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Noonan, Krauthammer to GOP: You're losing this thing
Politico ^ | 1/20/12 | ALEXANDER BURNS

Posted on 01/20/2012 9:47:07 AM PST by Qbert

Two prominent conservative columnists, Charles Krauthammer and Peggy Noonan, warn this morning that Republican infighting may do the party grievous damage for the 2012 election, with Krauthammer declaring that President Obama "could not have chosen more self-destructive adversaries."

Here's Krauthammer on GOP candidates playing into Obama's message reboot:

For the first few weeks, the class-envy gambit had some effect, bumping Obama’s numbers slightly. But the story was still lagging, suffering in part from its association with an Occupy rabble that had widely worn out its welcome.

Then came the twist. Then came the most remarkable political surprise since the 2010 midterm: The struggling Democratic class-war narrative is suddenly given life and legitimacy by . . . Republicans! Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry make the case that private equity as practiced by Romney’s Bain Capital is nothing more than vulture capitalism looting companies and sucking them dry while casually destroying the lives of workers….

How quickly has the zeitgeist changed? Wednesday, the Republican House reconvened to reject Obama’s planned $1.2 trillion debt-ceiling increase. (Lacking Senate concurrence, the debt ceiling will be raised nonetheless.) Barely noticed. All eyes are on South Carolina and Romney’s taxes.

This is no mainstream media conspiracy. This is the GOP maneuvering itself right onto Obama terrain.

And here's Noonan on the 2012 field racing into a "John Grisham novel"-like phase of the primary campaign:

Secret offshore bank accounts, broken love, the testimony of anguished ex-wives: "He wanted an open marriage." A battered old veteran emerges from the background and, in his electoral death throes, provides secret information—"I'm for Newt"—that he hopes will upend a dirty, rotten establishment. A vest-wearing choir boy turns out to have been the unknown winner of that case back in Iowa. And all this against the backdrop of a mysterious firm that moves in and destroys communities—"When Mitt Romney came to town . . ."—while its CEO pays nothing in taxes.

If you are a Republican who hates a mess, or if you are a member of that real but elusive and hydra-headed thing, the GOP establishment, you are beside yourself with anxiety and unhappiness. You think: "They're losing this thing! They're going to limp out of South Carolina, they'll limp through Florida, they're killing each other and killing the party's chances. How will they look by the fall? What are independents going to think of the guy we finally put up? We all know politics ain't beanbag, but it's not supposed to be a clown-car Indy 500 with cars hitting the wall and guys in wigs littering the track!"

There's been a lot of damage. We lose sense of it in the day to day, but in the aggregate it's going to prove considerable.



TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: establishment; krauthammer; peggynoonan
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To: Gaffer

Damn right! Well said.


41 posted on 01/20/2012 10:32:46 AM PST by dainbramaged (I lost my mantra around 1969.)
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To: NKP_Vet

"Both are Romney backers that can’s stand the though of real conservative winning the nomination. To hell with both of them."

The sad thing is that of the two, the intelligent one (that would be Charles), knows deep down that Romney is unable to connect with voters... and yet his rigid beliefs force him to keep pushing the guy, no matter what.

42 posted on 01/20/2012 10:37:43 AM PST by Qbert ("The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry" - William F. Buckley, Jr.)
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To: Qbert

Peggy is NOT a Conservative!


43 posted on 01/20/2012 10:37:55 AM PST by packrat35 (When will we admit we are know almost a police state?)
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To: Qbert

Hey Chuck, Peg!

What will you say on Sunday after Newt wins in S.C.?
And if he goes on to win in Florida?

Will you get off of the Mitt train and offer constructive criticism of Newt?


44 posted on 01/20/2012 10:38:35 AM PST by G Larry ("I dream of a day when a man is judged by the content of his Character.")
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To: Qbert
Awwww, they're crying because it looks like Romney is going down.

Pathetic. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
45 posted on 01/20/2012 10:40:30 AM PST by Antoninus (Mitt Romney -- attempting to execute a hostile take-over of the Republican Party.)
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To: Qbert

That's where a record comes in. Not just the record of votes, which is often a meaningless toll of positions taken for political reasons on bills that were always going to pass or were never going to pass, but a record of actions taken that actually mattered.

A record of actions taken that actually mattered.  Newt is the man who fits that description to a "T".

He can identify what is most important to the country, develop a plan to overcome that challenge, articulate the the merits of overcoming the challenge and why the plan will work.

I hadn't been for Gingrich initially and spent plenty of energy excoriating him, these last several years, for any number of sins he committed against the Republican/Conservative ideals.  He seemed a turncoat of sorts, particularly when he babysat Pelosi on the couch.

On reflection, Newt is an attention whore seeking relevancy for his ideas and I guess I take him at his word that he made a few mistakes in his life and he has at least some regret for those decisions.  God knows I am no angel and so I have to reflect on the man's ability to get things done.

Newt gave us the Republican majority, the Contract with America and completed 2/3rds of his agenda while in office.

He now has a new plan for America and with what is likely to become a Congressional Super Majority and a Senate Majority, if not Super Majority, I believe he will absolutely accomplish his agenda.

Say goodbye to ObamaCare the single biggest scam and travesty foisted upon a free people who, by right, ought to have been given the opportunity to read the bill and debate it.  Instead, a win at all cost, cheating agenda was developed and it was signed with most people never laying eyes on at least page 2 of this utopian dreck.

Executive Orders Positions:

The following are all within the executive powers to simply order and with the exception of securing the border within one year, they are all easily accomplished with the stroke of a pen and no way to challenge them in the legislature.

Keystone may be challenged in the courts but I think the Executive can order the EPA to approve, under National Security Priorities and it is a National Security issue, as well, a jobs issue.

As President, Newt, could actually have a very busy 1st week or month just on these initiative alone.

1. Eliminate the thirty-nine White House "Czar" positions created during the current administration. The president does not have the authority to appoint bureaucrats to power who are not accountable to the Congress.

2. "Mexico City Policy" of Respect for Life. Reauthorize President Ronald Reagan’s policy – also known as the "Mexico City Policy"— to stop tax payer dollars from being used to fund or promote abortions in foreign countries.

3. Restore conscience clause protections for Healthcare Workers.No American working in a medical environment should be forced to perform any procedure that he or she finds morally or ethically objectionable based on religious teaching. This protection should include, but not be limited to abortion. Existing conscience clause protections need to be strengthened.

4. Respect Each Sovereign Nation’s Choice of its Capital. Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own Capital. Accordingly, the U.S. State Department should be instructed to respect the choice of each sovereign nation and place the American embassy in their Capital.  (Israel is the only country the United States discriminates against in this regard. The people of Israel have designated Jerusalem as their capital. Yet the United States retains its embassy in Tel Aviv.) 

5. End the Attorney General's Assault on the States. Instruct the Attorney General to withdraw all immigration-related lawsuits against states immediately, including those pending in Arizona and South Carolina. The Obama Administration refuses to enforce federal immigration laws, and instead sues states who are merely trying to enforce the laws that the federal government neglects. The Gingrich Administration will secure the border by Jan. 1, 2014 by any means necessary. 

6. The Keystone Pipeline

Unleash American Energy by Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline. Instruct the State Department to approve a Presidential Permit immediately for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that will send 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Great Plains and Southwestern states to Gulf Coast refineries lower staggering energy prices, and create up to 120,000 American jobs.

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

 Now we get into the details of an inclusive agenda that brings the people(you and me), through their representatives, into process.  The TEA Party and conservatives are going to have a majority in both houses.

Let’s elect an Executive who will absolutely fulfill the promise of our ideals.

Executive Summary

  1. Repeal Obamacare and pass a replacement that saves lives and money by empowering patients and doctors, not bureaucrats and politicians.
  2. Return to robust job creation with a bold set of tax cuts and regulatory reforms that will free American entrepreneurs to invest and hire, as well as by reforming the Federal Reserve and creating a training requirement for extended federal unemployment benefits to encourage work and improve the quality of our workforce.
  3. Unleash America’s full energy production potential in oil, natural gas, coal, biofuels, wind, nuclear oil shale and more, creating jobs,  stimulating a sustainable manufacturing boom, lowering gasoline and other energy prices, increasing government revenues, and bolstering national security.
  4. Save Medicare and Social Security by giving Americans more choices and tools to live longer, healthier lives with greater financial independence.
  5. Balance the federal budget by freeing job-creators to grow the economy, reforming entitlements, and implementing waste cutting and productivity improvement systems such as Lean Six Sigma to eliminate waste and fraud. Pass a balanced budget amendment to keep it balanced.
  6. Control the border by January 1, 2014 and establish English as the official language of government; reform the legal visa system, and make it much easier to deport criminals and gang members while making it easier for law abiding visitors to come to the US.
  7. Revitalize our national security system to meet 21st century threats by restructuring and adequately funding our security agencies to function within a grand strategy for victory over those who seek to kill us or limit American power.
  8. Maximize the speed and impact of medical breakthroughs by removing unnecessary obstacles that block new treatments from reaching patients and emphasizing research spending towards urgent national priorities, like brain science with its impact on Alzheimer’s, autism, Parkinson's, mental health and other conditions knowledge of the brain will help solve. 
  9. Restore the proper role of the judicial branch by using the clearly delineated powers available to the president and Congress to correct, limit, or replace judges who violate the Constitution.
  10. Enforce the Tenth Amendment by starting an orderly transfer of power and responsibility from the federal government back “to the states, respectively, or to the people,” as the Constitution requires. Over the next year, state and local officials and citizens will be asked to identify the areas which can be transferred back home.    

Newt gave us the three most important victories of the 90’s Welfare Reform, Balanced Budget and Reduced Taxes.  I hope I don’t need to describe the benefits of those victories.  They ought to be obvious to everyone by now.

Lastly, there have been some reports that Newt shouldn’t get all the credit.  Really?  Then perhaps we marginalize the accomplishments of Washington, Roosevelt, Kennedy and ….wait for it… Reagan.

Do we really want to go down the road with that kind of adolescent sophistry and parsing of what happened?

Newt is the guy who thought of these big things, proposed them and shepherded their implementation?

Newt has once again identified what is important to us now, at this time and described how we can get there with our representative majorities. He has done it before and I declare Newt Gingrich was then and is Now a leader.

We should elect Newt Gingrich to the Presidency of the United States

46 posted on 01/20/2012 10:42:50 AM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: Qbert

Noonan is no conservative and krauthammer is in the tank for rumnuts.


47 posted on 01/20/2012 10:44:28 AM PST by Scotsman will be Free (11C - Indirect fire, infantry - High angle hell - We will bring you, FIRE)
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To: Qbert

Major Charles and Nurse Margaret playing God in triage, then start to panic not for their selected patient but for their own credibility.
Doctor, we’re losing him! Do something! I’ve already got more Doles on my head than Carmen Miranda!


48 posted on 01/20/2012 10:53:29 AM PST by Lady Lucky (A tea party in name only is worse than no tea party at all.)
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To: SamuraiScot

“Should that be translated as “Romney is losing this thing”?”

You are right on target. The RINOs are squirming in their seats. Bwahahahahahaha. GO NEWT GO!


49 posted on 01/20/2012 10:55:24 AM PST by Parley Baer
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To: Lady Lucky

:-)

How come the Doctor never seems to have any prescriptions other than another ineffective dose of RINO?


50 posted on 01/20/2012 11:05:08 AM PST by Qbert ("The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry" - William F. Buckley, Jr.)
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Boop Her Nose!

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51 posted on 01/20/2012 11:41:31 AM PST by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list)
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To: Qbert

Too bad RINOS, your guy has the money but not the mouth (or mind).


52 posted on 01/20/2012 11:49:28 AM PST by struggle (http://killthegovernment.wordpress.com/)
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To: Qbert

Infighting=not crowning Romney


53 posted on 01/20/2012 12:00:39 PM PST by fortheDeclaration (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Burke)
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To: Qbert

Okay, given that these two were sandbagging at least one potential presidential candidate while she was the appointed vice-presidential nominee...I love irony. Peg and Charles might not have started it, but they should buck up and accept their share of the blame.


54 posted on 01/20/2012 12:39:09 PM PST by RichInOC (Palin 2012: The Perfect Storm.)
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To: Qbert

Exactly. What they fail to see is that the American People know this Congress isn’t going to do anything that they promised so we’re looking to the elections to make another change.


55 posted on 01/20/2012 1:43:18 PM PST by thatjoeguy (MAYDAY! MAYDAY! We are so going in ! !)
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To: Qbert

Peggy, Romney and CK are the ones losing and they thought they had it in the bag. Idiots.


56 posted on 01/20/2012 1:45:29 PM PST by toddausauras (The)
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To: brownsfan
Noonan is an over the hill bimbo trying desperately to remain relevant.

Hey! Don't put down over the hill bimbos!



Where there's a shell, there's a way.

25 years ago, we had Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope.
Today we have Obama, no cash, and no hope!

If you can't appreciate the pure beauty of the violin after hearing this, something's wrong with your ears.

Or you can get raw with these strings.

How about this gamechanger from America's Got Talent (which they SHOULD have won).

And finally, this, dedicated to the one and only rdb2, whose eyes are growing dim.

Either way, the violin is sweet yet LETHAL.

Do it!

57 posted on 01/20/2012 3:03:23 PM PST by rdb3 (><>The mouth is the exhaust pipe of the heart. <><)
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To: GVnana

Krauthammer is an admitted “conservative” democrat. He praised Obama during the run for election in 2008 saying Obama could be trusted to lead the U.S.A. Just like Colin Powel, he wanted the GOP to nominate McCain then proceeded to endorse the democrat.


58 posted on 01/20/2012 3:04:43 PM PST by Flavious_Maximus
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To: Qbert
"They're losing this thing! They're going to limp out of South Carolina, they'll limp through Florida, they're killing each other and killing the party's chances. How will they look by the fall? What are independents going to think of the guy we finally put up?"

They aren't saying anything about each other now that Obama won't say in the general. At least if they get it out now, then it will be old news.

Don't worry so much about the independents. This isn't so much about the Republicans losing as it is about Obama having to win it. And it will be nearly impossible for him to do so. Any of the candidates could win running against him. What decides Presidential elections is whether people are going to vote against the incumbent. And they will do that when they perceive the economy being poor. That rule has decided every Presidential election for decades.

59 posted on 01/20/2012 3:17:38 PM PST by mlo
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To: LS
Say the people who supported McLame.

Someone else already said what I'm about to repeat.

The mentality of this crowd is as follows:

"Let's run the guy who lost to the guy who lost the last election"

60 posted on 01/20/2012 3:32:48 PM PST by VideoDoctor
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