Posted on 10/08/2012 3:32:23 AM PDT by Kaslin
Note: The author would like to thank the Psalmist, Switchfoot, and Samwise for inspiring this column.
Back in May of 1999, I made a decision to leave the Democratic Party. It was an easy decision. I had been a Democrat for 11 years. I voted for Dukakis when I was a committed leftist. But, later, when I became a pro-life conservative, there was no room for me in the party. So I became a Republican and also joined the NRA. I've been a straight shooter ever since. Excuse me if that last line sounded heterosexist. I’m a work in regress.
As a committed conservative - one who many people think should be committed - I place ideology above party loyalty. It is true that I will not vote for any Democrat under any circumstances, not even if they seek my vote for local dog catcher. The image of Florida Democrats interpreting "chads" is burned in my memory forever. Mike Adams clings to a grudge longer than Al Sharpton clings to a discredited rape victim. But that doesn't mean I will always vote Republican. Each candidate has to work to earn my vote. That is especially true if I view him as a member of the establishment, rather than a product of a grass roots movement.
Mitt Romney is not nearly as conservative as I would like him to be. So I did not feel comfortable supporting him going into the Denver presidential debate. I'm sorry to talk about my feelings. I know I'm a member of the NRA but I still have feelings. Just ask Ingrid Newkirk of PETA. I send her Christmas cards every year - although I know she does not appreciate that they are home-made and feature pictures of the deer I kill during the holiday season.
Sorry to digress. Now, let’s get back to my feelings.
Some people will say that the Denver debate changed their vote from Obama to Romney. But I am not among them. My vote was changed from going-to-sit-this-one-out to Romney. But it did not take a 90-minute debate to do it. It only took one line. He didn't have me at "hello." He got me when he scolded a boyish eye-contact-avoiding president for over-spending. Specifically, he got me when he looked right at Obama and characterized the current spending problem as “immoral.”
It was a home run. And it cut right to the heart of the nature of our spending problem. It is more than just a spending problem. It is a moral problem. To fail to grasp the depth of the moral deficit that makes possible our fiscal deficit is to misjudge the American political landscape altogether. It is to misapprehend the nature of the American constitutional experiment altogether.
Our nation is rooted in a deep tradition of respect for property rights. It is a tradition that was well understood until the Greatest Generation gave birth to the Gratest Generation (mis-spelling intentional) - a generation that now controls our nation's purse strings. That generation has turned its back on core principles expressed by our Founders. In the process, it has jeopardized the existence of the republic.
Our Founders knew that our rights had a necessary moral component - a necessary moral dimension. In saying they were given by our Creator, they implied as much. But they implied much more than that. The most obvious implication is that God-given rights may not be taken from us by man.
But that idea is lost on the current political class. And they need to rediscover it.
Our Founders would have been shocked to see a budget devised by promise-breakers who knowingly lie to future generations in order to attain the power necessary to fund their deception. The promise-breakers know the collapse is inevitable. But they expect to be gone before it actually happens. Much has been said about a generation that has killed millions of its own offspring. More must be said about the millions it has robbed in order to ensure perpetual comfort and to avoid financial sacrifice.
In Denver, Romney spoke harshly to the current leader of that generation. His words echoed over the mountain tops and traveled through the valley in the shadow of debt. They reminded some of us that the shadow proves the sunshine. And that means there is some good left in this world and that it is still worth fighting for.
The GOP platform is as relevant to these bastards as the Constitution; lip service only when it suits them.
It’s great </s> that Mitt would give the other side a seat at the table. So already we’d know instead of a knock-down, drag out fight, they’re already to ‘compromise’ today for revenue and everything else is done on the 5yr plan. *Pftt*
Unless SOMETHING changes, it won’t matter WHO runs in 2016+. Even if Mitt wins, we’re all going to cheer and hoo-rah because our guy issues EO after EO, bypassed Congress and flipped everyone else the bird?!; cause if you think Congress is going to reduce anything or let go of any power they’ve grabbed over the years I think you’re delusional
I'd be quite pleased. I'd also like to hear his response. My daughter hasn't responded yet.
Is the son of whom you speak a Marine? Marines would understand that you sometimes have to make sacrifices in battle in order to win the war. We are at war with the left.
The health of the Libertarian Party is less important than accomplishing the death of liberalism, socialism, and communism.
I used to ascribe to the philosophy that, "I don't care how many of their own unborn babies the Democrat's kill." But having as my prime concern the Second Amendment, I realized that I needed the support of millions of people who believe even as strongly that ending abortion is more important.
I found that it didn't make sense to try to decide which was the greater evil; killing unborn babies or disarming a free people. I came to realize that both of these evils are the essentials of collectivism. Both evils sacrifice the value of a single life for "the greater good".
Is your son pro-gun and pro-life?
Thank you for your response. Yes, it is my Marine son who has become fiercely Libertarian in this election. He is definitely pro-life and pro-gun. He’s at that point of not wanting to hold his nose to vote for Romney that I was at before he chose Paul Ryan. I sincerely hope your excellent explanation will sway him. We need all the votes we can get to counter all the dead folks who will be voting!
Excellent points and you are correct about the judiciary - it’s the most important aspect.
I would think it is self evident that when the owner of the site chooses to throw his support behind someone that it is pretty stupid to argue the contrary position ad nausem on his site.
Many of us railed the PDS brigade for doing exactly that. It would therefore be the height of hypocrisy, not to mention arrogant, to act like them.
In short, Jim SHOULDN’T have to ask squat. Common decency says you don’t crap in a man’s house.
I believe (correct me if I am wrong) that we had this go around before.
Explain in detail how anyone, Romney or Reagan, turns around 16 TRILLION in debt. We are -”over”- the cliff. Some people just think unicorns with sleighs filled with skittles will save us.
What has this to do with anything?
Strawman alert.
“Refusing to act when it allows evil to triumph is a complete betrayal of conservative principals.”
Good luck getting anyone with the ability to reason to believe support of gays in the military and the rest of the well trod list are “conservative principles”. You are not entitled to your own facts after all.
Bottom line: You go vote for your choice and I’ll vote for mine. I will have NO problem living with my choice when your choice disappoints you and the rest of his supporters.
“If Obama is reelected by 2016 we will be so far over the fiscal cliff there will be no climbing back.”
Be honest with yourself and others on this blog and tell me how much moderate president Bush ran up our debt. I believe it was $4 trillion.
I’m not voting for Mitt or Barry.
“I believe those of use that are sitting it out/write-in/3rd party are just the opposite....stockpiling for whomever ‘wins’ come November, ‘cuz it won’t matter which party continues along the path we’re currently set upon.”
Bingo. I’d add that since the turnover of the House to Republicans the president hasn’t been able to do a whole lot. THAT is where our battle is being fought!
There are 2 scenarios:
1. We get a filibuster-proof majority in the house and senate that is filled with conservatives and Romney can push through conservative legislation (very unlikely)
2. We get a simple majority in the house and senate and block EVERY bit of garbage the Obama admin. tries to push through. (much more likely)
If we have a divided congress, Mitt will try to make everyone happy and cross the isle. We’ll end up with another TARP-esque spending bill that the republican party will vote in favor of FOR THE SAKE OF PARTY, NOT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
“Once 2016 rolls around the Judiciary will be so packed with Obamabots anything Conservatives DID manage to legislate would simply be undone by Judicial Fiat.”
Tell me, was John Roberts an Obama appointee? Wasn’t he the one that allowed Obamacare to continue?
It’s back to the drawing board with your logic. :)
this was a very good post. I for one am not really pro-Romney as much as I am pro USA which is why I’ll never vote democrat and I sure as hell will never vote for statists.
I’m under no illusion though. I know this guy is a business man and he knows how to balance things out or make it so that things appear balanced. He’s not “the answer”. He’s not Reagan II, he won’t be the perfect fiscal conservative. He might force departments to reduce spending but we won’t be eliminating the Departments of Energy, Education and the EPA, he will just be focusing on making them smaller, more business friendly and more cost efficient. It will be up to the conservative Congress to keep proposing these measures because this guy won’t.
He will make our country stronger both financially and militarily but will we still need to be wary of the propensity for these guys to be generous to get re-elected.
We on the right need to be careful not to fall into the trap that those on the left do. This is a very good man, a very moral man, a very humble man, a very family oriented man and a man that has a very good sense of his place in history and I think he will make a fine leader. His values are right for our country, we just need to make sure we have the right people in place to keep him from having to “reach across the aisle” very often. By training, he’s a business consultant and his job has always been to “get things done”, we just need to make sure they’re done right.
"what happens to those who now buck the management and continue to work to defeat Romney? Those that even now are still posting threads to tear down the GOP nominee?" - icwhatudo, /focus/f-news/2920626/posts?page=99#99
"They’re all going to have to wrestle their own way through it and come to their own decisions. It’s not as easy as it looks." - Jim Robinson, /focus/f-news/2920626/posts?page=124#124
I would think it is self evident that when the owner of the site chooses to throw his support behind someone that it is pretty stupid to argue the contrary position ad nausem on his site.
Jim seems to have explicitly left the door open for at least respectful disagreement.
Many of us railed the PDS brigade for doing exactly that. It would therefore be the height of hypocrisy, not to mention arrogant, to act like them.
What's "PDS"?
In short, Jim SHOULDN’T have to ask squat. Common decency says you don’t crap in a man’s house.
It's far from clear that Jim considers, or that we should consider, respectful disagreement with a position Jim apparently reached and holds only with the utmost reluctance to be "crap."
NOTHING in life is ever perfect. Certainly nothing in politics ever is. Back in the 1980s people like you were ranting how Reagan had betrayed the Conservative movement. Now you all want to claim him as your political god father.
A rational adult accepts that 85% of something is better then 100% of what you stand against. Romney will work with you, Obama will work against you. A rational adult mind would accept 85% of something is better then 100% of nothing.
And spare me the self serving rhetoric about waiting for 2016. I am been hearing the same thing from you die harders since 1988. You always want to excuse your inaction this election by claiming you will get them next election. Well we are at the last ditch now. There is no more falling back. You either stand here or there will be no place left to stand.
So just strip away the self serving rationalizations and admit sour grapes is the motivating factor here.
You go vote for your choice and I’ll vote for mine. I will have NO problem living with my choice when your choice disappoints you and the rest of his supporters.
Allowing the face of evil in our time, the most radically left administration in our country ever to win is foolish beyond words. Sitting on your hands and pouting is the reaction of a kindergartner.
You go vote for your choice and I’ll vote for mine. I will have NO problem living with my choice when your choice disappoints you and the rest of his supporters.
:-)
You know that Mitt is not my choice, so go pound sand.
You also know I've stated over and over again that Romney will disappoint us.
It's not disappointment I care about right now, it's the wholesale destruction of our country and everything we say we love and care for.
Do you want to be responsible for allowing us to be destroyed?
Yeah, go pout and sulk, but deal with that kind of principle first.
You go vote for your choice and I’ll vote for mine. I will have NO problem living with my choice when your choice disappoints you and the rest of his supporters.
Your petulance and whining are very sad to watch.
And yes, you are acting like a kindergartner taking his ball home and crying..........
Grow up. Soon.
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