~ joanie
Instead, I get the impression that a candidate many found to be an honorable serviceman turned politician and thought by a significant proportion of the Conservative electorate to be only palatable in light of the Socialist alternative has dropped off the radar.
He is conveniently upstaged, as is his position on Amnesty, the First Amendment, and a host of other issues which rendered him far less than desireable were there a viable alternative.
We know she is pro-gun, but where does he stand, exactly, even as judges are parsing Heller to uphold virtually any restriction on a right which "shall not be infringed".
Multiply the vagueness surrounding the nominee by the number of issues and you have what we are not hearing about from the candidate.
The tabloid atmosphere surrounding the election further promotes the disappearance from discussion of the very liberal policy history of the more Conservative of the major party candidates--not to mention any but the most vague references to his opponent's specific stance on any issues but 'hope and change'.
This seems like lean fare upon which to make an informed decision, and is made worse by the outrageous distortions of the media when some matter of substance leaks through the fluff and nonsense they publish.
Add in an electorate either virulently partisan or too distracted to be paying any more attention than they must, and it is likely that the next 'leader of the free world' will be decided by people who will figure out who they will vote for by counting road signs on the way to the polls.
I'm afraid that one of the most important issues, a crisis even, is the ignorance of the foundations of this nation. It is difficult to have a serious political discourse in this nation when 90% of the electorate don't really have a clue as to what the founders intended.
It would be nice if important issues were addressed during an election but it's really not the time for education. Both sides are intent on winning and victory will go to the one who fights hardest, smartest and best. But the fight has to be waged on the ground we find ourselves on.
The left has fought hard to pull all discourse onto this "bread and circuses" field of battle. Sure, Republicans have gladly played the cheap and dirty game too but don't kid yourself. The left has to drag things away from real issues and into platitudes and scandals because their agenda is to do away with the republic for which we stand.
I'm not saying you are wrong. You are exactly right and, as usual, you hit all the points with precision and eloquence. I don't even like McCain enough to root for him but this 0bama turd needs to be sent back to his jr. seat in the Senate.
On that score I have to give John McCain props for running a winning campaign that started from behind. Right now at least I think he's demonstrating an ability to lead and command. He is taking the Chosen One apart very skillfully. First he had to deal with the Plastic Fantastic media construction of a candidate that 0bama was. McCain has done that. Perhaps now he can force 0bama to fight on his ground. A more serious ground. Sarah Palin sure laid out the geography of the battle field.
That's my two cents.
Maybe I can get some sleep now. In fact, I've all of a sudden gotten really sleepy so I'll just make a quick point and run on. I would REALLY appreciate you putting your considerable writing talents to a "states' rights" piece. Nothing will change in D.C. until we wrest the power away from them and somehow get it back in the states where it belongs.
Goodnight, er, good morning...
What I want to know is how did the arch weasle John McLaim become the "conservative" candidate for President.. instead of the obvious conservatives.. I have been clapping and clapping for Sara Palin the last few days.. until it dawned on me that I've been slipped a "mickey".. I've been BRAIN WASHED... Just like with voting first for the idiot George Bush against the cretin Al Gore then to top that off I voted for the known idiot George Bush over an obvious traitor and lying sack of you know what AGAIN.. And NOW I'am willing to vote for the arch weasle John McLaim over another empty suit masquerading as KingFish from Amos n' Andy..
(looking into the mirror.. I don't look right)..
To self: I may be drugged or brain washed.. I never was too smart... Heck I voted for George Bush twice his father a few times and even his brother when I lived in Florida.. Who chooses the opponents for these liberal republican candidates anyway?.. I know.. maybe I'm a SHeeple... thats it.. I'm a sheeple.. And have the "bleating" government I deserve..
A couple of questions:
1. Why are you surprised? What do you expect out of the McCain campaign? Its purveyors, while maintaining a “Republican” label, are of the same exact ilk as the James Carvilles and Paul Begalas of the Democrat Party. All they care about is power, and they will do whatever they think they need to do to obtain it.
2. If you’re infuriated now, how will you control yourself as McCain’s George Soros-funded handlers take their predictable and inevitable steps to continue the destruction of our free republic? How will you handle your share of the guilt for empowering them?
A couple of comments:
McCain has already told you exactly what he will do: “Reach across the aisle.” He won’t save a single baby. In fact, he will ever more deeply entrench the respectability and acceptability of the perpetration of the holocaust, giving credence to the very lies that protect it. He won’t protect marriage or the natural family. He won’t defend our unalienable rights, or the rights to the Blessings of Liberty of our posterity. He scoffs at such notions. John McCain is still John McCain, no matter how many good people lend their reputations to covering for him. Once he has what he wants he’ll discard you like soiled and torn clothing. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
The fairy tale wishes that conservatives are projecting on John McCain right now are shocking in their quality and scope. It’s a mass self-delusion of biblical proportions.
Who was it who said that the tragedy of modern American education wasn't that we were turning out ignoramuses, but that were were turning out savages.
2000 years or so ago, Titus Livy, in his introduction to his monumental history of Rome remarked that his purpose in writing was "to trace the progress of our moral decline, to watch, first, the sinking of the foundations of morality as the old teaching was allowed to lapse, then the rapidly increasing disintegration, then the final collapse of the whole edifice, and the dark dawning of our modern day when we can neither endure our vices nor face the remedies needed to cure them."
We may yet have a last shot at curing ourselves of our 'vices' - the rot of MArxism and modern liberalism - and that's with a McCain/Palin win. It would at least be a start, a step in the right direction. We have no shot at all with an Obamanation win.
Bookmark for later study. Looks promising.
A woman who may be a VP is “a pig?” A senior senator is “an old fish” who will “stink?”
Not for one minute would I let Obama forget this one. He's a punk, and the sooner the country knows it, the better.
I agree. McCain/Palin should take the high road and not roll in the mud with Obama. (Sorry to continue the pig theme.)
"...I think that states should be able to decide that issue." - Sarah Palin
It's worse than I thought.
Well said.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
I could not agree more with your stated conclusion, joanie-f, but then, having read the thread replies before replying myself, I see nothing on the thread but defense of moderation, and the suggestion to the more Conservative voices hereon that they should be the ones to compromise.
I would submit that the compromise that is sought is the very cause of the problem you have identified, and the antithesis to the conclusion that you, yourself, have penned.
Because we do not hold our own to the standard we have supposedly imposed, they are free to play these games of distraction, hoping that the circus atmosphere will keep us far away from those damning subjects they would just as soon avoid.
IOW, lay the blame right here. It is FreeRepublic, and places like it, that are supposed to require much of our own- If we do not, no one will.
But then, it is so much easier to attack the other side, and falsely inflate our own...
This guy is on the right track but misidentifies the true problem:
1) MARXISM is our nation's most serious threat!
2) The “virtue” our Founding Fathers talked about is based upon Judeo Christian values and beliefs. A free society is **impossible** without a moral and honest people of good will who see one another as equal before God.
Atheistic Marxists have infiltrated every aspect of our culture and government to the very highest levels, except the military. MARXTSM is our real enemy.
Schools are the Marxists’ **most** important weapon. The Marxists and their Useful Idiots are hard at work destroying freedom in our government schools and our colleges and universities. They are doing all they can to destroy the Judeo Christian values that our children will need to defend freedom. We will lose freedom in the voting booth.
I believe that is coming. McCain has show a real genius for timing, so far. The time is not right yet. McCain needs to hit Obama with this about 2 weeks before the election.
Well, at this point we have only two requirements:
1. Win the election.
2. Do the job.
We can’t do 2 unless we do 1 first.
Sure, this is childish. But the one or two months between the end of the conventions and Election Day are not enough to re-educate a whole country.
That requires taking back the government and gradually rebuilding the culture—a matter of decades, not months.
Are we introducing these kindergarten stupidities into the news cycles? Of course not. They have been there since the start of the Countercultural Revolution in 1968, and steadily reinforced as the left has seized the levers of power, especially in our schools, colleges, and media.
You don’t undo that by wishing it gone. First you have to take back the levers of power and start appointing decent, sensible people to the judiciary . . . and ultimately to the proper education of our children. Getting someone like Sarah Palin into office, as a wonderful example of the culture as it should be, is a great first step.
Mostly what the current McCain ads are doing is simply to show Obama, the Democrats, and the media FOR WHAT THEY ARE.
This is perfectly illustrated in Norm Coleman’s recent ad against Al Franken. In one sense, it is trivial in stupid. But what it DOES do is throw the Democrats’ inanity and stupidity and boorishness back in their faces, for everyone to see:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/09/021496.php
What could be a more effective way of beginning to turn the culture back toward traditional values? What better than to have someone stand up and say, “The Emperor is naked!”
By the way, Joanie, this is one of your greatest essays! Kudos from the heartland.
Sen. John McCain's record of working with Democrats easily outstrips Sen. Barack Obama's efforts with Republicans, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of their legislative records.
Whether looking at bills they have led on or bills they have signed onto, Mr. McCain has reached across the aisle far more frequently and with more members than Mr. Obama since the latter came to the Senate in 2005.
In fact, by several measures, Mr. McCain has been more likely to team up with Democrats than with members of his own party. Democrats made up 55 percent of his political partners over the last two Congresses...since 2005, Mr. McCain has led as chief sponsor of 82 bills, on which he had 120 Democratic co-sponsors out of 220 total, for an average of 55 percent. He worked with Democrats on 50 of his bills, and of those, 37 times Democrats outnumber Republicans as co-sponsors.
Thanks for the Tenth Amendment dicussion. The Tenth Amendment is hte key amendment in the whole thing. If you want to diffuse power, you can’t do better than “to the states respectively or to the people.”
The New Left never realized that “Power to the people” is a CONSERVATIVE principle.