iraq has undermined the conservative case for unilateral military intervention and U.S. omnipotence. Economic insecurity has led Americans to question the rhetoric about "big" government, while President Bush's embrace of new federal programs has undermined GOP promises to cut spending.
... Obama speaks of strengthening families by putting "the rungs back on that ladder to the middle class," giving "every family the chance that so many of our parents and grandparents had." He calls for a tax credit to offset the Social Security tax and expanding the earned-income tax credit and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Obama also favors two big programs that no Democrat before him could realize: a national health plan that would cut costs and cover every citizen; and a sizable tuition grant to college students who sign up for national service.
The long Democratic primary battle masks the fact that the party faithful agree on the basic outlines of a new social contract. It fits a post-industrial society that was barely visible when Lyndon B. Johnson was ramming a series of landmark measures through Congress
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
VOTE CONSERVATIVE!
“Americans today want to open a bag of chips turn on a comfy president who will tell them what they want to hear.”
I am afraid that you are right. A week ago, I took part in one of those telephonic ‘town hall’ meetings with our republican/moderate conservative congresscritter. It was a real eye opener! Most of the folks that were called on for questions wanted something from the government and were liberally stupid with ‘ideas’ which they wanted to ‘share’ with our representative.
The one question that really stuck out in my mind was this women that claimed she was disabled and was complaining about the government provided ‘housekeepers’ that came by each week to help clean her house. She claimed they did a lousy job of cleaning her house and went on to detail each and every instance of shoddy housecleaning.
Now guess what this women wanted our government to do about it? She wanted the government to give these people pay raises.....LOL.
To make matters worse, our republican congresscritter said she was not aware of the ‘program’ and would look into it.
I just sat there in stunned silence listening to call after call along the same lines.
EVERYBODY seemed to want the government to GIVE them something.
Very sad.
“Conservative ideas are widely discredited,....”
This is a lie. The Republican congress critters have abandoned Conservatisim, and they will reap the results of doing that. But Conservative ideas have not been discredited!
Oh yes! Shiny new!
1.Raise taxes on everything
2.Spend money on everything
STOP THE DEMOCRATS!
VOTE CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN!
Everything else is an excuse for theft.
They’re not stupid. They are willing liars. They are using lies to encourage their stupid students to vote for a smiley-faced Communist.
That doesn’t discredit the ideas, it merely means they aren’t popular (which admittedly is also a problem). A discredited idea is one that fails to function as promised, e.g. socialism or appeasement. But Bush has done nothing to discredit conservative ideals, because his administration hasn’t presented conservatism to the people and thereby given any opportunity to be found wanting.
Let's don't get carried away by pedantry, but:
discredit tr.v., -it·ed, -it·ing, -its.
2. To cause to be doubted or distrusted.
3. To refuse to believe.
Conservative ideals are NOT IN FAVOR (heavily doubted and distrusted indeed) with this 'gimme' generation.
Read penelopesire's disheartening firsthand account in #22. And that's on OUR side.
This wrongheaded attitude of blaming Bush for causing harm to conservatism's popularity distracts from the root cause. PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER PRO-CONSERVATIVE LIKE WE ASSUME AMERICANS SHOULD WANT TO BE.
We act like we need a new conservative leader and everything will be ok. That's like putting a new face on a patient with plastic surgery when the patient has late stage metasticized cancer.
Americans have got a taste of the free lunch and they want more, sad but true.
Hence the Rat plans to "Tax The Rich". Most of the lefties have no idea they now fall into the category of "The Rich".
In their mind, "The Rich" always refers to someone else.
I must qualify the impression that all of the people in on the townhall meeting were republicans...THEY WERE NOT. In fact, most of them were liberals. The phone list the congresswomen used included both.
I don’t believe that conservative principles have been discredited.....YET. I also agree with coloradan that Bush did not TEACH conservative principles and when he tried to, it was not reported as such.
The surest way to bring back conservative principles is to educate the masses exactly how all of these marxist programs that the dems want to enact will affect the economy and their own pocketbooks.
The best way to do that is to remind the voters just what happened when Jimmy Carter did far less than what Obama and Pelosi have planned.
Failing that....the leftist/Marxists win and American wakes up 4-8 years from now when our country is in shambles.
I agree that conservative principles need to be more widely held. But I'm afraid they can only come form the inside and cannot be 'taught,' especially to touchy feely emoting types.
My own experience in a conservative rural community agrees with your townhall meeting: I'm shocked at how many gimmee-gimmees there are, (most notably, government should DO something about this or that, and or, 'there oughta be a law' attitudes.)
At any rate teaching logical and rational cause and effect works ONLY with rational, logical people who are willing to learn.
The feminization of America has contributed to an emotional voter base, who merely 'feels' that buying a prius is helpful to the climate, who 'feels' uncomfortable around 'sinister looking' 'assault rifles', who feels that rich people and corporations should pay more of their 'fair' share.
And folks....Jimmuh Cottah was THIRTY YEARS AGO! People who voted for Jimmy for the first time to vote are 50ish or older.Kids who are voting for the first time this time WERE NOT ALIVE during Jimmy's debacle. All they know of Jimmy is what a wonderful, caring, peace-not-war kinda guy the media paints him as.
We've lulled ourselves to sleep since Reagan and this cold water is shocking.
A RINO would be far better than Barack Obama.
btt
Ok, after John Mcain has completely converted this party over to rino central and this country is no longer the America we once knew, let's see what you say. Because of thinking like yours we are not going to have a chance to fight the dems. Now, with a veto proof dem congress that's coming because of rinos, what do you think John McCain is going to accomplish?
I'm telling you 40 more years of dem control because of rino/moderates, there will be no more America...All because of the LOTE's. Are you a conservative?
“And folks....Jimmuh Cottah was THIRTY YEARS AGO! People who voted for Jimmy for the first time to vote are 50ish or older.”
You forget about the RUSH BABIES..(wink). My son and most of my friends kids are Rush babies(solid conservatives).
All is not lost my FRiend. Although I agree with you that things look a bit bleak at the moment.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Thinking like mine is our only chance to fight the Democrats.
To elect a Radical Extremist is to surrender to their most Radical, Marxist, anti-American Fringe, a Fringe that will seize power and never let it go.
"Are you a conservative?"
No, I do not consider myself to be a Conservative.
But I don't like the two-dimensional "Liberal-or-Conservative" way of thinking. It's the way the Left thinks. Leftists can't think otherwise; they've never met a cliché that they could resist. In fact, the Left cannot seem to think in any other terms. Everything they think, say, and do is a cliché. Most of the so-called "journalists" of the "Mainstream Newsmedia (i.e. the Democrat Party Propaganda Machine) think in clichés. But I'm being too charitable. The sociopaths and other nutcases who pull their strings can think in terms other than clichés--and that's what makes them--and the cliché-ridden robots who follow them--so dangerous.
On the other hand, I am definitely not a Leftist. The word "Liberal", used as a synonym for them is a misnomer! There is nothing liberal about these people.
I am very liberal in the true sense of the word--i.e. loving of liberty, open minded, free thinking, open to truth wherever it presents itself, tolerant--and I expect that you are also. Most honest and intelligent people are.
The word "Liberal" has been commandeered by the Left in an Orwellian paradox, meaning its opposite. To refer to these people as "Liberals" is newspeak, like "love is hate", "war is peace", "freedom is slavery".
If Radical Leftists should seize enough power, the free exchange of ideas such as you and I are now having would become criminalized.
All this said, yes, I am to the right of McCain and disagree with many of his positions. One thing I don't like is that he reminds me of G. W. Bush in his tendency to try to find rapproachment with the Left, which is stupid--it's like trying to appease a pack of hungry wolves--or a gang of Nazis. Many of his positions are revolting: his sanctimonious refusal to drill at ANWR and halt illegal immigration (he seems to have modified his position on both, at least a bit)--his praise for Hillary Clinton--the McCain-Feingold bill--et al.
However, many of his positions--and much that he does not say--reveal a man who is within the realm of reason--in contrast to the man who will be his opponent.
The United States can survive McCain.
Whether or not the United States can survive a Radical Extremist takeover of the federal government is highly questionable.
I really appreciate your honesty here. I can buy what you are advancing, however all I'm trying to say is if republicans keep voting for rino's that is what we are going to get, and that is bad for this country. Believe me, I would rather have John McCain as President over BO, but I will NOT vote for a man that disses me because I have conservative values, is disloyal to his President, and coddles the left! I want McCain out of my party because he can destroy it from within. Let the milqtoast independents vote for McCain and hire him as President.
If McCain does win the Presidency it's not going to matter, the left most likely will have a veto proof majority which, mark my words, McCain will try to find favor with at any point he can. That's when conservatives HAVE TO slay the dragon!
The United States can survive McCain.
Yep, and that's exactly what America will have to do...Survive him!!
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