The republican party is also a corrupt party. They are , via the GWB administration, currently conducting the worst assault on the constitution and Bill of Rights in the history of this country. They have covered up for the Clintons which makes them just as guilty. The kangeroo court held by the republican senate, during the Clinton impeachment, was the most blatant example of corruption I have ever seen. There is no way that you will ever convince me that the republicans are the answer to anything. There are a few elected republicans that I will gladly support, but their number is very few.
I don't know why you think that the republican party is our salvation, but the republican party and the GWB administration are no heroes. They have started a war against terror, but have refused to even bother to protect the american people by closing the borders. In the time that GWB has been talking about invading Iraq, Saddam could have easily smuggled 10's of thousands of terriorists or soldiers into this country and we have done nothing to stop it. GWB has deliberately and knowingly put american citizens at risk for the sole purpose of maybe, maybe, getting some of the hispanic vote. I call that corruption.
The idea that a (R) behind an elected representative or senator will save this country is pure BS and you know that as well as I. The only way that we, as a people, will ever regain control of our government is when we realize that party politics are not the answer. We must select our representatives regardless of label but because of who they are and what they believe and what they stand for. Nothing else will work and nothing else will save us or deter us from the path on which we are currently traveling. The idea of holding ones nose when voting is no longer viable, we must work to elect those people who are honest and principled and if the candidates we select are not of the republican party, too bad. The problems we face today will not be solved by party politics. They will only be solved by a thinking electorate that will take the time to get involved. What you're suggesting is that we accept the lesser of the two evils, democrat or republican. I submit that we will get to the same place with either party and that it is time that we start anew. If you think that by simply electing republicans, we will solve our problems, you are more naive than I.
Let the flames begin.
If you're gonna lie, I guess you might as well lie big.
This could take all night but I will just start with this absurdity. The constitution was more or less suspended both during the Civil War and during WW2. You are ignorant of your own country's history. What assault other than the overheated garbage about 4th amendment “violations” in the Patriot act? Those “violations boil down to, sneak and peek warrants which have been in law long before Bush came into office and the only change in the PA was the time extension on notification. The PA also changed wire-tapping laws to bring account for present technology including cell-phones and the Internet and all judicial review requirements are the same as they always have been. I will not call you stupid but you are obviously ignorant concerning the charges you so blithely throw around.
Yeah I see the columns marching past my window right now. Look if you want to be taken seriously at least think before you make such wild statements.
Such as? Name one present 3rd party candidate for any office that has ever been elected to anything so his record as an elected official could be examined. How do you know how Pat Buchanan would act if he ever found himself in power, or Browne or Phillips or Keyes. They have the luxury of never being held accountable to voters. They can take unyielding stances in the sure knowledge that they will never have to live up to them.
Right after 9/11, GWB had the right idea, by calling it that. His failure is that he hasn't pounded away at that theme, having been distracted by those who caution him about appearing to be insensitive or racist. He was not being insensitive or racist. He was telling the truth, and leading. And he needs to do a lot more of that, and quickly.
Gunshy, I agree with your statement that no republican in Congress can save this country. But I do believe GWB could, if he would cast off all the concerns of his administration and do what is in his heart.
If he would LEAD, if he would make calculated decisions, if he would explain WHY things are happening, or WHY things aren't being explained, he'd been doing better than he is.
It's his job to convince the administration to come to an agreement over Iraq, not the other way around. Or at least it should seem that way to us.
We can keep pounding away on our computers, pasting our opinions on FR month after month and pull a straight party GOP lever in November and it isn't going to make a damn bit of difference.
That's because Bill Clinton was too successful in his PR war against the republicans and conservatives -- and because the GOP isn't doing enough to combat the false image he and his cronies were able to project.
No matter how much you (we, anyone)hates Democrats and the Clinton way of thinking -- it is way too prevalent to be easily or immediately "overthrown."
You have to fight fire with fire. And that means throwing back all the Democratic crap they've spewed at us for so many years back in their faces. And not giving them any more ammnuniton.
To that end, the GOP has a big PR job to do:
1) OPEN GOVERNMENT should be THE MAJOR theme, after eight years of Clinton.All week long at the intelligence committee hearings, the senators have been clamoring about how Americans deserve to know what happened prior to 9/11. TELL THEM. TELL THEM ALL OF IT, AND LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES.
2) Forget the ridiculous notion that criminal suspects in the U.S.(American and otherwise) should be denied access to an attorney, or that their conversations with their attorneys should be monitored. If we don't believe in our system of justice or the Constitution, then they should be altered. But the alterations should be done by the Congress, not the executive branch.
If those labeled "enemy combatants" are truly enemy soldiers, then they should be subject to the rules of the Geneva convention. If they are so dangerous that their very existence threatens the United States, they should be executed.
3). Forget "negative campaigning." When there's a crime, call it a crime, and cast blame where it belongs, and indict people who need to be indicted. Including former presidents.
4) Find women who are reflective of America and put them on TV (and in office), women who will champion the republican platform --including the fact that abortion is a crime and a sin. This means republican men have to start trusting women to this type of position, and listening to and respecting women who might not look as perfect as Ann Coulter or Phllis Schafly or Elizabeth Dole, or any of the few other(true) GOP women out there in the public eye.
It also means that republican women have to trust themselves. Stand up for your beliefs,ladies, and don't be afraid to give interviews, and write letters to newspapers and publications, and call talkshows. And start by doing it in your own little social group. It's not as difficult as you think it will be at first, and you'll sure find out who your real friends are quickly.
It is important for Jim to remember that many of us are represented by republicans we don't believe to be real republicans. For example, Jim, would YOU vote for Arlen Specter? Would you vote for someone who supports abortion, who voted against the impeachment of Clinton (and essentially misled the electorate about that, just prior to being re-elected in 1998?) Not to mention his past history on the Warren Commission?
WE have allowed the democratic party (and to a lesser degree, the GOP) to hijack us. Gunshy is absolutely right about this. And unless WE TAKE ACTION, nothing is going to change. And action does change things. You'd be surprised how much one letter to a congressional office, or to a newspaper or TV station, can achieve. It doesn't happen all the time. But your letter or call can be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
This is supposed to be an activist site. Voting for Republicans is fine. And Jim is right, the democratic platform is evil, and there was much evil accomplished under Clinton, probably much more than we even know.
But that evil continues. There are a lot of people without jobs in this country. Very shortly, the unemployment compensation for people laid off in the wake of 9/11 is going to run out. What is going to happen then? The GOP has had little or nothing to say about it.
It's all well and good for republicans to talk about cutting taxes and reforming social security. But when people have used up their (dried up) savings and maxed out their credit cards and can't find a job, and are still 20 years away from retirement age and have kids to feed,and are suddenly on the brink of becoming homeless, who do you think they're going to listen to, as it stands now? The democrats, or the republicans?
We can blame it on Bill Clinton and the democrats, but we better start looking at ourselves, imho. And calling the republicans to account, and quickly.
Bump for the cold hard facts.