Posted on 02/24/2012 1:17:54 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Jeb Bush isn't sure where he fits in the panoply of Republican Party leaders anymore. During a Q&A session after a speech in Dallas yesterday, the former Florida governor confessed that he doesn’t know what to make of the direction the current GOP candidates have taken Republican rhetoric:
"I used to be a conservative and I watch these debates and I'm wondering, I don't think I've changed, but it's a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people's fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective and that's kind of where we are" said the former Florida Governor. “I think it changes when we get to the general election. I hope.” …
Maybe Jeb is just perplexed he isn’t Republicans’ first choice for a White Knight to ride in and save the Republican Party at a brokered convention. Or maybe he genuinely thinks negativity has subsumed the positive message Republicans have to offer:
The younger brother of former president George W. Bush also weighed in on the debate Republicans and Democrats are having over the national economy.
“If you want to narrow the income gap, there are two ways to do it. One, you punish people that are successful and try to narrow it that way and that’s the president’s approach. Or you equip people that aspire for a better life to give them the tools and then you don’t try to manage that, you allow them to pursue those dreams as they see fit. That to me is the better approach and it requires a celebration of success.”
Bush both misses and has a point.
First, the point he misses: The current GOP candidates — for all of the flaws they have in their pasts — consistently deliver conservative rhetoric. Their talk is tough on everything from entitlement reform to tax reform to immigration reform. They’re all anchored in the idea that rights are inalienable, unable to be granted nor revoked by government. They primarily respect the moral order, the idea that decisions have consequences and that individuals should have to take responsibility for the decisions they make. In many instances, their tone has been a triumph of conservatism, a signal that the candidates recognize that GOP voters want a conservative nominee. Sometimes, I think we don’t give the candidates enough credit for this truth.
Next, the point he makes: The candidates have frequently proved themselves to be poor politicians, succumbing to the temptations pitched to them by debate moderators and MSM interviewers. Journalists and observers alike are fascinated and interested in the horserace; they want to hear the candidates attack each other and pick apart each other’s past records. The candidates could certainly be better at not taking the bait and at pivoting from pointed-but-irrelevant questions to the broad, positive themes of conservatism.
“...but it’s a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people’s fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective and that’s kind...”
Ah, significant bull-Obama alert, significant bull-Obama alert.
Note that there is absolutely no real information in the above extract. Typical libstuff...all plastic, no metal.
Then again, Bush is a RINO...just as is RINOmney, RINOewt, McRINO and Bob DoRIno.
I guess Jeb doesn’t understand that the left is practicing political warfare for keeps. He seems to be under the impression that the left wants the same thing we do, just has a different way to get there.
If so, he is dead wrong.
Jeb Bush was never a conservative. Look at the history of the Bush family. They have always been establishment. Sorry to all the fans of the Bushes. Not trying to start a fight.
A brain-dead RINO?
But was Jebby a “Severe Conservative”?
Proof positive that the GOP establishment believes that the “age of Reagan” is over.
The entire Bush family suffers from ‘Blue Blood Guilt’ psychosis constantly trying to sound apologetic. “Kinder Gentler Nation”, “Compassionate Conservatism”, “Leave No Child Behind”.
Let me tell you about these Bushes.
They are less about being ‘conservativism’, than they are about POWER and WEALTH within a political Party that provides those political cards and bennies! They use the “conservatism” card to get membership in the political party club.
Spit it out, Jeb. It’s all about amnesty, is it not?
Well, he certainly isn't a Newt.
This video of Barbara and George HW Bush always makes steam come out of my ears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDvzA_jgn_4
No fight here - agree 100% - A-1 pandering prick that man is. He would love nothing better than to be drafted and not have to waste his own money. Where’s that picture posted on FR of him and DaddyGeorge sitting with our PINO in the Oval Office with big grins...blech...
I used to be a “conservative” until I realized that conservatives seem to want to seize government just like liberals do. The difference being what they want to use government for. Thanks to von Mises, Rothbard and others, I now understand that big government threatens everybody’s liberty.
Everyone has heard of the Laffer Curve. Our country was founded on the basis that we need government so we can “enjoy the blessings of liberty”. However, above the amount of government needed to repel anarchy, the bigger the government, the less liberty that anyone can have, even if only because they are forced to work to pay for it in taxation.
So, just like there is a Laffer Curve for economic issues, there is a Liberty Curve: the more government we have, the less liberty we have, no matter how much we may cheer the way the current regime uses government in ways we like. This is because if we give anyone the legal power to expand government, sooner or later, government will be expanded at our own expense.
Our goal should maximize liberty, no maximize government, which the current crowd in Washington in both parties seems hell-bent on doing.
I used to be a Conservative Jeb says. What is he now, the question is asked.
He is a Bush , and we have had enough of them for a while.
He used to be a “severe conservative,” now he’s a “reformed severe conservative.”
The only really meaningful thing old Jeb has ever done is save us from an Al Gore presidency.
When our federal government was tiny, we had the most liberty.
But in those times, the public was far more religious than it is now. Hanging of criminals within hours of conviction was quite common.
Today we have near total government, the public at large is quite irreligious and crime is rampant, both within and without government. Convicted criminals are rarely executed, and we pay dearly to feed, house and entertain them.
I would argue that the best way to cut the size of government would be to pass a law that says all criminals found serving in government should be executed within 24 hours of conviction.
“The only really meaningful thing old Jeb has ever done is save us from an Al Gore presidency.”
Yes, but I wonder if Al Gore could have ultimately done as much damage to conservatism as George W. did. George W’s lukewarm moderatism layed the groundwork for Obama to become President.
My vote is an a**hole.
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