Posted on 03/28/2002 2:52:13 AM PST by The Wizard
It was so clean it was un-noticed by his enemies, and decried by his supporters, but GWB has just demonstrated a political ability that no-one on the left, and very few on the right ever saw.....
I always refer to the old Zorro scene with Basil Rathbone as the villian slicing a candle to show Tyrone Power how deft he is with a sword, because when "Zorro" does it the candle doesn't move....(The point is then shown that Tyrone's cut was SOOOOO smooth he sliced the candle so well he cut it without moving it....a truly great scene)
The First Lady did the same thing to Algore with her "...My husband sleeps with a teacher EVERY night..." comment that was so smooth a cut most of the media hasn't picked up the wound even today....
Well good Freeper Friends, that's what Old George did to the left with Johnny McCain's unconstitutional CFR Bill....
He fooled them into passing a billl that allowed more hard money, (something they would never ever allowed because it has NEVER, EVER been raised by anyone like our Commander and Chief) allowing them to include provisions that they thought would give them the edge, while knowing that others would attack and have thrown out all the offending provisions before they ever took effect, but the severably would allow the things not challanged to stand: Outcome
hard money limits have been raised and will stay raised, and the bad parts will be strck down, and we can now see that McCain was always working with GWB and the poor dems never knew it.....
What a political play.......cut to the bone and not even seeing it til after surgery is complete......
Once again Cake, I really don't mean to hurt your feelings, but why, if Dubya felt signing this this was the right thing to do, did he chose to sign it behing closed doors?
Then again, with this president, everything seems to be done behind closed doors.
I wonder how long it takes to remove spoiled rich kid poop from 200 plus year old documents. Maybe we can use some of those drapes Ashcroft hung on those statues to wipe it off...
"This would be easier if this was a Dictatorship, of course with me as Dictator" GW Bush
Will you issue an apology if the court upholds ALL provisons of CFR?
No. The First Amendment says: CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW... ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH...
And, it seems to me, that to whittle away at Political Speech is an assault on the very essence of that amendment.
No. But I do wish that I still retained the ignorance of youth as you have.
Today, like it or not, we must recognize that there are no rules except to win. Winning sets us up to try to reverse the damage, IMHO.
Reading Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior and Rogue Warrior: Strategies for Success, I have seen countless times where the "rules" are broken, and those who "broke the rules" won big. Thinking outside the box is the best shot here, and frankly, if we do not, then we will be doomed to lose everything.
Short-term compromises are acceptable right now. Sorry if the folks who hold principle above everything are upset, but a principled loser is still a loser. I did not choose these terms of politics. The Dems have set these terms. I accept them and fight by them so my principles have a chance.
If it means the President has to appear on Howard Stern's show, so be it. If we have to run an amnesty provision we know will be blocked to get an edge over the Dems, I'll do it in a heartbeat. If it means we punt something to the Supreme Court, knowing we will get the ball in better field position when they are done with it, I'll do it. We're not going to get everything we want right away. We must prioritize, pick and choose our fights, and for now, pick only those fights where we have relative strength to out opposition. It's ugly, but then again, politics was never a clean endeavour. You just hope that you are cleaner than your opponents when all is said and done.
Thus endeth my sermon.
While the president's move may be a masterstroke, cutting the issue from the Dems hands, temporarily silencing McCain, and gathering more votes from the voters than losing, I still believe that signing such a bill and hoping the Supreme Court kicks it back is a dangerous ploy. We have seen the Court surprise everyone and issue rulings that turn the nation on it's head (like Roe vs Wade).
I am very disgusted that he would tell the various groups who supported him through the campaign, the Election, and through the last year that there were 6 problems with the bill that would cause him to VETO. Then when it comes to his desk he signs it anyway, with every one of the reasons he disliked it still intact. How can I believe him when the next issue rises. Making unpopular decisions (re-thinking the use of tactical nuclear weapons, for example) are inevitable. But sticking to your word, and standing by the Constitution are an imperative.
Remember "Read my Lips"? That reversal impacted the grass-roots support of Bush 41st. This, in my opinion, is a greater reversal than that had been.
THANK YOU! This is, in essense, all that I was attempting to say. Principle means absolutely nothing if you are not in a position to use those principles assertively. You can be principled all you want, but if you are not in the game, it means nothing.
I guess it escapes most that being so "principled" makes one an easy target to pick off. I mean, the "unprincipled" knows that the "principled" will not do whatever it takes to win. In politics, the realm in which most everyone seems to forget is the playing field, to the aggressor goes the victory. This has always been the truth, is always the truth, and will always be the truth. Period. End of story. No amount of complaining about it is going to change the rules of the game.
All I'm guilty of here is telling the truth. And if that's my only crime, then hey, I'm guilty as charged and will continuously be guilty.
So that there is no question, here's why I am the way that I am: MY SOLE PURPOSE IS TO DEFEAT, OBLITERATE, DESTROY, ANNIHILATE, AND DISPOSE OF THE LEFT. And you can quote me on it. When it's dead and buried, I will dig it up from time to time, empty 25 full metal jackets into the corpse, and bury it again. You can quote me on that, too.
The Left is dangerous, deadly, and will be the cause of the destruction of America, unless we do something about it. We have two means at our disposal: ballots or ballistics.
I have studied and continue to see how they use, manipulate, and rob my people, American blacks, of not only its ambition, but more importantly its pride. Leftism is a curse upon the Spirit of America, it is antithetical to achievement, and seeks only to further its goals and power. America cannot absorb any more Balkanization. But if we don't defeat the Left, it will continue.
And you think I don't absolutely HATE the Left? Ha! No, I'm not talking about the people. I'm talking about Leftist ideology. Honest to God above, I loathe Leftism. I really, really do.
There are those who are critical of my apparent "lack" of principles. So be it. Now, if they would kindly step aside, I'd like to go forward with M-16 in hand, selector switch at "burst."
This may be splitting hairs, but it seems like your beef would be with the congress and the supreme court. Bush is just the middle man.
How many times to I have to mention this?
Thanks for your insights.
TC
Yep Reagan raised taxes 90 billion and those are still in effect today. Bush the first raised taxes 130 billion mainly due to the costs of a shooting war. Today, Reagan is the gold standard for conservatives, Bush 1 is old "read my lips".
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