Whether you cease posting on FR is something only you can decide, the same as your question on re-registration. Right now, I would say you and others [somewhat] similarly situated are in the drivers seat. It is the GOP Big Tent that has abandoned conservatives--it's your tent now, not ours. Haven't you noticed all those empty seats where conservatives used to sit? Most of us are long gone as a consequence of the hijacking of the Republican party by the big government/expanded entitlements/open borders/NWO yahoos. If we don't see some prompt and dramatic course corrections, we won't be returning. I'm not interested in supporting a Republican party that is tainted with the diseases of European socialism. In other words, it is we conservatives who should be asking whether we should re-register, not you. It's your Big Tent--at least for now.
Having said all that, I would be quite disappointed to see you depart. It is undeniably true that FR is a conservative site (as strongly reaffirmed by Jim Rob on 3/02/07):
" The words of Jim Robinson on pushing a liberal like Rino Rudy. “How many times must I say FR is a conservative site? We do not support abortionism, homosexualism, feminisim, environmentalism, gun control, liberalism, socialism, etc, etc, etc. When I say I suspect we will become even more conservative than we already are, possibly via attrition if nothing else, what do you think I’m referring to? When FR starts pushing hard and I mean hard against abortion, gay marriage, homosexual education forced on our school children, pandering to illegal aliens, gun control, McCaine-Feingold type usurpation, global warming, etc, etc, even if supported or advanced by the GOP, then I fully suspect certain types of moderate/liberal Republican supporters are probably going to be a little uncomfortable here. We will be fighting for traditional American conservatism no matter who we have to fight against and I’m afraid that’s going to piss off some folks.” Jim Robinson, 3/2/07
Nevertheless, your posts here are always on point, articulate, and sometimes brilliant. I look forward to seeing what you have to say on various issues of particular interest to conservatives. While you haven't changed my mind on the issues, I (and others, I believe)have benefitted from your always well reasoned and thorough analyses. I would hate to lose that.
“Most of us are long gone as a consequence of the hijacking of the Republican party by the big government/expanded entitlements/open borders/NWO yahoos. If we don’t see some prompt and dramatic course corrections, we won’t be returning. I’m not interested in supporting a Republican party that is tainted with the diseases of European socialism. In other words, it is we conservatives who should be asking whether we should re-register, not you. It’s your Big Tent—at least for now.”
It’s certainly not MY party now!
Rudy Giuliani supports abortion, and he’s the frontrunner.
I reject abortion.
Romney used to, and McCain supports federal funding for abortion in the form of fetal stem-cell research.
I reject abortion, and that includes fetal stem-cell research.
Although I have argued that the influx of Hispanics may well have a long-term positive effect on the abortion debate, I oppose open borders. I want a wall, and I don’t want any discussion of amnesty until there is a wall.
George W. Bush doesn’t want a wall and does want amnesty.
Ditto for Rudy and McCain.
I reject that.
I don’t care what people do, so long as they don’t do it in the streets and disturb the horses, but I oppose gay marriage.
Rudy supports it.
I wanted to declare war on 9/11.
The GOP chose to go for another Vietnam-style police action in several countries. And we are now reaping Vietnam-like results, for precisely the reasons I enunciated in September, 2001 and have been repeating ever since.
I support the war, but that means WINNING THE WAR.
I did not support the Rumsfeld strategy of going in with too few troops to secure the country. It was stupid then, I said so, and I was right. I was vilified, then, for “Not supporting the war”. Bullshit. Rumsfeld and Bush were the ones who led us off a cliff, lemminglike. I refused to jump. I was not a traitor, I was RIGHT.
And NOW I am still right. I oppose this “Surge”. It does not go far enough. It cannot possibly win. We never had enough troops on the ground, and we still don’t. And thanks to the incompetence of Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld, the Army is so broken now that we have to extend tours of duty to 15 months, and jam Navy guys into Afghanistan to plug the gaps.
I support winning the war. THAT MEANS ARMING THE KURDS AND THE NATIONALIST IRAQIS, AND GETTING OUT OF THE WAY AS THEY WIN THE CIVIL WAR. It means allowing them to do what they have to do to their domestic enemies, just like Sherman did what had to be done to the Confederacy. It means atrocities and carnage, but WE won’t be doing it. We need more men, and it has to be IRAQI men, and we cannot control them, but have to let them settle the scores and destroy their domestic enemies. It will be bloody and horrible, but what will come out of is an allied nation not shooting at us, not in Iran’s watchpocket, and not a source of terrorism. That is winning the war. It is the ONLY WAY to win the war now that we have so few troops, the Army is broken and the Civil War is raging. George W. Bush has said three times, publicly, we will NOT do that in any case. He is an idiot. His strategy is the REASON we are losing in Iraq. I blame George Bush and the Republican Party for the defeat in Iraq, not the Democrats, because they have demonstrated the intelligence of Maginot: unbelieveably stupid strategic decisions, overriding their military commanders advice (remember Shinseki? Everybody in the military noticed. Use the templates and say what we NEED TO WIN, and get fired. Of course, therefore, no general ever “asks”. Ask and get relieved? No thanks.)
I want to win the war.
We cannot possibly win the war the way we are fighting it.
We never could.
It was obvious to me from the beginning, but I had hope that the enemy, maybe, would not be so tough. I never had any confidence in the strategy, and now that I have been proven consistently right for four years running, since the very week of the attack on 9/11 (which I survived; I worked at World Trade), I REALLY don’t have confidence in the strategy. I have said what will work. The President has shot it down thrice. It’s Bush’s fault we are going to lose. He refuses to win.
So, does that make me a Democrat?
No.
Those lily-livered bastards WANT TO LOSE THE WAR. Except Hillary (and Lieberman). She still has some spine. But by the time she gets the office (and she WILL win the office if we have not won the war by 2008, and we will NOT have won the war by 2008 with the current absolutely hopeless strategy) it will be too late to do anything. The people who should be under arms fighting on our general side in the civil war in Iraq are the ones who are UNARMED, because we won’t arm them and unleash them, because they will do very bad things (they will. So what? It’s better than losing to the OTHER GUYS doing very bad things.).
So, who do I vote for?
I CAN’T vote Democrat.
The Republicans’ hearts are in the right place. A new GOP Commander-in-Chief may be competent. McCain or Hunter are the two experienced military men. McCain’s pro-abortion (stem-cell), which means Hunter is the best candidate for winning the war. Giuliani, Romney and Thompson don’t know a damned thing about war.
So, how is this MY tent?
I don’t think that Social Security, Medicare and public education are socialism. I think they are public insurance programs and investments in human capital. This leaves me in the cold on Republican economics, supposedly, but George W. Bush is the one who expanded Medicare to cover drugs. I think he was right to do so. Reagan was the one who deepened Social Security. Again, I think Reagan was right. I guess that makes me a Reaganite, over and against all of these Republican “conservatives” who seem to hate Medicare, Social Security and public education as socialism. I will stick with my good socialist buddies Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush on this one, over and against the Ayn Rand conservatives.
So, where can I go?
I asked “Should I post here” because it’s Jim Robinson’s website. Had he told me “No”, publicly or privately, I would leave. But he did not. So, even though I am quite at odds with “conservative” thought on Social Security, Medicare, public education, trade policy and general tax policy, I am still welcome in the tent for other reasons, apparently, so long as I am polite.
So, although I do not agree on economics, at all, I will remain here. I have noplace else to go.
But I will not vote for Giuliani. It’s a bridge too far. And anyway, he can’t win. Neither can McCain or Romney. I don’t know if Duncan Hunter can win or not. Against Hillary, maybe. Against Obama, probably not. Thompson has a good shot at winning against either, so I guess he’s the best option right now. I continue to support Hunter for as long as Hunter is in the race, because Hunter is right.
How is it “My Party” at all, given these views.
In truth, I hope to persuade the Rudybots that the abortion issue cannot be overcome.
I hope to persuade everybody to press Bush on the war to arm the Kurds and Iraqi nationalists and let them fight and win the civil war.
And I hope to persuade conservatives to think more carefully about social welfare, tax and trade policies.
That’s why I am staying, until I am asked to leave by the owner of the site, at which point I will go.
I support Duncan Hunter and will support Fred Thompson if he enters, without qualification.
I do not trust Romney, but if he shows something like a pro-life conversion I can believe, I will probably vote for him if he is the nominee.
McCain is dead wrong on stem cells, which is abortion, but although I hate abortion, McCain is dead right on the need to fight the war. If he’s the nominee, I will vote for him, unenthusiastically.
If Rudy Giuliani is the nominee, I will vote for Hillary Clinton, and I will tell you why.
Rudy is to the left of Hillary on abortion - HE wants to publicly fund it! She’s never said any such thing. By running Rudy, who is vocally pro-abortion, the Republicans are kicking me directly in the groin. Voting for Hillary kicks them back.
Number two, Rudy’s no more pro-war than Hillary. Hillary has taken a lot of heat for refusing to apologize for her war vote. If she inherits the war, she isn’t going to want to lose it. She is a tough bitch. I think she’ll fight. And she’ll be better advised than Rudy. Rudy will get holdovers from the current team, and they’re incompetent. Believe it or not, Hillary is respected by those military officers who have appeared before her in the Armed Services Committee, because she does her homework, asks cogent questions, and is not anti-military. She does a decent job, they report, quietly. I think she will put military men in the security positions, because she won’t trust Dem politicians on the subject, and won’t want to lose. Also, Giuliani’s deferral to be a law clerk bothers me. Not enough to disqualify him. He has no military experience, has not sat on the Armed Services Committee. And frankly, he’s an asshole. He doesn’t like anybody showing authority in his presence at all. I remember how he treated Bratton, who was the real force behind bringing down crime. Hillary is more likely to listen to her generals than Rudy is. I think she would be a better commander-in-chief for picking up the pieces of this broken Republican war than Giuliani.
Then we come to the business of personal morality. Giuliani has the morality of an alleycat, and is estranged from his children. Hillary has played Tammy Wynette to erring Bill, and is adored by her child. She is Lady MacBeth, but once again she looks less bad than Giuliani.
And, of course, I agree: we need universal health insurance. Hillary’s first plan was flawed, but if, as President, she tries again, using a model more like extended Medicare and less like Germany’s model, I would support that. I’ve already said that I think Social Security and health insurance are not socialism at all, but investments in maintaining human capital.
Bottom line: kick me in the groin and name Giuliani, and I vote for Hillary. Otherwise, I probably unhappily vote for the Republican candidate, unless it’s Hunter (or maybe Thompson). Then I’m enthused. You tell me if that makes the current party “My Party”.