Quote of the day
posted at 9:45 pm on April 10, 2009 by Allahpundit
“Vigilant Democrats worry today that the Republican Party is only playing possum, or that it can be revived by extraordinary means such as a Martian invasion. In fact, the GOP is a mummy-wrapped skeleton sitting in its own chilly mausoleum of bilious resentments and creepy sentimentality. What remains to call themselves Republicans are baldly badly educated or just prankish Confederate re-enactors—chubby men in gray and butternut suits with gold buttons and feather-tipped hats, clanking down stairs with shiny sabers. A handful of them are just boors from the South who look poorly on horseback and wave unread Bibles while calling for Billy Sunday to rise like the gold market.
What about Ike and Richard Nixon and the worshipped California cowboy manqué Ronald Reagan? Not one of them cared a toothpick for the Republican Party of their time and each struggled mightily to remake it. Ike was indifferent to partisanship: His beating of the splenetic Robert Taft in 1952 for the nomination was the success of a conqueror over a sharpie. Nixon was a troubled, spiteful Quaker who despised the Republican Party as the ‘Eastern Establishment,’ and who governed as a liberal Democrat with the apostasy of wage and price controls, the EPA, and embassies to the mass-murdering Mao and the hollow Brezhnev. Reagan was a right-wing Democrat from homespun Illinois who, after years of failing in Hollywood and then charming California, swamped Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale with the passionate votes of the Democratic Party. I have long suspected that the Kennedys voted for Reagan twice.”
Blowback
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I went back and read that QOTD piece of crap rant against conservatives and republicans. This is like reading Obummer’s whining about the economy he inherited. The “All Hope is Lost” message is wearing thin and is not the message of conservatives and our values. This shrill message is like a reading of the Daily Kos Krap or the Huffington Bluster Post. Everything is BAD don’tcha know.
Despite the fact that the Ones Hope and Change message is really Debt and Spend, I have to remain optimistic about my future and the nations future. Like if you’ve ever had cancer, a positive attitude is better than giving up and resigning.
Batchelor has resigned. He’s now waiting for the end and It’s not coming fast enough for him. To that, I say, goodbye, good riddance, don’t let the door hit you in the fanny perpendicular when you leave.
There is problem. We’ve faced bigger problems like this before and we’ve prevailed. There’s a reason why we are called the right, we are right. And those blonds on Fox News…. Beauty, Brains, and Bright.
The answer is and always been the root message.
Less government, less regulation, Less Taxes.
And they will.
Kini on April 11, 2009 at 12:20 AM
Ok, agreed…you are right about it being insulting (especially to Rush and Levin). What we can agree on is that this guy is a nobody in the conservative movement and seems to resent those who are…otherwise, I can’t understand his points in any context.
AUINSC on April 11, 2009 at 12:21 AM
I’m getting nervous here. Between Batchelor, Meghan McCain and Scott McClellan, I’m sensing a groundswell.
Exit Question: Why is it that everyone knows who Rush is but nobody has heard of this guy?
Oh yeah.
TheRook on April 11, 2009 at 12:21 AM
Contradiction alert!
jgapinoy on April 11, 2009 at 12:21 AM
Well, a RINO stampede, as it were.
AUINSC on April 11, 2009 at 12:22 AM
Two Things:
1. Explains a great deal.
2. I have some ocean-front property in Valdosta, Georgia to sell ya.
Branch Rickey on April 11, 2009 at 12:23 AM
What we have here is failure to communicate,
and another Liberal viewpoint!
This guy certainly can’t hold a candle to
Rush,that’s for dam sure!
And if I remember right,after Bill Clinton single
handedly destroyed his own Party,the Liberals were
also written off.
But then,who would have guessed,that after years gone
by,that dessimated Liberal Party would come back as
the Obama Socialist Communist Party!
canopfor on April 11, 2009 at 12:23 AM
This reads like the tiresome prattlings of a smug scientist in a predictable horror film …pompously declaring that the feared Beast is surely deceased… when it suddenly rises right behind him… and flambouyantly dismembers the arrogant, oblivious shlub.
As Twain put it:
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
profitsbeard on April 11, 2009 at 12:23 AM
That about sums it up for me.
The Ugly American on April 11, 2009 at 12:23 AM
I would love to hear his opinion of Sarah Palin.
Betcha, it’s not nice.
Kini on April 11, 2009 at 12:26 AM
They became the Party of Apologists
Kini on April 11, 2009 at 12:28 AM
Twain – and you plugged it in before MB4 -
+2²³
Kini on April 11, 2009 at 12:30 AM
So, we can do better, who knew?
Speakup on April 11, 2009 at 12:34 AM
Boy,I can tell you,these neverending Liberal feel-good,
op-ed articles,is like Liberals sittin around the fireplace,
drinking the adult beverages,
and over the mantle,they have Bush Sr.and Jr. dolls as
well as a Reagan doll,and like a voo-doo mini-ritual,
as they fall into a stuper,its repeating the needle
stabs,as in,
Republican Party,why won’t you just die!
And,again,whether its his mind playing tricks,or deeper
into said stuper,he keeps hearing Reagan’s voice,
and the message just repeats itself,’Freedom,America,’……
(Snark).
canopfor on April 11, 2009 at 12:36 AM
They are hoping, in fact that seems to drive their every move. They’ve got a crapload on their plate and responsibility for all of it, but needling Republicans takes the priority of their focus. Good sound strategy there doncha think?
msmveritas on April 11, 2009 at 12:40 AM
Nothing like someone telling me not to fight, because I already have lost before the battle begins,………..
……… as I jump up and proceed to kick their as$!
Posts like this have that, what do we call it……?
……….. Unintended Consequences!
Seven Percent Solution on April 11, 2009 at 12:49 AM
They are hoping…
msmvertitas on April 11,2009 at 12:36AM.
msmvertitas:
Your right,good sound strategy all right.And somebody needs
to dig up,if there is one,the video of Rahm,calling for
Republicans dead,stabbing ever so steely the fork into the
steak!
Of all Liberal Administrations,and especially with Rahm,they
certainly haven`t tried to hide the fact that they want the Conservative movement dead!
When the Liberals created `Crisis`was in full operation,
Obama was more concerned with going after Rush,then help
ing his own country!
Its typical Liberal thinking,as in,`What can you do for the
Liberal Party` as compared to what can you do for America!
One thing is guarenteed,with enough rope,as always,the Libe
ral Party will hang themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
canopfor on April 11, 2009 at 12:59 AM
Let’s Roll!
msmveritas on April 11, 2009 at 1:02 AM
The funny thing about these articles is that each person writing them seems to think they’re being oh so original. Like we haven’t had this swill crammed down our throats ever since Sesame Street took over Congress again in 2006.
Note to Batchelor, Frum, and Paris McCain: The GOP is not dead quite yet,but if anything does do it in, it will be soft-core liberal wannabes like you. You’ve had your say, and even your candidate; enough already.
Grayson on April 11, 2009 at 1:06 AM
This guy is just a Frum wannabe.
Maquis on April 11, 2009 at 1:09 AM
John Batchelor defines pessimism and bitterness. He appears to be consumed with humiliation at electoral defeat, and has totally forgotten, or worse, abandoned, basic conservative principles…along with the established Republican party. This was less an analytic missive or even an obituary of the GOP…it was more a suicide note.
Sad, very sad indeed.
stonemeister on April 11, 2009 at 1:17 AM
I’m cheering Batchelor on to jump.
Kini on April 11, 2009 at 1:26 AM
And a Kathleen Parker, Peggy Noonan, David Brooks,….
Kini on April 11, 2009 at 1:28 AM
You want some quotes of the day? Try this on for size. Go to about 2:55 of the video on up.
Video
Upchuck Schumer goes on about how terrible the GOP is and how “traditional values” and “strong foreign policy” are no long er relevant and get this, Pres Obama is going to talk bipartisanship, not act it but TALK it.
God I hate that guy!
Heard about this on Mark Levin this afernoon.
Yakko77 on April 11, 2009 at 1:41 AM
The Republican Party is like Nebuchadnezzar; “mad”, eating grass with the cows. Evidenced by those who think the solution to the GOP’s problems are they’re failure to utilize Facebook and Twitter. The insane wonks are calling the shots and 11/2/10 will be another blood bath unless enlightenment surfaces within the party. It is now devoid of that. To include Rush Limbaugh who, yesterday announced that “he remains perplexed”. And he is, perplexed, confused and distracted.
But the GOP/Conservative Movement is not Dead. It is in a sad state of disrepair. It can be fixed. It can be once again a well tuned, oiled and efficient machine. But not in the direction it is now headed. We have clueless, redstate idiots running the asylum. Darvin Dowdy
Darvin Dowdy on April 11, 2009 at 1:43 AM
It’s the worse kinda cheese imaginable.
I wouldn’t go that far, unless you like moose cheese.
But I’m curious as to which redstates idiots you are referring to.
Kini on April 11, 2009 at 2:02 AM
So is this guy’s idea of a “true” Republican Gerald Ford?
Speedwagon82 on April 11, 2009 at 2:07 AM
Bingo
Too late I discovered this article was posted on ‘The Breast’, I mean, ‘The Beast’, the hormonal huffington clone
It wasn’t nice to publish a quote on HA without warning readers where it came from. My skin is crawling as I type
entagor on April 11, 2009 at 2:39 AM
The GOP isn’t dead, but it’s mortally splintered right now. The Democrats are winning by default.
The GOP can start over by actually honoring the Contract With America. At some point, they’re going to have to be willing to fight for something other than the social issues if they’re going to win. It can’t be all religious right, all the time anymore.
RightOFLeft on April 11, 2009 at 2:51 AM
I smell fear in that quote of the day. Palpable fear.
Not fear of the republican party however, it’s a rigid, cold fear that the people might just adopt the values espoused by the republican party, but rarely followed.
They’d be correct in being afraid.
Spiritk9 on April 11, 2009 at 3:04 AM
LOL, this isn’t a “quote of the day” it’s the “laugh of the day”! Thanks, Allah, for the bellylaugh I just had over this silly piece of uninformed tripe!
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on April 11, 2009 at 3:09 AM
Hmmm…I listen to Batchelor’s radio show a lot, I have for years. Great show in my opinion, though I’ve never been too sure of his actual politics – I knew he was right-leaning guy, but wasn’t sure where he stood on a lot of issues. He’s more of an interviewer than a pundit on his show.
That being said, I’m more confused about him than ever after reading that rather incoherent rant.
Nevertheless, I don’t think this is “Frum or Paris McCain” type nonsense. I think it is more a complaint about the ineffectualness of Republican politicians over the last 75 years.
And I think, though he overstates it, he does have a bit of a point. Especially when you look at the point we are at now.
As far as his criticism of various Southern politicians, especially the ones who made up the Republican congressional leadership in recent years, are there really any conservatives, either Yankee or Southerner, who’ve been happy with their leadership?
Gingrich, Lott, DeLay-in retrospect don’t they all seem like a bunch of careerist hacks who did little to further a conservative agenda? Instead of accomplishing anything real, their demeanor and attitude just turns off the type of fence-sitting Yankee, who otherwise might be more inclined to be sympathetic to conservativism (and there are still more people in the blue states who are inclined to be conservative than a lot of people think).
Meanwhile, Gingrich, DeLay, etc., sat for re-election year after year in their safe districts and accomplished nothing.
I wouldn’t classify Batchelor as a Frum type-his favorite politician of the moment seems to be Thaddeus McCotter, who he has as a guest on every show, and who has a 100% pro-life voting record, and is basically as conservative as they come. And unlike Gingrich or Lott, he is eloquent, has a sense of humor, and a stiff spine when it comes to the issues.
Still, that was a weird little rant Batchelor put up there(and too hard on Reagan). I can see where it confused people (it confused me). But I think, if anything it was more Buchanan{ista), than Frum(ian).
Dreadnought on April 11, 2009 at 3:57 AM
I agree. If your interpretation is correct, he may have a point – not that the GOP is dead, but that it is making too many mistakes. Too bad we cannot be sure what he means because his piece is indeed utterly incoherent. I can hardly find an argument there to engage with.
What I don´t get is the anger. I have listened to Batchelor and he has never shown that much anger towards Democrats. Yes, it is shameful that some Republicans voted for the AIG bonus confiscation bill, but the Democrats made the bloody thing – and he declares them in fine health. Yes, Republicans are usually ineffectual in advancing conservatism and they too often fail to translate principles – not always honestly felt – into good, practical policies. What´s Batchelor´s solution? With this piece he stiffened the spines of a couple of Democrats. At least Gingrich achieved more than that.
McCotter is a great, great guy and a real conservative. He also voted for the GM bailouts because a) those workers are his constituents and he must stand by them and b) it wouldn´t do any good if the GOP were wiped out across the Midwest. And I think he was right. Maybe this kind of pragmatism appeals to Batchelor. Not that he says so.
el gordo on April 11, 2009 at 6:36 AM
un-impressed, look at Joe Cao down in Louisiana along with Jindal, look at Palin, look at the soaring ratings of conservative media. Don’t confuse an election with a re-alignment.
rob verdi on April 11, 2009 at 6:58 AM
Batchelor sounds like the flip side of those self-appointed “true conservatives” constantly on the lookout for Rinos to drum out of the movement, who would rather lose or found a third party than bring a few more people into the tent.
Batchelor dreams of an efficient, sensible “not-left” party, but he doesn´t want to take the necessary corollaries of having a not-left party: conservative populism, the identity politics for religious people, the blondes on Fox News plus the usual hypocrisy and stupidity of politicians. The difference is: all these things on average help advance a good cause more than they hurt. But whatever irks Batchelor – and he is not really clear – his bitterness and defeatism does not help at all. We need the conservative base, even if it can be obnoxious, but what does a rant like Batchelor´s accomplish?
What Batchelor doesn´t get is: we are the stupid party, but we´re not dumb.
el gordo on April 11, 2009 at 7:12 AM
Reagan was most proud of the lives he saved as a lifeguard.
Obama seems to be most proud of his support of Abortions.
.
The Republican Party is not dead, it is not even hurt real bad, but it does have a nasty infestation of RINOs, and needs to do something about them.
darktood on April 11, 2009 at 7:17 AM
One of the great benefits of Obama’s victory is that it caused a lot of masks to slip.
TheBigOldDog on April 11, 2009 at 7:48 AM
I usually find John Batchelor to be one of the most brilliant thinkers on politics in America. But this was one of the worst thought out pieces of dribble I have ever read.
Maybe New York Republicans are for Wall Street, but most Republicans from “the empty-quarter counties of the West or in the so-called Old South” are strongly opposed to bailing out Wall Street. And we aren’t chasing “Reds” anymore – we have moved on to militant Islamist terrorists.
What kind of bigoted rant is this? John, you are better than this.
John is really over the top here. I have never heard Mr. Batchelor utter such stupidity before and I have to wonder what caused him to write this. It seems very out of character for him. John is usually a brilliant thinker and historian and there has to be more to this article than the simple tirade it appears to be.
So John, have you gone over to the Dark side? What do you actually believe? What does your Republican Party look like?
huckleberryfriend on April 11, 2009 at 8:10 AM
Although I get the sense that this guy has a serious grudge he’s trying to feed, he’s mostly correct. The congressional leaders he mentioned were the leaders during nearly 12 years of republican control and nothing of significance got done. This country can be a roaring economic machine or it can be in the sad condition it is now. And it isn’t in the current condition because of Bush/Cheney but because democrat/socialist policies have slowly degraded the system for the past 50 years. That has been the plan of the left, slowly destroy the system and make it so dysfunctional that the American people will accept the total socialist takeover. And that has happened with the assistance of the republican party. Conservatives have always considered themselves part of the republican party while the republican party has considered conservatives an annoying necessity that alternately allows and threatens their gravy train. Time to start a conservative party. How can things get any worse?
peacenprosperity on April 11, 2009 at 8:16 AM
I will temporarily refer to you as OP (Obama Pundit). Why in the world would you elevate a nonentity talk show host, listened to in just a few markets, to the national stage? There was lots ofdiscussion when Obama thought he was going to expose the “nonenntity” Rush Limbaugh as a fraud to the American people. That backfired badly. How can you criticize him for that when you are doing the same thing for a talk show host who needs your exposure? Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
Old Country Boy on April 11, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Oh, I forgot. The only thing that really counts are comments and site visits for the advertizers. I guess when you pull the OP stunt, you get both.
Old Country Boy on April 11, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Allowing Obama and the democrats to finish this disasterous agenda with little or no resistance, ie “free” government run health care and education, and this insane green energy policy that will destroy independent (private) businesses, that will attempt to pass on the cost to the consumers to maintain their profit ratios. Consumers will reject this higher cost by purchasing fewer goods and services. It’s all a well calculated and thought out process that will require more government intervention and control and a complete virus on privately owned businesses that were built on free market values. Private investors and people who toiled for years to build there wealth on capitalist principals will rein in their risk-taking venture capital to protect themselves, further choking off job growth while “our government” siezes more and more of the private sector.
We are on an irreversable path and yes, without a serious backlash, it will certainly GET WORSE.
Rovin on April 11, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Democrat Lite, of course.
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Anyone watch Beck’s show on facism? I sure got an education on Pres. Woodrow Wilson. I was never taught this info in school either.
Woodrow Wilson, a progressive in his day, felt the president could do any damn thing he wanted. He did not support individual rights, he arrested 175,000 people who had the nerve to dissent. He even had a group who spied on citizens in their own homes…the American Protective League.
A week after Congress declared war on Germany, Wilson created a government apparatus whose sole purpose was to lie to the American people, the first modern ministry for propaganda in the West.
Though the Democratic Party is largely dominated by anti-war people now, Wilson’s fascism still remains with the party, especially with regard to economics and expanding the power of the federal government in general whenever possible.
becki51758 on April 11, 2009 at 9:31 AM
It was a great show. I had come to rest on Woodrow Wilson for the start of the really violent move leftwards, but for a different reason. The creation of the League of Nations stood out, to me, as the point of totally insane, and thoroughly unrealistic, globalism starting to be taken seriously. It marked the start of a real detachment of the federal government from the concerns of the citizenry. The fact that this idiotic move was compounded by the formation of the United Nations, after the League of Nations had proven itself so pathetic and dangerous, showed that we had some real problems in our governance. For me, the next step on this path to oblivion was when Bush Sr. empowered the UN (for the first time, really) after the fall of the USSR. I consider that to have been one of the worst actions in history.
I really like what Beck is doing, but I would like to hear people starting to express the serious problems with the UN, the theoretical problems with the very idea – the fact that only a total lunatic would support the existence of an empowered, peerless, competitionless entity. For me, that is why Wilson always stood out as a major disaster, more than anything else.
progressoverpeace on April 11, 2009 at 9:44 AM
I miss RR and his politics … even RR knew you talked with your enemies.
Monkei on April 11, 2009 at 9:54 AM
get US out of the UN.
and i want to know more about what is going on with the 4 pirates holding our entire country hostage.
kelley in virginia on April 11, 2009 at 10:01 AM
huh? You should worry more about big business and trade treaties that are holding this country hostage.
Monkei on April 11, 2009 at 10:10 AM
From a position of strength. Unlike Carter and his progeny Carter II.
Maybe some day we’ll all be happily employed by Big Government, since it’s obviously so much wiser and more generous. (I wonder though why there is a government employees’ union.)
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Man. Somebody moved his cheese.
Tennman on April 11, 2009 at 10:28 AM
O/T.
Daily Piracy,and information on the Maersk-Alabama.
The Law office of Countryman and McDaniel.
http://www.cargolaw.com.
—————————-
http://www.cargolaw.com/2000 nightmare_singles.only.html#
Maersk-Alabama
canopfor on April 11, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Great critique.
Big boys and girls can take their criticism and learn so that efforts be directed wisely with stronger effect.
The Phoenix Bird purges itself in fire, turns into ash, before arising anew from itself.
There’s no need to remain stuck in sackcloth and ashes at the moment of the GOP RIP. Envision what is needed and coalesce ON the Constitutional platform for working citizens. Commit to “our convincing moment of understanding that the Republican Party is about honest liberty for honest, laboring people.”
Appropriate timing, all things considered.
Happy Easter, y’all.
/Morons need not imply that I presume a Messiah from Heaven to lead our politics. Point being, find your better self and be it.
maverick muse on April 11, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Crap,just use the first link,in yellow
MV Maersk Alabama 206 year Deja Vu:)
canopfor on April 11, 2009 at 10:38 AM
This guy is a clown and typifies the RINO’s that have ruined the Republican/Conservative brand. I left the GOP because I didn’t want to be associated with the Democrat-lite attitudes of Republicans like him (and Bush and McCain). I now will only identify myself as a Conservative. My husband is organizing the Tennessee Tea Parties (www.tnteaparty.org)and part of his message this Wednesday will be, like it or not we are a two party system. If we Conservatives split into a separate party, we leave the door wide open for liberal Democrats to be in power for decades from which there may be no return. To be clear, we do not want the Republican Party to take over the Tea Party movement, we want the Tea Party movement to take over the Republican Party.
tnmama on April 11, 2009 at 10:41 AM
If at first they don’t succeed, Socialists persist. But Socialists do not own the monopoly on “try, try again” or “I think I can” or even “yes we can.” Given victory, they fail to deliver anything but sorrow to all but the party elite who live high on the fascist hog, making an easy target.
maverick muse on April 11, 2009 at 10:46 AM
I hate to be the one to state the obvious, especially to someone with Mr. Batchelor’s credentials, but…Robert Byrd is a Democrat.
Cylor on April 11, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Excuse me, everything you states supported what I had to say. Do you want to continue to cling to a republican party that has no intention of protecting the interests of the American people? Do you think they will magically transform themselves. Everytime the American people get loud about something, boehner comes out and puts on a little show as if he is on our side but he does absolutely nothing. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out someday that he has to run it by pelosi first before he puts on one of his shows.
peacenprosperity on April 11, 2009 at 11:08 AM
Conservatives have to seperate themselves from the republican party. It’s a dead end street.
peacenprosperity on April 11, 2009 at 11:09 AM
yes
It is the elephant whose familial relations far surpass humans’. It is not the elephant whose memory is short.
Tea Party Favors:
The RINO is dead.
Conservatives Rule.
Long Live The GOP.
Elephant emblem with front legs on a ball with a red diagonal slash containing the upside down rhino.
We’ll be attending our Texan Tea Party with Gov. Perry in Austin.
maverick muse on April 11, 2009 at 11:09 AM
The GOP isn’t going to win without those chubby Civil War re-enactors (which is actually just code for those regressive Southerners). I want to see the GOP try to do that. Just once. Let’s have the GOP nominate an all-Northeast moderate ticket in 2012 and let’s see how far it goes. Oh God, please let it happen.
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Batchelor can dish it out, he can take criticism.
I don’t want to re-read his rant to double check, but I thought he made the point of Republicans beginning as a Northern anti-slave movement becoming the Union’s force with Sherman’s march to the sea (nothing really to be proud of imo as Northerners suffer an ill founded superiority complex today) leaving Batchelor frustrated wondering WHY Hoosiers persuaded themselves to become Union Democrats during the 20th Century World Wars.
maverick muse on April 11, 2009 at 11:25 AM
DAMN THAT GLO-BULL WARMING!
Oh well, does the property have sea wall or pier? Is it zoned residential?
oldleprechaun on April 11, 2009 at 11:27 AM
As things in the GOP stand today, it’s the Maine ladies playing the RINO trolls. So Northerners, see to your own beam before projecting it where it doesn’t apply.
Get over the regional label superiority complex shit.
maverick muse on April 11, 2009 at 11:29 AM
I agree with you. Some of that stuff was totally unnecessary and over the top. And there were even internal contradictions in that piece, criticizing Red-baiting at one point, and then turning around and criticizing Nixon for detente with mass-murdering Communist regimes. It was a weird rant alright.
Dreadnought on April 11, 2009 at 11:36 AM
True. It would have been better to have heard about the flip side. Batchelor often has Amity Shlaes on his show and pumps her book “The Forgotten Man”, no fan of FDR or the New Deal there. It would have been put things quite a bit more in perspective to have included the shortcomings of the Democrats going back 75 years.
I think that is the basis of his rant, Batchelor thinks New Deal II is coming, and that it is going to screw-over the “Forgotten Man” more than New Deal I. And that the Republicans on one hand not doing enough to stop it, and at the same time are alienating the “Forgotten Man” by being indecisive, weak and too pro-Wall Street, letting the Democrats steal their natural constituency.
Or maybe he just drank too much Scotch, it’s a little hard to tell from that rant.
Dreadnought on April 11, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Unless they fell foul of some obscure part of Taft-Hartley.
sethstorm on April 11, 2009 at 12:48 PM
So, John Batchelor thinks the GOP is dead. OK, what of it? Am I supposed to care about the opinion of some guy I’ve never heard of? C’mon, AP, you have got to try a little harder than that. Weak, man, very weak.
SKYFOX on April 11, 2009 at 12:59 PM
+1
sethstorm on April 11, 2009 at 1:14 PM
And what have the Democrats done for that “Forgotten Man” over the past 30 years or so? I must’ve missed it. Oh yeah, they are the fervent champions of increasing the minimum wage…up to a point, of course. No need to get carried away.
The Democrats just look at those little forgotten people as a good voting bloc. Nothing more.
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 2:03 PM
…while Republicans look at them as second class to H1/L1 interests.
sethstorm on April 11, 2009 at 3:42 PM
There is one solution and only one for the malady that the republic suffers, it is not a republican solution, nor a democrat solution. The solution is not conservative nor is it liberal. The solution is you…. It is you getting up off your dead fat a$$, getting away from your television and your computer and getting personally involved.
The solution is not you complaining on HotAir… It is you running for city counsel, or State Assembly or congress. It is you marching in the street in protest… Most importantly, it is you getting out and VOTING…
doriangrey on April 11, 2009 at 3:58 PM
Nah, more as individuals who are entitled to keep what they earn.
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 4:21 PM
^ That is, conservative ones. There are some squishies who probaly share your views.
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Depends on if they’re being evasive to our country.
sethstorm on April 11, 2009 at 4:34 PM
From the comments section to the original piece:
Good grief.
Sometimes you have to remind yourself that Obama didn’t win 98.9% of the vote. Not even close.
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Their money doesn’t belong “to the country”.
ddrintn on April 11, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Their citizenship is of this country, though.
Their taxes are paid to this country.
It would stand that their evasiveness(as opposed to mere dissent) towards their country might be close to treason.
sethstorm on April 11, 2009 at 4:51 PM
You are absolutely insane. Your antipathy towards the notion of private property, from which all individual liberty is dependent on, is the sort of attitude that would have driven our Founders to have dealt with you harshly and permanently.
You are an embarrassment, just like your Precedent. Did you cry the day the USSR dissolved? That must have been very traumatic for you.
progressoverpeace on April 11, 2009 at 7:42 PM
But that is not the “Forgotten Man” referred to in the title of Shlaes book. The title refers to a quote from William Graham Sumner, a great 19th century social scientist and economist:
“The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C’s interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man.”
Pretty relevant to what is going on now, and that is the Forgotten Man that Batchelor fears the Republican Party will lose (and that it doesn’t have to be that way).
Dreadnought on April 11, 2009 at 9:32 PM
So, what? The sitting secretary of the treasury belongs in prison then, correct?
Or is this evasion only bad when “the other guys” do it?
Blind party loyalty completely undiluted by reality.
Hittler would’ve sold his soul for a million just like you!
SuperCool on April 12, 2009 at 4:38 AM
Thinking long-term, it seems the causes of your comeback will be having many children and giving them a solid education in civics, economics, and the holy scriptures.
Kralizec on April 12, 2009 at 1:59 PM
I suspect JFK would be a Republican by today’s standards.
azcop on April 12, 2009 at 11:25 PM
Obama will spawn new blood. It’s about time for some fresh faces anyway. I worry more about conservatism in general than the GOP handlers. Thats one reason I liked that Brit Daniel Hannon. Laser beam speak.
saiga on April 13, 2009 at 10:48 AM
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