Posted on 11/09/2006 4:21:01 PM PST by wagglebee
Brilliant post from a brilliant man. Thank you.
Sure there are. Pence is one, but he is in the House right now. Most say House members do not get elected. He is only one, there are others, the GOP just needs to put them forward, and not moderates.
Dear, Mike Pence is no longer in the House....he’s now Gov of Indiana.
He’s not proving to be much of a conservative, either, with his rebranding of 0CommieCore, excepting federal funds for 0Care expansion and he has called for “middle ground” on amnesty.
Thanks for the Ping.
I’m afraid the Pubbies can no longer paint with bold colors. Most of them are content with their fine tipped pastels :(
My wife shares a birthday with Ronaldus (just the month and day) while my daughter’s birthday is today, the month and day of his death.
Happy birthday, honey. Your birthday serves as a reminder to me of one of the greatest Americans to have ever lived.
You know folks, it’s interesting.
It’s interesting that Reagan says there, all those years ago, exactly the same crap we see today. And it’s interesting that so many freepers who claim to revere him and the founders, find so very many ways to (try to) refute them every single day.
They want to broaden the base through moderation. Some have pushed for easing off on homo/gay/immigration. Some got the zot, others continue spouting their liberalism in post after post. And rather than look to Reagan and the founders for guidance...from the very men who founded and BEST LED this country, they say no. Different time, not the same,dems are evil, blahblahblah...
But here we are with the same issues, the same evil democrats and the same Cheshire Conservatives wanting us to be more like democrats electing their preferred RINOs.
It is tiring to see stupidity repeat so often. And it is tiring to watch the same people repeat the same nonsense. We all have access to the same info. Conservatism isn’t rocket surgery. It is very basic.
People have to start applying that info. Things cannot be two ways. People like Rand Paul cannot be out there fully backing people like Mitch and being called conservative. People like Perry cannot one day fight against border fences during invasions and then stand there bitching about the Obama policies the fences would have prevented from even allowing to be proposed...there would be far fewer illegals for him to use against America.
This is all material that is documented daily on FR. Has been for years. Openly. On the front page. So when you see a freeper posting how Paul is really a conservative worth voting for, or a Perry is a potential candidate, what you are seeing in reality is one of the people that Reagan says should go their own way. they are not conservative when they push for liberals. A 2 year old can figure that much out.
The other thing we have to accept is that there are no magic bullets. We are going to lose some. It will suck. But those screaming “purist” and the like do not want what we want. They want moderation.
The sooner we rid ourselves of the people blocking our progress, the sooner we can return to principle and move ahead rather than fighting this war within.
The best and most incisive part of that was the last sentence...and if there are those who can’t subscribe to these principles, then let them go their own way.
I think about the amount of time, effort, and resources that we spend as conservatives in a vain effort to make pigs sing. A large portion of the population, maybe a majority, subscribe to the idea that there IS a free lunch and have no problem with the idea that peacekeepers with guns should rob others to pay for that free lunch. That’s just the way it is.
And I don’t say that out of despair but actually one of optimism. Because once you start to accept things as they are and not as you wish they were, strategies to do better for you and yours begin to emerge.
My tagline offers one positive strategy for a better future. There are others.
“I think about the amount of time, effort, and resources that we spend as conservatives in a vain effort to make pigs sing.”
For an eye opening experience, pick several contentious posts at random. You will find 2-3ish people pushing moderation/liberal/non-conservative ideas and often screaming ‘Purist” or the lates one as I learned yesterday from Johnny, “Absolutist”
Then count up the man hours by everyone else on the thread, myself included, trying to teach that pig to sing.
Then realize that all those hours are wasted and all those are hours we could have used to either further educate ourselves or to help promote/elect a conservative.
THEN ponder whether or not some of those people are not paid or otherwise willing GOPers there for that very purpose.
Yep. And I’m as guilty as any of allowing myself to get bogged down in a useless exercise of trying to get pigs to sing opera. FR is a little different though in who you’re trying to appeal to are not so much the posters but the lurkers.
That said, I’m looking at moving my efforts elsewhere. I’m more than happy to debate folks but I would like to start with more or less shared goals. I got into an extremely contentious discussion a few weeks ago with a few people who are just rabidly anti libertarian. While I don’t consider myself a libertarian, I am sympathetic to some of their goals. And I really had to ask myself...is this worth my time? Are the few lurkers I might reach worth the effort if takes to reach them?
All in all i’d rather build things than interminably discuss what should be built. And like the line in the movie, if you build it they will come. Or not.
Thanks, wagglebee.
Amazingly so.
He even asks the same question:
"Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?"
I think we need a second party. Whether or not its name is "Republican" is another question.
MEGABUMP
Amen.
Hear, hear. Suggestion seconded.
Thanks for the ping!
... the same Cheshire Conservatives wanting us to be more like democrats electing their preferred RINOs. It is tiring to see stupidity repeat so often. And it is tiring to watch the same people repeat the same nonsense. We all have access to the same info. Conservatism isn’t rocket surgery. It is very basic.
So true that Reagan in this speech boils down those basics and they are absolutely as timely and current today as they were nearly 40 years ago. IT IS THAT BASIC.
We had BETTER ANTICIPATE NOW being in the same position as we were in Nov, 2012, because it's totally unrealistic to think that the GOP won't end up fielding a leftist "moderate" Republican ala Romney in 2016. That's two years away. Only a miracle would turn the GOP power players around in that short of time. I think all of us, including Rush, Levin, and any other self-defined conservative, should be seeing that one coming a mile away and considering strategies now to make the best of it.
We need a 2nd Party. Americans are yearning for a 2nd Party. Reagan nails it so gently, so sweetly -- Americans see the two major parties as being one and the same, and are voting OR NOT accordingly.
Personally, I think the term SECOND PARTY is doubly apropos because the support for the 2nd Amendment is probably the most shared issue between left and right-thinking folks; a lot of Democrats are as pro-gun as so many conservatives and Republicans.
I like Black Elk's philosophy. God loves us yet.
Back when I still identified as Republican I cannot tell you how many people I talked to that refused to listen simply because they did not trust “Republicans”. And that was before this crew of closeted Democrats was on the scene. they have good reason not to trust them. We see how quickly they turned on us as do they. For one glaring example.
Many indys and as you say, even Dems are still marginally conservative by our standards and flat out Right wingers by lib standards. Those people do indeed stay where they are for lack of anything better.
Conservatism is better. We know that. They know that. But as long as we have the albatross legacy of the post Reagan republicans, we will never get them no matter what we say or Obama does. And as long as we let the lesser evil/no matter what types continue to run rampant, that ain’t changing. Because that is part of what they see as the problem.
Yup. You nailed it — “albatross legacy” of the Republican party. AND IT EARNED ITS BAD IMAGE.
Hello, Finny, my friend .. glad you came here. You know I value your opinion.
And as for BlackElk, all I can say is that one of the most eloquent writers on FR strikes again.
One of the excuses we all hear is that it’s the MSM that twists the truth and frames the GOP.
Yes, there is some of that. No question. What does the GOP do in response? What do they do to set the record straight and go on offense? Not one damn thing. They bend over and take it like a gay man.
People are not either completely stupid nor are they completely blind. But what person, of any political belief, is going to saddle up the weak horse? Not even liberals on DU are that stupid. ...OK, usually ;)
But in all seriousness, what book of strategy, warfare, self help or success in business ever advises that one side with failure? With WILLFUL failure?
The GOP shows it wants to lose every time it fields a Dole, a Romney, or any closeted Democrat. Then they get on TV and choke. They give interviews filled with empty words or assaults on their own.
WHAT FOOL WANTS TO JOIN THAT???
No one.
The Cheshires can scream all they want. I have been going at it with a leftover Romneybot for 2 days now and of course, all he has is the same tired crap we are sick to death of hearing. His whole thing is The Dem is worse.
People out there see two evils. They do not see greater and lesser. In that way they are miles ahead of some of us. Because with no dog in the fight they see with a clarity some of us do not.
As I have said in the past, at this point, there is no excuse for any of us here on FR. There are Conservatives and as Reagan said, there are those that need to go their own way. There are a whole bunch of replacements waiting for them in the wings.
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