Quotes of the day
posted at 10:35 pm on February 26, 2009 by Allahpundit
“If you want to get a sense of how unserious and ungrounded most Americans think the Republican Party is, look no further than how conservatives elevate Joe the Plumber as a spokesman. The movement has become so gimmick-driven that Wurzelbacher will be a conservative hero long after people have forgotten what his legitimate policy beef with Obama was.
A movement self-confident in its place in American society would not have made Joe the Plumber a bigger story than he actually was. Since its very beginnings as a movement, conservatism has bought into liberalism’s dominant place in the American political process. They controlled all the major institutions: the media, academia, Hollywood, the Democratic Party, large segments of the Republican Party, and consequently, the government. Liberalism’s image of conservatives in the ’50s and ’60s as paranoid Birchers gave birth to a conservative movement self-conscious of its minority status. As in any tribe that is small in number and can’t fully trust its most natural allies (i.e. the business community or the Republican Party), the meta-debate of who is inside and outside the tribe is magnified exponentially.”
*
“Much as their blind loyalty discredited the Right, perhaps the worst effect of Limbaugh et al. has been their draining away of political energy from what might have been a much more worthwhile project: the fostering of a middlebrow conservatism. There is nothing wrong with lowbrow conservatism. It’s energizing and fun. What’s wrong is the impression fixed in the minds of too many Americans that conservatism is always lowbrow, an impression our enemies gleefully reinforce when the opportunity arises. Thus a liberal like E.J. Dionne can write, ‘The cause of Edmund Burke, Leo Strauss, Robert Nisbet and William F. Buckley Jr. is now in the hands of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity. … Reason has been overwhelmed by propaganda, ideas by slogans.’ Talk radio has contributed mightily to this development…
Conservatives have never had, and never should have, a problem with elitism. Why have we allowed carny barkers to run away with the Right?”
Blowback
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I think those two QOTD’s represent…. well, kinda sorta, the base from a broad spectrum.
I like who we are. It’s sorta like Penn and Teller’s BS.
Kini on February 27, 2009 at 2:06 AM
“The key to this medium, they have discovered, is irony.”
Not to put too fine a point on it, but, no, it’s not “irony.” I have never heard Jon Stewart nor Stephen Colbert being the slightest “ironic.” It is, at its best, sarcasm, and at its most common, self-righteous, self-congratulatory, condescending snark. (“Snark” being defined as “snide remark.”)
notropis on February 27, 2009 at 2:06 AM
Yep. And many still refuse to understand this. This tsunami of spending is starting to make them think twice, but they still don’t understand why he is doing this. They think he’s smarter than he is and they can’t see the shallow reasoning behind his agenda. And these ‘quotes of the day’ illustrate a sad facet of that flaw in their reasoning.
progressoverpeace on February 27, 2009 at 2:21 AM
Mark Twains they are definitely not.
MB4 on February 27, 2009 at 2:25 AM
Last I checked, the “Move On” crowd had their own gimmicks and propaganda.
jediwebdude on February 27, 2009 at 2:32 AM
Government jobs.
Jim Treacher on February 27, 2009 at 2:45 AM
John Stewart I find genuinely funny at times. Conservatives certainly do things that can be made fun of — usually when they are not behaving conservatively. The Colbert Report was a real missed opportunity though. If they had just done a looking-glass version of the Daily Show, making fun of stupid things liberals did, it would’ve been a massive hit… might have even drawn some new viewers to Comedy Central’s other programming. Guess they aren’t clever enough to have figured that out though.
joe_doufu on February 27, 2009 at 2:51 AM
Oh yes, Obama said the other night that he’d be sure to create new jobs in public schools and health care. About the only sectors not hemorrhaging jobs, last I heard.
joe_doufu on February 27, 2009 at 2:52 AM
Poor joe the plumber didn’t exactly bring in the crowds at his book-signing today.
benny shakar on February 27, 2009 at 3:12 AM
It’s okay, honey, the bad man won’t remind you about how your parents’ taxes are going to go up.
Jim Treacher on February 27, 2009 at 3:25 AM
Joe the Plumber and talk radio DO symbolize a deep problem with conservatism, but not the problem Gavin and Derbyshire bemoan.
Wurzelbacher’s success represents the utter dearth of leadership from both our elected officials and beltway chattering class that began in the 2006 cycle and culminated in the feckless, rudderless, incomprehensible McCain campaign. People have gravitated to him because he unabashedly defends and espouses conservative principles, while our supposed leaders sat sucking their thumbs, licking their wounds and utterly refused to defend, let alone champion, conservatism.
Similar complaints have been made against Sarah Palin and social conservatives by David Brooks and other beltway snobs. Some of whom even publicly pledged their support for Obama.
The problem is their assessments don’t even remotely stand up to the facts.
First and foremost, John McCain was “their” candidate, and he lost the election — not anyone else.
Secondly, we won, and won quite handily, just four years ago, and the overwhelming consensus, supported by exit polls, was that we won because of “values voters” not in spite of them. The very social conservatives Derbyshire condescendingly refers to as “lowbrow” and Brooks, I believe it was, referred to as “downscale”.
The consensus was so strong that this was the reason for our victory that Democrats began making large overtures to these voters. Obama even attended the Saddleback forum precisely to try and win them over.
And Rush has been the most public face of conservatism for well over a decade, a decade that Republicans dominated.
Derbyshire would have us believe that Obama and the Democrats are trying to shut Rush down because he is scaring people away from the Republican party?!?! Risible!
The fact is we lost because Republicans strayed from conservative principles, were too frightened to defend those principles, allowed Democrats to define them, and spent two years apologizing, equivocating, accepting the liberal definition of issues, and refusing to stand up for conservative principles.
“Compromise is the absence of Leadership,” as one great Lady said, and MAN have Republicans been compromising for the past two-three years.
And finally, Republicans lost because the social moderates that Derbyshire, Brooks, et al prefer LOST the exact demographics that Republicans need to do better with in order to win. McCain did far worse with blacks, hispanics and other minorities than Bush ever did precisely because, other than California, “low brow” social issues were off the table this election.
Note the one place where conservatism succeeded in 2008 was in deep-blue California, and it was social conservatism that won.
If Republicans make the mistake of listening to Derbyshire, Brooks and others, they can plan on being a minority party for a very long time to come. We are not in the wilderness because of “low brow” conservatives, or “down scale” conservatives or Joe the Plumber. We are in the minority because of RINOs and cowardly conservatives who present the public with an incomprehensible, unprincipled mish-mash of compromise that appears as nothing but slow-growth liberalism.
American Elephant on February 27, 2009 at 3:35 AM
AND, I would point out, we lost because we sat around eating our own while Democrats were uniting.
If Derbyshire thinks the road to Republican success lies in apologizing that conservatism appeals to regular people, I’d challenge him to point out where that has ever worked before.
The simple truth is that he is embarrassed by some of the people who share his ideology. I am proud to associate with them. Its snots like Derbyshire and Brooks I am embarrassed by.
American Elephant on February 27, 2009 at 3:55 AM
My son starts his first job with an orientation session this morning. One of the requirements is an original birth certificate with raised state seal. Without the BC the job offer is canceled. I told him to just throw it away and run for President.
KentAllard on February 27, 2009 at 3:59 AM
Since 1/1/09 earnings/share of the S&P 500 have gone from $48 to $27.
The P/E ratio of the S&P 500 has gone from 15.8 to a spike of 28.1 as of last Friday.
The P/E historic mean is between 10 and 18.
S&P P/E Ratio
Just to get back within the mean, given recent earning, the S&P 500 will have to be in the 400s.
Only an imminent crash and panic similar to ’29 will do it.
KentAllard on February 27, 2009 at 4:04 AM
The problem with the conservative movement is that it is collapsing from within. For the last decade, it has been split between the libertarians & all the other members of the conservative spectrum. Generally, the neocons hate the paleocons, who despise the sociocons, who have strong feelings about the classical liberals, who are wary of the religious cons, ad infinitum.
*Also, for the record, Bush is a conservative of the socio-religous variety.
youngTXcon on February 27, 2009 at 4:05 AM
I wouldn’t say collapsing, but just like the Democrat party, the Republican party has different factions as you say, and those groups are competing for control, attacking each other instead of the opposition. Just as Derbyshire is doing here. He is the problem, not the solution. What we need is more leaders to grow some balls and stand up for conservatism while uniting the party and presenting a viable alternative to socialism, instead of snotty teetotalers blaming good people who should be their allies.
American Elephant on February 27, 2009 at 4:38 AM
Derb is an idiot and I have thought so for some time.
Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber and now Rick Santelli have become some of our leaders in the rallying cry to fight Obama’s Socialism/Communism/Marxism.
I haven’t read one person here who mentioned the Tea Parties tomorrow, which are taking place all over the country.
We are the party of Populism (Don’t a majority of Americans describe themselves as Conservative?), not Elitists.
It’s only fitting that Joe would have a good spot at CPAC.
“Republicans” who don’t like Joe or Sarah Palin or Rick Santelli or Bobby Jindal (who was criticized for his “good old boy” accent, even) can leave the GOP–the door’s that a way!—>
The only way we’re going to win another election is if we convince a majority of the American people that we’re on their side, which we are.
Joe the Plumber does that rather well right now and Sarah did it during the campaign, as you all know.
The way back to Washington is through Joe, Sarah, Rick and Bobby, not Derb, Chris Buckley or David Frum.
And it most certainly is not with Ron Paul, Huckabee or even Romney.
Jenfidel on February 27, 2009 at 5:05 AM
Too funny!
I went to the top of the page after I posted my last comment and what did I see? An ad for Joe the Plumber’s book!
AP better watch which side of the bread the butter’s on!
Jenfidel on February 27, 2009 at 5:07 AM
Jenfidel on February 27, 2009 at 5:05 AM
Amen to that!
red131 on February 27, 2009 at 5:22 AM
What I find funny is that there is this HUGE wedge splitting the Democratic Party. Tons of people who used to be 100% devout Democrats will no longer vote for them. They number nearly 10 million from the exit polls. And that’s just from those that voted in the dem primaries. We know that over 10 million Republicans stayed home, that large numbers of new voters came out for Obama and that the independents and hispanics eventually broke for Obama.
That’s an awful lot of things that had to happen just right. It’s good that the conservative movement is asking questions about their leadership. But there is a real opportunity waiting around the corner and no one sees it. In fact, there IS irony. The reason that Dems lost in past years is because no one stood up for each other. This time, EVERYONE stood up for Obama. The media, the other candidates after they dropped out, the online obots terrorising online forums, etc. They all did their part. Remember any of that for Kerry? Me neither. Remember any of that for Palin or McCain? Me neither.
Not laying blame or saying that there weren’t problems in supporting McCain. Cuz there were. Just saying that the grass is VERY green on this side and all everyone is concerned about is the proverbial fan on the other side of the fence.
MrX on February 27, 2009 at 5:28 AM
If that were true, I would wear it as a badge of honor. Unfortunately, judging by his condescending remarks, passive aggressiveness, and outright sneering at us, I am forced to share the honor.
Blake on February 27, 2009 at 5:39 AM
But…his name is Derbyshire, so we have to listen to him and believe him because, well…he has this fancy name and AP says so, right?
SKYFOX on February 27, 2009 at 5:44 AM
Derb is not a RINO. He makes O’Reilly look like an amnesty supporter. He is definitely the last Robert Taft style Republican of notoriety.
Speedwagon82 on February 27, 2009 at 6:49 AM
What Americans want is truth. What they want is trustworthiness and honesty. They don’t care if you went to Stanford or Duke. To disparage Joe the Plumber because he’s just a working stiff is to misunderstand the current political equation here. The Republicans have many smart and well educated member – God Bless them. But the voices that ring clear now in these times of a 24/7 lying through his big flapping ears Messiah, are the voices that are honest and steady. Joe the Plumber stands tall because, like Sarah P., people believe him.
Cinday Blackburn on February 27, 2009 at 6:51 AM
I so love being reduced to a cultural stereotype, “lowbrow carney barkers”.
tru2tx on February 27, 2009 at 6:53 AM
Joe the plumber is a perfect fit for you guys. Most of sane America think he is a joke, why you elevate him is almost too funny. At his book signing he sold 5 books. Everything is a gimmick with the gop. Jindal, Rush, Hanitty, Jerome Corsi. You have become the lunatic fringe and you don’t even realize it. wow!
athensboy on February 27, 2009 at 6:58 AM
Why is it that common sense and being grounded and clear headed and logical is low brow? If our “high brow” guys, like the son of William F. Buckley, were getting up on soap boxes and making sense, we would follow them. They chose to leave us for a snake oil salesman, and then call us fools.
Happy now, all ye who were toooo smart for Joe and Sarah?
How is this for intellectual, Obama is practicing Lenin economics, which didn’t do so hot when Lenin did it. Congress is acting like Ken Lay, thinking we are too big and too vast to ever fail. Right up until they lock the doors, turn out the lights, and cancel the credit cards.
So where were all you “smart” guys during the primaries? Oh, that’s right, you were calling Huckabee a hick, and Romney a robot. Thanks. Thanks alot.
Ohio Granny on February 27, 2009 at 7:04 AM
Spoken like a true elitists who claims to speak FOR America while looking down his nose at most Americans.
Ampersand on February 27, 2009 at 7:06 AM
What exactly is Jindal’s “gimmick”? If he were a liberal, the entire leftosphere would be demanding Obama appoint him to something. But simply because he identifies with conservatism and was religious in the past, he is a “gimmick”.
Speedwagon82 on February 27, 2009 at 7:17 AM
And what do you base that on? What’s considered “sane America”?
StevefromMKE on February 27, 2009 at 7:24 AM
Yeah, that’s the guy. When I saw the clips of Schiff calling the exact reasons 2 years ago, I changed my attitude toward a lot of the financial guru’s on cable that sound reasonable. They treated him like he was a complete moron. Well, now everything those guys say are greeted by me with a pound of salt.
csdeven on February 27, 2009 at 7:27 AM
“Elites,” my right eye. Between the homosexual running a sodomy brothel out of his basement, the man who left a women to drown in a car he drunkenly flipped, to the wrinkled old hag who blandishes our Muslim enemies to gain favor while wrapped in a head scarf, I think “churls” is the word you’re looking for.
I cannot think of any punishment more appropriate for the assorted thieving fools, drunks, baby-killers, fornicators, and lawless invaders who operate freely under this “elite” polity than to quietly watch the madhouse they build together demolish them all (from a safe distance).
TMK on February 27, 2009 at 7:29 AM
Total BS. Why even bother posting this garbage.
nobama88 on February 27, 2009 at 7:34 AM
So much to comment on and so little time,,, I will just respond here that it was as much the lib medias horror, shock and outrage with Joe that elevated him rather then anything conservatives did!
When Obama himself tosses homes, kitchens and other gifts into the peasant crowds at townhall meetings,, making poor McDonald’s workers and homeless moms celebrities just by showing up and asking for handouts,,, well,, what is that???
Obama turns beggers into celebrities,,, all they had to do was show up and ask for a government handout. Obama made Joe the Plumber a target of the main stream media and his government hacks by standing up and asking,, not for a handout but to be left alone. Joe didn’t fly to a townhall to meet up with Obama,,, he was minding his own business in his own front yard when Obama stepped into it!
As usual, and typical for a lib,, he’s got it all backwards.
JellyToast on February 27, 2009 at 7:41 AM
Bwahahahahahaa!!!
The lunatic fringe trying to normalize their psychological disorder by projecting.
Liberals are born damaged. The cognitive reasoning centers of your brains are disconnected from reality. This creates cowardice in the liberal mindset. All you liberals are cowards. Oh yeah, you like to talk shit and take over cafeterias, but in the end you are incapable of doing anything for society until we conservatives have made society safe for you to exist as cowards. You and your liberal ilk are incapable of civilizing a society gone wrong or maintaining civility in an established community.
So as you can see, you are nothing until we create the environment that allows you to flourish. The problem is that once you start to flourish, liberalism cannot maintain itself without communism. All we have to do is watch the demorats now. The only way liberalism works is when everyone is stripped of individuality. One day the country will wake up to that again (just like we did during the 80′s) and we will elect conservative leaders once again.
Then you moronic liberals can go back to the universities to live in your liberal bubble world that conservatives made safe for you by their courage and self sacrifice.
csdeven on February 27, 2009 at 7:47 AM
Best analysis of the election yet. Take a bow Pearson.
Basilsbest on February 27, 2009 at 7:59 AM
brilliant point!
Ampersand on February 27, 2009 at 7:59 AM
To a certain extent, he’s quite right; Conservatives took Joe the Plumber to a silly extreme, but it was almost an inevitable extreme- We live in a society that is RULED by the MSM, and given the degree to which they manipulated the election, conservatives had little choice but to over react at any and all positives for our side. Anyone who doesn’t agree with the Dem agenda had better fight for talk radio, (as well as internet freedon) like their lives depend on it. For the most part, talk radio is accurate information, vs. MSM outright lies and perpetual mis-information.
anniekc on February 27, 2009 at 8:03 AM
Why are you here athensboy? Why do you make these stupid, inane posts? I’m curious as to what sort of character flaw prompts someone to walk into a room and call everyone in it a bunch of idiots.
Perhaps making antagonistic remarks to an unseen crowd provides a little excitement to your otherwise dull and meaningless life. Could that be it? I bet it is and you don’t even realize it. wow!
Rod on February 27, 2009 at 8:04 AM
Agreed. Instead of attacking each other conservatives should be informing the public that Obama’s reckless spending and clueless policies* are the opposite of what’s needed and that his projected threefold increase in this year’s deficit (it will in fact be worse)is causing damage to the economy which take years to correct.
* e.g. Cap and Trade when we are now in a period of global cooling.
Basilsbest on February 27, 2009 at 8:07 AM
Whereas the media took Obama to a silly and nation-damaging extreme.
Basilsbest on February 27, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Well said.
Harpazo on February 27, 2009 at 8:10 AM
Yeah, I don’t get it… I thought he and Ed ran a Conservative blog, but yet he seems to hate Conservatism… He seems to dislike those of us that stand for hard core Conservative values, morals, family, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights and our core principals… I wonder why he didn’t just open a blog like the HoffPo… He sure seems better suited to hate on Conservatives then be on of us…
Strange… I guess another faux Conservative like Brooks, Broder and others… Wants desperatly to be a Rush or Sean or Mark Levin for the radical left sounds like to me with his always posting negitive stories about Jindal, Palin, Rush and others that stand for real Conservative positions instead of the stupid idiots that want us to be Dem-Lite!~
Oh well, it’s his blog, just seems a waste of his limited talent to be a poser on a Conservative site…
Mark Garnett on February 27, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Could you explain why cap and trade (by the way, not an Obama policy, that’s been in effect for decades) is a clueless policy “when we are now in a period of global cooling” (I’d love to see what data you have on that as well).
Proud Rino on February 27, 2009 at 8:13 AM
The internet means never having to deal with the consequences of being a jerkoff.
Harpazo on February 27, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Jtp just aint got the IQ of Biden…
the_nile on February 27, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Unlike [not]Joe the [not]Plumber, Obama can actually lead. And posit a coherent philosophy of government. (You don’t have to like it, but it’s internally consistent – and in several ways, more honest than GWB’s budgets by (for example) actually counting the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as money spent).
Mal Carne on February 27, 2009 at 8:16 AM
The altimate gimmick proven time after time is to promise the people freebies and have the “rich” pay for it.
The Dems are truly masters at this.
jims on February 27, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Totally disagree. Joe would have been a good sound bite for a while but the left wing media tried to ruin the guy because he dared to make “The One” look bad. Then people on the right defend him against this horrible treatment and people claim it was the right who “elevated” him. It’s much like Palin. The left attacks her in the most disrespectful ways yet when people point this out or defend her called nuts for blindly loving the woman.
It’s really brilliant the way the left has framed things. If we defend or support anyone who actually gets the base energized we are in the wrong. The real problem is the people on the right (like Allah) who willingly play along with this game.
Ampersand on February 27, 2009 at 8:17 AM
If you don’t like AP’s stuff then just read Ed’s. His posts are definitely thoughtful and comfortably within the range of contemporary conservative Republican thought. And each post’s author is clearly denoted on the front page.
That’s the beauty of the blogosphere: you don’t have to read what you don’t like because there are probably lots of people writing stuff you will.
Besides, AllahPundit lives in (and presumably enjoys living in) NYC — you either get out of New York or you become a part of it (specifically the part that likes Hillary Clinton’s policies). Stockholm ain’t just a place in Sweden.
Harpazo on February 27, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Joe represents a lot of things to a lot of conservatives. Inner city cons like myself dnt relate to the man, just the principles and audacity of his question to bho. Truth is his image isn’t mainstream. We need popular conservatives(oxy moron) to do Joe’s job.
hiphopconservative on February 27, 2009 at 8:22 AM
As I wrote in the comments of the news thread from earlier in the day, Allah is waiting for the perfect conservative spokesperson/leader/messiah for the Republican party. Anyone with an opinion, but who has flaws of any sort, can sit down and wait patiently until The Right One comes along.
So much for the Army of Davids approach…
beatcanvas on February 27, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Everybody can use a little help now and then.
<a href=”http://www.gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/” Here is today’s Quote Of The Day
Basilsbest on February 27, 2009 at 8:28 AM
Why are you comparing Joe(his real middle name) the plumber(a job he did do) to Obama? Are things that bad for your guy that you have to compare his leadership skills to ex plumber/current commentator to make them look good?
Ampersand on February 27, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Fixed
Basilsbest on February 27, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Still waiting, Basilsbest.
Proud Rino on February 27, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Patrick Ruffini was a McCain supporter and John Derbyshire is riding a sinking ship at National Review while hosting a radio show that nobody listens to.
BigD on February 27, 2009 at 8:36 AM
Luckily for all of us, we’re about to find out if what you claim is true. Even assuming you’re 100% right on this, and on everything else for that matter, you don’t think the other side is going to give-up without a fight, do you?
With roughly 150 million opposed to you, including those surrounding Athens, it will be hard to win outright. Do you have a plan?
JiangxiDad on February 27, 2009 at 8:37 AM
Boo-hoo, the conservative movement isn’t sophisticated enough.
The liberals have plenty of carny folk and gimmicks themselves.
Disturb the Universe on February 27, 2009 at 8:39 AM
How familiar are you with actual leninism? or even socialism for that matter? you do realize that for all the “hes a commie” rhetoric we’re still the antithesis of leninism, even under Obama. Lenin and actual communists didnt even believe in elections, they didnt even support welfare during their hayday…they considered the welfare state a cop out, a 1/2 a$$ed attempt at real communism. Obama is left of center, to be sure, but left of center does not equal lenin. you’re just spouting hyperbole.
ernesto on February 27, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Yes, I’ve come to the same conclusion. Also, he’s running a blog. Many here feel like they’re running for their lives. Different priorities…
JiangxiDad on February 27, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Don’t get me wrong- Joe got totally screwed, and it was completely legitimate for the right to scream from the rooftops about his treatment, but the constant appearances on FOX and then the trip to Iraq and a book? I see that as overkill.
anniekc on February 27, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Did you vote for Obama?
Johan Klaus on February 27, 2009 at 8:48 AM
And Obama?
Johan Klaus on February 27, 2009 at 8:51 AM
I think it’s hilarious how easily people conflate “Conservatives” as a whole with “Pajamas Media” as a kludge internet entity. All you need to know about Pajamas’ elevation of Joe the Plumber you can deduce from their bizarro-world business model. Instead of supporting actual blogging, which generates traffic, Pajamas would rather charge people for their asinine WebTV nonsense that I couldn’t sit through with a gun to my head.
Lehosh on February 27, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Yes, for reasons that have been well documented. primarily, i have a serious aversion to sarah palin. Had it been Romney or someone capable of intellectual exercise getting nominated I would have serious reconsidered.
but dont get me wrong, im no hardcore liberal. on foreign policy, education, most taxes, immigration, and some other issues im definitely right of center, sometimes very much so (on immigration). it is what it is man.
ernesto on February 27, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Republicans have not asked Joe the Plumber to “lead” them even though he poses about the same amount of executive experience as your Messiah Obama.
Seeing the average working guy do the job the media is to weak and biased to do was great to see and the libearals doing everything they could to tear him down rallied many people around him.
This does not mean we need to be led by him or read a book by him.
Unlike liberals who have flocked to the domestic terrorist Ayers to buy his books,we don’t need to follow anyone and choose not to hold up radical criminals as examples of leadership.
This is an hilariously stupid comment.
Obama has promised no pork or wasteful spending.
Broke that promise big time.
Obama has promised transparency in the government process.
Obama has broken that promise to.
Obama counted as part of this so called “2 trillion dollars of savings” the Iraq war costing every year until 2019 as much as it does now when we are withdrawing troops and are supposed to be out by 2011.
PLEASE SQUARE THAT CIRCLE LIBERAL.
Obama’s supposed superior judgment and leadership exist only because it’s what you want to believe.
Reality shows your Messiah to be nothing more than the common corrupt politician that use smooth talk and nuance to further his political power and rip off the American people.
Baxter Greene on February 27, 2009 at 9:09 AM
Oh, she’s the boss of 29,000 employees and can cut the biggest deal in American history with a Canadian gas pipeline company for $40 billion, but clearly, she’s incapable of “intellectual exercise!”
Jenfidel on February 27, 2009 at 9:23 AM
You know what? I’m getting really sick of the negativity against conservative republicans, when we all know damn well they are the only ones that can turn around the oncoming irreparable damage looming our way.
“Sarah Palin is too stupid.”
“Bobby Jindal isn’t slick enough.”
“Joe the Plumber is a just a wannabe hack.”
I’ll take any of these people over schmucks Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Rangel, Dodd and Frank.
ANY taxpayer SHOULD!
ErinF on February 27, 2009 at 9:26 AM
Considering that Bushg never counted the cost of operations in Iraq as part of the budget, period, I’ll take it.
Mal Carne on February 27, 2009 at 9:30 AM
So you’re saying that a Romney or Jindal is on the same level as Palin? Really?
Look i understand shes not an ignoramus she runs a state and thats not easy. But its a state with less people in it than my county of residence (westchester). My county executive isnt qualified to be president…though he’s got almost 50% more constituents and a full 3 more urban centers.
ernesto on February 27, 2009 at 9:31 AM
She’s still more qualified than the gold plated turd currently in the White House.
ErinF on February 27, 2009 at 9:38 AM
It’s sad how the GOP has devolved into a sad rabble who elevate ignorance and stupidity. When did the underclass hijack things??
capitulus on February 27, 2009 at 9:45 AM
the buttons which trigger responses from a socon are as big and brightly colored as they are on a toddler’s toy.
eh on February 27, 2009 at 9:55 AM
When we declared war against the class-stratified monarchy of Great Britain in 1776.
America is a classless society where “any man (or woman)” can be President.
Enjoy your life in the rarefied air of the intelligentsia or what I call the Latte Liberals.
Lincoln, who was self-taught, would be ashamed that a select few of us have gotten to the point where we value Ivy league-trained ennui and cynicism over good old-fashioned American common sense and pragmatism, as well as populism.
“We, the people” encompasses quite a few who are ignorant and stupid.
Jenfidel on February 27, 2009 at 9:55 AM
LOL. You don’t mind the “underclass” when it’s marching to your tune. You just don’t like the portion that won’t submit. You sound perfect for Islam.
JiangxiDad on February 27, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Why are your arguing about “experience”? Experience is not one of the qualifications for being elected president these days.
Rod on February 27, 2009 at 9:56 AM
If the newsmedia and Hollywood’s purpose was to show truth, then the OP’s quotes would have a point. They’re purpose is to propagandize and proselytize for the secular left.
You cannot “reach out” to that any more than you can reach out to an animal that wants to eat you.
spmat on February 27, 2009 at 9:59 AM
All I ask is this.
Who would you believe most? Joe of “O” Dumbo ears?
Rick007 on February 27, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Sounds like you’ve met your twin.
MadisonConservative on February 27, 2009 at 10:06 AM
nobody messes with Joe
max1 on February 27, 2009 at 10:26 AM
I’ll tell you how he feels, he feels like whoring the site out for more sweet, sweet, revenue generating page views. As a Capitalist, I’m ok with that (thus my contribution here) but think everybody should be aware of it too. AP’s desire to wrest the country from the liberals is moderated by his ambivilence(at best) toward us “Godbags” and his desire to score points with his buddies in the D&D club for whom snark is an artform.
TBinSTL on February 27, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Liberal speak for my comment about Obama’s budget being “more honest” was a bunch of bullsh!t.
Even your spin is ignorant.
3 example’s of Obama’s blatant dis-honesty and “you’ll take it”.
leaves you with the credibility of michael moore on this subject.
Bush never hid “war spending”. It was out there for the world to see.Instead of trying to bribe and hide spending like the democrats are doing,war spending was put forth to be voted on and was completely transparent:
Former Bush Aide Blasts Obama for Budget Criticism
President Bush’s former spokesman calls the Obama administration’s claims of fiscal responsibility the “height of audacity.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/26/bush-aide-blasts-obama-budget-criticism/
This apparently was not a big problem for democrats because they continued to vote for it.
whining about it now is only an attempt to distract from the
fact that Obama is breaking promises left and right and sheep like you just stay on your knees and say ‘I’ll take it”.
Instead of continuing to whine about Bush,justify the blatant dis-honesty of your Messiah:
Well said.
Heading towards a 10 trillion dollar deficit is apparently no problem for the “smart ones”.
Obama’s trillions dwarf Bush’s ‘dangerous’ spending
By Byron York
Chief political correspondent 2/24/09
http://www.dcexaminer.com/politics/Obamas-trillions-dwarf-Bushs-dangerous-spending.html
Obama has not kept his promise on transparency.
Obama has not kept his promise on no pork.
Obama out right lied about numbers to inflate his “2 trillion in savings”.
Obama probably got his bogus numbers from super smart VP “nobody messes with Joe”Biden who doesn’t know the “number” of his own website and was caught lying on national television about job loss numbers in Louisiana.
Yea Carne,keep whining about Bush so you don’t have to address the corrupt policies and lies coming from Obama’s administration.
Baxter Greene on February 27, 2009 at 10:30 AM
it will have to be said over and over because “real” conservatives like blake are fucking imbeciles capable of retaining information in their lobes for only less than 90 seconds.
“real” conservatives’ affirmative talking points are oddly similar to the left’s negative talking points about conservatives:
1) speaking with intelligence, depth and thougtfulness is evidence that you’re no a conservative. the smarter you are, the further to the left you are.
2) not sounding like a bigot is anti-conservative and evidence of leftism.
“real” conservatives have “principals” which are permanent. any discussion of these principles – pro or con – which extends further than six words is evidence that you’re a “rino” or a “liberal” who wants to make “us” into “dem-lite”.
imagine these scrawled in large crayon on yellow-ruled paper:
1) mexicans kill people with their cars and should be shot at the border.
2) reacting to white on black racism is the only “real” racism.
3) it’s only racist if you use the magic “n” word.
4) bush 43 is a rino and i never supported him (replacing the now deprecated, “bush will go down as a great liberator” etc.)
5)
…
i ranb out of steam. it’s not even funny any more.
how about this: if you hate ap, get off his blog.
eh on February 27, 2009 at 10:30 AM
To think I just read Noonan and now I read this before eating breakfast
I guess I will have to answer this clone but I will use the personal ‘I’ because ‘I’ do not, as he does, speak for the collective ‘we’
Look here joker, the reason the so called low brow conservative hosts dominate is because more people want to listen to them than to you. Carny barkers have not run away with the right. The audiences of those carny barkers cannot find what they need with you.
The left has not ‘failed’ to master the medium. The left has had low success on talk radio because the shows recently offered do not appeal to enough listeners. A market will find its products. Perhaps the financiers of the left have been too elitist to promote someone the carnival crowd would enjoy
Thou, O noonan clone, assume that the message must be tailored for gain. I, speaking for myself only, say an honest man should say what he thinks, not what people want to hear. That way, there will be honest voices on the radio and audiences who are not being manipulated for gain
The clones and drones have lost the notion of integrity.
A free press is not a newspaper that represents every viewpoint, but the freedom for all viewpoints to publish their independent newspapers, and the freedom for the public to buy what pleases them
How little joy these shriveled hearts reflect in their anger at their fellow man for choosing wrong
entagor on February 27, 2009 at 10:35 AM
What a concept.
The problem is, trolls don’t follow logic.
MadisonConservative on February 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
I think this site is good enough, and has enough fans, to charge. I don’t think people who truly hate it would pay to say so. Most of us probably don’t pay for a newspaper subscription anymore. That’s prob. $150-200/yr. that could go to HA. On the other hand, it would be difficult to “ban” a paying subscriber.
JiangxiDad on February 27, 2009 at 10:59 AM
We have a dearth of leadership because no one wants their lives torn apart by the liberal attack machine. We need to do it anyway. Become martyrs for the cause.
Bill Clinton has no trouble showing his face in public and the list of evil acts perpetrated by both he and the harridan are mind boggling.
Michael Steele is a clown. We need someone to kick ass and take names. A serious leader. It ain’t him.
dogsoldier on February 27, 2009 at 11:00 AM
These people write for themselves.
Vince on February 27, 2009 at 11:02 AM
I think both Ruffini and Derbyshire write what’s manifestly true.
IIRC, Derbyshire voted for McCain because of Palin. Contrary to MSM blatherings, Palin is no ideologue. In my opinion she really needs to expand her dialogue. She needs to never mention media bias again, no matter how true or accurate her statement. She needs to look at nothing as a “gotcha” question. She should and could have supplanted Couric by just being honest. She didn’t have to know the answer to her questions, and while the dance she did around Couric’s questions is a dance that Obama can pull off, she really can’t because that’s not who she is. She’s not fake. Even Mayor Koch said he might not have been able to give Couric -based on the specifics of her question- the name of a SC Decision right of the top of his head. And Koch has acted as a Judge, I think. So, the point is, don’t be insecure because it’s bound to boomerang.
That said, the real reason Joe The Plumber has become a joke is because his own life didn’t measure up to Conservative standards. He owed the Feds money, he’s divorced, he turns on McCain, etc. Though I voted for McCain I turned on him too, but McCain never introduced me to the world. Palin and McCain are probably and truly friends. They’re the same. At present, I’m looking for leadership elsewhere.
While I realize that Joe didn’t hold himself up as some sort of paragon of virtue, if Conservatives are going to bring it, they need to bring it via competence -as Huck said- and proof of a conservative life lived. If we can’t do this -and I’m not sure we can- the social issues that we champion, especially life and family, lose all salience. Joe’s elevation has nothing to do with conservatism and everything to do with the shallow and plastic culture that surrounds us.
Ruffini writes:
All well and good, but these are not normal times and as Huck pointed out last night Republicans of late have been foxes guarding the hen house. So Ruffini’s point here suffers because he allows his offended taste(s) to restrict a more expansive and truly intellectual point of view.
Disraeli won by uniting the top and the bottom during a time begging for reform. The middle has been changing along with the Country. It’s become tired and less sure of itself, and isn’t keeping pace with progress due to the explosion of the info age and how that’s impacted industry and the jobs it produces.
Sorry to drone on, I try to condense. I also say to myself too long, won’t read, but am not all that successful at being able to layer one thought inside another.
At bottom if Ruffini is offended by Joe and if Joe is offended by erudition and similar labors then our party is dead because at bottom, we detest one another and there’s nowhere to go from there except down.
Eirenic Rebel on February 27, 2009 at 11:08 AM
It’s been discussed, and Allah doesn’t think it would work out too well.
MadisonConservative on February 27, 2009 at 11:08 AM
Henrietta Hughes = beggar, victim, epitome of Dem base, perfecto!!
Joe the plumber = questioned THE ONE with a straight forward query – total POS
Ris4victory on February 27, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Oh pretty much around the time that Henrietta and all of the crew that populate Obama rallies became the face of Democrat extortion in the guise of social justice.
onlineanalyst on February 27, 2009 at 11:17 AM
the presumed preferred model:
eh on February 27, 2009 at 11:24 AM
To which I would add, Baxter Green, that the Dems felt compelled to include budget-busting pork in each of these war allocation expenses.
onlineanalyst on February 27, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Is has always been thus.
Leaders, good ones, often become martyrs bcs no one appreciates them til they’re gone & everything sucks & then we want them back.
This happens in school administrations all the time.
Have a good principal, parents & community & schoolboard get rid of them bcs they are enforcing the rules.
Then you get a clown in the position who doesn’t do jack & then everyone muses “Hmmmm that Mr so & so was such a great guy!”
Fickle public, we have become.
Badger40 on February 27, 2009 at 11:38 AM
As long as the Left/Democrats/Liberals were happy to have Cindy Sheehan do their talking and allowed Code Pink to make a circus of our Congress on C-SPAN, I will make no apologies for Joe the Plumber, Sarah Palin, Rick Santelli, Bobby Jindal or Michael Steele, who are all fine, upstanding, clean and polite Americans and patriots.
Jenfidel on February 27, 2009 at 11:53 AM
THIS is where Allah is leading HotAir ( and where he hopes to lead the party) Allah, who are your clients??
ExTex on February 27, 2009 at 12:33 PM
i’m paid by the bilderbergs.
eh on February 27, 2009 at 12:52 PM
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