As far as the POWs it is hard to stick your hand into a bee hive to get honey after you have kicked the hive and it would have been suicide for anyone to go and get them. There was a very poor version of foreign affairs at that time and things got lost after Carter was elected… He was likely the worst in history, with his hostage crisis and gas rationing, etc. Well, the worst so Far, I suspect we will have carter x2 coming.

“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white. Or a rape.” Nixon

He had guts and he wasn’t afraid to fight a war… unfortunately he was an honest person and actually admitted he had knowledge of watergate.
workingforpigs on June 24, 2009 at 9:31 AM

Sorry to disagree, but first let me thank you for your service during Vietnam and sorry about how Al Gore made the Vietnam vet look like baby killers.
Like I said he abandon the war just when we were winning. Sure he went a little into North and over into Cambodia to bomb the trails, but he cut and ran and left POW behind.
He wasn’t honest, he was caught. Remember “People think I’am a crook, but am not a crook.” missing minutes in tape. Your right he was a likable guy and I liked him then, but the more I learn about history, The more I dislike him.

I have yet to meet one, but I do know plenty of very smart people who voted for Obama, noses held shut, as a protest against Palin.

hicsuget on June 23, 2009 at 10:42 PM

You sound like a real genius. I bet you believe everything Olbermann and Matthews tell you.

He would be a good one to follow, unfortunately he was an honest person and actually admitted he had knowledge of watergate…. couldn’t get anyone to admit anything now.

You know what the GOP needs? More hot women
The good news: Big tent!

Or, maybe pup tent.

Actually, Goldwater was much more a libertarian than a true believer. Sort of like an anarchist philosophy tempered by the knowledge that there had to be somebody in charge – platypus

.

True, platypus, but more to the point on the ‘64 election; it was held just 11 months and a few days after JFK was killed. The mood being what it was, Americans gave Johnson “JFK’s 2nd term” – there wasn’t much chance of any Republican the winning the presidency that year. Goldwater was “Eh, what the heck – it’s sacrificial lamb time.”

Out: Lincoln-Obama comparisons
In: Nixon-Obama comparisons

Favors abortion & affirmative action, makes racist statements, continues bombing of predecessor. Man, there aren’t just a few things those two have in common.

Jeff from WI: actually, you completely prove my point. No historical perspective. Do you know why Nixon initiated relations with China? As a counterweight (very effective, by the way) to the Soviet Union. Brilliant diplomacy.

And wage and price controls? A stopgap measure to head off the rampant inflation he inherited from the Johnson Administration.

In 1964, the Republicans ran a “true believer” and got clobbered. Historically. Nixon ran and barely won in 1968, due mostly to his “Southern Strategy”. You have no understanding or appreciation of the moment in history he occupied, or the changes he wrought in the political landscape.

His failings are well-documented, and Gerald Ford’s fractional loss in 1976 was due mostly to them. But Nixon was at the helm when the tide turned, and to him we owe a lot more than your “what have you done for me lately, dude?” attitude indicates or expresses.

HTL on June 23, 2009 at 11:24 PM

You’re right, Nixon was the poster boy for the modern bootlicking, don’t rock the boat, we might be second place but we still have our country club membership RINOs
A true guiding light to those with the “we’ll go along to get along” style of politics.

In 1964, the Republicans ran a “true believer” and got clobbered.

HTL on June 23, 2009 at 11:24 PM

Actually, Goldwater was much more a libertarian than a true believer. Sort of like an anarchist philosophy tempered by the knowledge that there had to be somebody in charge.

Goldwater would probably have been okay as POTUS but he would never have made the country politically relaxed. He liked the attention a lightning rod gets.

but as for border security that’s not a traditional Republican concern, at least not in the narrow way you would choose to define it.

HTL on June 24, 2009 at 1:13 AM

I’m starting to think you’re related to Nixon. Perhaps you’ve heard of a real Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower. You know, the guy Nixon VP’d for.

Next time you are searching the interwebs, look up “Eisenhower,” “Operation Wetback,” “fiscal responsibility,” “balanced budget,” and “liberation of Communist-dominated countries” some time. Crib that from a headline, RINO.

Please understand…I am not saying that Nixon’s policies are right for today’s challenges. But he was a loyal Republican and did a lot for the party (and the country), before the, um, unfortunate series of incidents that proved (deservedly) to be his downfall.

Even if his only accomplishment was not being HHH or George McGovern, that was certainly worth something in those perilous times.

Just for the record, Pat Buchanan is a mook. But more importantly, when I prove that you are wrong about my identity, will you send me my $20 via Paypal or just mail me a check?

As for originalism and federalism, I suppose in a very general way Republicans are for it (although, ahem, Abraham Lincoln was not), but as for border security that’s not a traditional Republican concern, at least not in the narrow way you would choose to define it. Your “hot button” issues are in fact cribbed from today’s headlines and bear the influences of former Southern Democrats (who were very big on federalism), but history would not agree that the Republican Party has always stood for the things you are trying to make it stand for today.