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Lugar still waving red flag at Tea Party
The American Thinker Blog ^ | February 10, 2011 | Ralph Alter

Posted on 02/10/2011 3:15:02 AM PST by Scanian

The bombast and bluster emanating from the office of Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana suggest that he knows he's going to have a fight on his hands to retain his seat. Lugar, current king of the RINOs in the upper chamber, is clearly unwilling to give up the perks of office, particularly the accolades slathered upon him by the beltway media. Like John McCain, Lugar simply doesn't comprehend the fact that he is lavishly praised by the mainstream press precisely to the degree he is willing to turn his back on the traditional American values of his constituents.

Lugar's response to the Tea Partiers who are ready to put a real conservative in the seat Senator Dick has occupied for far too long, is as condescending as most of his other responses to those who would question what he clearly considers to be his own superior intellect and entitlement to continue in office. In an interview with Ft. Wayne radio station, WANE, Lugar says that the Tea Party needs to "Get real."

And not just particularly about their criticism of his leading role in the promotion of the START treaty with Russia. The overall tenor and tone of Lugar's response to his legitimate conservative challengers is that it is the Tea Party, not Richard Lugar, that is out of touch:

"If you want to get into START, let's talk about it realistically as Americans, not as some Republican renegades. (I'm) trying to take (the) warheads of Russia (out of circulation) so they won't hit Indiana."

I would beg the Senator's pardon. I am not a military expert, nor particularly well-schooled in the niceties of strategic armament, but if the Russians have their nukes pointed at Indiana they aren't going to get much bang for their buck. Ronald Reagan understood the balance of power: the Russians have too many warheads and we have too few. If we are going to enter into an agreement with the former Soviets, we must "Trust but verify." Senator Lugar thoroughly coached Barack Obama on this START treaty that is heavy on the trust but woefully short on the verify.

Lugar's disconnect from the residents of the very conservative state he represents is further demonstrated by his ham-handed defense of his votes in favor of Obama's nominees to the Supreme Court:

"Lugar said he looks at a nominee's character and personal qualifications in order to avoid creating a polarizing atmosphere.

"'I hope that people sort of understand this because otherwise we polarize the Supreme Court business to a point that conservative justices offered by a conservative Republican president -- who will be elected at some point -- are going to have trouble,' Lugar said."

Conservative nominees are always faced with a polarizing response from Democrats and their accomplices in the media in recent decades. There's simply no excuse for such head-in-the-sand political posturing. It wasn't that long ago that Samuel Alito was vilified by Lugar's non-polarizing pals on the other side of the aisle to the point that his wife was brought to tears during confirmation hearings. RINOs always seem to believe that their imagined chivalry will be repaid in kind by the amoral leftists slithering on the other side. I hope that Lugar doesn't go holding his breath waiting for professional courtesy from the Democrats. Before too long, we'll be calling him Senator Blue.

Still one has to wonder about Lugar's in-depth analysis of Elena Kagan and the Sonja Sotomayor. The former is the personification of the term "red diaper baby." Sotomayor is living down to Jeffrey Rosen's pre-nomination assessment of her as

"...not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench.,.she has an inflated opinion of herself and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren't penetrating and don't get to the heart of the issue."

True conservatives aren't afraid of polarization due to sticking to their principles. Dick Lugar was willing to surrender nearly a quarter of the seats on the Supreme Court, without a fight, in the interest of creating a potentially more cuddly nominating process for some imaginary future Republican president.

Lugar is busy fund-raising, gathering signatures and blowing smoke in an attempt to run off the coming Tea Party challenge. Mere bluster, however, won't put make-up on his pig of a voting record on SCOTUS nominees, nor his useful-idiot tub-thumping for the weak START treaty.

Here in Indiana, we are still waiting for Dick Lugar to show some conservative bona fides.


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Indiana
KEYWORDS: bluster; bombast; kagan; msm; rinos; scotus; sotomayor; start

1 posted on 02/10/2011 3:15:08 AM PST by Scanian
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To: Scanian

It’s Lugar’s support for complete anmesty and total open borders that’s really frustrating.


2 posted on 02/10/2011 3:21:01 AM PST by circlecity
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To: Scanian
True conservatives aren't afraid of polarization due to sticking to their principles.
Lugar has to go. We've got to win this one. McCain was one of the big disappointments of 2010. Can't repeat that disappointment with Lugar.
3 posted on 02/10/2011 3:22:20 AM PST by samtheman
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To: Scanian

2007 Congress Senate Bill S.2433 Global Poverty Act, Barack Obama sponsor, Dick Lugar co-sponsor. The gist of which America hands over $800 billion to Africa to fight poverty. The only war the left loves fighting.


4 posted on 02/10/2011 3:39:37 AM PST by 03A3
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To: Scanian

Dick has an inflated opinion of himself being he is the first senator from Indiana to have been elected more than three times. He thinks he’s invincible.


5 posted on 02/10/2011 3:47:51 AM PST by 1raider1
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To: Scanian

He is in for a rude surprise.


6 posted on 02/10/2011 4:12:07 AM PST by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberalism is lies.)
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To: Scanian

And the true Conservatives are waving their finger at Lugar...


7 posted on 02/10/2011 4:12:25 AM PST by traditional1 ("Don't gotsta worry 'bout no mo'gage, don't gotsta worry 'bout no gas; Obama gonna take care o' me!)
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To: Scanian
Lugar should become target objective number 1 in the next election for the office he currently holds.
8 posted on 02/10/2011 4:13:09 AM PST by ZULU (No nation which ever attempted to tolerate Islam, escaped total Islamization.)
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To: Scanian

Time to take down “Longshanks”!~ I for one wil do all I can to get him to ‘go’.


9 posted on 02/10/2011 4:17:55 AM PST by JSDude1 (December 18, 2010 the Day the radical homosexual left declared WAR on the US Military.)
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To: Scanian

Who is in the wings and ready to be supported by the Tea Party to take this seat?


10 posted on 02/10/2011 4:36:33 AM PST by Dr. Thorne (Buy Gold and Guns Now!)
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To: Scanian

He is a chuck schumer dim Jim.

LLS


11 posted on 02/10/2011 4:44:19 AM PST by LibLieSlayer (WOLVERINES!!!)
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To: JSDude1

BINGO!


12 posted on 02/10/2011 4:47:06 AM PST by A. Morgan
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To: Dr. Thorne

Dump Dick Lugar


13 posted on 02/10/2011 4:49:05 AM PST by A. Morgan
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To: A. Morgan
Lugar! You think you're TOO BIG TO FAIL ehhhhh?

Well , think again!!!!!!

14 posted on 02/10/2011 5:08:25 AM PST by Cheapskate (Play loud and carry BIG sticks!)
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To: Scanian

Retirement beckons.


15 posted on 02/10/2011 5:45:54 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Go Hawks !)
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To: Scanian

“(I’m) trying to take (the) warheads of Russia (out of circulation) so they won’t hit Indiana.”

This was wrong enough during the Cold War, when we were at least in one of those horrible arms races with Russia. But now that they’re just one of various semi-evil regimes out there, the obsession with appeasing them has turned into a bizarre fetish.

Lugar is living in the previous century.


16 posted on 02/10/2011 6:03:57 AM PST by Tublecane
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To: Scanian

I think the word “bombast” will fall the way of “niggardly” as an ungood word in America. It sounds too much like “bomb blast”.


17 posted on 02/10/2011 6:13:55 AM PST by InvisibleChurch (Supreme Court overturns car)
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To: InvisibleChurch

Maybe not...I noticed Boehner went back to “Job killing healthcare law” yesterday. He stopped that for a while after the Tucson shooting.

I wish he’d concern himself more with reading bills and counting votes and less with PC language.


18 posted on 02/10/2011 6:26:54 AM PST by Scanian
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To: Tublecane
“(I’m) trying to take (the) warheads of Russia (out of circulation) so they won’t hit Indiana.”

Does that include Indiana, PA, too?

19 posted on 02/10/2011 6:37:44 AM PST by InvisibleChurch (Supreme Court overturns car)
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To: Scanian

Not to defend Lugar, but the author should have picked a radio station which actually existed for his story about a claimed interview.


20 posted on 02/11/2011 2:27:50 PM PST by Mr. Lucky
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