Quotes of the day
posted at 10:35 pm on October 26, 2009 by Allahpundit
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“HH: You know what? I can’t swear, David. I can’t swear. But I have really had it with this stuff. Your drive-by treatment of fellow conservatives is outrageous. And then not to be able to back it up and defend it by citing line and verse, is outrageous. It’s slanderous. It’s the worst kind of yellow journalism practiced by drive-by leftists who you ought not to have anything to do with. And I am P.O’d about it now.
“DF: I’m sorry, are you, you are now saying that, the way, the things you just said, that’s responsible talk?
“HH: Yes, I am, because I’ve got you on the air talking to me, and I’ll let you tee off on me. But when you drive-by me in Newsweek, when you put on your blog that in essence accuses me of hypocrisy, you don’t recognize it, and you won’t own it, and you can’t cite anything, David Frum. You are an outrageous example of the worst kind of yellow journalism out there. And the way you treat Limbaugh and Levin and Hannity, who do 50 times the work of keeping conservative principles alive in this country, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
***
“A senior GOP strategist, granted anonymity in order to speak candidly, lamented that in endorsing Hoffman, the contenders had delivered to the White House an early victory in their efforts to brand the Republican Party as dominated by its conservative wing.
“‘The Obama White House has made a lot of mistakes, but they’ve certainly gotten the Republican Party’s number,’ said the strategist.
“The rush to back Hoffman, this strategist said, is ‘proof that the Obama political strategy is working.’”
***
“‘Both parties seem to be more for big government,’ said Johnson, a probation clerk in Fulton, N.Y. ‘The Republicans need to learn that the people they are running [for office] do not represent the views of the people.’”
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Put that way, we’ve analyzed their attack and there is a danger.
unclesmrgol on October 27, 2009 at 1:21 AM
It is possible for conservatives to work together, keep to our principles, make compromises within certain limits, and reach out to non-conservatives within certain limits. Reagan did it.
I know it’s not easy when people don’t do what their told. Tolerance helps. But not all everybody is tolerant and we can’t be tolerant of everything. Humility helps. But not everybody is humble. Certainly not as humble as moi. God helps. But not all conservatives are religious. So, offering cookies and milk helps. And then, if all else fails, we’ll just take those who can’t play well together out and burn them at the stake.
And I almost forgot. A sense of humor also helps.
Loxodonta on October 27, 2009 at 1:21 AM
Conservatives are following their millionare pied pipers (Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Levin, Coulter) to obscurity. Beck will be laughing all the way to the bank when the Republican Party truly becomes a 3rd party.
The twisted conservatism preached on talk radio and Fox News each day is unattainable. However, that does not stop these charlatans from getting rich. Snake oil for all!
Decider on October 27, 2009 at 1:22 AM
See related Doctor Zero essay now up in the Green Room.
publiuspen on October 27, 2009 at 1:23 AM
Yeah. We’re pretty far apart on this. I don’t see this White House comparable to any in history. We have never had to contend with anything like The Precedent. He actually hates this country and everything we stand for. He sees himself as the avenging angel of the third world come to rain pain, suffering and destruction on us. You cannot look at ANY of his policies and come to a different conclusion. And because of the monetary precipice we are perched over, it won’t take much skill or talent to bring everything crashing down. And there are too many useful idiots in Congress – which includes Graham and Snowe and Collins and the rest – who are willing to let him tear this nation to shreds for their own petty reasons.
And even on the milder side, it doesn’t matter what people see. There are changes that can be made to this nation that cannot be undone. Each of the major nation-killer pieces of legislation that The Precedent and the lunatics on Capitol Hill are salivating over can do this, as can changing the Judiciary enough. These are truly insane people who are filling up the government.
To me, any comparison with a past administration or federal government is a very dangerous mistake. We have never had a real America-hater running the Executive, carrying lots of power in a crazy Congress, and backed up 1000% by the media – promoted by them, actively, and preying on the most powerful emotional force of white-guilt, tinted with threats of fomenting racial animus in a scorched-Earth strategy (as we all saw the start of during the town halls and tea parties).
I think that people underestimate all this at great peril. But, we’re all going to find out soon enough. This nation’s future will likely be determined before the 2010 elections. It’s been less than 9 months so far, including a summer. Yep … And Israel’s need to deal with Iran soon is going to cause some major disruptions (intentionally magnified by Europe and this adminstration) that will have serious consequences. It ain’t pretty.
progressoverpeace on October 27, 2009 at 1:24 AM
I haven’t read all of the posts yet and I’m sure others have made this observation already, but I can’t help myself: it says worlds about the disconnect between national GOP leadership and rank-and-file Republicans when an anonymous ’senior Republican strategist’ laments even the perception of the GOP as a conservative party, and views such a perception as a victory for Obama.
The solution? An old-school purge. Fire all ’senior Republican strategists’–and the junior ones, too, if such exist. These are, after all, the same strategists who think throwing party support behind a Margaret Sanger Award winner is the height of political calculation and maneuver. And when they’re gone, replace them with good men and women of strong character and sound judgment, people who know the only way to win in 2010 and 2012 is to make the words ‘Republican’ and ‘conservative’ synonymous.
troyriser_gopftw on October 27, 2009 at 1:30 AM
Well said.
publiuspen on October 27, 2009 at 1:31 AM
This is sick on so many levels.
For one — note the perverse, self-defeating tautology. The GOP strategist, terrified of the “conservative wing,” needs to believe, and needs others to believe, that the Obama White House is equally thrilled by its emergence into “dominance.” His own fear and loathing of conservatives have driven him to preemptively ascribe a “victory” to the Left.
It doesn’t get any more psychologically revealing than that.
The proper response from a self-confident GOP would be: “we don’t give a damn what the White House thinks. The people of NY will elect the man or woman that speaks to their conservative values, and Doug Hoffman clearly does. And the White House is no position to accuse others of being dominated by an extremist wing: their party is dominated by radical big government leftists who in nine months of aggressively hustling bad ideas have driven our country into an economic ditch.”
rrpjr on October 27, 2009 at 1:31 AM
Allah, you are probally a sleep by now…
… but please, more Doc Zero.
Seven Percent Solution on October 27, 2009 at 1:33 AM
“This underscores a major issue the party is facing. How to win general elections, when the primaries are getting more and more conservative?”
It’s all about the benjamins.
FISCAL conservatism.
REPEAL the stimulus.
If Hoffman or any other outsider has a plan for that, he will win.
PattyJ on October 27, 2009 at 1:38 AM
Eh. Boring sh*t.
chris999 on October 27, 2009 at 1:47 AM
The Post-Gracious President
Whenever he must make a difficult decision, Mr. Obama complains it’s Bush’s fault.
“I don’t mind cleaning up the mess that some other folks made,” the president said. “That’s what I signed up to do. But while I’m there mopping the floor, I don’t want somebody standing there saying, ‘You’re not mopping fast enough.’”
This is a frequent Obama complaint. The logic is clear if curious: While it’s OK to blame Mr. Bush for spending too much, it’s not OK to point out that Mr. Obama is already well on track to spend much more.
Barack Obama may believe that his incessant whining about all the challenges his predecessor left him lets America know how tough he has it. The danger to his presidency is that it can sound awfully like “I’m not up to the job.”
MB4 on October 27, 2009 at 1:56 AM
How much more clear can we possibly get, for the Party to understand our discontent, our disconnect, and our disatisfaction with what the Party has become? They are now trying to “brand” us as the “Radical Right”–this is why people are not identifying with the Party. They are trying to marginalize us, in the same way that Obama has done to the Republican Party. This the losing strategy of the Party.
What part of the saying, “I didn’t leave the Republican Party, the Party left me…” don’t they understand?
lovingmyUSA on October 27, 2009 at 2:05 AM
Indeed. Colour me confused, but I don’t get how a mass defection by conservatives means that the GOP is dominated by its conservative wing.
Oh, wait, that sort of illogical reversal is just how the left turns every argument against government intrusion into, “You just hate poor people.”
I wonder where the GOP is getting its stratergerists from these days?
fronclynne on October 27, 2009 at 3:25 AM
I laugh when I hear “strategists” opining we are playing into Obama’s hands by supporting Hoffman!
`
What would really be playing into his hands would be to elect a left-leaning RINO to the seat, who would tend to “grow in office” and “seek to work across the aisle” in the “spirit of bipartisanship” – coincidentally supporting Obama’s leftist agenda as a result of “much soul-searching” and “thoughtful deliberation.”
`
Adjoran on October 27, 2009 at 4:29 AM
I can’t believe how stupid and out of touch the Republican “leadership” really is. They have no idea why they lost in the first place, and they have no idea how to win. Lose ‘em, and replace them with people who actually know how to win, and what the people in this country want.
Conservative principles sell every time. You just have to have individuals who actually believe them, and then know how to sell them.
SueM on October 27, 2009 at 5:38 AM
Get back under your rock scumball troll
bill30097 on October 27, 2009 at 5:56 AM
The recent Gallup poll reports that 40% of Americans identify themselves as conservatives, 36% identify themselves as moderates, and 20% identify themselves as liberal. What’s the safer strategy? The GOP being “dominated” by its “conservative wing” or the Dems being dominated by its liberal wing?
What is it about conservatives that’s so repulsive? Their principles of personal responsibility and so forth far outstrip those of liberals. And conservatives are more generous. Liberals have no legs to stand on.
BuckeyeSam on October 27, 2009 at 6:14 AM
Who ever the White House political strategist is, their track record over the past 9 months sucks.
.
percysunshine on October 27, 2009 at 6:17 AM
That wasn’t a White House political stragegist: that was a GOP political strategist:
That may very well be the stupidest quote I have read in some time.
Let me get this straight. This senior GOP strategist thinks it’s Obama’s strategy to paint the GOP as being dominated by conservatives when for the past 3 Presidential elections it’s run moderates George W. Bush twice and the moderates’ moderate, John McCain?
In fact the GOP Party at the moment is run by moderate to liberal Republicans like Frum and Steele.
What is this senior GOP strategist’s strategy for a victory in 2010 and 2012? Running moderates and ignoring conservatives?
Didn’t they just have it proven to them that when the country has a choice between liberal Democrat and Democrat Lite being offered by a moderate like McCain, they’ll pick the real Democrat, not the fake one?
The RINOs running the party now are convinced conservatism is a losing cause and it’s not. Stop listening to the enemy.
manofaiki on October 27, 2009 at 6:32 AM
New York Post endorses Hoffman…
freedomplow on October 27, 2009 at 6:33 AM
I know. The statement stands.
percysunshine on October 27, 2009 at 6:44 AM
Conservatives need to take back their party from the RINOs. The soul of the party are the conservative constitutionalists. RINOs have a place on the sidelines, but not in leadership positions.
BottomLine5 on October 27, 2009 at 6:45 AM
Frum is right about one thing. He is a joke and a goof.
ctmom on October 27, 2009 at 6:54 AM
Please understand the role of the Frumians. They are the children of the Rockefeller movement know as Republican Advance. An organization formed in the 1950’s with the sole intent of stopping the conservatives within the GOP and keeping the New Deal intact.
They are purposeful saboteurs whole sole intent is to move the GOP left, and/or destroy conservatives.
True_King on October 27, 2009 at 6:55 AM
Fixed
MNHawk on October 27, 2009 at 7:02 AM
You must not understand the movement.
True_King on October 27, 2009 at 7:08 AM
Johnson for RNC strategist. Look at that regular people get it.
Blacksmith8 on October 27, 2009 at 7:19 AM
In case anyone has not been paying attention, these “senior GOP strategists have managed to lose all three branches of government in the past couple of years. Everything they have done has helped the other side, and now they want to deride conservitives because we are not willing to double down on their efforts to throw it all away? I don’t think that is going to sit well with most conservitives I know.
MikeA on October 27, 2009 at 7:21 AM
Methinks the Republican strategist doth protest too much…
This is the stage where defining the enemy within takes place. Once the purge is over, we can face the enemy the is outside the camp.
A very unlikeable acquantance, who was a company commander in Vietnam, told me that he fears the people behind him more than the Cong, which reminds me of the RINO’s and leadership in the GOP. The left has infiltrated far more than the major leftist institutions of society.
It is time to pick the parasites off of our own body before it becomes just another carcass.
Don L on October 27, 2009 at 7:32 AM
I’m not sure they understand what is going on here. Conservatives want to change our government. A party of some sort is needed to do that. The Republican Party as it now stands is not a vehicle of change. By endorsing a member of the Conservative Party a rivalry will be set up which may allow the democrats to win this particular election. But in the long term, only one non-donkey party will survive. This competition will either end the Republican Party and usher in the age of the Conservative Party or it will force the Republican party to embrace principles important to conservatives. Conservatives are not like moderates, they are not up for grabs depending on the subject matter. They will stick to whatever side upholds their principles and contrary to popular belief, there are a lot of conservatives. This may be a long painful process but in the long run a party will emerge that will truly be capable of governmental reform. My personal belief is that the Republicans will eventually make the needed changes but not willingly or without a fight.
Choose_Freedom on October 27, 2009 at 7:33 AM
hear! hear!
cmsinaz on October 27, 2009 at 7:37 AM
You are so right about all of us working together. The GOP should be listening to the conservative voters before we conservatives start a new party. Perot, bless his heart took votes away from George H.W. Bush and we got Clinton. I was dating my husband and he told me he voted for Perot, a good Texan and whom I admire, but when my future husband told me that, I told him that he was one of the 17% that helped get Clinton elected and I didn’t return his calls for several weeks. To this day, I still gig him about helping Clinton out.
yoda on October 27, 2009 at 7:38 AM
The whole crux of the “moderate” argument is that we need to support Scozzafava because the principled conservative cant win. If Hoffman wins it shows to the GOP leadership what the grass roots of the party already knows, that the moderate strategy is a loser and its wrong.
Concession of policy and principle isnt a strategy, its betrayal. About time they opened their eyes to that.
Opportunity Costs on October 27, 2009 at 7:41 AM
The Gingrich/McCain wing of the GOP seems hellbent on making the party into a shadow of the filthy lying coward’s party. Giving anonymous quotes isn’t for candor but to hide the what part of the party this “we are doomed” spin is coming from. I’ll bet you anything it is one of McCain’s people who trashed Palin (again anonymously).
highhopes on October 27, 2009 at 7:45 AM
Itchee Dryback on October 27, 2009 at 7:47 AM
The whole justification for nominating a political rat bastard traitor like McCain was “electability.” Look at how that worked out.
Bottom line, NY-23 isn’t all that critical in the grand scheme of things. The winner will get to Congress just in time to start campaigning for re-election in 2010. I’d rather see Hoffman go down in defeat with strong support than see either the Democrat of that liberal tub of lard endorsed by the NY GOP.
highhopes on October 27, 2009 at 7:49 AM
A. Guarantee this troll doesn’t listen to conservative talk radio… and he can’t get FNC with his government-issued HD-converter box.
B. Why would lefties be so concerned about a “fracturing” GOP or a dead-end strategy for conservatism? They’re not… what they’re concerned about is the tidal wave that an excited base and principled conservative candidates would bring to the political landscape.
mankai on October 27, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Let’s step back for a minute and consider…
How do we know the “Senior GOP political analyst” supposedly quoted in the story isn’t simply a bald faced lie concocted by Politico to get hits or drive a wedge between conservatives?
I no longer trust any “quotes” from un-named sources because frankly I believe the media will flat out lie to drive the liberal agenda. Consider the source
Sugarbuzz on October 27, 2009 at 8:13 AM
I wouldn’t take that bet on a bet. You are exactly right about the anonymous comments. This is not about a sensitive national security issue or a legal case, but political ideology. The only possible reason for a “senior GOP strategist” to remain anonymous is because he or she does not want to be associated with the comment. It boggles the mind as to why that might be true. I find it incredible that the GOP would expect us to change our mind about the core concepts of conservatism based on some comment or talking point that they won’t even admit to making. More than that I find it insulting that they think I’m that stupid. If that is the GOP of today, I agree with Hoffman when he said “I didn’t leave the GOP; it left me.”
MikeA on October 27, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Not real big on context are you?
2nd sentence “If Hoffman wins it shows to the GOP leadership what the grass roots of the party already knows, that the moderate strategy is a loser and its wrong.”
Opportunity Costs on October 27, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Perhaps, but I heard Newt say much the same thing himself. And McCain. And more than a few others.
MikeA on October 27, 2009 at 8:23 AM
All GOP strategists were past failed strategerists. THEIR DAYS WERE OVER.
WELCOME TO THE AGE OF LIBERTARIAN (Economic and Personal Freedom), REPUBLICAN (Government directed by the People, not the other way around) and CONSERVATIVE (sum of all American values that actually worked and built this nation) ACTIVISM IN 21ST CENTURY!!!!!!!!
ALLAHPUNDIT’S DAYS ARE NUMBERED IN HOT AIR! IT’S TIME FOR MICHELLE MALKIN TO TAKE IT BACK FROM CLUELESS HA BLOGGERS.
TheAlamos on October 27, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Bravo, HH!
petefrt on October 27, 2009 at 8:58 AM
This is .. this is .. pathetic.
J_Crater on October 27, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Why is the Republican leadership so terrified by conservatives?
MarkTheGreat on October 27, 2009 at 9:37 AM
Isn’t it fascinating how liberals are fixated on other people’s wealth.
This guy actually thinks that the fact that Rush et. al. have gotten wealthy by being successfull, proves that what Rush et. al. have to say is invalid.
MarkTheGreat on October 27, 2009 at 9:41 AM
Get rid of “open” primaries. Who can possibly think it is a good idea to let your opponents (democrats) help select your GOP nominees? (Other than your opponents of course.)
jerseyman on October 27, 2009 at 9:48 AM
Don’t get me wrong, the GOP has certainly acted stupid enough the last few years for me to believe the comments could be legit also…
My point is given the massive liberal slant that we’ve observed in the MSM since they finally came out of the closet I think any unnamed source should at least be considered suspect and not taken at face value.
The media has no credibility any longer and I firmly believe they just make stuff up out of whole cloth to drive hits or copies sold, knowing that no one is really going to bother to fact check them
Sugarbuzz on October 27, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Correct. We want traditional American values which translates to conservative values. We’re a conservative country despite what any liberal will try to tell you. Bozo’s radicalism is confronting votes with the nasty reality of socialism and they are REPULSED by it.
It’s a good thing we are organizing and taking back our party. America is waiting for true leadership.
dogsoldier on October 27, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Progressives are following their millionare pied pipers (Soros, Heinz, Moore, Olbermann, Maddow) to obscurity. Beck will be laughing all the way to the bank when the Democratic Party truly becomes a 3rd party.
J_Crater on October 27, 2009 at 10:40 AM
One of the largest problems is the co-opted party apparatus.
I’m basically a Reagan Democrat who turned to conservatism in a big way. I don’t really give two figs about the Republican Party. I don’t see the RP as an immortal fixture.
thegreatbeast on October 27, 2009 at 11:45 AM
I wish I could rate your comment.
+100
Shambhala on October 27, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Not going to bother with Decider and Ernesto directly, since their points aren’t OT or relevant, but I will say this: if Obama gets a Republican who votes like a Democrat, it’s a BIG win, because he has the fig leaf of bipartisanship and cover for the Blue Poodles. If Obama gets a Democrat elected in a Republican district like NY23, it makes Democrat policies like cap and trade, healthcare, increased spending and higher taxation look more popular than they actually are.
So, if a Republican or a Democrat wins in a special election where Obama removed the incumbent, it’s a win either way. The only way to screw with Obama and the big shots in both parties is to support the Independent. It works in NY where the mayor is Bloomberg. It works with Rubio in FL. It works with Lieberman in CT. Voting Independent in local races is the best way to promote a third party, send a msg to the establishment or effect change.
alliebobbitt on October 27, 2009 at 2:06 PM
At least, Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, et al. are earning their salaries. Olbermann and the MSNBC chippies have ratings in the toilet but still command millionaire salaries, while begging the government for handouts and pushing propaganda in exchange. They wish they were laughing to the bank, but they just whine for corporate welfare and suck up to the administration. Those who can make money in the private sector; those who can’t work at MSNBC.
alliebobbitt on October 27, 2009 at 2:11 PM
+1
I’m with you. This is exactly my sentiment.
Mormon Doc on October 27, 2009 at 7:11 PM
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