Conservatives gone wild
The problem is that conservatives seem to think there were other choices [on the fiscal cliff], other ways, other possibilities — when all those choices, ways and possibilities had been exhausted.
And so many of them are literally embracing chaos. Though they oppose raising taxes, by voting against the tax bill on Tuesday night they effectively voted to raise taxes on 98 percent of Americans…
Then came talk that Boehner should be fired as speaker of the House when the time came to vote in the new speaker yesterday afternoon. Yet none of the insurgents was brave enough to stand against him; instead, a bunch of them cast nonsense votes for someone else or refused to vote at all.
In so doing, they came close to handing Boehner a humiliating and entirely destructive defeat — forcing a second ballot and leaving their own party leader critically injured. They seemed to crave disorder.
Blowback
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Talk about leftists gone wild
Schadenfreude on January 4, 2013 at 3:11 PM
Um, no but conservatives begin to realize that not every tax cut is wise. If you cut taxes and find yourself with a more progressive tax system afterwards, the cut was stupid. We must make sure that Americans have a stake in fiscal sanity and limited government again, otherwise they will continue to vote for free shit. Republicans must be the party of simple and low taxation, not the party of no taxation. Our next task is to realign the interest of the citizenry with conservative principles, but guys like Podhoretz simply dont get that (yet?).
Valkyriepundit on January 4, 2013 at 3:11 PM
There is simply no leadership.
claudius on January 4, 2013 at 3:16 PM
Opposing obama’s tax and spending hikes by voting NO, was the only sound, logical option – those who sided with obama and voted YES, have committed a vile act of treason against America.
Pork-Chop on January 4, 2013 at 3:17 PM
How about the only way that has never been tried…Spend Within Your Means! Are these people really so naive to think deficit spending and increased debt can go on forever?
trs on January 4, 2013 at 3:19 PM
Reposting a comment from another thread since like most of these other “four dimensional chess players,” Podhoretz is totally missing the point:
The Republican base is asking for tangible progress on core issues of concern, especially fiscal ones. The options presented to the GOP in the last battle were “spending goes up and taxes go up” and “spending goes up and taxes go up a smidgen less.”
This is what a collapse looks like.
The GOP base has run out of patience with “symbolic” victories that the Republicans have become so fond of in the last decade. The bottom line is in politics, at some point, you must produce actual, tangible deliverables to your constituencies. Right now the Democrats are producing tons of victories – they’re looting trillions from the treasury and giving them to rich donors, and to the poor that are their backbone via welfare programs (i.e. Obamaphone).
The GOP base largely wants an end to massive overtaxation, a cleanup of government corruption, a reduction in government spending, and a stoppage of the progressive cultural/social agenda. No progress has been made on any of these things since the Reagan era, and in fact, the GOP is actually beginning to run AWAY from these issues. The last major deliverable that I can think of that the GOP produced for its base was the Bush tax cuts. There has been virtually nothing since then.
That’s about a decade where the party has produced nothing of value.
The GOP has a very limited amount of time left to kiss and make up with its base. If it doesn’t, the party will disintegrate in the face of further huge defeats in 2014 and 2016. I do not expect them to make up given how the establishment is currently behaving.
Doomberg on January 4, 2013 at 3:22 PM
And what Boehner & company have been doing is accuracy and on point?
portlandon on January 4, 2013 at 3:27 PM
We seem to be craving a new party that actually represents us.
SirGawain on January 4, 2013 at 3:30 PM
Courtesy RWM
Schadenfreude on January 4, 2013 at 3:51 PM
A flippant argument.
Does Podhoretz not understand what “other choices, other ways, other possibilities” means, and who is he to say that they are “exhausted”.
And how large a strawman it is that he builds with his proposed “chaos” theory. It is readily apparent Podhoretz knows not what chaos is when what we still walk towards will make Monday’s threat of one, be true peace and tranquility by comparison.
Worst of all is Podhoretz’s brazen refusal to take aim at the minority who defend the fundamental rights of the people, but rather takes the convenient way out by joining the crowd at shooting the messengers.
Finally, as Podhoretz sees no obligation to respect the rights of those dissenting from the continued actions of an illegitimate government, I see no obligation to respect the rights of John Podhoretz.
Dusty on January 4, 2013 at 3:51 PM
Uhm … no, not quite, John.
Most all philosophies sans anarchy subscribe to that worldview (and remember, it was traditional before 1776 for authoritarian regimes — not individuals — to be considered sovereigns, and even after 1776 for slavery to be traditional).
Stopped reading the drivel at that point …
ShainS on January 4, 2013 at 4:21 PM
The only opposition Obama has is the House Republicans. At a time when they need to stick together and fight him, the high-and-mighty conservatives undermine unity and thereby help Obama.
The TrueCons are annoyed that they aren’t running the show. They didn’t like Romney, whined that they didn’t get a rightwing nominee, and for all intents and purposes greased the rails for Obama’s re-election.
Now they’ve given him a victory on the resolution of the fiscal cliff. They’ve allowed Obama to split the Party, just as he set out to do, and you better believe that he’s going to take advantage of that. In increasingly disastrous ways.
Thanks, TruCons. You don’t like Obama and his policies? So how exactly do you plan on stopping him?
Meredith on January 4, 2013 at 4:47 PM
What do you care? You do like Obama’s policies, you just want them enforced by Mr Romneycare (My Views Are Progressive).
sharrukin on January 4, 2013 at 4:57 PM
For a split one needs at least two halfs. In this case the moderare minority just decided to hand Obama a victory. Thats not the fault of “truecons”.
Valkyriepundit on January 4, 2013 at 4:59 PM
So much ignorance, where does one start? How exactly are the “Truecons” supposed to stick together with the party and fight Obama when half the party doesn’t want to fight Obama? HeLLOOOOO, McFly!!
xblade on January 4, 2013 at 5:17 PM