Posted on 10/22/2008 11:32:45 AM PDT by grundle
Why the Republicans Must Lose
Nothing short of defeat will put the GOP back on its limited government track
I grew up in a particularly conservative part of the already conservative state of Indiana. I voted for Bob Dole in 1996 and George Bush in 2000, generally because—though I'm not a conservative (I'm a libertarian)—I'd always thought the GOP was the party of limited government. By 2002, I was less sure of that. And by 2004, I was so fed up with the party that I did what I thought I'd never do—vote for an unabashed leftist for president.
Since then, "fed up" has soured to "given up." The Republican Party has exiled its Goldwater-Reagan wing and given up all pretense of any allegiance to limited government. In the last eight years, the GOP has given us a monstrous new federal bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security. In the prescription drug benefit, it's given us the largest new federal entitlement since the Johnson administration. Federal spending—even on items not related to war or national security—has soared. And we now get to watch as the party that's supposed to be "free market" nationalizes huge chunks of the economy's financial sector.
This isn't to say that Barack Obama would be any better. Government would undoubtedly grow under his watch. And from my libertarian perspective, he has been increasingly disappointing even on the issues where he's supposed to be good. We may not go to war with Iran in an Obama administration, but we'd likely become entrenched in a prolonged nation-building adventure in the Sudan. Obama's vote on the FISA bill and telecom immunity also suggests that, for all his criticisms of President Bush's use of executive power and assaults on civil liberties, Obama wouldn't be much better. On the drug war, Obama has promised to end the federal raids on medical marijuana clinics in states that have legalized the drug for treatment, but he wants to resurrect failed federal criminal justice block grant programs that have had some disastrous effects on civil liberties.
While I'm not thrilled at the prospect of an Obama administration (especially with a friendly Congress), the Republicans still need to get their clocks cleaned in two weeks, for a couple of reasons.
First, they had their shot at holding power, and they failed. They've failed in staying true to their principles of limited government and free markets. They've failed in preventing elected leaders of their party from becoming corrupted by the trappings of power, and they've failed to hold those leaders accountable after the fact. Congressional Republicans failed to rein in the Bush administration's naked bid to vastly expand the power of the presidency (a failure they're going to come to regret should Obama take office in January). They failed to apply due scrutiny and skepticism to the administration's claims before undertaking Congress' most solemn task—sending the nation to war. I could go on.
As for the Bush administration, the only consistent principle we've seen from the White House over the last eight years is that of elevating the American president (and, I guess, the vice president) to that of an elected dictator. That isn't hyperbole. This administration believes that on any issue that can remotely be tied to foreign policy or national security (and on quite a few other issues as well), the president has boundless, limitless, unchecked power to do anything he wants. They believe that on these matters, neither Congress nor the courts can restrain him.
That's the second reason the GOP needs to lose. American voters need to send a clear, convincing repudiation of these dangerous ideas.
If they do lose, the GOP would be wise to regroup and rebuild from scratch, scrap the current leadership, and, most importantly, purge the party of the "national greatness," neoconservative influence. Big-government conservatism has bloated the federal government, bogged us down in what will ultimately be a trillion-dollar war, and set us down the road to European-style socialism. It's hard to think of how Obama could be worse. He'll just be bad in different ways.
The truth is, unless you vote for a third-party candidate (which really isn't a bad idea), you don't have much of a choice this November. You can either endorse the idea of a massive, invasive, ever-encroaching federal government that's used to promote center-left ideology, or you can endorse the idea of a massive, invasive, ever-encroaching federal government that's used to promote center-right ideology.
Sadly, if the GOP does lose, it's likely to be interpreted not as a repudiation of the GOP's excesses, but as an endorsement of the Democrats'. When the only two parties who have a chance at winning both have a track record of expanding the size and scope of government, every election is likely to be interpreted as a win for big government—only the brand changes.
Voting yourself more freedom simply isn't an option, at least if you want your vote to be taken seriously (and I'm not denigrating any third parties here; I'm just reflecting reality).
Which brings me back to why the Republicans need to get throttled: A humiliated, decimated GOP that rejuvenates and rebuilds around the principles of limited government, free markets, and rugged individualism is really the only chance for voters to possibly get a real choice in federal elections down the road.
Of course, there's no guarantee that's how the party will emerge from defeat. But the Republican Party in its current form has forfeited its right to govern.
Please point to the post where I did such a thing. (I won't hold my breath waiting for you to do so.)
Please point specifically to what you consider to be 'socialized medicine'. (Please don't bother pointing to Medicare which has been in place for decades.)
Your vote for Ron Paul IS a vote for bigger government. When will 3rd party voters realize that?
Probably long after the Republic form of government dies a slow death.
I venture to say, not one person on this forum is FOR big government.
But some of us are old enough to remember waaaay back to when dims controlled everything, from state houses to federal houses.
But our vote this time is FOR our country....America!
That’s why there are dims and PUMAS voting for the very first time “R” for their country........not for McCain or little o.
LOL, nobody told you, McCain votes with George W. Bush 95% of the time!
Tell the grandchildren that when we once had a free country you didn’t vote against the dictators because their opponents weren’t perfect.
Stop changing the subject. My original comment was that with Bush’s kick upstairs of $700,000,000,000 of tax payer money to his close friends on Wall Street, we’d already taken a gigantic leap toward socialism.
LOL So. . .asking you to be specific about a claim you made is 'changing the subject'? What a hoot.
No way!....The judicial appointments this socialist tard will make will be a disaster! It’s the longest lasting damage he can do to America that counts!
You are wrong. WAY wrong. If Obama wins it will be every bit as transformational as Roosevelt’s New Deal, and bigger. New social programs will be created, leftist lower court judges appointed, and a rebalancing of the S.Ct will happen. Even if the GOP takes over all three branches in 2012 they will be unable to undo the damage. You simply cannot take away a government benefit.
Moreover an election cannot undo the the courts. Every court will resemble the 9th Circuit Ct of Appeal. Hard leftists that will undo any GOP inspired legislation.
Like McCain or not he is our last chance to hold the line. If McCain falls, the country goes left and it will be a long, long time before the pendulum swings because too many people will be hooked on gov’t crack AKA benefits.
Onl if you tells yours that you voted FOR dictator lite because a small dictator is better than a big one.
Onl if you tells yours that you voted FOR dictator lite because a small dictator is better than a big one.
As a Christian I don’t look for perfection in my leaders. I always vote for lesser of two evils. A lot of people look for perfection on earth and make the perfect the enemy of ‘better’ and hence aid and abet the dark side through their moral preening.
Good luck.
Translation: "I have no answer to MEGoody's question, so I must pretend to be bored so I can feel like I'm cool."
And like so many other women, you can't stay on topic or change the subject when you get cornered.
::::rolls eyes::::
Yes, they failed in 2006 which is what set this whole financial mess up in the first place. They also failed to stop the Democrats from continuing the Fannie May/Freddie Mack fiasco.
Spineless big government RINO’s is what the GOP supported and this is the result.
We are headed for a long period of exile from this nation, if we ever manage to come back, it will be slow and very difficult.
.
Because I'm a Libertarian.
He can't be President for more than 8 years, and I'm not voting for him anyway.
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