Conservatives not satisfied with Bush's record

The Washington Times ^ | June 18, 2002 | Ralph Z. Hallow

[rambo316]

You know what, I am disgusted with Bush. It turns out I voted for another Clintonista, when I voted for Bush. When he said who his mentor was, I knew that he was a fake, phony, Fraud. What my Fellow Freepers who support Bush by drinking the Bush Kool-Aid don't understand, is that it does not make any difference that Bush is moving to the left because the leftists, no matter what, will never vote for him. I am very saddened by his policy decisions, domestically, and his decisions in dealing with the nazis in the middle East who are calling for Jews and Christians blood. Not just in the middle East either, they are here just waiting to destroy us and Bush does nothing.

[Dane]

ad bans will probably be stripped.(Dane)

You don't know that.(Dan from Michigan)

Actually I think that the ad bans will be stripped based on the recent SCOTUS decision knocking down an Ohio towns ban on door to door solicitation(i.e door to door salesmen, Jehovah's Witnesses's, etc. etc.).

SCOTUS has stated that you cannot ban unwanted soilcitation and add the first amendment conflicts due to the ad ban, you have a slam dunk, IMHO, for the political ad bans to be stripped.

[rambo316]

Another thing, as Freepers, are we going to start calling for Bush to step down from office for all that he has done.

Say Clinton was still in the White House or Gore making the same decisions that Bush has made, we would be up in arms if this was happening. We would have Freepathons; we would have Bob Barr speaking at the "Thon" and we would have other Conservatives there also. I am blown away that Bush is doing what he is doing and it makes me sick. you know what? If he ran way right, I still would not ever vote for him again. He is establishment and that is all. These "One Worlders" don't give a rats a$$ about America and the American Sheeple. All they are interested in doing is staying in power, that is it.

[Dan from Michigan]

I hope you are right, but I don't trust the courts.

[Reagan Man]

>>>reagan didn't need bush or ford to defeat carter, but jerry ford did hold that fantastic press conference and say exactly what I said, I remember.

I'd really like a LINK to that exact quote by President Ford about Reagan being unfit to be President. It's normal political posturing, for certain factions within any political party, to pressure a presidential nominee into choosing who they want for his running mate. But until you supply that Ford quote, I still say your nuts.

So get me the QUOTE!

[Palmetto]

Second column represents percentage who voted for Gore who gave that answer, third column represents those who voted for Bush.

If Al Gore wins today, what best describes your feelings about what he will do as president?
Excited	17	94	6	0	1
Optimistic, but not excited	31	82	14	0	3
Concerned, but not scared	27	22	74	0	3
Scared	23	4	94	1	1
If George W. Bush wins today, what best describes your feelings about what he will do as president?
Excited	21	4	95	0	1
Optimistic, but not excited	29	11	87	0	1
Concerned, but not scared	21	82	13	0	4
Scared	26	94	1	1	3
Regardless of how you voted today, which of these candidates do you think would do a good job handling an international crisis?
Only Gore	35	92	5	1	2
Only Bush	27	5	93	0	1
Both would	29	40	57	0	2
Neither would	7	35	48	2	12
Regardless of how you voted today, which of these candidates reflects your own personal view of the role of government in society?
Only Gore	29	95	4	0	1
Only Bush	33	4	95	0	1
Both do	17	50	48	0	2
Neither does	18
. . . This poll has a built in 4-5% error based on either votes from insane or irrational people, people selecting answers at random, or voters being intentionally dishonest.
A 4% difference between '96 and 2000 is not statistically significant.

[JohnGalt]

Being a hawk is equally unoriginal. A new approach would be to offer lots of money to Arab world governments for arrest quotas of terrorists.

Offer to purchase Israeli land for the Palestinians (we already give $30 billion annually so this is not that crazy...) and get Syria and Jordan to guarentee the peace.

[Area51]

BTW, the fallacy of Dubya's approach this year is that he is paving the way for conservatives to stay home out of apathy and dismay and the likelihood that the moderates won't switch to him in sufficient numbers. Moderates, after all, are not known for being "galvanized." It is the ideological base (left and right) which matters the most.

481 posted on 6/19/02 9:08 AM Pacific by Austin Willard Wright

--------------------

Bubba Junior and his stoolie Rove, Picked a real winner in the Primaries in Calipornia didn't he. :) Just a preview of November 02.

[Teacher317]

PLEASE don't forget the smaller races, since THAT's where our next congresscritters come from.

Good point... and let's not forget the (snowball's) chance of getting a better candidate in the primaries, too. As for those smaller races, I had been using most of those to support Libertarian and/or (preferably) Constitutionist candidates, but the rest of the votes were reliably GOP.

[Austin Willard Wright]

Well...I guess November will be the test regardless of what we think or, for that matter, the small contingent of freepers think.

[CyberCowboy777]

Great post.

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

[Red Jones]

so, you say I'm nuts and that's OK. I would provide the link if I could. I simply remember it.

[willa]

Reagan man,

I've read and reread your points. I don't disagree with a lot that you said, and some of the plusses are definately worth keeping in mind.

I know that some of the avid supporters think that those who are unhappy with things that GW is doing are people that didn't vote for him etc. I definately did vote for him, and as I've mentioned in other posts, I actively worked during the election.

I deplored the Clinton scandles - Monica etc. - however my greatest worry was building up our enemy Communist China, the growth of socialism of America, and the erosion of the bill of rights. Socialism sucks the host dry and will eventually bankrupt US. Evidence this with the treasury's increasing indebtedness with the runaway growth of social spending.

The Patriot bill was my wake-up call that something was wrong when GW waid he was against sunsetting ANY of it. That scared me. Those that hold the 2A dear should worry about it. Sneak and peak provisions?? What kind of tools were being created for the next occupant of the White House?

The tax cuts were very good - however increasing spending on social programs in 17 months - more than Clinton did in 5 years offsets the amount we got. We in reality got a small 'loan' on our indebtedness.

Please direct me to the executive directive on RKBA - I missed that. If you do a search on the gw website there is a disturbing mentioning by Ari on closing the gun show loophole. Should we be confident that he wont do that or pass "reasonable gun laws?"

The situation with the ICC is not over yet. We'll have to see how this plays out - but I am glad that he said what he did. Will he follow through?

Cuba - what is the difference between Cuba and China except that Jeb is running for re-election in November.

When was the ergonomic rules passed? I don't remember that.

Yes, he has done a good job with the war on terrorism. Yes, I am relieved not to hear about vices in the WH.

Reagan man, I don't think we are getting 50% Conservatism. We aren't even in a holding pattern anymore. Should we be satisfied in our hearts as Americans to keep moving left, even if it is at a slower pace? Will there be a Republic left to pass on to our Grandkids? Should we just sit back and resign ourselves?

It's not about Bush - it's about the future of American freedom.

Respectfully,

Willa

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/hodges.htm

[DoSomethingAboutIt]

The best way to reform the Republican Party is to vote Libertarian.

[Theodore R.]

This is very shrewd analysis on your part. The Republicans did try a fairly conservative strategy in 1970 but failed miserably overall despite the election of Jim Buckley to the Senate from NY. It amazes me how staunch Republicans think that the way to win is not "to rock the boat" but to "go along to get along." That fails every time as you said. I believe that GW Bush will until the end of his political career always be trying the failed approach to "go along to get along." He can't see the whole country because he is blinded by public opinion polls. The polls are one of the worst things to happen to American election strategy. This talk of "retaking" the Senate is sheer fantasy. Even when the Republicans had 50-50, with Cheney breaking the tie, not much positive was happening in the Senate. Notice how few "profiles in courage" once can find in the Senate today. Even Jesse has "gone soft" at the end of his 30 years. And Phil Gramm is going out, having conducted some kind of senseless quarrel with Jan Scruggs, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

[Barnacle]

The GOP found a way to win without the mythical "conservative base" votes because they HAD to. Why should Bush do them any favors?

It's interesting how you refer to Conservatives as "them".

Freepers refer to Conservatives as "us".

[willa]

The best way to reform the Republican Party is to vote Libertarian.

I found this to be true on the job. Due to lack of raises a few years back, I found another job. As soon as I gave my boss my notice - his comment to me was "What can I do to make you stay?"

You may be right.

[Poohbah]

I'm a conservative--not part of the mythical base that hasn't shown up since 1988, but a real conservative who votes--and I find myself very much at odds with the self-anointed "true conservatives" out there.

I'm also extremely angry at that crowd, because they refused to do any useful work when said work was vitally necessary, and they refused to vote for half a loaf and then b!tched about not getting anything.

So, Barnacle, if you're part of that crowd, please accept this token of my esteem: I don't care what you think of me, and you can take your opinion of me and insert it where the Sun shineth not. Nothing personal.

[MissAmericanPie]

Bush isn't doing what you say he is. He isn't trying for a batting average, he isn't even in negotiations.

Bush isn't some president that you can say, "Whew, thank goodness he's dwindled into obscurity and we are still intact".

He has taken it upon himself to kill the Republican Party and replace it with a doppleganger that only resembles the old party, and by doing that creating two liberal parties in power. I can't vote for that.

[Reagan Man]

A few points.

>>>The Patriot bill was my wake-up call that something was wrong when GW waid he was against sunsetting ANY of it.

To the best of my knowledge, I don't remember President Bush saying this. If you have a direct quote, please provide it. There are 22 sections in the Patriot Act. 13 of these provisions have sunset clauses of 12-31-2005 and 9 provisions do not have sunset clauses. The one that upsets civil libertarians and ACLU types the most, is the section #213, allowing sneak and peek, searches and seizures. Many people have interpreted this as a troubling provision. Personally, I don't want to see 3000 or more people killed, in another heinous terrorist attack similiar to 9-11. I believe, as the President said, "...[The Patriot Act] upholds and respects the civil liberties guaranteed by our Constitution". I haven't lost any of my freedoms, liberties or rights since 9-11 due to the Patriot Act and I don't know of anyone who has. These laws apply mostly to criminals and terrorists.

>>>... however increasing spending on social programs in 17 months - more than Clinton did in 5 years...

Just where are you getting this stuff from? They sound like talking points from the political fringe. The last two years of Clinton, saw spending rise 9%. The first two years of the Bush adminsitration indicates a 15% increase. But consider the circumstances related to the recent economic recession, the 9-11 attacks and the war on terrorism. If homeland security and 9-11 emergency spending is excluded, nondefense spending rose by 3.3 percent in 2002 and is slated to decline by 0.4 percent in 2003. The biggest increases, is a 14+% boost in the DoD budget. Everything considered, I don't think its fair to compare Clinton to Bush.

>>>Please direct me to the executive directive on RKBA - I missed that.

In two briefs filed at the Supreme Court on Monday, May,6 2002, the Justice Department, reversing what had been official government policy since 1939, on the meaning of the Second Amendment, told the Supreme Court for the first time, the Constitution "broadly protects the rights of individuals" to own firearms. The RKBA`s is an individual right and not a collective right, as liberals have been espousing for the last six decades. The Solicitor General's office attached the Ashcroft letter and included the following footnote to explain its new position:

"In its brief to the court of appeals, the government argued that the Second Amendment protects only such acts of firearm possession as are reasonably related to the preservation or efficiency of the militia. The current position of the United States, however, is that the Second Amendment more broadly protects the rights of individuals, including persons who are not members of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms, subject to reasonable restrictions designed to prevent possession by unfit persons or to restrict the possession of types of firearms that are particularly suited to criminal misuse."

"This action is proof positive that the worst fears about Attorney General Ashcroft have come true: his extreme ideology on guns has now become government policy," said Michael Barnes, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which promotes gun control.

>>>When was the ergonomic rules passed? I don't remember that.

S.J. Res. 6 passed the Senate on a 56-44 vote March 7, 2001; the House on a 223-206 vote March 8, 2001, and was signed by President Bush March 20, 2001.

Thanks for the civil public discourse in our communications.