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Jeb Bush emerges post-Trump and offers conservatives a way forward (Please clap)
The Hill ^ | December 19, 2016 | Bernie Quigley

Posted on 12/19/2016 3:00:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

I was well impressed with former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) after a magazine profile appeared on him when he first entered the run for the GOP nomination for president.

Not so much impressed by his accomplishments, although they were his own and they were formidable; I was impressed by his quiet manner and how he would do the evening cooking at his house and how he became a Catholic to keep his family whole as his wife was Catholic and he was raised otherwise. My Anglo-Irish grandmother had done the same thing.

I saw these things as reaching to the core of true nobility; nothing about riches, honors or traditions, but a man's or woman's simple commitment to family no matter what the cost, be they sons of American gentry like Bush or impoverished Irish immigrants like my grandmother.

He seemed a man of some grace and serenity; humble even — too humble, perhaps, for these tumultuous times. And after more than a year of campaign bombast, it was strangely pleasing to hear his quiet voice again. Bush was in East Tennessee recently, speaking at a leadership conference and was asked what he thought of the new president-elect.

"I didn't vote for him," he said. "I made it clear I wasn't going to support him at that time. I didn't think either candidate passed the threshold of who should be sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office, making decisions that have a huge impact on the world." It was a race "against," he said, although he didn't mention that he and the conservative tradition which brought him to the presidential race was seen then as the object of the people's scorn.

"The people's anger is legitimate. Their frustrations are real. The system hasn't worked for people in a long while. Washington needs to be drained. It is a swamp."

Interesting words from the absolute scion of the Eastern Establishment, but seemingly quite sincere. He is bereft now of the tradition and the Establishment which he was seen to represent. It has been smashed to a million pieces by President-elect Donald Trump

.

But Bush is in an interesting position today. He is free to make a fresh start, not to revive the old but to begin again as if for the first time. The Democrats are in dire straits, stuck in the generational vortex of the Clinton camp and will be so for a long time. Republicans — and Bush specifically — are in a position to build a new approach in case the anarchist bent of the ascending Trump doesn't work out, and the new boss, to paraphrase The Who, is same as the old boss. Or worse.

"Donald Trump's successful primary campaign was predicated on the idea that the GOP needs a new messenger and a new message," Bush wrote recently in The Wall Street Journal. "Mr. Trump proved that he was right — as I well know, since I was often in his target sights!"

Republicans today need to do more than be against something, he wrote, "We have to be for a few big ideas and show that we can put them into action."

But Trump's anti-globalist America is contained within itself, which in my opinion is not necessarily a bad thing and can bring us Americans to a new sense of self-realization. Poet Walt Whitman wrote more than a century ago that when we returned from our journey across the world, to the stars and beyond, "The true Son of God shall come, singing his songs."

If Bush and his fellow conservatives today can imagine themselves with actual borders, they might look to the Tea Party for answers that fit our new situation. They might talk to Ron Paul about Austrian economics. They might talk to the old patrician Lewis Lehrman and learn more about gold. Traditional conservatives today are already outside of the box — thrown out — so they might as well get away from the swamp entirely.

"Among the states we see two visions for America," then-Gov. Rick Perry (R) said to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meeting in 2014, in what might be seen as a Tea Party manifesto. He has signed on with the Trump administration recently as Energy Secretary and perhaps this view reflects on the new administration. But I have my doubts.

"There's the vision common in blue states, where the state plays an increasing role in the lives of its citizens. And then there's the vision common to red-state America where the freedom of the individual comes first, and the reach of government is limited," Perry continued.

This is where the conservatism of today must turn and Bush seems an advocate: "Americans, by wide majorities, agree that Washington is broken, so let's send power back to the people and back to the states," he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

This is Texas Tea Party talk at the most essential level. And Bush even calls for a constitutional convention, a radical position which New England Tenthers like myself first called for in 2005.

Would Trump go for that? I doubt it.

"Republicans should support convening a constitutional convention to pass term limits, a balanced-budget amendment and restraints on the Commerce Clause, which has given the federal government far more regulatory power than the Founders intended."

That's a good start, but Bush and company need to talk to Perry's successor, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who is brave and bold and has taken the lead in promoting a Convention of States with nine new amendments. Some are old chestnuts like a balanced budget amendment. But several can be unnerving to old conservative traditionalists, like No. 5: "Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision."

That one takes it right to the water's edge. In an age of rebellion, it might even be considered rebellious.

That's what Jeb Bush needs to ask himself: Is he a rebel?


TOPICS: Florida; Parties; State and Local
KEYWORDS: bush; doosh; fakenews; gope; irrelevant; pleaseclap; turtle
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To: Paladin2

There are no conservatives left, just different shades of left.


61 posted on 12/19/2016 3:50:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
how he became a Catholic to keep his family whole as his wife was Catholic

Wait, he became a Catholic not because he believes in it, but because his wife was one?

That's not "noble", that's phony.

If the guy lost a power struggle with his own wife over what religion the family would observe, he is certainly too weak to be entrusted with political power in the USA.

62 posted on 12/19/2016 3:51:09 PM PST by Meet the New Boss
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Now The Hill is telling us Jeb is offering conservatives a way. Wrong source and wrong man for any message. He has had the last eight years to lead the fight against Obama and Hillary and over $100 million dollars to do so. Very few men have had the resources he has had and failed so miserably.

He should be doing something productive, like tutoring disadvantaged youngsters.


63 posted on 12/19/2016 4:00:11 PM PST by alternatives? (Why have an army if there are no borders?)
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To: Bigg Red

Otay Panky. Sorry if I offended.


64 posted on 12/19/2016 4:01:46 PM PST by be-baw (still seeking)
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To: nickcarraway

“There are no conservatives left, just different shades of left.”

No. Just different shades of lobbyist bought politicians


65 posted on 12/19/2016 4:06:20 PM PST by ari-freedom (You can't be America First by putting G-d last)
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To: Paladin2

I just got a joking email about Trump’s wall being half built already coz’ the Dems. have been sh%%%%ng bricks ever since Trump’s election.


66 posted on 12/19/2016 4:08:25 PM PST by kiltie65
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To: kiltie65

Trump didn’t say he wouldn’t use adobe....


67 posted on 12/19/2016 4:12:08 PM PST by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: SgtHooper

Go away jebbie, you and everything you and your family stand for was REJECTED and thrown in the trash.


68 posted on 12/19/2016 4:12:30 PM PST by Chainsawj (When life changes and gets harder, change yourself and get stronger.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This is definitely my favorite picture of Jebra.

Oh he was just so cocksure that he was going to be the one to concede the 2016 election to Hillary.

Thank you, Mr. Trump.

69 posted on 12/19/2016 4:13:04 PM PST by chris37 (It's time to burn the GOP down.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Who?


70 posted on 12/19/2016 4:15:40 PM PST by taxcontrol
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

the Democrats wanted Jeb! to be
the nominee of the Republicans,
because the Democrats thought Jeb
was easiest to defeat.

that is where Jeb’s money came from


71 posted on 12/19/2016 4:20:08 PM PST by RockyTx
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Bush??? The Bushes are done...The old GOPe guard are trying to resurrect Bush from the ashes???

We’re going to get a new breed of up and coming politicians in the vein of Donald Trump...Bushes will be consigned to the history books...There’s no more place in American leadership for the Bushes...


72 posted on 12/19/2016 4:20:51 PM PST by Iscool
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Jeb cooking and becoming a catholic just show what a pussy-whipped clown he really is.


73 posted on 12/19/2016 4:44:13 PM PST by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Boy there are a dozen things wrong with this article, at least, but let's just take on a few.

For instance, Republicans today need to do ....be for a few big ideas and show that we can put them into action.

We are tired of "big" ideas. D.C. has sunk into a swamp of despond with 25 year old snowflakes writing point papers arguing about "big ideas," while D.C. fritters away $ Trillions every year with nothing to show for it. How about instead of all that, you get some things done.

Like, D.C. could fix itself. Get a big construction firm like they use in NY or LA and fix the roads properly, a few city blocks a night. Open Pennsylvania Ave. past the WH. Traffic has never been the same since its 9/11 closure. Those aren't big ideas. They are just practical things that make a difference and show you can make a difference and that you even know what making a difference means.

Or this: Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.". Instead how about appointing competent SC justices. It' a whole lot easier. We know what they look like - Scalia, Thomas, for instance. One can even find better among Federal Appellate court judges.

74 posted on 12/19/2016 4:46:54 PM PST by AndyJackson
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To: Paladin2

You’re right. I usually check it out before I post. I can find a site which has an email ID number, but when I look it up on wikileaks, it says no results. I checked under wording. No results.


75 posted on 12/19/2016 4:55:57 PM PST by Flaming Conservative
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To: Flaming Conservative

People have researched it before. It’d be “fun” if true though.....


76 posted on 12/19/2016 5:00:59 PM PST by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: marron
Not likely. It didn't hurt Abbott but before I have to cut my own fingers off for taking any stance remotely favorable to the Bush cartel -----

------ having this carpetbaggin' trash in Texas is like having a den of rattlesnakes in your backyard. Even if you think you've cleaned out the den you still turn over every rock with care.
George P is just the next generation.

77 posted on 12/19/2016 5:02:13 PM PST by SanchoP
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To: Alberta's Child

See above. It was on several sites I’ve never heard of before, and though they provide an email ID number, when i looked it up, there is no such email. There’s a lot of crazy stuff out there. There’s plenty of REAL crud they pulled. Apparently, someone somewhere just makes stuff up. I got fooled this time. I cannot stand a liar.


78 posted on 12/19/2016 5:11:27 PM PST by Flaming Conservative
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Prefer not to have anything to do with Jeb Bush and Clap!


79 posted on 12/19/2016 5:37:34 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (Dan Rather, a 60 Minutes Investigative Reporter for CBS, invented "Fake News"-fake but accurate.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Not so much impressed by his accomplishments, although they were his own and they were formidable; I was impressed by his quiet manner and how he would do the evening cooking at his house and how he became a Catholic to keep his family whole as his wife was Catholic and he was raised otherwise. My Anglo-Irish grandmother had done the same thing.”

As an ordained minister, I denounce this sort of pseudo-spirituality categorically.


80 posted on 12/19/2016 5:48:17 PM PST by YogicCowboy ("I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on mine." - JRRT)
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