Conservatives' core duty on WMD

CS Monitor ^ | July 08, 2003 edition | Doug Bandow

[Reaganwuzthebest]

You aren't a conservative. You are a big government liberal.

Yes anyone who doesn't agree with Protagoras that we should have totally free trade is a big government liberal.

You'll have to learn to live with it, but current policies will be changed eventually, and it won't be done by democrats.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

You, carefully it seems, avoid the points raised by this article.

My initial reaction to the article was the fact a non-conservative organization was telling conservatives what they should think or do.

As far as Bush, don't have an opinion one way or the other at this point because I haven't seen any convincing evidence yet he knowingly mislead the public. The only thing I wish he would do is close them borders.

[RJCogburn]

I haven't seen any convincing evidence yet he knowingly mislead the public

Nor have I, and I am doubtful he did so. But, as the article says, that is not the point.

The point is not that the administration is necessarily guilty of misbehavior, but that it should be forced to defend its decisionmaking process.

If they made bad judgements, or made errors, it should be examined. I don't need to know the details of how decisions were made, but we ought to have some confidence it is less likely to happen again. Just saying, "Opps, sorry, we'll do better next time" is not enough when we are talking about Americans dying in combat.

[jla]

Yes, but, if thru the process of validation it is revealed that these people are being dishonest, doesn't that show you that you can't believe in certain people without validation?

Absolutely. That's why the No Need For Validation list isn't a very long one.
But surely included are people like RR, Dubya, Peggy Noonan, Jean Kirkpatrick and a few others.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

If they made bad judgements, or made errors, it should be examined.

The worst thing Bush or any politician can do is act like they're hiding something. He should just come out and say mistakes were made regarding information given to him and let the chips fall where they may. Saddam was a terrorist and there was good reason to take him out anyway.

If he doesn't put a stop to it, the democrats, and the Cato Institutes of the world will beat him over the head with it forever, and what I'd really hate to see is political fallout that affects House races.

[Protagoras]

Yes anyone who doesn't agree with Protagoras that we should have totally free trade is a big government liberal.

Actually is goes deeper than that.Perhaps deeper than you can fathom. It goes to ;
Anyone who thinks it is proper for government thugs to tell people what they can buy, at what price and from whom and what they can pay and what they can earn is a big government liberal. And that is being charitable. Partially free trade is a like a partially preganant women. It can't happen. You are free or you aren't. The degree of your enslavment is irrelevant to the real picture.

You'll have to learn to live with it, but current policies will be changed eventually, and it won't be done by democrats.

Nonsense. You will be long dead before the government gets so utterly whacky that it goes totally backward and sends us back toward the middle ages. By then it will be the last few years of the experiment and freedom will already be dead because of thugs and criminals and the terminally moronic useful idiots who support them.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

So for 200 years prior to these third world free trade deals we were living under tyranny? I don't think so. You're exaggerating for dramatic effect to keep one-sided policies that favor no one but greedy CEOs in place. You have yet to address my posts that it was Republicans through the centuries who supported and promoted protectionism, not liberals.

No one is saying a company can't move to Vietnam and pay workers .20 an hour if they wish. But it is totally within government's right to tax the imports of their products. They used to do that if it undercutted the American worker and it wasn't tyranny, it was government acting in the best interests of the taxpayers. And no, the return to at least some resemblance of that policy won't be after I'm dead, but within the next 5 to 10 years after millions of unemployed voters finally rise up and say enough.

[Blzbba]

"But surely included are people like RR, Dubya, Peggy Noonan, Jean Kirkpatrick and a few others. "


Absolutely. I forgot to add "the media should be validated too". One only has to look at that NY Times scandal to see the problems that causes!

[Blzbba]

Whoops - I misread your reply...

I think any President needs to be taken to task re:Information validation. If there's nothing to hide, then there's nothing to worry about. And, if thru the process of said validation, the discrediting parties are proven incorrect(Dems for RR, GOP for Clinton (GOP was rarely wrong about that snake!)), then so much the better! Wouldn't it be nice to say to Dem-Bush haters "Shut the hell up - everything you question is already proven to be fact!", rather than "You should just believe the President!"?

thanks for the responses! have a good weekend.

[RebelDawg]

Hiring whomever you want and selling products to whomever will buy them at whatever price arrived upon without coersion is free trade.

You do not have the first clue as to what "free-trade" is or what it means to be a "conservative" for that matter. Free-Trade cannot exist between nations that have vastly differing economies, if it is attempted then the nation with the higher economy will see its standard of living plummet as it dives to an equilibrium with that of its poorer trade partner. The only way that trade can exist between two nations of vastly differing economies is for tariffs to be used. This so called "free-trade" that you advocate is exactly what is hurting our economy! Globalist politicians blame our economic woes on everything under the sun to distract people like you from the truth. "Free-Trade" as you describe it can only lead to the loss of all sovereignty for all nations including ours. You have either been duped into your beliefs by other globalists posing to be conservatives or you are consciously perpetrating these lies as a die-hard member of the globalist movement. In either case if what you are longing for is open borders, unrestriicted "free-trade" with third world nations, a world economic society without borders and nationalities then you sir are neither a conservative nor an American. You are a globalist pure and simple.

If one of our founding fathers had decided to sell out the jobs of their neighbors in exchange for cheap foreign labor they would have been ostricized from society if not outright exiled. Your views of being a conservative and an American are so perverted that it is an incredible sight to view your raving postings.

Let us look at one of our basic traditional beliefs that have been held in America:

America is the land of opportunity, if you work hard and study and be the best that you truely can be then you can succeed in America! Sadly, his is no longer true. Many of our best and brightest citizens are having their lives ruined by your so called "free-trade" agreements. These people are not being replaced because of any lack of skills as the globalsits claim. They are simply having their lives sold down the river by corporate pirates and corrupt politicians. Answer me this: "If these workers are lacking the proper skills then why do these corporations force them to impart these skills to their "new" foreign replacements before they are laid off?

The American people will only travel so far down your globalist path, they will not allow their country to fade into the night and be undermined by your open borders and rediculous corporate trade schemes! This can only end in a the loss of our national identity and our sovereignty. If you disagree then I would like to hear your thesis on how a country can remove its own borders, ruin its own economy, force its own people onto welfare and still remain a world power or even a sovereign nation...

[Protagoras]

I don't know what a globalist is nor do I care. Nor do I claim to know what a "conservative" is. I have seen "conservatives" on this forum embrace everything from fascism to communism and everything in between.

I am a classic liberal. I believe in individual liberty and personal responsibilty. What you believe is of no consequence to me.