Now we're being told that Reagan is yesterday, that conservatism is passe because The Ultimate Leader has simply said too many things in the course of this campaign that make it very clear he isn't a conservative at all. So none of us should be conservatives any longer, either. We should simply trust in The Ultimate Leader. So this pathetic screed concludes.
Nope. Not going there. The whole rest of Free Republic can drink up as far as I'm concerned, but I stand for something. And it isn't what some man believes today, or the new thing he believes tomorrow.
I think you missed the point of the article. Leaving aside the criticism of Teds judgement....
Cruz is no Reagan.
He could have been, but he simply doesn’t connect with voters.
Most of FR but not all. I still am and will always be conservative. These people all remind me of Obamabots. Nothing has to make sense. They can rationalize anything away.
From the article: “Had Cruz realized that conservatism is not a clearly articulated set of principles that must be imposed on a recalcitrant mass, but is instead the systematized expression of the yearning of individuals and peoples, as flawed and imperfect as they are, he might have been born aloft by the wave that is now carrying Donald Trump to the White House. Instead, blinded by ideology and self-regard, Cruz missed the wave, and is being left behind.”
I think that Trump is drawing on the anger, resentment and the need for revenge by so many. And that is fine, but is a danger if the ideology of conservatism is tossed out. Then it becomes mob rule. I found a fancy term for that -
“Ochlocracy”.
Some of it sure sounds like a Trump rally, and what is happening at Free Republic:
Following are excerpts from:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-ochlocracy.htm
Classical theories of ochlocracy suggest that the individual minds of people form a united way of thinking, but that the crowd forms the people instead of the people forming the crowds. Each member of the group is fueled by the others, and they feed off the emotions of others, increasing their own. The result is a mob that acts completely as one with growing enthusiasm, and each individual loses touch with their original thoughts and intentions….
Protests and rallies are modern day examples of ochlocracy. In these instances, groups of people unite to either show support or show objection. When the emotional levels of these crowds gets out of hand, mob mentality becomes evident, particularly when uprisings and rioting occurs.
Peer pressure [Free Republic?] can also be categorized as a form of ochlocracy. In the same manner as protests and rallies, groups of people in the same age group, social class, or religion can group together for a specific purpose. Mob rule in some form can be seen just as much today as it was centuries ago.
You stand for something alright!
Hope you get what you deserve.
FR is a Trumpkin cesspool.
He never said that conservatism doesn't matter, principle doesn't matter, or that Reagan doesn't matter.
Either you're not reading, or you're still pissed off that a certain candidate just blew his chances sky high by not blaming the totalitarian left for its violent extremism.
Just let it go, the article is actually pretty good if you try to understand what it said. Here's a money quote for you:
Rush was correct — conservatism, properly articulated, will win every time. But conservatism is more than a set of bullet points. It is ultimately a form of trust, in people, and that, if left alone, they can manage to get things right. Trump may not have all of the bullet points in line, but the trust is there. Trust is the ultimate gift — if a candidate shows that he trusts the people, the people will trust him in return.
If that is what you took for the article, then you were not reading it with the mindset of a true American Constitutional conservative.
You stand for something alright!
Hope you get what you deserve.
BINGO!
Fred... You have clarified the whole matter and I stand with you!!!
Have difficulty reading, huh? If “conservatism” is merely “principles” that ver affect change, it is dead. Paul wrote “the Law kills but the Spirit gives life.” Cruz epitomizes the “conservative law” that ignores the spirit of the people that give it life.
To see Trump supporters accusing Cruz of narcissism, when Trump is the one who has to put his own name in huge letters on everything he owns... yeah, there's a lot of denial going on all right, but not by Cruz supporters.