GOP R.I.P.
By John Batchelor on April 11, 2009 at 10:15 AM in Democrats, Depression, John Batchelor, Republicans, TARP
Originally published today at The Daily Beast, which wrote, “Conservative radio host John Batchelor says it’s obvious: His Republican Party is a corpse. And its response to the financial crisis reveals how and when it died.”
The Republican Party is dead like Lehman Brothers and Robert E. Lee, not to be revived by TARP, Rupert Murdoch, or a surge of feverish nationalism.
The present financial collapse makes it plain to see that the Republican Party did not die recently at the hands of the clever Democrats, but rather in 1933 at the hands of cowards, sycophants, and snobs who regarded the awesome Democratic victories in 1930 and 1932 as a “smear” of Herbert Hoover and a “panic.” Since the Great Depression I, the Democrats have been the electorate’s default choice, the politicians who rule as if America was simultaneously a school district, a union hall, a junior-year-abroad seminar, and a PAC. The Republicans who pop up now and again thrive in the empty-quarter counties of the West or in the so-called Old South, which is better understood as Confederacy Lite.
I am the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Hoosier Republicans who marched through Georgia with Sherman, endured jobs on the Pennsy, and then survived the Hitlerites from Omaha Beach to Berlin. My father is at Arlington now and would not at first be comfortable with my saying what he himself could see in his last years as he watched the Keystone State become solid blue. The Democrats win just because the Republicans have disqualified themselves as leaders with their greed, cruelty, and surprising clumsiness. From Herbert Hoover to Robert Taft, from the Bush clan to the ridiculous Tom DeLay, not one note of grace, not a convincing moment of understanding that the Republican Party is about honest liberty for honest, laboring people—not about Wall Street, the tax code, chasing Reds, or bullying the lonely.
Vigilant Democrats worry today that the Republican Party is only playing possum, or that it can be revived by extraordinary means such as a Martian invasion.
What remains to call themselves Republicans are baldly badly educated or just prankish Confederate re-enactors—chubby men in gray and butternut suits with gold buttons and feather-tipped hats, clanking down stairs with shiny sabers. A handful of them are just boors from the South who look poorly on horseback and wave unread Bibles while calling for Billy Sunday to rise like the gold market.
What about Ike and Richard Nixon and the worshipped California cowboy manqué Ronald Reagan? Not one of them cared a toothpick for the Republican Party of their time and each struggled mightily to remake it. Ike was indifferent to partisanship: His beating of the splenetic Robert Taft in 1952 for the nomination was the success of a conqueror over a sharpie. Nixon was a troubled, spiteful Quaker who despised the Republican Party as the “Eastern Establishment,” and who governed as a liberal Democrat with the apostasy of wage and price controls, the EPA, and embassies to the mass-murdering Mao and the hollow Brezhnev. Reagan was a right-wing Democrat from homespun Illinois who, after years of failing in Hollywood and then charming California, swamped Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale with the passionate votes of the Democratic Party. I have long suspected that the Kennedys voted for Reagan twice.
What about 1994? Georgia’s Newt Gingrich (born Newton McPherson in Pennsylvania to teenaged parents whose father immediately scrammed) was a gifted opportunist and compulsive gabber who asserted before the 1994 election that “Clinton Democrats” were “the enemy of normal Americans.” Gingrich made other heated claims that left no Yankee Republican in doubt that this was a man who dreamed to be either Jeff Davis or his butler. The Gingrich-led takeover of the House, matched by the cranky Bob Dole’s suzerainty in the lifeless Senate, can now be regarded not as a Republican comeback but as a transitional blip in which the baby boomers and Gen Xers established a new leadership of the Democratic Party.
As Speaker of the House, Gingrich wasted four years talking aimlessly about “normal Americans.” Then, after he failed against Bill Clinton with the silly ploy of using Monica Lewinsky and her Inspector Javert, Ken Starr, Gingrich fled to Fox TV to ramble harmlessly about “moral tone” and his enemies, “the very small counterculture elite.” Gingrich’s talking points have attracted imitators over the last decade, chiefly the Gingrich mini-me Karl Rove and Rove’s carny creation of George W. Bush.
There is much to explicate about Rove and Bush in the White House—their fearful temperament, their petty theories of governance, their inability to shoot straight so that, at firing at the lunatic bin Laden, they hit the cretin Saddam Hussein. But in terms of the death of the Republican Party, there is nothing original. The Rovian Bush midway was followed by the cartoon candidacy of John McCain, who spent months imitating both Popeye the Sailor and Sarah Palin’s Uncle Sam. That McCain didn’t claim to be more than an aviator, and that Palin didn’t claim to be more than a moose hunter, demonstrated that neither had need of, nor interest, in the Republican Party’s history or meaning.
What about the Republican Party right now? Isn’t it on radio and TV claiming to be the party of fiscal responsibility and American power? Bypassing the stupidity of these claims, I am on radio, on what is called right-wing radio, and it is easy for me to see that my loudest colleagues, who compulsively repeat the cant of Conservatism for Dummies, are not sincere students of the Republican Party but rather barkers, hookers, establishmentarian jesters, cultists, and, in the worst instance, just thatch-headed whiners. Fox News is a parade of wet-eared Republican office holders, yet there is usually just one each allowed of the categories the Democrats own in multitudes: a Jewish-American, an Asian-American, an African-American, a Hispanic-American. Then there is the beauty pageant of fast-talking, rude Fox blondes—if they are not all the same woman in mood swings—who stridently mock the Democrats, yet have almost nothing to say about the Republicans, as if the party was a disappointing ex or mother’s latest beau.
The party’s death 76 years ago was never more obvious than over the last six months of the financial crisis. The Democrats sensibly blamed the feckless, bootless Bush administration for the collapse of the markets. Tongue-tied Bush and dyspeptic Cheney defended themselves with grunts and sarcasm before they surrendered to Congress by sending out the plutocrat Hank Paulson with a plan called TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). A breathing Republican Party would have brought out the flintlocks, boarded the windows, and settled down for a defense of the republic. Instead, the Republican leadership in the House and Senate rushed to grab the pork bribery and vote with the Democrats. John Boehner, Roy Blunt, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and Judd Gregg distinguished themselves as dhimmis and were later rewarded by the victorious Democrats by being granted parakeet cages for offices in the new Congress. The House Republicans now boasts that they voted a goose egg against the stimulus package, but this was just the twitching of the corpse. The truth about the House Republicans—cowards, sycophants, and snobs just like 1930’s lot—is illustrated by the fact that 85 of them voted for the ludicrous AIG bonus-confiscation bill written on the back of a parking ticket.
The Republican Party’s death doesn’t really threaten anyone, and I puzzle why Democrats and independents who vote Democratic spend words and worry debating the look of the corpse. We few Republicans with long memories wander around the cemetery admiring the tombstones and enjoying the rain. I can hear you doubting that this could truly be the end. The final stage of grief is acceptance.
John Batchelor is radio host of the John Batchelor Show in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles. No Quarter’s Larry Johnson is a regular Sunday night guest on John Batchelor’s program at 7:35 p.m. PT. Look for this site’s promos and reminders every Sunday.
From the blog and radio show site, The John Batchelor Show (with Podcasts). Larry Johnson is a regular guest Sunday nights on KFI-AM at 10:35 p.m. ET. Visit this blog on Sundays for promos that include the evening’s hot topics.
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There is no party of fiscal responsiblity right now; that’s why I’m an idependent. The two parties are two sides of a coin and they both cater to the lobbyists.
I think the reports about the death of the Republican party are greatly exaggerated. There were millions of US voters who formerly voted a straight Democratic ticket…who were so disgusted by the Obamamation and the sexist treatment of both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin…that they voted Republican for time first time in their voting life. I do not feel that the behavior of the Obama administration has done anything to bring these voters “back into the fold”. It is more likely that there will be more leaving the Dems after the eye-opening experience of the wreck this country seems to be heading to since the inauguration of the President who bows down to the King of Saudi Arabia…and does not seem to be able to speak intelligently without a teleprompter. I personally still prefer a President who did not use cocaine “whenever he could afford it”.
While Mr. Batchelor probably voices the frustration of millions of Republicans, I would say that he would not have voiced those same sentiments only 3 or 4 years ago. And for how many decades have Democrats been voicing those same sentiments about their own political party and their leaders?
I believe the politicians only care about themselves and really don’t care about their political party except for what it can get them in terms of votes and financial campaign support.
The concept of philosophical political principals are very rare and are all but dead.
A case in point is the proposed George W. Bush partial privatization of Social Security. Democrats immediately pounced on the idea as the theft of benefits and the death of Social Security. A small fact that got over looked at the time was that it was Democrats in 1998 who first proposed this very idea. Senators Moynihan and Kerrey were the first to make that proposal and even President Clinton has his own idea of what that privatization should be.
Then the very same Republicans who came to power behind The Contract with America broke their own principals by over-spending and creating enormous deficits.
The fact is that most Americans do not care about political parties and will vote based on conscience depending on what the situation is and who has been in charge.
Right now Democrats are seeding their own destruction in 2 years. However, Republicans have yet to show the leaders who will take advantage of that situation.
And if these new, as yet unknown, Republican leaders do the same kowtowing to the religious right, I will not vote for them, either. I don’t want left-wingers rifling through my pockets nor right-wingers telling me how to live my life or what to believe.
Barb, I am one of those life-long Dems, disgusted by the 2008 primary and election season, who voted “not” for the Republican Party but for John McCain because I thought he showed a streak of independence, someone who was his own man and had the stuff of leadership.
But that doesn’t make me a newly converted Republican.
I read Mr. Batchelor’s essay over at RBO and found it entertaining. But I also remember the death knell the Republicans were ringing after Bill Clinton, the man from Hope, was elected.
I don’t like either party at this point. And if the Democratic Party or the Republican Party is unwilling or incapable of sending out a credible candidate, I’ll vote for a 3rd party candidate, another first.
Will my vote be wasted? Quite possibly but I’ll be damned if I ever let party politics blind me again with the Big Lie. The Democratic Party had “the candidate” in Hillary Clinton and they threw that chance to the curb. But I’m not so idiotic to run to the Republicans like a jilted lover. Not going to happen!
Excellent comment. I concur.
Peggy Sue, you express my opinions to the letter. As for the GOP being dead: I remember, after W’s victory, some right-wing commentator on FOX (I forget who) saying that the Democrats were absolutely DEAD, and we were heading into a one-party system. Well, it seems that “dead” political parties can leap back to life in a big hurry. The one thing you can predict with certainty: prophets are usually dead wrong (though “even the losers get lucky sometimes”). I’ve personally resigned my membership in the prophets’ union.
Add my name to the list of amen, Peggy Sue. I would go even further to say, both political parties will be the death of our democracy if we don’t send some clear messages in the next two elections. I voted for McCain. I almost choked but I did it as a protest against the DNC. That we are so incredibly divided as a nation isn’t by accident, but by design. We have been bamboozled for years by both parties.
I’m one of those people. I doubt I’ll vote Republican again unless they have a 180 degree change of philosophy and policy. I don’t like Obama because he’s so much like Reagan and McCain was a moderate. I won’t be voting for any candidate reminiscent of Dubya or Reagan.
BARB, was the last republican president any better when he met with the Saudi’s?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAAIOoG_JOA
Also, he could afford to use cocaine anytime he wanted.
I just plan to keep voting against the incumbent. Regardless of which party they are in.
The Republican party is far from dead. In fact, I believe Obama and the Dems are creating a whole new generation of conservatives. Unfortunately I see a backlash coming. Obama either delivers or he becomes a rallying cry for Republicans.
But there is no leader just yet.
Oh, Lord, a *backlash*??? I can’t wait to see it. Dear yttik, if Bill Clinton had kept his pants zipped there is no way on EARTH that shrub would have had any chance of winning the White House. I do not like the fact that the Republican Party is nearly dead and I do not expect that to be a permanent situation. Look at the facts. The party’s base is the Religious right wing. Those folks are virulant and make a lot of noise. They are not going to win a national election. We have just emerged from what was arguably the WORST presidency in the history of our nation. If you here, cannot comphehend how un-democratic the secrecy that Bush promulgated and insisted on was, you are fools and don’t deserve to live in this nation. If you cannot understand how utterly disastrous the invasion of Iraq has been to our nation and what is is *supposed* to stand for, you don’t deserve to live here. If you do not understand the immense negative influence Bush’s disdain for federal regulatory agencies was, you don’t deserve to live herer.
I agree with the poster who said that both parties are TOO influenced by lobbies. What I would like to talk about, is how to change that. How can it be changed without incroaching on the First Amendment? Those lobbyist cretins are misusing the First amendment rights they are guaranteed but shutting them off is clearly unconstitutional. So how to eliminate that egregious pressure that is leading to unhelpful (an huge understatement) laws?
Gug
OK, Gug, let’s examine your ridiculous post, piece by piece.
You are apparently convinced that no backlash against Obama’s failures is possible, judging by your snarky phrasing. Yet you turn around in the very next sentence and suggest that Bill Clinton’s zipper created the backlash that put the Republicans in the White House for the next 8 years. Inconsistent of you, to say the least. Backlash happens both directions.
Personally, I think the election was stolen in Florida, but the reason it was so close had less to do with Clinton than with Gore and Lieberman. In the debate where Gore walked up to W while W was answering a question, intending to disconcert him, Gore looked like an idiot, and his polls went down. And many folks just didn’t like Lieberman.
I think this statement clearly shows that you are an anti-Clinton Democrat, which would pretty categorically qualify you as an Obot in my mind.
Both you and John Batchelor are wrong in calling it a fact that the Republican Party is dead. The same thing has been said about the Democratic Party, in fact it’s been said about both parties every time the pendulum of power swings first one way then the other. Soon enough, people will be sick to death of Democratic rule and they will vote Republican because it’s the only alternative in our 2-party system.
You show your pitiful ignorance when you equate the Republican party with the religious right. They are part of the Republican constituency, to be sure, but the religious right does not control or dominate the Republican party. All political parties will cater to blocs in the constituencies, so the religious right will affect Republican positions on some hot button issues, but the Republican party is comprised of many blocs, and they are still a major power to be reckoned with.
But your characterization of the religious right as “virulent and they make a lot of noise” is hilarious! What smug little shit you seem to be! I’ve been witness to the Obama faction of the Democratic party in the last year, and to me they seem to fit that description better than the Bible Belt folks. “Virulent” is defined as “Extremely infectious, malignant, or poisonous” by the American Heritage Dictionary. Yeah, I’d say that fits the Obama crowd more than any other in today’s political climate. But to go on and proclaim that “They are not going to win a national election” is kind of like saying “my parents are too old to have sex.” Naive, to say the least.
And plunged headlong into what is arguably an EVEN WORSE presidency!
Apparently we “herer” don’t deserve to live in this nation. “Love it or leave it!” It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that invective tossed around.
But let’s take a moment to revisit a great line from John McCain during the presidential debates:
“Senator, I’m not George Bush. If you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have ran four years ago.”
My point is this: What the fuck does George Bush have to do with Obama’s election? Many voters were taken in by this subterfuge, but it still makes no sense at all. George Bush was done. George Bush did not define the Republican party, he was a Neo-Conservative, not even a true Republican. There are no Bush lovers “herer.”
You have the
audacitystupidity to come to this blog, most of the readers of which are Clinton Democrats, and post the illogical statement that we don’t deserve to live in this nation if we don’t see how bad Bush was. That makes no more sense than me saying that you, Gug, don’t deserve to live in this nation because YOU can’t see how bad Obama is. In fact, what I just said makes MORE sense than what you said, because you support Obama. We at this blog never supported Bush.And finally (God, at last!):
All citizens have the right to lobby Congress. When a large group of citizens has a grievance or a desire that requires action from Congress to address, they send a delegate to Washington. The larger the group, the more lobbyists and more powerful lobbyists they send. Lobbyists are not the problem. The problem is politicians who cozy up to lobbyists for the perks, who offer pay-to-play quid pro quo arrangements with lobbyists. And this new president, whom you seem to worship, swore that he would hire no lobbyists in his administration. Did you notice how little time it took for him to break that promise, along with all his other broken promises already?
Your post gives me “an huge” “virulent” belly laugh.
Well, Steve, I think that pretty well covers it. Thanks.
My family has been here since the beginning and we won’t be leaving. Sorry, Gug.
We have thrown out thugs before and we’ll do it again.
Bless you, Steve_in_KC. You have far more patience than I do.
There is some substance in that statement. People actually welcomed a President who had a librarian wife and who went to bed at 9 P.M. I would go further… that if Bush Sr. wasn’t so aloof and had he not spent so much time in Maine and if he hadn’t said “read my lips”… then Bush Sr. would have had two terms and the whole Clinton phenomenon would have been out of time and probably never would have happened. Had the blue dress incident happened in Arkansas for example, for certain it would have been a game ending moment for the Presidency hopes. Without offending sensitivities unnecessarily here… once people get a certain age and level of maturity… they are pretty much set in stone. They are what they are. To your points, I agree that if you sacrifice liberty for security you will lose both. Someone more astute than me once said that. I will admit, I was a republican for years, I still have the card, but only because at heart I am more a libertarian than anything else. I am torn between saying we need a “third party” and realizing that fracturing the republican vote will just perpetuate a Marxist leaning left. I think, given the republican baggage… it may be all there is left, and on the flip side… there would be a lot of democrats cross over as well if the movement ever got legs. That is where the charismatic leader comes in. That is why I think it could be Palin. Time will tell.
James Gug: Agree 100%. If anyone can’t see that the Bush years were a disaster, they’re not paying attention. Now we need a new party, a real leader. I’m not holding my breath. The last two prez’s were selected for us. I believe that system will continue until there is not one shred of democracy left in this country.
Dear Gug – in response to:
“both parties are TOO influenced by lobbies. What I would like to talk about, is how to change that. How can it be changed without incroaching on the First Amendment? Those lobbyist cretins are misusing the First amendment rights they are guaranteed but shutting them off is clearly unconstitutional. So how to eliminate that egregious pressure that is leading to unhelpful (an huge understatement) laws?”
How about this. How about electing a president who actually fulfills his campaign promises. And, instead of making excuses for every stupid or duplicitous act, hold him accountable and expose these failings in the media so that all may see and be informed. Why put ALL the blame on lobbyists? After all, it takes at least two to engage in corruption. This is a two-party crime–no victims here.
I was reminded recently that in 2004 the dems were a “dead” party and Kerry asked an unknown, Barack Obama, to deliver an opening speech at the dem party convention, and voila! history was in the making.
I’m unaffiliated, but I do hope that the repubs strongly challenge 0bama in 2012 since I don’t think any dem will go head to head with him under any circumstances. At this juncture, I want 0 to be a one-term president.
is this thread supposed to be sarcasm? Your remarks about female Fox commentators is sexist and uncalled for. This sounds like something that got misplaced from Huffpoop
While I don’t agree with much of what Republicans have done in the past, I don’t see one damn thing in your preaching about what we can do to make the Republican party what it once stood for.
This mess the Dems in Congress and Obama are creating will invigorate the GOP. There’s no other hope for this country whatsoever other than the GOP taking back Congress in 2010. If that doesn’t happen, welcome to Cuba. Oops, we’re already a Banana Republic. Oh well.
The playing field is not level. The far left has the media news, entertainment i.e. MTV, the educational system i.e. teachers and professors and Hollywood giving free propaganda to their cause. All that is left for traditional America is for someone to step up and be a dynamic charismatic leader. Thus we see the hatred and seemingly disproportionate derangement for Palin as an example. The far left sees that one last chance being the one thing that could turn America back toward it’s traditional roots. In the interim, the far left has used propaganda to position Rush Limbaugh as a poster boy for everything bad that America has ever done, or let happen. This is only because they realize that their previous effigy… Bush II has a shelf life that is nearing expiry. Really, this is a struggle for the very soul of this nation. What is at stake is our very way of life… provided there are enough left who even care anymore. We will see. Myself, I am hopeful, but at the same time not necessarily optimistic at the prospect.
The Fraud didn’t win in any kind of Reagan landslide, and he only won because of lies and manipulation. 50% didn’t vote for him. And, as we are seeing, even some of the most die hard Obots are currently admitting to being horrified that they voted for him. Imagine what that will be like in another six months when his damage to this country becomes even more apparent. At some point, the Dems can’t excuse their destruction by blaming Bush. It’s on Obama and Pelosi now. I smell backlash. Whether that’s from the GOP, the Indies or the Dems altogether, I think the hard left is doing themselves in.
[...] http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/04/11/gop-rip/John Boehner, Roy Blunt, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and Judd Gregg distinguished themselves as dhimmis and were later rewarded by the victorious Democrats by being granted parakeet cages for offices in the new Congress. … [...]
Yes. The Republican Party is Dead.
The Democratic Party is now the Republican Party.
We are fucked.
I can’t stand either one of the two parties any longer. They are both out of touch with reality, they both represent themselves and their friends. One wants to take my money and give it to fat rich bastards and the other one wants to take my money and give it to lazy assed deadbeats.
I despise them both for their total lack of practicality and moderation, their extremism, their complete inability to tell the truth EVAH, their hypocrasy, and their companion inability to represent middle America. They have no souls.
If the Republicans had paid attention to things like health care, they may have forged a practical solution. But no, they chose to stick their fat fingers in their ears and hum loudly. They were too busy worrying about whether or not a graven image that warns against graven images should be erected in front of court houses. Too busy telling everybody how to live their lives, to busy sticking their noses in everybody’s bedroom, and there was hardly enough time left for them to do anything that a government is SUPPOSED to do. It is their own fault that now we are ruled by a bunch of off-the-cliff America-hating extremists and Marxists who have no moral compasses whatsoever –and who can’t wait to appoint their despot permanently. If they Republicans keep up this extremism in the other direction, that wish just might be fulfilled.
The Republicans brought this on themselves by driving the people away en masse from their badgering and preaching and hypocrasy. And now I see them regrouping. And what are they regrouping toward? The same things that drove people away from them to begin with. Brilliant.
Until I see a party move toward a practical center, I am staying home on every election day from now on. As far as I can see, these two choices amount to No Choice.
I concur. Extremism lacks substance and virtue. I’m content to remain an independent centrist and have the bozos work for my support and vote.
Yes, because no real choice is the same thing as no real representation. The parties can claim to be our elected representatives all they want… it doesn’t make it so.
Uppity said:
“Too busy telling everybody how to live their lives, to busy sticking their noses in everybody’s bedroom, and there was hardly enough time left for them to do anything that a government is SUPPOSED to do.
and
“The Republicans brought this on themselves by driving the people away en masse from their badgering and preaching and hypocrasy. And now I see them regrouping. And what are they regrouping toward? The same things that drove people away from them to begin with. Brilliant.”
Well said!
Regrouping around 0bama-hatred will not be enough. They tried that with Bill Clinton although admittedly Bill Clinton was and is 10x the leader 0bama pretends to be.
If Republicans are counting on disaffected Dems to sweep them into office, they will be mightily sorry.
Amen, uppity. The Republicans harnessed themselves to the snoopy, vagina-and-sex-obsessed bigotry of the fundamentalist right for temporary gain, and until they step out of that harness, there is no hope for them.
As far as I’m concerned, BOTH parties are fucking statists, the only thing they disagree on is regarding what areas to have govt interfere in our personal lives, and who gets to cash in on the romps in bed with the bankster oligarchs. Both parties spend like drunken sailors.
Even the foreign policy of both disgusts me. The Repubs want all the power to go nation-building and chest-beating with the blood of our children, and the Dems want the power to roll over like cur dogs and invite the world to piss on us in our guilty cringing. Neither wants to have any damn common sense or listen to US at all.
“As far as I’m concerned, BOTH parties are fucking statists, the only thing they disagree on is regarding what areas to have govt interfere in our personal lives, and who gets to cash in on the romps in bed with the bankster oligarchs.”
This is exactly right. It feels to me that the country is hungering for a true conservative.
And good riddance to it!
Life is good. We’re shifting military spending from district pork sinkholes for weapons we’ll never need to personnel and taking care of our troops and vets, we’re revamping the health care system to reverse the disastrous Reagan privatization schemes, we’re investing in energy and education, and our nation is again respected abroad.
Chipmunks should never be allowed to post. Dave, you need to come get Alvin off your computer.
LMAO Alvin. Spoken like a true Bot!!!
Where the hell do they GET you people? “Our nation is again respected aborad?” HAHAHAHHAH…Yes, Captain Pantywaist is sooo impressive.
Uh you do know Obama already tried to cut veterans benefits, right? It was pressure from all of the major veterans organizations that stopped him. For now.
Truly. Their idea of policy is to run it up a flagpole and see if they can get away with it — then if people notice and complain en masse, they pretend they were never really trying to do it in the first place.
Leadership? Uh, no.
Alvin: where do you get that Obie’s getting rid of pork? He’s spending us into oblivion.
W
And how we have a president who sticks his head in a hole and can’t even free our military to do what must be done to a couple of pissants in a tin can who have a hostage. Our president is too busy to even make America feel better. Day four with four little shitheads floating in a tuna can and looking a whole lot more powerful than we are. Just what we need. THe other extreme so Al Queda can watch what a limp wristed White House we truly have.
The Obama administration has decided these pirates are merely criminals and the FBI is building a case for criminal prosecution. Its a return to separating law enforcement criminality from military threat. Dems want the expansion of gov’t power through domestic programs. The Repubs wanted the expansion of gov’t power through intelligence and the military. These are just the two sides of the same statist coin, either way gov’t power expands dramatically and liberty dwindles.
These pirates should serve as a horrible example, it will be the only way to make these pigs understand that attacking American ships is NOT a good idea. They should be shark food by now, the whole lot of them. While our military is being instructed to jerk around with these creeps, have you noticed what other pirates are doing?They just killed a French hostage. This is not something we should be pandering over. This is serious stuff and the world of pirates is watching. Limp wristed action will result in more of this, and worse outcomes. When that captain escaped, I knew then that our military is being forced to hold back and cater to this nonsense. If not, those pirates who jumped in after him would have been aptly removed from the gene pool in second, along with that tin can they are floating on. This is way past embarrassment. Our military is more than capable to resolve this in hours, and four days have ‘floated’ by because of this We Are The World attitude they are forced into.
All of this Kumbaya crap is going to get us all killed if we don’t cut this nonsense. The bigger a wimp our white house acts like, and believe me, they have already reached dangerous limits everywhere, the worse it will be for our country’s respect quotient. It’s one thing to be liked, it’s quite another to be respected. When you aren’t respected, you are a target. Don’t think for one second Al Queda isn’t watching this nonsense.
And a President who won’t even COMMENT is a President sending America a very strong message about just how much he doesn’t give a shit. I have NEVER seen a hijacking of any kind where the USA President blew it off and refused to even discuss it, even if he only repeated what the press already knows. I have a very bad feeling about the future safety of my country under this administration. A feeling I have never had in my not so short life.
“When that captain escaped, I knew then that our military is being forced to hold back and cater to this nonsense.”
T think you’re spot on with that remark and all others. Its the only explanation for why the glorified rowboat wasn’t blown out of the water right there and then. I gotta believe that our military there on the scene was sickened in that moment.
I’m wondering if this is another move by the administration to push us toward transnationalism. I mean, they’re not inept.
Alvin, you don’t get out much, do you.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/10/clinton-tries-pay-debt-raffling-day-husband/
Okay, this is all getting too bizarre. Hillary is auctioning off a day with Bill. WTF has this country come to? Have you guys seen this? Yeah, yeah, I know. We can’t criticize Hillary. But do you honestly not think this is ridiculous and makes America look even more creepy? Ughhhh…This is just plain wrong.
she is doing it to try and pay off her debt. I think it is a good idea, and i would actually enter to try to win. they did this during the primary as well. you could have won a superbowl party or something like that, with bill.
AGI…I am sorry, but the SOS having a RAFFLE where one of the prizes is to get to see American Idol…Oh God…It’s undignified IMO. If Obama did this we would of course be giggling at him.
obama did try to do something like this during the primary, but i think it was illegal.
this isn’t that different than paying to go see him, which is done ALL the time. Only this way, you get a weekend in NY, and you aren’t guaranteed a spot to see him.
(although I would have left off American Idol…)
We made fun of him endlessly when HE did it. And we make fun of the “American Idol” President. Believe it or not, it’s my respect for Bill that makes me shudder at this. And knowing sadly that we still don’t hold every politician up to the SAME standards. If Obama was pulling this crap…raffling off a night at American Idol, we would be relentless.
well, considering the humiliation Bill put Hillary through, if it helps pay off her ~$20M debt, he can cheapen himself a little and help her out.
I still don’t think it is bad, and I don’t think it was bad when Obama tried it, it was just illegal. But, for $50 many people have an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have. Most fundraiser/meet the Pres type events cost hundreds/thousands of bucks.
I am actually a fan of raffle type things – I think they are great ways to raise money, whether it be to build a stadium, sell a house, or meet someone famous, I think they are very effective methods.
AGI…Nothing Hillary does will ever be held up to honest, objective speculation here. I have resigned myself to that, and I am one of her previous supporters.
I just can’t believe anyone would defend this raffling off Bill Clinton thing, when Obama is already humiliating us all over the world. We’ve sunk to new lows and this makes it worse IMO. Can you imagine what people overseas will think? Yet again, another American celebrity, shallow, vacuous stunt. It’s not a really great time to embarrass ourselves IMO and I can’t excuse this. And I didn’t when it was Obama, and I wouldn’t if it was McCain, etc. It makes me cringe.
well, contrary to popular opinion, i was actually very ticked off at hillary for a number of things, at the end of the primary and was pissed she campaigned for obama. i supported her, but i am not a whacked out blind supporter, like an obot. and i am no longer a democrat.
i just don’t think it is a bad idea.
I really wish people would stop lumping ALL writers/supporters/people into one group think.
I don’t think people around the world will care, or even hear about it, for that matter. And if they do, and think it is a joke, well, just add it on to the long list of things the Obama administration has done. But, hopefully, she will get her debt paid off. She earned that debt trying to defeat BO, and I can’t fault her that.
Sorry AGI if you think you were “lumped” into some “group.” Not my intent. Conversely if you ever mention that Hillary farted or did something wrong, suddenly you get swooped on and it is implied that you are a jagoff.
I don’t think it’s a great idea but we can agree to disagree and I respect that you don’t see the “cringe factor” that many of us do. As for adding it to the long list of things the Zero Sadministration is doing, gee, I wish we could stop adding to that. No one says her debt is a good thing. And we all still feel the sting of what was done to her. Yet again, simple observation that this might not have been the most elegant way to do it.
no, it’s cool. we all disagree over certain things. this doesn’t bother me, but i can accept that it bothers others.
as for the lumping, people do it all the time here (99.9% of the time it’s the bots). people equate the feelings/thoughts/statements/opinions of others, onto me (or all writers here, or whatever), ALL the time and it bugs! We all disagree on things.
I agree, AGI. HRC needs to get the debt off her plate. And Bill Clinton, despite his own party trying to cut him off at the knees, is still enormously popular. With reason, I might add.
I think this just cheapens Bill to pimp him out in this way. It makes him more a celebrity entertainer than a head of state. Bill did a darn fine job with this country in his time. Darn good. Why cheapen that for some campaign debts?
Exactly Docelder. This is really just plain cheesy and embarrassing.
On the other hand, it would be nice to sit down and actually talk to Bill. I can only imagine he would be both entertaining and informative.
No doubt, Bill is what Barack should have grown up to be. Bill was the rockstar which the media discovered… Barack was the rockstar the media created.
i think he would be super interesting, and it would be a once in a lifetime chance to have a sit down with a president. and i would love to ask him what he thought about this primary season.
Indeed. And especially one with an iron-clad grasp of issues like Bill. I can think of dozens of questions I would ask right off the top but most assuredly about the primaries. I would pay good money to get his take on it.
Docelder: she didn’t take the corporate money Obama took so she has to pay off her debt. The irony in this is that Bill is so popular she can raise money to spend time with him. It shows that she should have been prez.
Do not criticize Bill, he’s a lesser god.
ICK….BC is a creep.
You know, I’m pretty Fed Up with you. I’ve read your comments for several months now and they usually begin, “Well I loved Hillary and I supported Hillary” and if anyone here still believes that it’s because they haven’t been reading your comments which is possible because you try to control the conversation and it’s boring. It has been the same from the beginning no matter what name you used and IMO you are no different than UBM. He is not what he claimed to be and neither are you. NQ has had it’s share of CDS in the last two years, but to make a pretense of being a supporter and then she says or does something and I don’t know you just don’t think you can support her anymore. You are Republican, you have said so in your comments and you are still part of a diminishing group of people who think their party doesn’t lie and the other party is ruled by demons, You can’t seem to understand that is the problem and why we have ended up where we are now. I’m not voting Republican again and I’d say most of the disenfranchised dems on nq will not either. I sent emails and spoke loudly against the treatment of Palin, but I will never vote for her and the opportunity will not arise because the Republican leadership is hanging her out to spin dry just as they did with McCain. Yes, Obama is bad, but am I going to forget how bad Bush/Cheney were? Not in this lifetime.
I don’t think the Republican party is dead at all, but I do think that they would be wise to completely transform. Over the years, the parties have switched places and the time to do it again is here. If the Republicans come out strong for Centrists, where I believe at least 70% of the country sits and stop preaching morality and be the party of Common sense and good judgement, but also the party for liberty and freedom, they could own the Government for the rest of my lifetime. Whether they do it or an Independent Party forms and does it, that group will rule for years to come. People are sick to death of this extremist Government terrorist crap going on now!
Yes, but is that more difficult than forming a third party? Look at McCain, the far right abandoned him. The party needs to likewise abandon the far right. Make them come to the center, else form some far right party of their own. But, I am not sure it could happen… it didn’t happen with the democrats. The far left assimilated the democrat party.
Dolceder said:
“Look at McCain, the far right abandoned him. The party needs to likewise abandon the far right. Make them come to the center . . .”
And in my mind that “is” the problem. The wingers have taken over both parties, and until that changes neither party will get my vote. McCain was indeed abandoned by his own party–he wasn’t Republican enough, in the same way the Dems convinced their membership that Hillary wasn’t Democratic enough.
A pox on both their houses!
Agreed. Two herds, running headlong towards each other with their attendant fixations, have taken over the parties to the detriment of the country.
I think the GOP is poised to reform and surge IF it returns to limited gov’t. principles.
Has anyone else read Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin? I finished it recently and highly recommend it to anyone who still thinks of themselves as an American.
As for the Clinton raffle, I winced when I learned of it.
“As for the Clinton raffle, I winced when I learned of it.”
Indeed, Viking!
This will finish the trashing of Bill Clinton’s
legacy, started by Obama & Co.
What a pity…..
Obama promised to help Hillary pay off her campaign debt. Considering he broke that promise I’m amazed he’d have a Clinton within whiffing distance of his administration.
Bill and Hill have something on Obama. Whatever it is it’s good. Hey, that’s hardball politics for ya. It’s not like Obama didn’t play hardball.
Obama is spending money like a drunken sailor. $500,000 for a frigging PIZZA? Yet he couldn’t find a better way for HRC and WJC to pay off her debt? This is silly. And, you are right, the Clintons have the big time dirt on the Fraud. Maybe no more than we know, but they have the proof I am sure. I can’t get started on that, because I will get pissed that they didn’t spill it. But this whole thing is an ugly mess.
But he was NEVER here to help. He is here to deliver the U.S. over to world government, to lower our internal economy to an acceptable level and to disassemble capitalism so that world economies don’t have to suffer along with us from the capitalism natural boom-bust cycles.
breeze,
Don’t know why but I had the feeling that Obama & Co. sold them on the idea:
‘Don’t be such a square, degrading yourself into a consumer item is what everyone does anyway! You can go nurse your wounded human dignity after you’ve raised the dough. Wise up!’
Who is John Galt?
I have a hard time believing that Bill Clinton can
be so easily swayed, Viking.
They must really be strapped for money is my only
conclusion.
breeze,
No doubt, that too.
isnt this wonderful??here we are a nice bunch of people with differing views.and opinions.
yet the bottom line is this
we are loyal Americans.that love our great country.and we want what is best for her and her precious children.
“…..we are loyal Americans.that love our great country.and we want what is best for her and her precious children.”
YOU BETCHA!!!
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