;-)
Posted on 12/03/2005 6:27:44 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
By Tony Snow
Dec 3, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Democrats gibber about Republicans' writhing in a culture of corruption, they're on to something -- but not what they think. The Republican Party in Washington is in trouble not because it's overrun by crooks, but because it's packed with cowards -- and has degenerated into a caricature of the party that swept to power 11 years ago promising to take on the federal bureaucracy and liberate the creative genius of American society.
The collapse stems from the simplest and most natural of causes, the survival instinct. Within months of seizing power in 1995, Republicans began backing away from Big Ideas, from tort reform to the necessary overhaul of the Social Security system. They started consulting pollsters to assay "correct" issues and positions. They played it safe -- or so they thought.
Over time, imagination-grabbing ideas melted away. Gone was the Reaganite breadth of vision, and in its place stood the musty idol of Incumbency. Republicans drew the wrong morals from the decline and fall of Newt Gingrich. They thought his boldness got him in trouble, and chose to crib plays from the Bill Clinton playbook -- tacking left, at least oratorically, so as to appease, rather than confront, their critics.
Hence, George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" -- a slogan that exceeded skeptics' worst expectations. That phrase, aimed at reassuring suburban white moms and queasy left-wing Republicans, became a white flag on the core issue of government size and might. Bush insiders even began boasting about "big government" conservatism -- oblivious to the fact that big government does not conserve or preserve; it crushes and digests, devouring institutions that challenge its supremacy.
Leaders in the Party of Lincoln stopped talking about people, and started talking about programs and expenditures. They justified head-snapping shifts in policy by claiming the need to take issues "off the table." The multi-trillion dollar Medicare "reform" is a case in point. It was designed less to save a system than to deny Democrats a talking point. Yet, the only things Republicans really took off the table were their moral authority and the loyalty of their partisans.
This helps explain one of the great ironies of the age. We live in what ought to be an era of Republican triumphalism. The president's one reliable bit of domestic-policy conservatism, his tax-cut agenda, has succeeded brilliantly. The most recent Commerce Department figures peg the third quarter economic growth rate at a sizzling 4.3 percent -- despite the ravages of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the oil shocks that followed.
Republicans have won the battle over whether centralized bureaucracies can eradicate poverty, or perform social services more efficiently than private or volunteer operations. Throughout the country, the same patterns appear: Where elected officials govern with a light touch and without imposing onerous tax and regulatory burdens, prosperity flourishes -- and people flock to the scene. "progressive" states, on the other hand, are becoming empty husks, with more rigid class distinctions than in any other section of the country.
The GOP also wins big on values. Virtually every time the ACLU files a lawsuit, Democrats lose supporters. Despite these advantages, however, the GOP founders. Its Washington potentates simply refuse to embrace the party's ideals or successes (including the war). They have forgotten the most important rule of political survival: If you want to remain an incumbent for long, you don't jettison your principles. You act on them.
When House Speaker Denny Hastert broke arms to secure votes for a pork-packed highway bill, calling the legislation a "jobs bill," it was an embarrassment. When the president signed a campaign-finance bill he called unconstitutional, he seemed to lack not only conviction, but vision.
Fortunately, irate constituents roused some conservatives from their dogmatic slumbers. Young Republicans rebelled against the apostasy of their elders, especially in the matter of the federal budget, and state parties seized the initiative on everything from spending limitations to school choice.
Capitol Hill Republicans now admit their Democratic colleagues don't want peace -- they want the Alamo. So the GOP is fighting back. Hastert approved calling the bluff of anti-victory Democrats last week by demanding a floor vote on the idea of vamoosing Iraq immediately. He scored another triumph this week by restoring the good name of the National Christmas Tree.
Who knows, he may even figure out the Paradox of Incumbency. Politicians who run just to protect incumbency may save their seats, but only by destroying their party's heart and soul. If you really want to build lasting power in politics, you need to forget about mere incumbency -- and remember the principles that got you elected in the first place.
Sad but true. I wonder how many actually do wear pampers?
It is hypocritical of you and makes you a BUSHBOT when you know full well Bush and/or Chertoff have DONE NOTHING to protect this countries borders or coastlines from foreign invaders, yet you sing his praises.
Don't bother replying, I don't waste my time by posting more than once to people who's head is stuck in the sand nor their cohorts who will surely be pinged!
Thanks for the ping on this, GLGB. Would have missed it.
Hey Tony!
Great piece! Spot on...
However, you're showing that most typical of blind spots in DC.
Not once do you mention the one issue that has rank and file Republicans the most rankled at their leadership: Immigration and Border Security.
You need to get out a little more, sir...
I know you won't reply, since you said you won't.
But it's interesting that you call me a Bushbot and just a few weeks ago I was widely criticized because I was critical the president wasn't defending himself against the liars on the left.
And you have NO idea where I stand on immigration and the administration's policy. So much for YOUR credibility.
;-)
Good for Tony. He's right. We've been weakened by a lot of gutless GOP'ers. We send back the request for funds now.
Thanks, TOL, for pinging to Tony. I didn't realize he was a FReeper - great!
Tony, as the person who originally posted your column here, please let me congratulate on saying so vividly what so badly needed to be said.
Coming someone who commands the respect you do, we can be sure that the message will be heard, if not necessarily heeded, in the centers of GOP power.
If you'll take a moment to breeze through the comments on the thread, you'll note that your column was received with tremendous enthusiasm here.
Bravo!
Guess Tony Snow is now a traitor too...lol
I haven't looked downthread yet....is he being roasted yet as a fool and disloyal etc?
hope no one calls him Paleo...the horror
LOL....why do I get the impression that Tony's show on Monday may be so hot...it will melt the ice all over the north, though???
Tony: You need to tell the Bush Administration and Sen. Warner that they need to quit "apologizing" and agonizing over every PERCIEVED wrong that the dems and MSM throw at them...this so-called propaganda in Iraq case, for example.
Eaxactly right. The Pubbies don't have enough Conservative to pass good laws so they have to water down everything to please the RINOs. That is why we lost ANWR and so many other issues. The RINOs are ruling because they know that the Conservatives need their votes.
You should join us on the Tony Snow Show thread on Monday !
I would hope not.
The Highway Bill .. which I think the President should have been vetod
But Congress has a VERY bad habit of attaching huge pork projects to important legislation
Like the Military Spending that was need for the military fighting in Iraq
some here have a teenie threshold for dissent against the GOP and especially the WH
Government is not the savior that so many Americans think it is. They can do so much better for themselves than government will ever think of doing for them - let alone actually do for them. The GOP is missing in action on this historic opportunity!
I wish I shared your optimism.
A few token conservatives in the pipeline are going to do little to stop the gop led "moderate" agenda. (they're being held back too)
"Our issues" are being paid lip service at best.
Amen, brother [or sister as the case may be]!
The GOP does have some very strong-minded conservatives who want to do the right thing for the USA on important issues like trade, globalism, spending and immigration but I'm afraid the Rockefeller Republicans are running the show.
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