And since this is posted:
then I must be fair and balanced:
Posted on 06/22/2002 9:46:05 AM PDT by quidnunc
This summer will mark the 47th year since I took my first Republican job: as public relations director for the party in Minnesota. Since then I have rarely strayed from politics, or my party. I served as a staffer to two GOP congressmen, to a GOP governor, as a federal appointee to Richard Nixon and as a corporate executive who supported in Washington and Springfield much, if not all, of the Republican agenda.
You can describe me as a conservative. Thus I am qualified to say that although I dearly love conservatives, they tend to be querulous, disagreeable and threaten revolt when Republican office-holders don't please them. So it is now with George W. Bush. Here is a president who has surprised us all with the firmness and resolve he showed after 9/11. I must tell you I voted for him with less enthusiasm than I had for many of his predecessors. But his administration has pleased me often — most notably on two issues: defense of America and social policy.
Yet, Bush has to get re-elected in a country that is evenly divided on philosophy. Thus he must occasionally — on matters that sometimes offend conservatives — dip into the other side's ideology for support. He has done so on three notable occasions: on the issue of steel protectionism, where he departed his free-market proclamations; on the signing of a campaign finance bill tailored by his enemies, and allowing his attorney general (in the words of Libertarian Nat Hentoff in the Washington Times) "to send disguised agents into religious institutions, libraries and meetings of citizens critical of government policy without a previous complaint, or reason to believe that a crime has been committed."
In a perfect political world, where conservatives are in the majority, these things would be sufficient to encourage a boycott of the polls. Either that or a protest vote for the Democratic opposition. But we are not in a perfect world. We conservatives have a president who didn't receive a majority of the votes, and has one house of Congress against him. He must make compromises to get re-elected. Conservatives who do not understand the nature of politics ought to stay in their air-conditioned ivory towers and refrain from political activity altogether. If they cannot adjudge the stakes in this election and the difference between Bush and an Al Gore or a John Kerry (D-Mass.) or a Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), they are foolish indeed.
-snip-
To read the remainder of this op/ed open the article via the link provided in the thread's header.
You can call conservatives names all you like, but don't pretend you are doing the GOP (or FR for that matter) any good when you do it...you're not.
Why yes they do.
But of course I was always under the impression that FR was more than a mere chatroom.
Amen.
And since this is posted:
then I must be fair and balanced:
Then you don't mind if "we" sit out the next election or vote third party, right?
C. Corday, whinger
And just what is he supposed to have done, given a "stirring" speech to show you he's on your side. Everytyhing else depends on the Congress and the courts. This isnt a totalitarian state.
Maybe you should consider what you're saying about Jim and John Robinson when you say that. If you believe that to be true, perhaps you're the one in the wrong place.
Youre setting up a red herring. When Bush moves to the left, he's not doing it to appeal to the Dems. They are beyond any appeals he could make. What he is doing is going after the moderates/independents/non ideologial pragmatists that decide presidential elections.
If everyone agreed on here it would be boring as hell, to me anyway. I must question the motives of people that wish to silence or ignore dissenting voices within the conservative spectrum of thought.
Well, we can't all be self-serving, self-promoting, pontificating posters.
How dare you offend my oh-so-perfect conservative credentials and principles. It must be my way or the highway, or I'm not going to the polls on election day. The other side may run over this whole nation, but at least I can puff out my chest and say, "I didn't vote!" And why didn't I vote you ask? Simple. I didn't vote because there wasn't a candidate that agreed with 100% of what I think is right. Therefore, no one reserved my vote.
I don't want 60%. Don't want 70%. Heck, I don't even want 90% of what I think needs to be done. It's 100% or nothing.
Graphic (apparently) by Registered
1. Stem cell Research
2. His speech all but inviting illegals to come.
3. CFR
4. Steel Tariff
5. 245i, tried to sneak that through twice.
6. Kept all of Clinton's EO's, especially the land grabbing ones
7. No investigation into Clinton misdeeds.
8. Lied about the trashing of the White House
9. Waffling on Terrorism: this is could be listed 10,11,12. but for sake of argument I will list them a, b, c, under 9.
a. Kissing up to the Saudi's allowing them to call the tune.
b. Telling Isreal to end their war on terror and just die.
c. The insanity of considering a Palestinian State.
10. 10 billion extra dollars to the U.N. on top of the 58 they claim we owe in back dues.
11. Not vetoing our re-funding of UNESCO so our money can be used to upgrade beautiful downtown Havanna, Cuba.
12. Under no pressure from anyone, revoking part of Welfare Reform Act and throwing immigrant welfare on the backs of tax payers instead of the sponser's that sign an affidavit to support them.
13. Home Land Security, a dangerous joke thrown together to look busy which threatens citizens civil liberties while refusing to protect our borders, profile Arabs, stop visa's to Terrorist nations, require the Saudi's to submit a passenger list, or curb immigration from terrorist nations. Maybe I should have done the a,b,c, thing, but what the heck.
14. Placing the EPA in direct competition with private buyers for choice land by giving the seller a 25% break on his capital gains taxes.
15. Vows to strictly enforce gun laws on the books, many of which are unconsitutional.
16. Hasn't veto'ed one item yet threatens to veto funds to disabled American Vets.
17. The Farm Bill
18. Disarming our missile systems, unilaterally.
19. Stood up for racial quota's while demanding there be no racial profiling of people from the Mideast at airports.
You want me to keep going or have you had enough? I don't care if you support Bush, that's your choice, I'm tired of the bashing of clear eyed people because they see him for what he is. The lame statement, "their just mad because he doesn't do everything they want", how about the truth, he does NOTHING conservatives want. He's batting zero with alot of good people and it doesn't make them the DU underground movement, it doesn't make them whiney babies, it doesn't make them Gore supporters, and it darn sure doesn't make them "ignorant of how politics work".
If you want me to add more to this list, just let me know, I can go on and on, downpayments for minority housing, no guns for pilots in the cockpit. I can't wait to see your list.
I wonder if it would be possible to get these comments sent to my freepmail prior to being removed? Controversy never did frighten me much. Probably some of the more interesting posts anyway. I promise not to repost them. Just curious! ;^)
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