Coburn to GOP: Stop Start acting like Republicans, and follow … McCain?
posted at 6:20 pm on May 27, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Tom Coburn has established himself as one of the Young Turks of conservatism on Capitol Hill, fighting pork and federal spending as well as establishing himself as a stalwart against abortion. Along with his Senate colleague Jim DeMint and House members Jeff Flake, Mike Pence, and Eric Cantor, Coburn has accumulated plenty of influence among angry conservatives looking to shake the GOP and have the party return to the first principles of conservatism. Today Coburn issues a call for this return in the Wall Street Journal, but he picks a leader that may have Coburn’s fans feeling some cognitive dissonance:
As congressional Republicans contemplate the prospect of an electoral disaster this November, much is being written about the supposed soul-searching in the Republican Party. A more accurate description of our state is paralysis and denial.
Many Republicans are waiting for a consultant or party elder to come down from the mountain and, in Moses-like fashion, deliver an agenda and talking points on stone tablets. But the burning bush, so to speak, is delivering a blindingly simple message: Behave like Republicans.
Unfortunately, too many in our party are not yet ready to return to the path of limited government. Instead, we are being told our message must be deficient because, after all, we should be winning in certain areas just by being Republicans. Yet being a Republican isn’t good enough anymore. Voters are tired of buying a GOP package and finding a big-government liberal agenda inside. What we need is not new advertising, but truth in advertising.
For most of his article, Coburn sings to the conservative choir. Yet at the end, he concludes with this paragraph:
John McCain, for all his faults, is the one Republican candidate who can lead us through our wilderness. Mr. McCain is not running on a messianic platform or as a great healer of dysfunctional Republicans who refuse to help themselves. His humility is one of his great strengths. In his heart, he’s a soldier who sees one more hill to charge, one more mission to complete.
Many conservatives would put McCain in the RINO category as well. Also, when reading the article, this paragraph feels as though it got added as an afterthought, as my friend Mark Tapscott put it. What was Coburn thinking?
It’s not difficult to understand Coburn’s reasoning. He believes that Republicans lost their way mostly on matters of fiscal discipline. Outrageous spending increases, abetted by runaway pork-barrel spending, destroyed Republican credibility on the first principle of conservatism: limited government. All other sins descend from this misstep. If the GOP feeds the federal government, then no one speaks for reductions in federal authority along any lines, and all manner of federal intervention becomes possible, even for the GOP.
In order to restrain the growth of federal government, the party needs a leader who has the best track record on fighting its expansion. In this case, that means John McCain, with at least one healthy caveat. Campaign-finance reform in the manner of the BCRA expands federal government into political speech in a manner that rejects limited government. Its impact on the speech rights of organizations during elections makes the federal government an arbiter of speech, a role that contradicts conservatism in a very fundamental way.
However, outside of that, McCain has long fought pork-barrel spending and bloated federal budgets. During the feeding frenzy between 2001-2006, McCain’s voice was left in the wilderness, warning about the consequences of the Republican majorities. Even his opposition to the last of the Bush tax cuts didn’t get based on a love of taxes, but in the refusal of the Bush administration and the Republican Congress to cut federal spending at the same time.
The big question: will this missive from Coburn help bridge the gap between McCain and conservative activists? As Coburn knows from personal experience, McCain is by far the one nominee who will work toward conservative principles in spending and limitation of federal power in the upcoming general election. The question for Coburn is whether he becomes the leader of the Republicans that keeps McCain on track with his pledges in other areas, notably border security. If Coburn can do that, he may find himself the next national leader for conservatives.
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Yeah, and I can see what McCain was concerned about! I mean, conservatism is all about the Constitution… you know… that old parchment document that serves as the basis of law in this country. And a judges job is to rule fairly, based on the standard of the Constitution. It’s not like we want judges visibly DOING THEIR JOB!
Do I even have to put a sarc tag?
dominigan on May 27, 2008 at 10:32 PM
No because you clumsily try to make an invalid point.
Politics of a judge, like a military general should not be on display. Otherwise, how can you be sure that they will rule fairly. Roberts is like that, that is why McCain had no prob with him.
Squid Shark on May 27, 2008 at 10:35 PM
I hate people trying to pressure me to vote for McCain. If I were to rate the candidates…
Obama
pros:
cons: ****************************************
Hillary
pros: *
cons: ***************************************
McCain
pros: **
cons: **************************************
Are you bloody kidding me? Vote FOR him???? Some choice…
dominigan on May 27, 2008 at 10:40 PM
Maybe this explains why we’ve gotten such great Justice picks by Republicans. Perhaps if we knew that they were conservative and believed in the rule of law, instead of being closet activists…
dominigan on May 27, 2008 at 10:43 PM
None of the above ‘08!
jwp1964 on May 27, 2008 at 10:46 PM
Is your phone broke? Your email? Your fax machine? U.S Postal service stopped delivering?
You can make your voices heard and achieve real results, if you’ll stop whining and actually do something, like sign up with NumbersUSA.
We have a better chance of fighting McC than we do the dem trifecta should either dem get elected. We can fight him on his lib tendencies.
Those that advocate for a complete collapse so the dems have to take the blame live in an alternate reality to the one that surrounds me. Dems have been in power in both houses and republicans are blamed many times DAILY by the msm. If Comrade Obambi is elected POTUS, that will still continue.
Have you not realized yet that the dems and the msm have very successfully cast republicans and especially Conservatives as the very incarnation of evil. The People aren’t going to look to Conservatives for ANY solutions for a long long time. Our idiots in congress when we had the majority failed miserably at being Conservative.
Nobody’s going to trust us for a long long time, no matter who gets elected this November.
Also, I don’t think McC gives a damn for the Conservative vote. I think he believes that Comrade Obambi is going to implode and he’s going to pick up a hell of a lot of Centrist Democrats.
He. Doesn’t. Need. Us.
Some control and influence is better than absolutely none.
techno_barbarian on May 27, 2008 at 11:23 PM
Very classy. Well done.
techno_barbarian on May 27, 2008 at 11:25 PM
Maybe so, but they’re gonna need a hefty appetite.
techno_barbarian on May 27, 2008 at 11:28 PM
_
_
That’s right.
SlimyBill on May 27, 2008 at 11:35 PM
I don’t know anyone advocating a “complete collapse”, except perhaps for the people wanting the GOP to elect a liberal wannabe-Dem as President. That would be a complete collapse.
Have I told you lately what a fool you are?
What to do? I know! Since electing non-conservatives got us into this mess, how about we all throw our weight behind a man who makes Bush seem like Reagan? Having shot ourselves in the foot, let’s procede to amputate both legs.
flenser on May 27, 2008 at 11:44 PM
Your right, we have let the wounds you T.C.’s have foisted upon us fester for too long. The gangrene is too bad now…time to amputate.
Squid Shark on May 27, 2008 at 11:51 PM
I see Big S is still riding his anti-religion hobby horse, even though that’s not the game tonight.
flenser on May 27, 2008 at 11:52 PM
I don’t know who or that “TC’s” are supposed to be, but it’s not conservatives dragging the GOP to the left. That would be you “moderates”.
flenser on May 27, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Conservatives will have absolutely no control or influence on a McCain WH. We have none now.
flenser on May 27, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Thanks Techno- You are a classy guy (Guy?… Pardon me if my assumption is incorrect)also.
We may have different strategies as to the best way to preserve America in the long run, but at least can discuss them rationally.
Not that I’m a dittohead by any means, but we MDS sufferers only eat alive those who remain willfully ignorant of reality.
LegendHasIt on May 27, 2008 at 11:57 PM
I remember 2000 all too well. “Oh vote for Bush, hes the choice!”
So I did, and look at all the fun we got.
Silly, short-memory T.C.’s
Your boys became corrupt and bloated with power and you cant handle it so you try and blame the “moderates”. Here is a secret: You have only won anything with our willing collusion. The Big Dog Ronaldus Maximus did not win because of his “sound conservative principles” he won because he was likable, optimistic and strong. Once in office, he governed with compromise and deals to get what he wanted, just like the rest.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:00 AM
I’ve already addressed the myth of McCain’s “tough on spending”, “tough on taxes,” and “tough on small gummint” stances.
I’ve addressed it before, but: Supreme Ct: all the most-likely-to-retire Justices are flaming liberals. President Bambi can’t do much worse than them. President McCain can’t do much better than them, considering a Democrat-dominated Senate. It’s status quo, no matter who is President.
True conservatism: You either have a consistent philosophy, or you don’t. If one thinks that not voting for McCain will more quickly and surely lead to a Republican/conservative majority, the answer is not to scream “It’ll be all your fault, you blinkered true conservatives!” but to explain why that’s a mistaken belief.
And be sure to address how the blame for amnesty, global warmism taxes and bureaucracy, abridgment of free speech, et al. would be better blamed on a McCain presidency than a Democrat Presidency.
Oh, and, just for fun, why does McCain need right-wing-nut conservatives if he’s so gosh-darned popular with Republicans and independents and Democrats?
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 12:01 AM
*shaking salt onto my back*
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Except REPLACE THEM WITH YOUNGER FLAMING LIBERALS!
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:02 AM
SquishShark?
You’re a military lawyer, you say? A moderate military lawyer. I guess anyone who makes it out of law school without being a flaming liberal is a blessing.
I never get over my amazement, however, at lawyers who are liberal/moderate, as numerous as they may be. How can you get through law school without seeing the damage that liberals/moderates have done to the Constitution and the country?
Starting with “a switch in time saves nine,” but I’ll settle for an explanation of McCain-Feingold.
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 12:06 AM
So you are in favor of doing now what you saw as a mistake in 2000? I can’t figure out what you are trying to say.
What are “T.C.’s”? If you’re going to make up your own terms at least tell people what they mean.
I have no idea what “your boys” you are talking about. The GOP has been run for the last eight years by the Chamber of Commerce/country club Republicans.
I don’t know who “our” is either. You’re a poor writer.
You sound like a liberal.
So, what is it that you “want”?
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:06 AM
That is not the quote, he was concerned about judges who “wear their conservatism on their sleeve”. Which is a good thing to be concerned about in a judge.
Squid Shark on May 27, 2008 at 7:29 PM
I’d rather have conservatives wear their conservatism on their sleeves than up their butts which is where McCain keeps his.
TexasJew on May 28, 2008 at 12:07 AM
I thought you believed in compromise and deals?
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:08 AM
I’m glad you don’t regard yourself as a conservative, since it saves me having to point out that you are not one. I notice that liberal judges can wear their politics on their sleeve without McCain objecting.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:10 AM
Were not going to get a compromise with Obama, now will we.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:13 AM
On Squid Shark’s blog there is a post complaining about pork and earmarks, with a roll-call of a Senate vote.
I can’t help but notice that the GOP Senators who jumped ship and voted for the pork were all from the “moderate” wing of the party – the Specter’s, the Snowe’s, the Collins, etc.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:14 AM
If politicizing the courts is what conservatives believe, than no, I am not one.
I believe I am in the Republitarian school.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:16 AM
I’m still waiting to hear what “T.C.’s” are.
The GOP in Congress will fight liberal measures introduced by a Dem. They will go along with liberal measures introduced by a Rep. Look at the last eight years.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:16 AM
And Brownback….
I am glad you read my blog…
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:17 AM
The courts are politicized. And it’s been lawyers and judges who have led the way in doing it. They are the most political animals on earth.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:17 AM
Sorry the “True” conservatives as the fashion themselves.
And loose
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:18 AM
And Brownback!!!
Well, I guess that proves your entire loopy thesis then.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:19 AM
Fine, that does not make it right….
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:19 AM
I beleive you were the one making a loopy thesis about the pork vote…
McCain fights pork, does that qualify him for entry into the club now(by your reasoning)?
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:21 AM
Given that you are not any sort of conservative, by your own admisssion, it’s odd that you are claiming to make such a distinction.
If you are a lawyer I’m a Supreme Court justice. You have a sloppy and disorganized mind.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:21 AM
Still haven’t cleaned that grit out of the ol’ sphincter, I see. You’re gonna get everybody to giggling at you, again.
It is physically painful to read through your posts. That’s why I don’t, for the most part.
You’re only powerless if you allow yourself to be. You just like whining. Man up and get off your lazy sand-encrusted butt and DO something. That’s what Conservatives do.
Whining and petty little power trip verbal jousting isn’t going to get the problem solved.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 12:23 AM
Please cite what thesis, loopy or otherwise, I have made about pork. You’re just throwing words at the page now.
No, he does not.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:23 AM
I hold many conservative views and am no liberal, that is the distinction. The dittoheads have fashioned themselves into some kind of vanguard when all they are is a loud rabble.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:26 AM
Ah, the sandy little butt-hole is back to elevate the tone of the conversation.
According to you and the girly-man republicans here, what conservatives do is to meekly trot along being the GOP as it moves to the left and validate its every move. You’re as passive and inert as a potted plant.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:26 AM
Let me get this straight.
There are still many well-meaning Republicans who would rather sit out this election cycle or otherwise will vote Democratic before they will pull the lever for McCain.
Sure, that’s classy.
Those frustrated folks are not, IMHO, looking at the larger picture. SCOTUS nominees and the GWOT are the top reasons to support McCain if for nothing else. What good is it to let the Democrats take the blame if they falter on the war effort? President Bush failed to stop McCain/Feingold, thinking that the Supreme Court would do the job for him. It didn’t. Now would a President Obama have done the same?
In a word, NO.
There simply won’t be a salvageable America for a President Jindal (or any other GOPster) if the SCOTUS is packed with left of center judges, terrorism is active on North American soil, and an expansion of entitlements and government taxation that will be next to impossible to roll back or eliminate outright.
McCain, at worse, will be mission creep that can be corrected in 2012. Obama, at the least, will rush the nation headlong toward socialism and worse. Again, why make it easy for the opposition?
For the troops serving now, and for generations of Americans yet to come, pick your battlefields wisely.
itzWicks on May 28, 2008 at 12:26 AM
Manly man here and I’ve got nothin’ but respect for you, Legend.
Had a very enjoyable and (take note flens) respectful and civil exchange with you recently. With you I can get actual give and take.
Rare these days when many want it just their way and will accept no other, even to the point of not bothering to even consider the merits of anothers arguments.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 12:28 AM
Sure you do. In the same sense as you are a libertarian.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:29 AM
You claimed that somehow the fact that the “moderates” who voted against the pork bill en masse proves….I dont even know what the hell you point was it was so convoluted.
BTW I can think of 3 “moderates” who were vocal supporters of the moratorium
McCain
Grahm
Martinez
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:29 AM
MCCAIN FIGHTS PORK?!?!?!?!
How in the world does giving amnesty and access to the welfare state to 12-20+ million illegal alien criminals fight pork, for feck’s sake?
Or imposing vaast new taxes and bureaucracy to fight a hoax?
I’m at a complete loss to see how in the world anyone could argue that Juan will either control the size of gummint, check taxes, or be tough on spending.
Please, someone, explain it to me.
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 12:29 AM
Says the man with the mind as closed as a black hole. And the manners of a sewer rat.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:30 AM
I am quite vocal on national defense, spending, pork, taxes, terrorism, abortion, and Israel. I take conservative positions on all of these.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:30 AM
Clearly you are thinking of the delicious, non-kosher meat and not secret appropriations. Because nothing in your statement has anything to do with earmarks.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:32 AM
I share your frustrations with McCain, and with the GOP leadership in general. But unfortunately, a ground swell grass roots of conservatism is still an election cycle away. It ain’t gonna happen in 2008.
Sharpen your sabers for 2010. For now, we have to cut the losses in the Congress, get competent leadership in critical positions of power, and work to move the party back toward the Right. Not the “right now,” as it looks too close to left of center to me.
itzWicks on May 28, 2008 at 12:32 AM
It proves that “moderates” in the Senate are the porkers, not the conservatives.
So if we had 100 “moderates” in the senate, we’d have maybe eight or nine who would oppose earmarks? I think you get much better return on your investment by supporting conservatives.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:33 AM
Sounds alot like you flense.
I have never seen the barbarian act in any way resembling a rodent.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:33 AM
Never said it was. But what happens in 2008 will decide whether it can happen at all in the future.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:34 AM
Sounds like the typical T.C. argument that whevever someone goes corrupt or porky they were a moderate all along. Like Newt when he went all Global Warming, right?
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:35 AM
You seem to be visually impaired then. That clown makes you look like an intelligent commenter.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:36 AM
Argh. I’m filling up the comment section with repetitive posts, but no one will give me good answers.
SCOTUS: All the vacancies will be from flaming liberal Justices. Bambi can’t do much worse, and McCain can’t do much better, than what they are now.
GWOT: Whoever is President will have no choice but to fight it. Even Bambi’s campaign has admitted that it’s all crap to placate the loony Left. They are not going to have another lost war hung around their necks, no matter what their rhetoric.
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 12:37 AM
That’s been exactly my point on several threads. He doesn’t need us. Obambi’s going to crater and McC’s going to pick up a buttload of Centrist Democrat votes. For a while we Conservatives are going to be even more irrelevant than we already are.
We are self-evidently broken at least as badly as the dems. The amount of work to do is staggering, and yet we bicker and fight amongst ourselves.
We can rebuild during a McC presidency and fight him every step of the way on the issues we care about. But it seems like more of my respected co-commentors have forsaken the notion of actually fighting and are willing to roll over and let a huge disaster occur by willfully ushering in an Obambi presidency and dem control over all three branches of government. All three branches which are at historically high levels of incompetence and corruption.
I don’t care about the friggin’ party, at this point in history. I care about my Nation and its survival.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 12:37 AM
Damm, what a joke you are. Are you really going to try to say that Lugar or Specter were “T.C’s” until that vote? The people who voted against you were the “moderate” wing of the GOP. Not the big bad scary “T.C’s”.
Again, if you are a lawyer, I’m a Supreme Court justice.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:38 AM
How did that work out for us during the Bush years?
That’s the exact process that has the GOP in a world of hurt.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:41 AM
If going all Global Warming means that somebody is corrupt or porky, then what have you just said about McCain? I don’t get how things are bad when other people do them but are ok when your hero does them.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:44 AM
I said no such thing. Specter is an idiot liberal who does not deserve to be dog catcher. So are Snowe and Collins, they are wastes of air.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:44 AM
McCain is not my “hero” he is wrong on alot of things. I am not sold on GW, he is VERY wrong about Campaign Finance and he is partially wrong about immigration.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:46 AM
The very first time I encountered you, you called me a “sandy little butt-hole”. So all I can say is that I’m amused that you now want to give me a lecture on civility and respect.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:46 AM
And you are as classless as you are dense, and that is a feat I thought unattainable.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 12:47 AM
MMMM… Calamari with a side of Shark Fin soup.
Yummy!
;-)
I’m sure if it weren’t for politics, we would get along famously, Squid….
Well, maybe not…. Are you really a Lawyer? I thought you were a regular ‘Navy Guy’, (+2)… Not a JAG Off. (-3)
LegendHasIt on May 28, 2008 at 12:48 AM
The explain yourself, counselor. What did you mean by the following remark?
You have a habit of tossing out stink-bombs and then walking away.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:49 AM
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:50 AM
Did I say Specter or Lugar were in that group, your broad brush that T.C.’s are fighting the good fight in congress and would never go corrupt is dishonest at best.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:52 AM
Tsk tsk. Let’s see some of your vaunted civility and respect.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:53 AM
Good friend, misterpeasea; THAT is where WE, together, are gonna have to stand in the gap and fight him with everything we’ve got. Burn up the phone and run the fax machines out of paper. Fill up their email inboxes. Letters, conversations with friends, family, co-workers.
We. Are. Not. Powerless.
And I’m getting damned tired of the defeatism displayed by many people I’ve grown to respect for a long time now.
We’ve got REALLY crappy options this November. Willingly giving up any potential power we might have for some morally symbolic victory that, at this particular time in history, will be completely overlooked by our currently skulls-full-of-mush msm-fed populace.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 12:54 AM
techno, never get into a fight with a pig
you’ll both get dirty
and the pig likes it.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:55 AM
Then name names, since I clearly have to drag them out of you with pliers.
IMO, you are not sharp enough to be a lawyer.
Argument unsupported by any evidence. You must cite some of these “T.C.’s” who are corrupt.
I’m amused that you think Martinez is not corrupt, btw. And Graham!
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:56 AM
“We” are not going to have any power after this November, if the next President is McCain, Clinton, or Obama.
Let’s elect somebody else.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 12:59 AM
Once again putting words into my mouth.
Your likely right, but were all politicized hacks anyways right, so what is one more.
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 12:59 AM
Then there is still time!
Don’t turn to the dark side!
OH, I get it now: Squid Shark.,
Squid for the Navy, Shark for the lawyer.
I’m slow on the uptake sometimes, but I eventually get it if I work at it.
If I send you some good engineering texts (Bachelors level) and/or some good Strategic Management (MBA-PhD level) will you change your major into something useful???
;-)
LegendHasIt on May 28, 2008 at 12:59 AM
This one had me in some National Geographic jungle scenario, in a past thread, casting me as a bellowing rogue elephant protecting my harem of females here on HA.
Can you believe that? The guy’s got no sense of humor at all and lives to fling gobs of ad-homenim on even those who might otherwise agree with him. More troll than thoughtful individual. Lives for the flame war. Probably a little feller.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:00 AM
God save America.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 1:00 AM
I thought that was pretty funny.
Sure I do. If you don’t see the humor above then you need to have your head recalibrated.
flenser on May 28, 2008 at 1:02 AM
Man oh man, thanks for the reply.
But look. I’m saying don’t vote for President, and support Republicans down the ticket. I’m not NOT in favor of a moral victory or a symbolic victory or anything else. I’m in favor of having Republican/conservative majorities again as soon as possible. I think not voting for McCain is the best strategery, and I haven’t seen or heard a credible argument that it isn’t.
Who will Republicans in Congress fight against harder, President McCain, or President Bambi, when they try to get amnesty, global warmism taxes and bureaucracy, etc?
Will it be better for Republicans to have McCain, or Bambi, blamed for global warmism taxes and bureaucracy, etc?
Anything one Congress can do, future ones can undo.
And the SCt and GWOT, like I say, I don’t think Democrats will do measurably worse.
But I’m willing to be convinced. Always.
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 1:04 AM
flen, I would love to play ad hominem theatre with you, but I am up way past my bedtime and I have a long day ahead of class, PT and preparing the Navy bases of the Southeast for Hurricane season. I bid you all good evening.
Good night Legend and Techno, it was a pleasure as always…
Squid Shark on May 28, 2008 at 1:04 AM
We had a chance in 2006, but people just like you decided to teach the GOP a lesson and stay home. That worked out well didn’t it. The public came rushing back to the GOP on the lowest approval rated congress in history the past two years. Oh wait. They didn’t.
And now we stand on the precipice of electing an openly marxist empty suit who will have his strings pulled by the CPUSA.
We have much bigger problems than rebuilding the Conservative wing of the continually ineffectual Republican party. Right now we should be in survival mode.
Comrade Obambi is dangerously naive.
And by the way, that poster is just one small thing I am actually DOING to help raise awareness about Obambi’s marxist roots. What are you doing to help out, besides running your mouth and running down people who would otherwise be on your side in this fight?
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:08 AM
Squish,
I can only say you’re in dangerous times. You must hold fast against the commie liberalism rampant in virtually every law school in the country.
And if you’re a first year, take my advice: find a newly-passed-the-bar lawyer, and GET HIS BARBRI BOOK. You can learn in two months from that what you can learn in your whole first year. No, more.
I’m starting to understand your moderate stance. More advice: don’t take your liberal professors’ views as gospel.
It’s always darkest just before the dawn.
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 1:12 AM
And you are so thin-skinned you erupted in non-sensical outrage and flailed in a most entertaining way to the amusement of all present. Go back and read it.
It’s recorded for all to see. You were behaving then exactly as you are now.
You flounced into a blog and started pissing all over everyone indescriminately, clearly showing that you had invested no time in getting to know the culture and caliber of the posters here on HA.
That’s why I think you’re a troll. You get off on the attention. You don’t really care about the issues. You’re all about the conflict for conflict’s state.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:15 AM
Heh. I’ll learn one of these days. I hope.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:16 AM
You clearly have a reading comprehension problem. My posts are all over this blog. If you honestly read them you’d find that you’d probably agree with me on a great many things.
Right now I’m finding that a bit disturbing.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:20 AM
Amen and hallelujah.
flenser might be a bit…err…abrasive, but I have yet to disagree with him substantively, as I recall.
And come on, what do you expect from a guy who peels the skin off? Warm fuzzies?
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 1:21 AM
Since he hasn’t made it through a bar exam (not the kind most squids are familiar with) he’s just a wanna be lawyer.
jwp1964 on May 28, 2008 at 1:22 AM
I did not create the situation we find ourselves in. We have what we have. Our choices are the pathetic ones we have right now. Deal with it.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:23 AM
You did if you had any part in getting McShamnesty the nomination. I am dealing with it…None of the above ‘08.
Getting the guns, ammo, alcohol and tobacco stockpiled over the next few months. At one time I thought survivalist were nuts. Now I just think they were a few years ahead of their time.
jwp1964 on May 28, 2008 at 1:27 AM
You make my point for me. You have no sense of humor. I labeled you accurately as an silicon-abraded rectal orifice for acting like one, and you came back with probably a dozen lameass things like the one above.
The reason you couldn’t believe the rest of the commentors when they told you they found the thread amusing is because you weren’t bright enough to realize we were laughing at you, not beside you.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:27 AM
Don’t get me wrong, I completely respect what you’re aiming for, and it’s honorable. But expecting that the GOP as a whole is not going to take the blame for everything, including gorebal warmening and briteny spears next breakdown, is not to be looking at the situation on the ground.
I think Obambi and his handlers are capable of taking this country so quickly hard left that it will cause the U.S.A. to not be recognizable as the U.S.A. anymore.
You may be right, I’ll give you that. And in almost any other period in history I would be all for letting the dems win and proving their ineptness.
Only thing is, we are at a key and very dangerous juncture in history. The evil forces in the world are actively allying against us. With so much weakness in an Obambi-led government, we would be willingly offering our throats to the enemy.
That is not wise. Does McC suck. Absolutely. He was third from the bottom on my personal favorites list. Like many, I never even counted on him being even remotely in the race. But I was very sadly mistaken. About a great many things, it turns out.
I just think we stand a much better chance, through direct communications with our representatives, and aggressive use of our own brand of info war to hold McC accountable and to limit the damage he’ll do. He’ll only be a one termer, if he makes it through even a single term, that is.
We’ve got a lot of work to do, and handing everything to the dems at this point in history just seems like a much worse idea than allowing everything to crash and trying to pick up the pieces afterward.
I’m also counting on the defeat of the dems, all but prophesied, to completely shatter what’s left of their street cred. If they can’t win this election, the moonbats are gonna go batsh*t crazy and the moderate Democrats are gonna look elsewhere for leaders. Since they’ve only got a nest full of marxists right now, they will do a lot of our work for us and elect more Blue Dog Democrats that are closer to Reagan Democrats.
I really think this has a chance of happening. This is the best argument I have for defeating the dems this cycle. We might actually have a chance to slay the beast with it’s own failure.
Thanks for your reasoned reply.
Respectfully,
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:44 AM
Nope. I decided not to go with Operation Chaos and vote for the most Conservative choices available here in the Texas primaries. I voted for Fred Thompson rather than support McC. That was my protest. That’s all I could do.
Voting very very reluctantly for McC is all I can do in November. Am I happy about it. Not no, but hell no. But the situation is what it is and I refuse to run away from it and let my country and everyone in it suffer, just so we can point and gawk at the idiot dems after they let the whole thing go to hell.
I just don’t find that to be the wisest choice I can make this November. I respect those of you taking a stand for the stand’s sake, but I cannot willingly surrender the only power I have in this important election.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 1:52 AM
I’m beginning to believe that doctors and politics just don’t mix well.
stenwin77 on May 28, 2008 at 5:48 AM
Thank you. At least we agreed on our first choice…going forward we part ways.
jwp1964 on May 28, 2008 at 6:26 AM
Read like a blatant attempt to get the VP spot to me.
Halley on May 28, 2008 at 7:01 AM
Amen! Well said and realistic.
onlineanalyst on May 28, 2008 at 7:04 AM
Oh god where will it end?
Same old boring people, with the same old supposed boring “faux conservative” values, with the same old boring reasons, with the same old stupidity why they are not going to vote for McCain.
Who cares. You are irrelevant. You have always been irrelevant. Your political poseur ideas are infantile. You have never elected anyone. You are akin to the rooster that thinks he causes the sun to rise. Please stay home on election night, the lines will be shorter for the adults.
McCain may be elected, as all candidates are, by the independents, and the last thing independents do is listen to the trolly tripe you practice your typing with.
God I hope McCain gets elected so he can drive you further around the bend. If I didn’t find Hillary so repugnant I almost wish he would pick her as VP just to f’k with your heads some more.
patrick neid on May 28, 2008 at 7:41 AM
I’m a conservative and I’m writing in Hillary! She won’t be elected but I will NEVER, EVER again vote for a liberal Republican who will trample on conservative principles! If liberal policies will hurt the country, let the democRATs take the blame, not the Republicans! After the party gets thrashed this fall maybe they will find a Reagan in the wilderness and find their soul again! If not, they will not be my party again until they do!
sabbott on May 28, 2008 at 8:37 AM
Sorry to hear that. You seem a decent fellow. At any rate, thanks for the civil response.
I hope things work out for the good of the Nation, and for the both of us in it.
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Right now there is one and only one reason I’d vote for McCain – he might win the war, and I emphasis “might” considering the opposition he’d get from the democrats and the media.
But otherwise, I’m leaning toward the Constitution Party.
abcurtis on May 28, 2008 at 8:50 AM
So let me get this straight. You’re unwilling to stop the guaranteed disaster that is complete unrestricted control of America that an Obambi/dem House/dem Senate will usher in.
And you’re banking on ‘maybe’ another Reagan rising after the fall, (which I wouldn’t hold my breath for).
And if said Reagan does not show up, THEN you’re leaving the party and becoming even more irrelevant.
So rather than do everything to disrupt the disaster you possibly can to at least mitigate somewhat said disaster, (and in the process bring about a crushing defeat for the dems which could very likely finish off their far leftist wing), while all the while working diligently on local Conservative development and resurgence and paving the way for Bobby Jindal in the next cycle or two, you’re simply advocating surrender to the dem destiny.
Friend Sabbott, I simply and humbly request that you at least think long and hard on the points above. I completely understand your anger and disappointment, but retreating into even further irrelevancy shouldn’t be the road we go down at this critical point in history.
It’s going to take the American People a long time to wake up from this leftist haze. They’re not going to listen to us for a while. Hell, listen to us right now squabbling amongst ourselves. If you were looking in from the outside, would you want to join this defeatist mess?
Very respectfully,
techno_barbarian on May 28, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Debate McCain, debate McCain, debate McCain…..this could go on until Nov but the fact is, he is the only one we have unless we want to elect Obambi or Shrillery. sigh……what a choice.
kcd on May 28, 2008 at 9:52 AM
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