[WorkingClassFilth]

Hugh Hewitt refers to the “lead pipes” of the left-wing blogosphere that are slowly but surely contaminating the groundwater in the Democratic Party. But if their pipes are dirty, ours are leaky and badly in need of an overhaul. (At least if one wants to do more than just pass along positive information about the war.)

Might be handy if the RNC plumbers aren't trying to install lead pipes as a fix. IMO, the failings (some might say disintegration) of the national conservative movement has eveerything to do with "leadership" losing its way - not the grassroots failing to act.

[mainepatsfan]

Agreed. You can have all the pro bowlers you want but without a good coach a team isn’t going anywhere.

[SoldierMedic]

the national conservative movement has eveerything to do with "leadership" losing its way - not the grassroots failing to act.

Unfortunately I'm too young to recall the hayday of the conservative movement, but I can agree with you. If the only people in charge are turd sandwiches, then there really isn't much to rally behind.

[Leisler]

About the RNC. Don’t mistake their constant work of decades as an error.

[OKIEDOC]

IMO, the failings (some might say disintegration) of the national conservative movement has eveerything to do with “leadership” losing its way - not the grassroots failing to act.

Courtesy Comment:

AMEN and bares repeating.

We conservatives do not have competent leadership.

[AndyJackson]

has eveerything to do with "leadership" losing its way - not the grassroots failing to act.

What leadership? Far and away the smartest we have is Newt, but everyone worries that every once in a while he will have a brain seizure and do something really dumb. It doesn't detract from what he says when he is being smart, but it does raise the question of his capability to be president 24/7.

[Tarpon]

IMO, the failings (some might say disintegration) of the national conservative movement has eveerything to do with "leadership" losing its way - not the grassroots failing to act.

That's right on target, the principal problem is the Conservatives have no nationally elected leader. Bush has done at best a mediocre job of articulating Conservative values, and some would say he has done nothing in this regard. The war has been all consuming, and the reasons for it not very well explained to the voters -- Heck we can't even identify the enemy at times.

However, that having been said, maybe it is a time for an introspective look at how FreeRepublic can be more effective. We tend to thrive on external media and react against that. That is not very proactive by it's nature.

But out pops an opportunity.

Doesn't everybody see what is coming in September, the Petraous report, and how the terrorists in Iraq are aligning themselves with the actions of congressional Democrats and the drive by media in the US to sand bag the report? -- Let me explain further, the Iraq terrorists through their enablers in the Iraq parliament have shut down the Iraq government for vacation -- At a critical time. Why would they do this? Simple is precludes any real progress on the political front in Iraq, at a critical time when it is needed most. Remember those vaunted benchmarks, half military and half political? Equal weight, stop the political progress, yell failure. This plays directly into the waiting arms of the US Democrats and the drive by media -- See it's never going to work out in Iraq, Iraqis are never going to get their act together, without political progress it's never going to work, we must leave now.

So why are we sitting here and letting this happen? And what should we or could we do about it? Now is the time to prepare.

A call to action? Surly we should be thinking about how to respond. Maybe we need inclusive actions oriented blog(s) with marching orders?

At the moment we appear way to passive(tired?) after the AMNESTY win. We have gained political capital from that, maybe we should try to build on it. Shift to strategic instead of reactive? Think about the future, plan, and ...

Just asking, not pointing fingers at anyone...