"THAT which you believe"---"An open letter to Republicans"

6/23/02 | redrock

[redrock]

"This is free ground. All the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here's a place to build a home. It isn't the land--there's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value, you and me, we're worth something more than the dirt. I never saw dirt I'd die for, but I'm not asking you to come join us and fight for dirt. What we're all fighting for, in the end, is each other."

What is it that you believe???

A real question....since so many times on this forum, and others, the Republican 'mantra' has become a simple one.

Defeat the Democrats..whatever the cost..the Democrats are the enemy...(sort of Orwellian in it's simplicity)..repeated time after time...and anyone who dares to ask questions of George Bush's policies and actions is loudly shouted down.

But here's a 'news flash' for ya.......It may be that the Democratic Senators...Representitives.....leaders ARE the enemy of maintaining a Constitutional Republic.

But...the average member of the Democratic Party...is not.

The average member of the Democratic Party is just brainwashed..(for want of a better word)...

Just like the average member of the Republican Party is in danger of becoming.

"This is a party, this Republican Party, a Party for free men, not for blind followers, and not for conformists. "

So..I'll ask my very simple questions once again......

And Republicans who wish to rant and rave about 'third party' this or that...go right ahead.

But George W. Bush barely won the last election.....

You NEED staunch conservatives ( nowadays I guess we would be considered 'radical'.....) to help re-elect him....and others of the party..

CONVINCE us.........that at a certain point you will be willing to fight for 'old time values'.....

CONVINCE us ...that you have not become slavish followers of GWB...in much the same way as some did with Clinton....that you will ask the 'hard questions' (and demand the answers).

CONVINCE us.......and you will not do so by the constant dismissal of our very real concerns.

CONVINCE us.......

-----------------

So where do we 'draw the line'????

Should we elect rapists or murderers...if they are members of the Republican Party..and could 'help retake the Senate'???

At what point do you say 'this far and no further'???

Must every single American 'prostitute' themselves in order for one political party (one which on CLOSE examination is no different than the other one) to 'control' government???

I have certain values and beliefs...based upon my Belief in God.

Should I just throw those Beliefs and Values away...and close my eyes....just so the Republicans can win???

The basis of this Nation is a hardcore belief that the values and ideals (sorry to use that word..ideals...seems that word anymore has the same effect on Republicans as a Cross does to evil) that founded this Nation are important....

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Well redrock CONVINCE us.......That any party or man we vote for is gonna do a damn thing every one candidate from the last election has shown its true colors since and not a damn one has held up to the srutiny of its constituants ....so go figure these people dont listen to anything tell me that harry brown or john mccain would have done a better job that so far there colors have been shown to be false to this country and to their own party

So CONVINCE us.......We should vote for anyone else period whats that you say its hard to answer considering were at war hmmmmm

Know what i might vote for Ron Paul if he ran Allen Keyes Maybe And thats a weak maybe

Untill one of them can show me a track record of being for the country and its people and not for the pocketbook and its special interests ill stick with G.W.B.

Maybe that make me a bush bot if it does oh well to me it just makes sence

[thrcanbonly1]

So I've got a question for you, when are you going to work to make the party better by either running for election or helping to elect those whithin the party who support your beliefs.

If there was anyone in the Republican Party who supported my beliefs and principals I would. BTW I live in AZ and there is no way I would be associated with McCommie in any way. He has to many RINO supporters here on the Fed Gravy Train to be ever be booted out.

I think that is the crux of the problem. There are no Constitutionalist Republicans left. At least not in AZ

[NC_Libertarian]

Bush Is Lord!

[tricky_k_1972]

Then' like I said run for election, work to find those in the party to support. I know it sounds like banging your head against the wall but it can and has worked, I find myself lucky and privileged to live in a state like Nebraska that has many great conservatives, but I still work to help those that I respect get elected. I plan to run for office myself when i get a little older. I may not win but I will not go down into this defeatist attitude that the party sucks, the world sucks and were all going to hell in a hand basket.

[thrcanbonly1]

"Republicans believe that government should be limnited to doing for people those things which they cannot do for themselves.

Such as?

I am not being sarcastic. I would like to see those things enumerated.

[dcwusmc]

BRAVO. Excellent post. Thanks for stating it so well!

[sneakypete]

I'd like to hear the answers as well.

I'm afraid we all have a long wait ahead of us.

[Luis Gonzalez]

The Gospel According To My Old Man

When I was awakening to the world of political ideology, I sat with my father one afternoon, and watched a news program about the American Socialist Party, their goals, and their presidential candidate. One of the speakers was a man who had fled Castro, and now promoted socialism in the US.

I was incensed by what I was watching, and I loudly proclaimed that these people, needed to be thrown in jail for treason, specially this Cuban socialist idiot. I made the comment that his father must have been simply mortified at his son's treachery...and waxed on about the dishonor he was bringing to his parents, should rain on him three hundred fold.

My father said something very disturbing to me then, I thought he had gone insane, and left home disgusted at him.

He said: "I brought you here so that if you wanted to, you could become a socialist or even a communist."

It took me years to figure out what he was telling me.

My old man believes in freedom, the freedom to make whatever choices you wish to make, within the confines of the law. He believes that free men can make the choice to become communists, a choice that was taken from us in Cuba, because communism was the ONLY choice.

In this point in my life, I still abhor communism, but I will fight to the death for an American's right to chose communism.

You thread on dangerous grounds when you dismiss anyone and everyone who doesn't think like you do as being brainwashed, or when you argue that the choices free people make when advancing their political ideology are wrong.

Listen to the gospel according to my old man.

The day we take away people's ability to make their own choice in government, is the day that the Republic has truly fallen.

I don't have to convince you of anything other than to respect my choices, as I respect yours.

[DoughtyOne]

I liked Newt in a lot of ways. He troubled me in others.

[sneakypete]

Let me be first say"BRING BACK NEWT"

I can let you be the second one.

[Dominic Harr]

I say, boycott all parties.

Voty "indy".

As an individual.

[tricky_k_1972]

Yes I didn't like that cheated on his wife, that sucked, but he stood up to Dumbocrats and was unafraid to use Conservative language. The best part was that he VOTED his beliefs.

[Teacher317]

I had my bout with spite. I had it in 1992, and my reward was eight years of William Jefferson Clinton. Lots of us showed ol' man Bush just what we thought about 'read my lips.' Sumbitch can't keep a promise, we'll show him, we'll vote for Ross Perot. Been there, done that, got the stained dress. Never again.

And yet, obviously, the GOP hasn't learned the lesson. What on earth can we do to wake them up, if not leaving them to wallow in obscurity, their greatest nightmare? They surely haven't responded to anything else, except for the temptation of following the Left's lead in expanding Socialism in exchange for their personal 'job security'!

[tricky_k_1972]

Second, geess I'm slipping. LOL

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks. I can be a real pain in the ass, but in the morning I think we have to start fresh and let bygones be bygones. I know a number of people on this forum do make lists and check them twice. What a waste of time. Every time I face people here I want it to be on the point of discussion, not the last three years. Who cares if we disagreed six months ago. Today there's a new topic and we should argue it on it's merits. I don't hold grudges against anyone on the forum and I'd encorage others to adopt the same policy for themselves. I can laugh at myself and often do. Why would I have a problem with you guys when you do. I could care less if some called me names yesterday. We all get worked up. Now let's get on with what needs to be done.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you.

[lentulusgracchus]

I had my bout with spite. I had it in 1992, and my reward was eight years of William Jefferson Clinton. Lots of us showed ol' man Bush just what we thought about 'read my lips.' Sumbitch can't keep a promise, we'll show him, we'll vote for Ross Perot.

Been there, done that, got the stained dress. Never again.

I think you drew the wrong conclusion.

Politicians are like dogs. Sometimes you have to be unpleasant, and accept unpleasant consequences yourself (like pooping on the rug), and roll up a magazine to impart the very basic message that you need to get across to them: "NO" really means "NO!"

Look at all the trouble Tennessee voters are having, educating their legislators about the unacceptability of a personal income tax. Look at what Lowell Weicker did in Connecticut -- a RINO deluxe -- and then accepted a prize from Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg for "political courage" for having done exactly the same thing, which was to ram an income tax down the People's throat.

I voted for Ross Perot. I wasn't totally stupid -- I knew that no way was Old Man Bush going to lose Texas -- but I'd seen his ward-heelers ram through his slate of RINO delegates in the precinct caucuses, the same way the silk stockings in the Louisiana Third had done to Ronald Reagan in district convention in 1976. No, these people do not respect Main Street. They don't respect anyone who doesn't have one hundred million dollars or the chairmanship of a Fortune 500 company.

And there are certain things we have to do, to make sure conservative concerns are heard, and that conservatives continue to be included on primary ballots, not bumped off the way Shrub has done with Texas conservatives on the State Board of Education, for example -- backing RINO's running against incumbent Republican conservatives in the primaries!

How about insisting on a little loyalty back, before you foreswear voting for a Ross Perot or a Pat Buchanan again?

And let's get down to cases: would the American people, knowing what they know about Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party, really vote for him again? How much do they know now about what Clinton really is, and how can that not transfer to every Dim who runs for high office again? People talk about how close Gore came -- after the academics modeled a Democratic walkover. Knowledgable political scientists tinkering with AI software had forward-modeled a seven-point Gore win......and he lost, and the difference between winning and losing was the character issue.

The whole Democratic Party is a character issue! And where is the Republican who is going to make that issue from now until 2004? In the Business Wing of the party? I don't think so -- "pragmatist" says it all, they will never back the "backbone issues" that make conservatives what they are.

[Registered]

The legacy of those "principled conservatives" who broke from the GOP in 1992 to stand by their convictions, will forever be known as the Clinton presidency.

From my own personal experience, I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. All of them voted for Perot in '92 except me that went for Bush Sr. If it weren't for Perot being in the mix I believe they would have voted for Bush Sr. too. I think it was the "read my lips" mantra of the left combined with a desire for any change that made them vote for Perot..they wanted to see D.C. get cleaned up and Perot was talking the talk.

However, I am the only "true" conservative in the family,I am both fiscally and socially conservative where they are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. So, just from my little laboratory family experiment, I would say that it was not the "principled" conservatives that left Sr. flapping in the wind in '92, more likely those disgruntled moderates...sorry to burst your bubble ;-)

[DoughtyOne]

You and I probably share a lot of thoughts about what's going on. This is the end of June. We have to think about this fall's elections. I'd rather have Republicans win than Democrats. Let's give Bush his Senate and see what he does with it. We'll have plenty of time to carp if he doesn't do what's right. And if he doesn't, the Bush supporters will finally see the light. Of course we may have to eat humble pie if he does dart back to the right.

[Teacher317]

First it is not a Democratic party. It is the Democrat party.

Actually, it's the Democratic Socialist Party, thanks to O'Reilly. Let's make sure the name sticks.

If you don't know why you should be a Republican after you read it I only have one comment. Ignorance can be cured, stupidity is forever.

The sentiments in that party platform are beautifully stated, but the party leadership has yet to put it into practice, or even attempt to do so. If you can't see that they are being typical hypocritical politicians, and merely promising what we wish to hear without any intent to follow-up on the ideals, then I have a similar comment to return to you.

The cornerstone of the Republican philosophy is the belief that each person is responsible for their own place in our society. (farm subsidies, housing downpayments for minorities, aid to almost every nation on earth, etc.) Individuals are encouraged by the Republican Party to work to secure the benefits of society for themselves, their families and for those who are unable to care for themselves. (yet they are hindered from doing so by income taxes, estate taxes, capital gains taxes, etc.) Democrats are more willing to subordinate individual rights to the assumed needs of the group. They assume that society collectively is responsible for each of its members. They place less emphasis on individual enterprise and initiative." "Republicans believe that government should be limnited to doing for people those things which they cannot do for themselves. (Leaving the door open for all sorts of extra-Constitutional vote-buying Socialistic give-aways) The right to determine individual destiny should lie in the hands of the individual.) (Yet they support gun-control laws, seatbelt laws, drug laws, and a million regulations "for our own safety", even when we are the only ones affected) Similarly, Republicans believe governmental power and resources should be kept close to the people through their state and community leaders, rather than cetralized in distant big government." (Yet we see ZERO encouragement for this at the GOP's national level in the decade-plus since Reagan)

In short, there is no difference in the PRODUCT of the two parties, no matter what their stated philosophies may be.