109 Comments

1. Douglas:

I guess we need to be more like the Democrats, then everyone would love us, and we would win, like we did with John McCain.

May 5, 2009 - 3:47 am 2. Carl:

When I hear or see the word moderate aligned aside the word conservative I automatically think of the word “slop”.

Slop is what you get for fertilizer when you feed the horse bad oats.

At a time in our history when the nation’s people are begging for quality soil nourishment to grow healthy crops for their families and lives with, moderates insist that the GOP joins hands with the liberals until the entire country ends up with nothing but 100% pure slop.

Alas however, as Bill would say, “It all depends on what your definition of slop is as to whether or not it’s moderate”.

May 5, 2009 - 4:19 am 3. Terry Gain:

This movement represents a puzzle which the GOP will need to solve sooner rather than later.

There is a one word answer to this puzzle. Obama. The media can’t keep the bad news of this presidency from the public forever. The public will be switching to the GOP in droves once it’s clear what he’s wrought. The Obama economy will not recover from the first 100 days of insane spending. And Obama’s Gitmo public relations stunt will backfire and demonstrate his complete naivete about the war we are engaged in.

Some of the elites who overwhelmingly supported this disaster will be looking for a new home.

May 5, 2009 - 4:22 am 4. syn:

The upper NE quadrant of America is Serfdom where most of the population is highly dependent upon the government to provide for their needs; now that the NE quadrant is an aging population the NE quadrant will soon be as dead as Detroit, Michigan.

Which is why I am leaving the NE quadrant called Serfdom and heading for areas which still believe in Freedom; and with me I am taking my business, my tax dollars and my disposable income with me.

Extinct? Who in their right mind would want to live in a Dead Zone?

Republicans are not extinct, the people who sustain themselves on government pork are the people who are the dying breed.

Thatcher’s adage still holds, NE quadrant is dead because soon is will ‘run out of other people’s money’

May 5, 2009 - 4:25 am 5. Cato:

There should be absolutely no mystery about why the Republicans are an endangered species in New England: more than any other region of the United States, it is home to the financial, social and cultural elite, from the scions of great wealth accumulated over centuries to the young financial wizards from humble backgrounds who have become wealthy beyond their imaginations within a few years after graduation from the many elite universities and liberal arts colleges that are disproportionately located in New England. If you include New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, once you get past Stanford, Duke, Chicago, Northwestern and Washington Universities, all of the truly great private universities are in the Northeast, and once you get past the Claremont Colleges, Carleton, Kenyon, Washington & Lee, and Davidson, all of the truly elite private liberal arts colleges are in the Northeast. These are the colleges and universities most strongly held by the academic left, and their graduates disproportionately stay in the Northeast and/or the Washington area.

These young people have been steadily moving left for decades! They have been imbued with tremendous guilt at their own good fortune throughout their lives – from Marxist high school history teachers (Greenwich CT has several in the high school) to Marxists in college/university – and do not see their good fortune and success in life as the result of hard work, but, rather as a happenstance of birth. So, they favor those who favor “equity” and “equality”. Even the self-made, in many cases, have done so essentially through the “luck” of having been admitted to the elite schools, and then, using those connections, have become wealthy through work in the financial sector, where the money can seem very much easy come, easy go. They don’t feel they “deserve” what they have earned, and so are inclined to support the leftist Democrats.

Absolutely typical of the scion type is Ned Lamont, whose grandfather was was a prominent J.P. Morgan partner, and whose leftist family included communist Corliss Lamont. He went to Harvard, as did his leftist daughter.

Typical of the self-made types would be Democratic Congressman Jim Himes (RINO Chris Shays’ replacement) who comes from a left background (father worked for Ford Foundation), went to Harvard, and made money at Goldman Sachs.

When the social and political elite are of the left, and are protected by the media from scrutiny, it becomes harder and harder for Republicans.

May 5, 2009 - 4:46 am 6. John:

A moderate is the kid, when given the keys to the candy store, sits down in the middle of the floor in dazed confusion, until someone “official” hands him a something to eat.

They are also resentfully upset that the other children let into the store lustily go after whatever their appetites drive them to choose.

Here is the problem. Northeastern Establishment Republicans tend to be faint echoes of the Democrat Party. Their concept of a political party is largely that of a social “election club” where principles, values, and loyalty to a cause are unnecessary intrusions. One need only look at the atrocious mess that is New York’s virtual Parliamentary system of narrow based political parties to understand the connection. In New York, Democrats are Marxist/Statist/Socialists, Republicans are national Pre-1964 Democrats, and Conservatives are post-Reagan Era national Republicans.

Leftism grows in direct proportion to population density. The simple fact is that the cities are growing like “Blue Holes” population densities are soaring, and the social, political, and organizational pathologies of the “renter” big city population is spreading.

Fairfax County, Virginia is a prime example. In forty years, the county has whip-sawed from Southern Democrat, to Suburban-Republican, and jinked back to Leftist Democrat control. It has done this because Fairfax County is now a “virtual” city. It is densely packed, populated by renters, and dependents. The old county subdivisions with three minor city municipalities (Fairfax City, Falls Church City, and Vienna City) have all blended into one urban complex.

Of course, with it comes a profusion of people in the mushy middle. They are judgmental, intellectually indolent, and intolerant of anyone holding any sort of opinion that differs from theirs. The problem is that their opinion is mercurial at best. It shifts as the pervading attitude of the mass media tells them to shift it. They “feel” what they are told to “feel”.

Moderates turn into liberals and therefore turn to the liberal political party because their “THEY” is the mass media, and the popular culture that the mass media controls. The mass media, unfortunately is the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party. Rootless confused, and angry defines the Democrat Party.

It is no wonder that “moderates” in the Northeast are succumbing to being consumed by the “Blue Hole” that is eating our prosperity and sovereignty. They are the least grounded of those not already sucked into the abyss.

r/John

May 5, 2009 - 4:54 am 7. njcommuter:

Not so endangered. I registered as a Republican last year to vote in the primary. I’m going to stay that way.

May 5, 2009 - 4:56 am 8. BPT (Australia):

Saw a Tassie Tiger last week but didn’t shoot it. Bugger got away.

May 5, 2009 - 5:01 am 9. B Dubya:

I can’t speak for the other states in the North East, but I can tell you that partisan politics in the state of New York, at least from my perspective over the last 27 years here, is a scam.
As near as I can tell, there are no functional, discernable differences between a Republican led majority in a county or State legislature, or a Democrat led majority. The only thing that changes is the names of the lucky few who get to take home the bacon that political office here provides.
New York politics, just about anywhere else in the Union, would be considered as the worst kind of venal, corrupt governance. At the county legislative level, it really should be considered as the criminal enterprise that it really is. In New York, however, these labels and sound assessments are brushed aside with the remark “That’s politics!”.
No folks, that isn’t politics. That’s crime, and both parties here engage in it.
Arlen Specter switches to the Democrats because he fears the results of a Republican primary for his seat. In Nuevo York, any office seeker firsts tries to gain the “endorsement” of one or more political parties, and are usually willing, a la Bloomberg, to accept the endorsement of any party at any time, without consideration of priciples or ethics. Thus we get the state and local, and federal, government we deserve, because we don’t reject all of these clowns outright.
New York also has a truly wonderful tradition of indicting a political office holder as soon as they leave office, when they are no longer able to keep the forces of justice at bay by wielding enormous personal political power. The lesson there is, die in office or go to jail.
Conservative Republicans? In New York, its just the label used by one of the rival gangs that exist to loot the folks who live and own property here.

May 5, 2009 - 5:04 am 10. Bilgeman:

Mr. Shaw:
“Republicans in the Northeast: Going, Going …”

Sure looks iike it.

Say…is the Northeast still suffering from net population loss?

Maybe the people are also going, going… oh, well, Census TeamObama will fix THAT.

It’s kind of unfair though, to use the blanket term the Northeast when what is really meant is the politics of the Bos-Wash megalopolis.

Urban big city democratic machine politics writ large.

May 5, 2009 - 5:22 am 11. Northern Light:

As regions go, New England has never really been Republican turf. True they had some support and they seem to have less support right now, but the GOP has won many national elections without this region.

However, the region that the Republicans should worry about is the Southwest. Obama carried New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado. They also ran very strongly in Arizona considering that McCain is an Arizonan.

The GOP can win without New England. They can’t win without the Southwest.

May 5, 2009 - 5:23 am 12. Dave:

Cato is absolutely correct. But if Republicans have to join in on the nihilism and self destructive nature of leftist elites, why bother having a Republican party? I don’t love America because of the dirt we share, I love it because of the ideals and freedom that made it great. The Obama left is destroying that and I will not help them do it by supporting a GOP that is Obama lite. Sooner or later the destruction brought on by the disaster of leftist conventional thought will need to be addressed and that won’t happen if there is not an opposition – even if it is a shadow party.

And as the NE and the rest of the rust belt sadly self destructs, the population leaves and shifts to states where freedom still thrives. That is why Texas is currently sitting this recession out and many other red states are fairing relatively better.

At this point, the only real question is if the left gets powerful enough to destroy the constitution and its protections. This administration shows a great propensity to bully and use the machines of Government and media to silence critics and I have no confidence in it’s respect for the first amendment. Time will tell but in the mean time we fight.

May 5, 2009 - 5:55 am 13. Ken:

The only thing worse then the pandering the Democrats do to special interest groups at the expense the whole is when Republicans reach out get Bitch slapped and say thanks I deserved that reach out again get slapped again I almost “almost” didn’t vote in the last election after watching John Mccain’s performance on the view time for term limits.

May 5, 2009 - 6:01 am 14. FD186:

I come from a long line of Maine Republicans.

May 5, 2009 - 6:46 am 15. sheesh:

So which is it . . .

4. syn:
The upper NE quadrant of America is Serfdom where most of the population is highly dependent upon the government to provide for their needs; now that the NE quadrant is an aging population the NE quadrant will soon be as dead as Detroit, Michigan.

5. Cato:
New England: more than any other region of the United States, it is home to the financial, social and cultural elite, from the scions of great wealth accumulated over centuries to the young financial wizards from humble backgrounds who have become wealthy beyond their imaginations within a few years after graduation from the many elite universities and liberal arts colleges that are disproportionately located in New England.

Pissant, maybe you can weigh in here . . . barter an agreement between these scions of conservative philosophy. Hey, I wonder if they think torture is a crime?

May 5, 2009 - 7:01 am 16. grampa guy:

The thought of Susan Collins pacing in a cage alone is enough inspiration to get me through another day. Thanks. A little SOFT JAZZ in the background might even get me to Friday!

May 5, 2009 - 7:06 am 17. TOhio:

It is my understanding that the Republicans in the northeast are moderate Republicans which is the same as saying Democrat-lite.

Moderate Republicans don’t win. They offer nothing different than a Democrat, so why should people vote for them?

The best example to me is Olympia Snowe from Maine who votes like a Democrat but has an R by her name. Why is she even in the Republican Party?

May 5, 2009 - 7:08 am 18. AJ:

it’s fitting that the richest and most fringe area of America (culturally & physically) has the fewest patriots

May 5, 2009 - 7:09 am 19. Middleman:

Douglas,
McCain could have won if the Republicans allowed him to pick his VP candidate as opposed to falling back on the tired old religious right and picking Sarah Palin. The same old conservative folksy anti-intellectual stew canned in a Milfy new container.

May 5, 2009 - 7:31 am 20. Jane:

The only NE state I can speak to is New Jersey, because I lived there, still have friends there, and visit often. Read Steve Malanga’s articles in City Journal. There are large numbers of state employees who depend on the government. The tax providing sector is getting smaller and smaller. The state is a fiscal basket case. And still they elect democrats. Pro-life Republicans can’t win in New Jersey. Pro-choice Republicans can’t win in New Jersey. The middle class is fleeing. Affluent New Jerseyites are very liberal on the social issues, so they identify with the Democrat party. They are also secular – unchurched – and hate the “religious right”. And they like pouring money (their own tax dollars) into places like Camden and Newark. They’re not about actual results; they’re all about feeling good about themselves.

If you are suggesting that it would be a winning strategy for the Republican party to run liberal candidates on the social issues in NE states, I think you are mistaken. These socially liberal voters would only vote Republican if the entire party purged itself of anti-abortion, religious right, etc. They like to think of themselves as sophisticated, broad-minded people. They respond like Dracula to the cross when the MSM highlights any instance of Republican support of pro-life, pro-family, etc. no matter in what area of the country. I think this also applies to upper income zip codes in places like Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Mass, Virginia, etc. They have been leaving the GOP and voting Democrat. These people don’t want to be associated with a party that they perceive to be backward on social issues.

May 5, 2009 - 7:32 am 21. eburchelli:

ACORN may be helping it along. Stuffing the registration books with non-existent Democrats. Once they get the 2010 census to work magic on their numbers, they will have huge blocks of the country under Democratic control.

But this BS about a steep decline in Republicans is an orchestrated effort by the Democrats and the MSM to deny the existence of a strong conservative base. They believe if they say it enough, that it will happen.

The Republican Party has let down conservatives, but there are as many conservatives now as ever. We’re waiting for and hoping the present makeup of the hierarchy of the party changes and dumps moderates and the good old boys, and gets back to real conservatism.

The problem remains the hold that the RINOs and neo-cons have on the party elite. Mr. and Mrs. Average Conservative American have had enough of them. Why should we give them leave to speak for us. They are not us and until the Republican Party figures out where its real strength comes from, it will remain Democrat Lite and won’t get our votes.

May 5, 2009 - 7:49 am 22. Jane:

See what I mean, folks? Just look at #16. “tired old religious right”. “anti-intellectual stew”. “Milfy”. There is a tremendous antipathy out there to people who believe in traditional values, and/or religious people.

By the way dude, you really do respect women, don’t you? Actually under the new left-wing definition of feminist, women like Palin (and perhaps many of the female readers here!) who are right-wing on social issues “deserve” to be treated in a sexist, demeaning manner.

May 5, 2009 - 7:50 am 23. John:

“In recent years the Democrats have embraced new tactics and begun running so-called Blue Dog candidates in traditional GOP strongholds. Some of them are pro-life and many are vocal supporters of Second Amendment rights. While it makes the hard Left supporters at Daily Kos howl with indignation, the national party has welcomed these Blue Dogs with open arms and happily added them to their swelling ranks. They may cast the odd vote which enrages the base on issues like card check or an assault weapons ban, but they still represent another race in the win column and another vote that may come through on a tight roll call along party lines.”

Overall, I agree with this sentiment. But let’s be clear—the Democratic party right now is beholden to the left-wingers and groups that represent them: dkos, the FDLs of the world, etc. They are none too happy with Senator Nelson or Bayh, etc. and will use their grassroots organizations and propaganda machines to take those politicians down. There is no room for moderates in this Democrat party. I think you might be underestimating the power of the extremist fringe of the Democratic party.

That being said, with regards to the GOP. Is the GOP too beholden to the evangelical Christians? I rememeber back in 2007, when Giuliani was getting ready to announce his candidacy, the Dobsons and Bauers had an aneurysm and were threatening to support a 3rd party candidate (that was well before the RNC melted and McCain was the last man standing, of course). I am a social conservative, but as you say later in your post, the “party” needs to be used as a political vessel, not the movement itself. The various factions of the party need to realize this and soon! For goodness sake—take the half-loaf, people!

May 5, 2009 - 8:01 am 24. AThinkingPerson:

I wouldn’t sound the death knell quite yet for the Republicans in the NE. Although they are outnumbered by quite a liberal bunch, the Dems too, will be affected greatly (if they aren’t already) by TeleBama’s policies. No matter how brain-dead liberals seem on the surface, if the Israel/Iran situation heats up, if the liberal brain-dead actually READ TeleBama’s budget and ensuing deficit,if terrorists get their hands on Afghanistan’s nukes, etc., etc, they will HAVE to wake up. You can’t giggle or talk your way out of problems like that (although it will be entertaining to watch them try!)

Will there be anything more sweet than watching academia wringing their hands and wondering why TeleBama can’t ratchet that damned teleprompter up to solve the world’s problems quicker? Better days for the GOP are ahead and if we do nothing more than wait and watch TeleBama fumble the ball, we’ll be ok no matter what the MSM trys to tell us. We have a great message and that’s what will matter when the sheeple awaken from their hangover.

May 5, 2009 - 8:11 am 25. Middleman:

Jane,
For your information, having lived in a household with a mother and five sisters, I very much have respect for women. I won’t deny Palin is a strong woman, to juggle governorship with being a mom of a large family. However the spin doctors, dolled her up and put her front and center because they wanted to make the religious right happy in some form, and they thought they could dupe moderates into believing she was a 21-st century power candidate until she opened her mouth and revealed just how provincial she was. She’s great for the Minor leagues, but that’s that.

I have no real issue with traditional values and religion. I have issue with fakers and hypocrites who scream of those things and try to enforce theirs on us, when they turn out to be some of the biggest violators of them. Ted Haggard anyone?

I don’t need to wear my morals on my sleeve and the more Republicans stopped doing that, the more I might start listening to them more. After all, I thought it was about less government and increased personal freedom, not theocratic dogma.

May 5, 2009 - 8:41 am 26. Fred Beloit:

Now here is a staunch Republican who is trying to help those of us who wish to see the light (his name is Brooks and he writes for the NYT, and he is in need of a party with a very, very BIIIG tent):
“Today, if Republicans had learned the right lessons from the Westerns, or at least John Ford Westerns, they would not be the party of untrammeled freedom and maximum individual choice. They would once again be the party of community and civic order.”
See, we are the “party of untrammeled freedom”. That means we want free speech in universities (oh no). We want “maximum individual choice” like abortion on demand and marriage among gays?…you know conservative maximum individual choice stuff. Brooks is looking for Community Organizers, no cowboys need apply. H/T to John Ford, movie director and head parable adviser to the conservative wing of the Republican party.

May 5, 2009 - 9:04 am 27. Eric R.:

In the Northeast, with the left controlling the media, the universities, the public school system, publishing, and even the churches (er, including the synagogues), we basically live in Marxist totalitarian state.

What drove this home to me was when I was in a barber shop not too long ago, and a professor — an emigre from the USSR no less — said the same thing.

People here have been so indoctrinated from birth in the proper way to think that they’d vote Democrat even if the Dems took their homes, their bank accounts, their jobs, and left them homeless and naked.

The leftist MSM-DNC complex would blame it all on the Republicans, and our unthinking electorate would believe them.

May 5, 2009 - 9:12 am 28. Pastor of Muppets:

Jane: “By the way dude, you really do respect women, don’t you? Actually under the new left-wing definition of feminist, women like Palin (and perhaps many of the female readers here!) who are right-wing on social issues “deserve” to be treated in a sexist, demeaning manner.”

By the way, dudette, any woman who would consider the choice of abortion for her own pregnancy but would also argue that other women do not have the right to make that choice is not a feminist, she is rather a hypocrite and a fascist. And that is Sarah Palin.

May 5, 2009 - 9:21 am 29. myth buster:

Muppet, Palin never considered abortion, even after her baby was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

May 5, 2009 - 9:38 am 30. arhooley:

Thank you, sheesh, for showing quite nicely how the population of the NE is divided and why it’s mostly Democrat.

But with Obama slapping the financial industries, betraying his soft-hearted supporters by continuing the Bush policies they hated most, driving up unemployment (much worse to come), and, if he gets his way, driving up fuel prices through climate control measures that won’t mean squat to snowbound northeasterners — how’s he gonna keep them?

May 5, 2009 - 9:44 am 31. Charvakan:

25. Middleman:
I completely agree. If the republican party was just about fiscal responsibility (which unfortunately I haven’t seen in the republican administrations in the last 20 years) and less government, I would consider voting for them, so would I bet a lot of people classified as liberals and democratic voters today. It is the republican party stand on social issues and pandering to the religious right that drives most of us away from it. Issues like “this is a christian nation”, putting up ten commandments in the public square, prayer in schools, attitudes towards gays and lesbians all drive us away from the republican party. I do not problems with traditional values (I believe I do have them) or people being religious. It is when you say those need to apply to everyone, that I have a problem. If democrats are pushing us towards socialism, then republicans are pushing us towards a theocracy. While nether is acceptable to me, I would prefer the former to the latter.

May 5, 2009 - 10:18 am 32. Fantom:

29. myth buster:
Muppet, Palin never considered abortion, even after her baby was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

Please do not confuse the leftist idiot with truth. They do not know what that is.

May 5, 2009 - 10:18 am 33. Pastor of Muppets:

29. myth buster: “Muppet, Palin never considered abortion, even after her baby was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.”

Uh….Yes she did!

http://news.aol.com/article/sarah-palin-speech-in-indiana/432693?icid=main|main|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fsarah-palin-speech-in-indiana%2F432693

“Palin said she considered “just for a fleeting moment” having an abortion when she was pregnant with her son Trig, who will turn one on Saturday. “Just for a fleeting moment I thought, ‘No one knows me here; no one would ever know.’ …My amniocentesis came back and then I understood why some people would think they could change their circumstances, just take care of it.”

May 5, 2009 - 10:20 am 34. Ed Wallis:

Oh goodie:

yet another oh-so-unique RINO-is-the-new-”black” piece of propaganda.

YAWN.

May 5, 2009 - 10:22 am 35. Dave:

Pathetic. Leftist has nothing to say and breathlessly screams out “Sarah Palin” as if anyone thinks his trash is relevant or even accurate.

Having a thought and seriously considering acting on it are not the same thing – especially when the USSC has sledge hammered it into the culture. But I guess for an emotion driven lefty, having a thought and letting it go are not a typical event.

I sometimes wonder if our lefty trolls are plants to make the left look stupid.

Now about the GOP in the Northeast….

May 5, 2009 - 10:48 am 36. Globalizer:

#31. Charvarkan

The 10 commandments are not about “establishing a theocracy.” The root cause of the financial crisis and of much else that is hideously wrong in this country is precisely the failure of a large percentage of our population — especially the Left-indoctrinated young– to learn about commandments 8, 9, and 10. What are those, you may ask, since they are no longer displayed? Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet. Of course, if you follow those three, you can’t possibly be a member or supporter of today’s Democrat party.

“I didn’t leave the Democrat party, it left me.”

May 5, 2009 - 10:54 am 37. Terry Gain:

By the way, dudette, any woman who would consider the choice of abortion for her own pregnancy but would also argue that other women do not have the right to make that choice is not a feminist, she is rather a hypocrite and a fascist. And that is Sarah Palin.

According to POM (Practiced Obama Mandaciousizer)Palin even thinking about an abortion for a fleeting moment is enough to make her a hypocrite. It’s not clear why POM calls Palin a fascist. It’s clear POM wouldn’t know a fascist if he supported one.

Here is what fascism looks like (from Hot Air):

Business Insider reports that more than one Chrysler senior creditor has corroborated Thomas Lauria’s allegation that the Obama administration threatened them with public attacks if they didn’t surrender their contractual rights. One of their sources says that the Obama team comprises some of the worst “ends justify the means” people he’s ever encountered (via HA reader Geoff A):

Republicans will regain power if they stop attacking each other and instead attack the fascist.

May 5, 2009 - 10:56 am 38. PM:

They don’t need plants.

May 5, 2009 - 11:08 am 39. B Dubya:

For a conservative movement to rise up and succeed in the NE, it must have a clear message as it’s platform, it must impose and enforce doctrinal discipline within it’s own ranks, it must know its own strengths as well as it knows the strengths of it’s implacable foe, the neostalinst left that disguises itself as a mainstream US political party, and it must attack where the left is weakest. Being outnumbered, it must never fight to attrit the Democrats and Rhinos, it must always remember what it’s strategic goals are, and go for the kill when the Democrats offer the opportunity.
Say, that sounds a lot like warfare. Maybe the Conservative leadership could take a lesson from Sun Tsu, before the Democrat left permanently Giaps us out of our hard earned liberties.
By the way, thank you for your HIGHER TRUTH, Walter (Conkite). Aren’t you dead yet, you egotistical, self serving tool, you?

May 5, 2009 - 11:18 am 40. Dan:

Reading the posts here by fellow Republicans I see clearly why we’re failing so badly.

Lots of people here drank the kool-aid, or is that the kook-aid?

Me, lifelong registered Republican, of California.
Some of you probably wouldn’t recognize me as a fellow R. And that’s on YOU and your narrow minded worldview. I’ve stayed the same, my party has veered far to the right. And I plan on staying where I am.

I can think for myself thank you very much, don’t need a sound machine to tell me what to think.

May 5, 2009 - 11:18 am 41. Sherab Zangpo:

#37 Terry Gain

Thank you for the excellent post:

“Here is what fascism looks like (from Hot Air):

Business Insider reports that more than one Chrysler senior creditor has corroborated Thomas Lauria’s allegation that the Obama administration threatened them with public attacks if they didn’t surrender their contractual rights. One of their sources says that the Obama team comprises some of the worst “ends justify the means” people he’s ever encountered (via HA reader Geoff A)”

Scary.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

May 5, 2009 - 11:19 am 42. James:

THIS IS ALL DRIVING ME NUTS! Except for the war, for the last 8 years Bush acted like a liberal in many respects. Bloating government, spending billions and billions on foreign aid, etc… And it’s important that we not underestimate the influence of a mainstream media that not only howled at Bush every chance it got, BUT COLLABORATED WITH THE DEMOCRATS TO ENSURE THEIR VICTORY!. When has the media ever been so hostile to Republicans in general? Excluding Nixon, the man, the MSM has never been so hostile to people who call themselves “Republicans”. So what happens? People like McCain take a “middle of the road” approach, that is really a democratic approach. There was very little difference between Obama and Mccain, except that Obama was much more radical in his views. Watching McCain’s retard Daughter give a speachh recently sums it all up: too many Republicans forgot what a Republican is supposed to be. STAND UP, STATE YOUR CONSERVATIVE POSITION WITHOUT FEAR, DO NOT ACT LIKE A DEMOCRAT, AND TO ALL THOSE WHO OPPOSE YOU, JUMP DOWN THEIR THROAT! That’s how Democrats won, that’s how Republicans will take things back.

May 5, 2009 - 11:27 am 43. SeanLA:

The other night on TV Sean Hannity denied being Republican, instead he said he was a registered consertive. O’Reilly says hes not Repub either. No one wants to be associated with that party. I think only Mark Levin says trying to build a 3rd party would be a disaster. I think as statists have posed as conservatives to gain office, so should conservatives make, as they say, the long walk through the corridors posing as fellow travelers…
Thats what I do, in LA, surrounded by cheering socialists `prop 8 this, and prop that’ I say `yeah, yeah’ go in as vote as I like.

May 5, 2009 - 11:28 am 44. donttreadonme:

Moderates!!! Moderates, as defined by Websters, are “liberals that play golf.”

May 5, 2009 - 11:29 am 45. AThinkingPerson:

Anyone else notice it’s always the liberal loons who keep bringing up Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh, etc.? I always wonder why. They throw out those names like we’re supposed to cower in shame or something. I think they’re both great people and have a message worthy of being heard. Hey, maybe THAT’s what has the libs so up-in-arms! A GOP with a message that can’t be shamed or shouted down by the MSM. Hmmm…..

The lib-loons don’t hide from names like Janeane Garafolo or Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddog who are nothing but whiners, race-baiters and haters, so why not be proud of those who actually DO have a brain cell and a love of this country and a desire to stand up for something besides Prop 8 and endangered earthworms? Just a thought.

May 5, 2009 - 11:31 am 46. TOhio:

Beware of the liberals who are trying to paint Republicans only as social conservatives. This is wrong. They are using this argument in order to DISTRACT from the big issue confronting the country – FISCAL CONSERVATISM.

Why are the Republican moderates being pushed out of the party? For lack of fiscal conservatism. The last straw for Arlen Specter with Republicans in his state was Specter’s vote for the Porkulus Bill.

Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins all voted for the Porkulus Bill. All of them need to be pushed out of the party.

Getting rid of these three RINOS would make a major statement about what the Republican Party stands against – massive government spending.

The liberals want to keep the discussion on social issues because they know that their outrageous spending and expansion of the government is the real issue that people are going to vote on in the next election. The more that they can keep the topic of discussion away from this, the better it is for them.

May 5, 2009 - 11:35 am 47. donttreadonme:

Kermit,,
The revisionist propagandist has returned, eh? For a fleeting moment, I imagined hurling you off a tall building, realizing that no one knows me here, no one would care about the murder of another unemployed sociology major. I then understood why Kermit was beaten up so many times in school and why the best way to deal with morons like Kermit is either ignore them (like their family does) or ridicule them….

May 5, 2009 - 11:39 am 48. Terry Gain:

@40 Dan

I’ve stayed the same, my party has veered far to the right.

Nonsense. Bush and McCain far right! A man without a veto pen and a RINO? Hilarious. I thing you’re a liberal posing as a Republican.

May 5, 2009 - 11:49 am 49. The Shadow:

syn:

The upper NE quadrant of America is Serfdom where most of the population is highly dependent upon the government to provide for their needs; now that the NE quadrant is an aging population the NE quadrant will soon be as dead as Detroit, Michigan.

Which is why I am leaving the NE quadrant called Serfdom and heading for areas which still believe in Freedom; and with me I am taking my business, my tax dollars and my disposable income with me.

Extinct? Who in their right mind would want to live in a Dead Zone?

Republicans are not extinct, the people who sustain themselves on government pork are the people who are the dying breed.

Thatcher’s adage still holds, NE quadrant is dead because soon is will ‘run out of other people’s money’

My guess is your business failed becaue you are as poor a busniessman as political pundit. I suspect you will fail no matter where you locate. “Most of the population is highly dependendent” – Where are your statistic to back up this ludicrous assertion?

May 5, 2009 - 12:38 pm 50. Pastor of Muppets:

donttreadonme: “Kermit,,
The revisionist propagandist has returned, eh? For a fleeting moment, I imagined hurling you off a tall building, realizing that no one knows me here, no one would care about the murder of another unemployed sociology major. I then understood why Kermit was beaten up so many times in school and why the best way to deal with morons like Kermit is either ignore them (like their family does) or ridicule them….”

Ooooh, looks like somebody hit a nerve! I didn’t know that all it took to get your reactionary panties in a bunch was posting a link to Sarah Palin once again embarassing herself on the national stage with her idiocy and hypocrisy. I’ll keep that in mind, tough guy.

May 5, 2009 - 12:42 pm 51. Fred Beloit:

I agree with Terry Gain. Dan is a phony…unless you can believe this:
I am a life-long Democrat, that may now be history. The Democrats have careened to the left. We are now all socialists. I am so sorry I voted for a Communist for President. From now on I will vote only for moderate Republicans.

May 5, 2009 - 1:01 pm 52. Richard Belfroti:

Is it my mistake? There is a Republican party in the Northeast. I am from MA, sad to say. There was a Republican party there once when I was growing up. After 30 years of constant attacks by the Boston Globe and their own incompetency they no longer exist. Like Mitt Romney too many compromises, too little vision and no fire in the belly. Was not the first black Senator from MA a Republican? How did that work out? Did we capitalize on it?

It turns out the Republicans lost touch with the people in that state a long time ago. Margret Heckler was the start of the decline. Gov Weld was exactly what the Democrats portrayed him to be- an elitist to the core.

The other reason why there is no Republican party to speak of is the government requires a state employees to sign a loyalty oath to the party. The Dept of Elder Affairs would routinely bus the elderly to the voting booths making sure they knew if they voted Republican they would be eating dog food. Now in a few short years we will all be eating dog food. Wonder how it tastes.

May 5, 2009 - 1:29 pm 53. SeanLA:

47. donttreadonme:
“either ignore them (like their family does) or ridicule them….”
NO NO NO. You MUST ridicule them. You must be proactive and go after them on their terms in their own way and language they understand!
When friends say nasty things about Palin etc. I trash BO and lesbo wife harder and more viciously, things I can’t write here, but when I say BO quotes Lenin and give them `not the time for profits’ `fellow travelers’ quotes and such, they can’t contradict or argue, they have no historical basis, I take 9/11 back to the Barbary Wars of 1804, they can’t even go there, to them history begins with a bullet to a head in `63.
They back off fast because they are weak.
And I have no patience for the statist.

May 5, 2009 - 1:49 pm 54. Ms. Attitude:

The Republicans stand for the Constitution and it states that “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Therefore; abortion, which is murder and deprives a person of life, is not a social issue it is a Constitutional issue.

Now we have our tax dollars paying for murder with Obama claiming it is a social issue. Sad!

May 5, 2009 - 1:53 pm 55. Terry Gain:

Great post Fred, except you forgot to mention Obama’s fascist tendencies when dealing with corporate America.

Of course when it comes to terrorists Obama is Florence Nightingale and Neville Chamberlain all rolled into one.

May 5, 2009 - 1:58 pm 56. Charvakan:

36. Globalizer:

Right, and before ten commandments, all of human civilization lived thinking it was OK to kill and steal. Ten commandments is a religious text. The first 3/4 commandments establish a particular God Yehovah. So displaying those verses will definitely violate the establishment clause of the constitution. It is total BS to say that the reason why the religious right want to display the 10 commandments is to tell us not to steal, kill or covet. As a side note, our entire capitalistic system runs because people covet

May 5, 2009 - 2:09 pm 57. Nine-of-Diamonds:

“Kermit,,
The revisionist propagandist has returned, eh?”

What do you expect? Slowly but surely, they’re understanding that someone with no managerial XP and a mediocre intellect is not going to get us out of this mess.

The Messiah’s like a frantic passenger button-mashing in a 747’s cockpit; he is sorely unprepared b/c in the past his leftist associates (and his ego) have shielded him from accountability.

A “legal career” where he never advanced past associate and let his license expire.

A “Constitutional Law” stint that left him unable to understand Separation of Powers & well-known USSC precedents.

A “Law Review Presidency” where he was hand-picked because of his skin color, wrote less scholarship than most teens do for their term papers, and “delegated” the day-to-day business to a more intelligent classmate.

Various stints “coordinating” and “organizing”, but no tangible accomplishments other than taking credit for other Senators’ grunt work.

In short, he’s a human Potemkin village. A hollow man whose main qualification is the happy accident of his father’s ancestry, without which he’d be ensconced in some nameless 9-5 job. The troll contingent knows that the presidency doesn’t lend itself well to neophytes-least of all at a time like this – and they are just as aware as the rest of us that this story isn’t going to have a happy ending. It’s only natural that to comfort themselves they must engage in constant misdirection/Palin fixation, & so on. There’s a subtle fear pervading the public’s adulation of 0bama – at the back of their minds, people know that he’s too good to be true. But because they’re so frantic to deny the obvious, they lash out when faced with the truth. Much better to shut up, buy your commemorative T-Shirt, worship your Marxist idol, and maintain the delusion.

May 5, 2009 - 2:20 pm 58. Charvakan:

46. TOhio:

Beware of the liberals who are trying to paint Republicans only as social conservatives. This is wrong. They are using this argument in order to DISTRACT from the big issue confronting the country – FISCAL CONSERVATISM.

I commented on this earlier (Post #31). This is not just a distraction. Many who vote democratic today would change and vote for a party that provided more fiscal conservatism. However that is not the republican party because of two reasons:

1. Republican administrations in the recent past have NOT been fiscally conservative.

2. Even if you assume that the republican party will change and be fiscally conservative, you get the social agenda also along with the package which is not acceptable to a lot of us.

May 5, 2009 - 2:21 pm 59. Bilgeman:

#57 9-o-D:
“There’s a subtle fear pervading the public’s adulation of 0bama – at the back of their minds, people know that he’s too good to be true. But because they’re so frantic to deny the obvious, they lash out when faced with the truth. Much better to shut up, buy your commemorative T-Shirt, worship your Marxist idol, and maintain the delusion.”

Very well said, and I suspect far closer to the mark than any of the O-bots would care to admit.

May 5, 2009 - 3:16 pm 60. yoyo:

It’s the social “conservatism”, the anti intellectual, anti gay, christian fundamentalism, earth is 6000 years old stuff that has pushed everyone with an education and everyone under 40 away from the republicans. I’m sorry but Palin was a joke.

May 5, 2009 - 4:20 pm 61. Terry Gain:

you get the social agenda also along with the package which is not acceptable to a lot of us.

Which consists of what? Outlawing partial birth abortion, encouraging responsible birth control. understanding why the state recognizes marriage. What exactly do you fear about the conservative social agenda?

May 5, 2009 - 4:24 pm 62. Candy:

Screw the NE. They are a bunch of losers. Let them suffer their own choices. They can have their high taxes. If you want to poop, put a dollar in the toilet. For the environment, ya know. Have their coffees. When they want their food, they will look to the west and we will give them the big finger. Enough is enough with the liberals. This is America and it’s our Country which is based on freedom not Obama, the markist one.

May 5, 2009 - 5:07 pm 63. Charvakan:

61. Terry Gain:

No, the fear is not about partial birth abortion, abstinence, or state recognition of marriage. You have listed the most benign of the issues as if these are the core issues for the religious right. As I mentioned in my posts the core ones for me are:
1. Promoting the idea that US is a “Christian” nation.
2. Opposition to the rights of homosexuals, including not wanting to include them in hate crime legislation, amending the constitution to deny them right to marry, etc.
3. Wanting to have “Creationism”/ID taught in schools.

As for abortion, this is one issue where I understand why there is a difference of opinion. If it was just the issue of abortion, then I would not hold it against them.

May 5, 2009 - 5:08 pm 64. robtr:

Conservatives aren’t leaving the republican party, they are leaving the Northeast in general and moving to low tax, stable employment states. Liberals are staying in the Northeast waiting for the government to bale them out.

May 5, 2009 - 5:25 pm 65. AThinkingPerson:

Palin was a joke? Please compare how Palin was a “joke” when TeleBama sailed into the Presidency with a resume that read “COMMUNITY ORGANIZER AND VOTES PRESENT”.

PS… I could have added “SOCIALIST AND AMERICA HATER” to TeleBama’s list but that would have been rude.

May 5, 2009 - 5:28 pm 66. Terry Gain:

@63 Thanks for demonstrating that it is larely a baseless concern.

1. How? No one is suggesting that there should not contine to be a separation of church and state. As amatter of fact the U.S. is a Christian nation. No one is saying Christian principles should be mandatory. This is a concern about nothing.

2. Heterosexual marriage is a majority position. There is no right to redefine marriage.

3. I have no opinion on the scientific validity of Intelligent Design but I am aware that Anthropogenic Global Wwarming is a fraud. Yet no one is objecting to it being taught as fact.

If you are paying attention to the daily egregious errors of the Obama Presidency – which will affect your security and your lifestyle when the deficit chickens come home to roost -all of these concerns are trifling.

May 5, 2009 - 5:46 pm 67. watcher:

The Democrats didn’t run to the middle in order to be more inclusive when they took over congress and the White House. They ran proudly as ‘progressives’. Why are conservatives afraid to say that’s what they are? Is it because we’ve lost our vision of what a conservative is? Let’s get back to strong defense, fiscal sanity and protecting freedoms. Leave the morality lecture to the pulpit. We’re always getting smeared by the left for our moral stands. Look at the latest, Miss California Carrie Prejean who honestly said she’s against gay marriage, smeared because she dared pose for photos in her panties (with her back to the camera). They’ll get us every time if we leave ourselves open to charges of hypocrisy. How about we close that door and concentrate on the issues on which we can win.

May 5, 2009 - 6:11 pm 68. watcher:

I’m with “yoyo” above. Drop the Christian right wedge issues and get back on the non-religious track. Conservatives can win there.

May 5, 2009 - 6:18 pm 69. Ricki:

I live in Ma now from SF and i am a republican and tell everyone i know that i am and i hear ” but you are so nice” we have allowed the dems to define us on such a negative way people are ashamed of the label. One of the reasons Ma turned D in 60’s was alot of people switched parties to vote for John Kennedy in the primary and never switched back. We will never succeed as a party of social issues because we are losing the young voters we should leave social issues to the states and concentrate on the economy, national security, energy independence.

May 5, 2009 - 6:19 pm 70. sheesh:

45. AThinkingPerson: . . . “Anyone else notice it’s always the liberal loons who keep bringing up Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh, etc.? I always wonder why.”

Let me help you out with this one. It’s because each of them, in their own sweet way, are egotistical loose cannons – shrill, hypocritical, parodies of right wing conservatism. The more we can keep them out front, the more extreme conservatives and Republicans look. The more extreme you look, the less chance you have of being elected. And that means the less opportunity you have to destroy the American way of life with your greed, stunted social values, and phony baloney patriotism – garden variety fascism.

Hope that helped. Expect an invoice. I charge $1500 a day.

May 5, 2009 - 7:12 pm 71. DaveinPhoenix:

70. sheesh:

“…Hope that helped. Expect an invoice. I charge $1500 a day.”

- How ’bout a bag of dog crap ?

May 5, 2009 - 7:28 pm 72. cubedweller:

63: I think that the country may have been founded on Judeo-Christian principles, but it’s not, and never has been, a “Christian” nation. I don’t think the majority of the right would say that it was. Also, hate crimes is a violation of equal protection under the law — it basically says, if you murder someone it’s bad, but if that person is in a “protected” group, it’s SUPER bad. How is that equal protection? Its legislated political correctness (and we can thank the left for that).

70: I won’t disagree that the right has its shrill members (Mark Levin, Sean Hannity), but the left certainly does (Michael Moore, Keith Olbermann, Janeane Garofalo) but they are not only not disavowed by the Democrats, but their philosphy is shared by the Democratic party by-and-large. During the election, Sarah Palin got slimed because she was the only one that posed any sort of a threat to the Obamessiah getting elected. McCain’s campaign had absolutely no steam until he picked her as his running mate, therefore, she had to be demonized and painted as some extreme right nut job just because she was a fiscal and social conservative. No one went after Obama like they went after her — he got treated with kid gloves, just as he does now. Fortunately, the Obamessiah had the MSM do his opposition research for him.

I would also argue that the fascism (government control, demonizing opposition, media as propagandists) is on display in THIS administration and the Dems. Look in the mirror sometime, sheesh.

May 5, 2009 - 8:02 pm 73. terlizzi999:

Come on Jazz even you know that the major issue why Sanctorum lost his seat was stumping around for Specter which angered many in the base. “You know that large chunk who moved too far to the right in many peoples view but in reality didnt move an inch”

May 5, 2009 - 8:06 pm 74. Charvakan:

66. Terry Gain:
These maybe baseless concerns for you, but not to me and a lot of others. For example, Republicans saying US is a christian nation does not make it so. For me it will be a christian nation only if you can show me where in the US constitution it says it is. And this is a big deal for me. I am NOT a christian so if you say that my country is one, that does affect me profoundly. Heterosexual marriage may be the majority position, but no one is asking the majority to start marrying their own sex. The right for a minority to marry who they choose is not based on what the majority thinks.

I know we will continue to disagree on these issues no matter how long we debate. But your response makes my point. I can’t vote for a party where most of the elected representatives and supporters have the view that you state. My original point was that in spite of liking the fiscal responsibility message there are other issues involved.

May 5, 2009 - 8:13 pm 75. Richard Cook:

Why can’t conservatives fight for what we stand for? No spine? Want to be popular? You cannot win by emulating the Dem platform. And, what people in this thread are tagging as “religious right” are really basic constitutional rights. Life, liberty, et. al. If you do not like religious liberty and wish to see Christians excluded from the marketplace of ideas join the Democratic Party.

May 5, 2009 - 9:06 pm 76. Globalizer:

Chavarkan, you are a typical Leftist twister of words. Coveting refers to the desire to have Other People’s Property. Capitalism is about CREATING one’s own property. And, if you bothered to read any history, you would realize that most of it is about people who thought killing and stealing was just fine. Also, the Establishment Clause has to do with the Federal Government not having a State Church. It was specifically adopted so that the individual States COULD have their own churches. The idea that it somehow forbids religion is a lie. You are clearly part of the amoral bunch that is now dominating our polity. I only hope and pray (as a Christian) that you do not actually have to live through the whirlwind you are sowing by rejecting Judeo-Christian principles. Read a little history, friend. Start with Chapter 3 of Yuri Slezkine’s The Jewish Century on the Bolshevik takeover of Russia. Your lot is taking us down that path.

May 5, 2009 - 9:20 pm 77. Aaron:

“Pennsylvania already had a Pat Toomey in the Senate, in case you’d forgotten. His name was Rick Santorum. Remind us again: where is he today?”

Wow! A two-term senator lost an election to the politically-moderate (i.e., nominally pro-life) son of a popular former governor in an overwhelmingly Democratic year! I guess that means that no conservative Republican can ever be elected in Pennsylvania again.

In places such as Maine, California, and Minnesota, for instance, it makes sense to support “big-tent” Republicans in the Senate, because it’s extremely unlikely that such states will elect a conservative. However, we know that Pennsylvania and Ohio have recently elected conservatives and can again in the future.

Also, Peter King has made his intentions to run for the Senate in NY clear for a few months now. Unless those plans change, he won’t have to worry about being gerrymandered out in the 2010 election, unless NY wants to give Long Island to New Jersey.

May 5, 2009 - 9:36 pm 78. Edward A:

The Republican Party hasn’t existed for years. It has been replaced by the Rush-publicans full of venom and anger. Let’s face it, the party is becoming more and more a regional party…the deep south.

Think back to the to birth of this nation, led by educated men of wisdom with deep intellect..the very founders of the USA would be mocked by many Rush-publicans today.

May 5, 2009 - 9:54 pm 79. Rita:

People, listen up, do you remember as kids how your folks used reverse psychology on you and how good it worked until you grew a bit older and realized what mom and pop were doing? How when they wanted you to do something they would ask you to do the opposite because that was the nature of children, to do just the opposite of what their parents wanted you to do.I think the democrats in all of their worldly superioty (they think)are saying the republicans must go to the center or left of center to get back on tract, they are all saying this even old Mr. Powell, they just keep harping on this over and over.Wake up and smell the roses before it is to late, we must go back to our conservative values and small gov. ways to bring this country back into shape. Get off your duff before it is to late we really DON’T NEED TO BE MORE LIKE THE DEMOCRATS TO WIN OUR WAY BACK INTO FAVOR,no we need to do just the opposite!

May 5, 2009 - 11:10 pm 80. Rita:

Please forgive my mispelling of superiority, I just got caught up in the moment.

May 5, 2009 - 11:12 pm 81. Gary Rosen:

” Opposition to the rights of homosexuals, including not wanting to include them in hate crime legislation, amending the constitution to deny them right to marry, etc.”

Here’s a FACT about right-wing religious nut Sarah Palin – as a governor of Alaska she VETOED a bill that would have outlawed gay marriage. She said it was because she thought it would be ruled unconstitutional. But is that the act of someone trying to cram their fundamentalist agenda down people’s throats?

May 5, 2009 - 11:25 pm 82. Gary Rosen:

typo – “as governor”, not “as a governor”

May 5, 2009 - 11:26 pm 83. Fred Beloit:

Charvakan #74. You “think” like a Lefty, i.e., you feel, you don’t think:
“These maybe baseless concerns for you, but not to me and a lot of others. For example, Republicans saying the U.S. is a christian nation does not make it so. For me it will be a christian nation only if you can show me where in the US constitution it says it is.”
The Constitution talks about what the U.S. government and its relation to the people and the states should be. When people say the U.S, is a Christian nation, they mean heritage-, history-, population-, and tradition-wise. They do not mean the government is Christian. It is specifically prohibited by the Constitution from favoring one religion. However, the way that Constitutional scholar of great renown, President Obama, acts, the Constitution is about taking from the rich and giving to the poor. (When this is done voluntarily, it is a virtue. When done by force, it is robbery.)
Try reading this book to understand the roots of American tradition, “Albion Seed.”

May 6, 2009 - 5:21 am 84. sheesh:

71. DaveinPhoenix: – How ’bout a bag of dog crap ?

Now why would you be collecting dog crap? Let me give you a financial tip: I don’t think dog crap is going to escalate in value. You might want to consider collecting something else – perhaps original tins of John Cornyn’s forehead wax.

May 6, 2009 - 6:29 am 85. savage24:

Amazing, the left is still smearing Sarah Palin and Obama is still running against George Bush. Old habits are hard to change. The worst part of all this is the aiding an abetting by the RINO’s of the GOP.This problem is not only in the NE, but country wide because corruption has reared it’s ugly head.Corruption corrupts!

May 6, 2009 - 8:25 am 86. G Alston:

None of you seem to be addressing Shaw’s article; you’re too busy playing echo chamber.

Clearly, the left is insane. On the other hand, they are attracting votes and the right is losing votes.

Perhaps the answer is as simple as message. Obama ran on hope and change and progress. McCain ran on “I’m not Obama.” In 1980 Reagan won on making positive changes. In 1984 Reagan won on continuation of positive changes. His opponent ran on “I’m not Reagan.” In 1988 Bush won on carrying on Reagan’s legacy of change. Dukakis ran on “I’m not Reagan or Bush.” In 1992 Clinton painted an economic cycle as a vehicle for change (fixing the economy.) He won. In 1996 Bob Dole ran on “I’m not Clinton.” He lost. And so on.

Interim conclusion: You don’t win presidential elections by campaigning on not being the other guy, even if the other guy is insane.

Where it concerns the declining number of conservatives, this is likely attributable to the tendency of conservatives to push for changing social issues (i.e. the wrong thing) and not taking a clear stand for problem solving.

The oft-stated conservative position of “limited government” is a canard. There’s no such thing. Ike for instance saw massive government growth when he invested into the military road system (interstates.) Where the right has won historically has been growing the government (e.g. Ike, Reagan defense budgets, etc.), not making it smaller. But the difference is that the right grows government in a responsible fashion, investing into energy and technology infrastructure.

The left meanwhile solves problems by erecting basketball hoops in downtown Detroit and selecting target minority groups for cash infusions in the hope of correcting perceived inequalities. This is stupid. On the other hand despite this they are able to paint the right as mostly dimwitted anti-intellectuals because of the right’s stances on stem cells and so on. They paint the right as being anti-science. Anti-progress. This works, obviously. Could *anyone* buy into the green nonsense that Obama et al are pushing unless the perception is that his political opponents are clueless and hopelessly over their heads on scientific issues? Of course not.

The right can easily rise again. Campaign on a platform of solving energy problems by government investment in nuclear energy. This neuters the entire green position just like that. The right should campaign to INCREASE FUNDING for NASA and cause them to develop spaceborne power. This shows that the right is moving forward and owns science issues.

Clearly the tendency of the right to focus on social issues (including the emotional yammering about RINOs, arguments here abouit whether the US is a christian nation and so on) isn’t working. Just as clearly the left green types are pushing what they tout as new stuff that fixes problems and the response of the right is “global warming is a hoax.” (We fix problems! says the modern left. What problems? says the modern right. Do you people not see this?) It didn’t work for Bob Dole, it doesn’t work in presidential level politics, and it doesn’t work EVER… at any time.

Mr. Shaw? What say you?

May 6, 2009 - 9:26 am 87. Charvakan:

83. Fred Beloit:

When people say the U.S, is a Christian nation, they mean heritage-, history-, population-, and tradition-wise. They do not mean the government is Christian.
83. Fred Beloit:

I don’t have any problem with saying US has a history, a majority population and has a tradition of Christianity. I agree with all those statements. However that is not what most of the religious right mean when they call America a christian nation. IF that were the case McCain will not have made the comment that he would want the president of the country to be a christian (I believe he said this to mainly placate the religious right). Nor would people make a big fuss if anyone choose not to use the Bible when swearing in. I don’t think people like 76. Globalizer believe that is what is meant if you read that comment. Also in general when you apply a religious denomination to a country that is not the accepted meaning. When you say that Pakistan for example is a Islamic country what it means is that the constitution of Pakistan declares it as one.

Another thing, calling me “lefty” is not going to make me one. What I have been stressing here is that I believe in free market economics. That to me is not a leftist philosophy. My views on social issues I don’t believe have anything to do with leftist philosophy either, maybe it is liberal, and that label, I do not not problem with.

May 6, 2009 - 10:46 am 88. Pastor of Muppets:

G Alston writes: “Interim conclusion: You don’t win presidential elections by campaigning on not being the other guy, even if the other guy is insane.”

But that’s exactly what the Democrats did in 2008. They campaigned on not being Bush or Cheney, and won. The Democrats could have run a dirty gym sock and won simply for the fact that the dirty gym sock was not worn by either Bush or Cheney.

May 6, 2009 - 11:07 am 89. G Alston:

#87 — Another thing, calling me “lefty” is not going to make me one. What I have been stressing here is that I believe in free market economics. That to me is not a leftist philosophy. My views on social issues I don’t believe have anything to do with leftist philosophy either, maybe it is liberal, and that label, I do not not problem with.

You are a mainstream republican. The pigfighting that goes on here is between the “conservatives” and the republicans. The “conservatives” reckon that they are a majority. It is clear that they are not, nor have they ever been.

What I wrote in my #86 comment applies to republicans. There is not and has not been a history of “conservative” philosophy that has been successful in the past 80 years that I know of (and what preceded FDR is irrelevant.)

“Conservatives” believe a number of things, most of which are either outright false or wishful thinking. Limited government is a canard. No such thing. Never has been. You can look at the historical record and prove this. There’s nothing nebulous about this. It’s a fact.

The “conservatives” have two major prongs; limited government and social stuff. (They usually couch this as fiscal conservatism and social conservatism.) As per above the limited government prong doesn’t even exist. The social stuff is even more interesting in that the premise here is that the same government that ought to be limited fiscally ought to also be unlimited socially (clearly, this is psychotic.)

May 6, 2009 - 11:29 am 90. G Alston:

#88 — But that’s exactly what the Democrats did in 2008. They campaigned on not being Bush or Cheney, and won.

“Hope and change” isn’t equal to “I’m not Bush.” Obama hammered green energy quite a bit; note the recent uptick in “green” ads and articles and so on. Essentially what put him over the top was the undertone of scientific progress (“we’re not going to drill our way out of these problems”) that resonated in tune with the social message. Maybe you didn’t listen to his campaign; I did. (I thought it was all rubbish and still do, but listen, I did.) McCain wasn’t offering scientific progress; the KosKiddie crowd had a blast referring to him as “McSame.”

May 6, 2009 - 11:54 am 91. Herb:

“89. G Alston:

Limited government is a canard. No such thing. Never has been. You can look at the historical record and prove this.”

Ain’t that the truth! It always seemed ironic that the folks who support “limited government” also support the FCC’s effort to keep bad words out of TV and radio broadcasts.

They’re also the ones who want the government to give final approval on your marriage. (Yeah, I know…you’re for traditional marriage. You’re also for a very strong, intrusive government getting in the middle of people’s private affairs. Just admit it. Be honest with yourself cuz really, you’re not fooling anyone else on that one.)

And what about all the limited government folks out there making excuses for Bush’s torture policies. Keep telling yourself you’re for a limited government, but we all know you’re actually for a government that reserves the right to torture people.

Limited government? Yeah, only when it’s convenient…

May 6, 2009 - 11:57 am 92. G Alston:

#91 — Ain’t that the truth! It always seemed ironic that the folks who support “limited government” also support the FCC’s effort to keep bad words out of TV and radio broadcasts.

For the record…

And for those broadcasts that are accessible by kids before bedtime I agree with this. (One can agree that coarsening the language is probably not a good thing for society without necessarily invoking gods; avoiding intellectual laziness is compelling enough. One look at MTV reality programming should suffice as the example here.)

On the other hand I’m not going to claim that this is smaller government, either.

But yes, good point.

May 6, 2009 - 12:27 pm 93. Herb:

92. G Alston:

“On the other hand I’m not going to claim that this is smaller government, either.”

Thank you for your intellectual honesty there.

If I may, though, offer a suggestion for keeping kids from harmful language on broadcast TV that doesn’t require a big government/federal solution.

It’s called a remote control in Mom and Dad’s hands.

May 6, 2009 - 12:51 pm 94. Ratatosk:

Well, you can take advice, or ignore it. I, personally am Independent and supported McCain since the beginning of the Primary season, I was ok with Sarah Palin at first, she seemed like a forward thinking conservative, sure some social conservative bits too, but thats ok… its good to debate those issues.

Then she opened her mouth. Then we got to hear her talking about how God wanted an Oil pipeline through Alaska… then we got to hear all the other nonsense during the debates and campaign… and then I was very sad that on election day, I couldn’t vote for the Senator I respect more than anyone else in Washington.

But then, maybe you don’t need my vote, its only a vote, a vote in Ohio, a vote that went the same way that most of my friends votes went. Rather than voting for the guy we liked, we held our noses and voted for a guy we didn’t like (either Dem or 3rd party depending on who among my friends it was) all because the GOP thought they had to put a person like Sarah on the ticket.

Bah, who needs Ohio anyway?

May 6, 2009 - 1:47 pm 95. Ratatosk:

If you do not like religious liberty and wish to see Christians excluded from the marketplace of ideas join the Democratic Party.

That’s odd, I voted for my state governor and his a minister… and a Democrat.

May 6, 2009 - 1:49 pm 96. G Alston:

#93 — If I may, though, offer a suggestion for keeping kids from harmful language on broadcast TV that doesn’t require a big government/federal solution.

No, you may not. It’s stupid. Mom and dad have no idea what will happen in a 7PM broadacast show before it airs. With your “solution” they could be sitting there watching the show with the kids and having the remote does no good. Try a new argument; preferably one that actually addresses the issue. (The intellectually bankrupt KosKiddie regurgitation you *sometimes* engage can be annoying. I like you better when you think for yourself. “Snap out of it, I say!”)

It is sometimes the case where government is either the preferred (most cost effective) or ONLY solution available. This is such a case. So is the military, and so is much of the technological research the US is engaged in.

On the other hand, I’m not a conservative, so I’ve not painted myself into the small government corner. (Note that the remote control argumant the silly KosKiddies promote paints their position as dogmatic, too.)

Recognising that government has a legitimate function other than dictating to gays or pregnant women [and invading Poland after we're attacked by Zimbabwe, of course] would be a good start for many conservatives.

May 6, 2009 - 2:18 pm 97. Herb:

“96. G Alston:

No, you may not. It’s stupid. Mom and dad have no idea what will happen in a 7PM broadacast show before it airs.”

Ah, but the flip side of that is that neither does the government. But they’re going to do a better job than Mom and Dad? Perhaps because they have the power to levy huge fines…but even then, that’s after Janet Jackson’s boob has been exposed for all to see.

The remote control can be used not just to change the channel, but to turn the TV off. Many parents should do that anyway, but how many kids nowadays aren’t “watching TV” as we think of it in the first place? What about the ones watching Youtube and surfing the unfiltered world wide web? Or satellite radio? How are Mom and Dad going to protect them from Howard Stern?

There are many good arguments to be made for my case:

* Parents should be responsible for what their kids watch on TV, not the government.

* If other media (the internet, pay cable, satellite radio) aren’t so regulated by the FCC, why single out broadcast television and over the air radio? (Or, flip side to that…let’s regulate the internet! Like China! Not!)

* The first amendment grants the right to free speech.

* If sex and foul language are to be regulated, why not violence too? Or clowns? Kids don’t like clowns. No more clowns on TV. (I mean, we could get reeeeeal arbitrary about it if we wanted to…)

Perhaps you’ve heard this all from the KosKiddies, whoever they are. (Are they like the LOLcats?) Maybe you even heard it from some hardcore libertarian people. If not, you can hear it from me, Herb, an Obama-loving liberal.

May 6, 2009 - 3:23 pm 98. G Alston:

#97 — * The first amendment grants the right to free speech.

Ummm… no. What it says is that you have the right to express an opinion without fear of government reprisal. Free speech doesn’t mean you get to wear a “F**k Bush” shirt to the grade school Xmas play. And ultimately, that’s what the FCC discussion is all about.

Thanks for playing.

May 6, 2009 - 4:04 pm 99. yoyo:

I agree with G alson on the imaginary “small government big social control” conservatives. Some go even so far as to say let’s get rid of all federal powers except for military and let the states do it. Well how does that work with environmental resources? My state wants to let big companies pollute the river and your state is downstream. It’s a foolish meme.

IF the conservatives, be they repubs or some other grouping want to win, they have to have educated solutions to propose not drill baby drill. It would also be a great assistance if they stopped weraring their religion on their forehead.

May 6, 2009 - 6:47 pm 100. Herb:

“98. G Alston:

Free speech doesn’t mean you get to wear a “F**k Bush” shirt to the grade school Xmas play.”

Woah, where did you get that? In any case, the FCC doesn’t have jurisdiction over grade school Xmas plays. That would be the school, and if the school said no F*ck Obama shirts, then so be it. It’s a school!

I’m talking about broadcast TV.

At any rate, seeing as you’ve already decided that the FCC should police broadcast TV (and apparently the Christmas program down at the local high school) but not satellite radio, cable TV, the internet, or any of the other media children have access to, I guess we’ll just leave it at that.

Like I said, small government…when it’s convenient.

May 7, 2009 - 12:46 am 101. Tammy, Boston:

Everyone is getting very tired of the Democrat party. The problem is that the Republicans have given up. Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts should take anything Obama has to offer because he will not be re-elected.

May 7, 2009 - 3:43 am 102. Fred Beloit:

Herb#93:
“It’s called a remote control in Mom and Dad’s hands. ”
Thanks, Herb. That’s a very conservative position. The Libertarian refuses to control remotes. The Left wants no controls whatever, under any circomstances, especially if Bush/Chaney have anything to do with it. The Dems want the village to control the remote, Now tell me, if you will, what is the moderate Repub position?

May 7, 2009 - 5:27 am 103. sheesh:

101. Tammy, Boston: . . . “Everyone is getting very tired of the Democrat party.”

Everyone? I think you may be referring to that 21% of people who call themselves Republicans. I’m not math wizard, but I don’t think that qualifies as “everyone.”

May 7, 2009 - 7:32 am 104. Fred Beloit:

#87 Charvakan
MSNBC reported this: “In an interview with Beliefnet, a multi-denominational Web site that covers religion and spirituality, the Republican presidential hopeful [McCain] was asked if a Muslim candidate could be a good president.
“I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles … personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith,” McCain said. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m sure that someone who is Muslim would not make a good president.”
Charvakan said this: “IF that were the case McCain will not have made the comment that he would want the president of the country to be a christian…”
Sorry. Poor match. It was an answer to a specific question, it was not a comment. Char left out the last sentence. Impression: Char is fast and loose with words.

Char also said this: “Another thing, [Fred's] calling me “lefty” is not going to make me one.’
Fred said this: “Charvakan #74. You “think” like a Lefty, i.e., you feel, you don’t think…”
Impression: Char is fast and loose with words.

May 7, 2009 - 9:59 am 105. Charvakan:

Your are missing my point. I never said I have the full quote in my comment. What I wrote did capture the gist of what McCain said, that he preferred a christian as a president. The point I was conveying was that quotes like these turns off many non christians. Compare what McCain said to a quotes from Obama that makes it a point to include all other faiths as well as non believers. Do you think any republican politician would say something like that in a speech? Think of the flak that Obama got from the right for mentioning non believers. Here is another full quote from George H. W. Bush: “No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” Why would someone who does not belong to any religion ever consider voting for a party whose leaders say things like this?

Regarding the “lefty” comment, I was responding to you as well as other comments above regarding me like #76 that used the term. I agree you only said that I think like a lefty. But again my point is that my views on social issues have nothing to do with leftist philosophy.

May 7, 2009 - 10:58 am 106. Fred Beloit:

“The point I was conveying was that quotes like these turns off many non christians.”
-I’m not a Christian. I’m not turned off.
-How many non-Christians have you interviewed on the subject. And don’t forget McCain’s saying: “But that doesn’t mean that I’m sure that someone who is Muslim would not make a good president.” “Do you think any republican politician would say something like that in a speech?”
-McCain might have. He said it in the quote I presented to you. Fast and loose with words is no way to go through life…unless you are a Democrat, of course. It gets them elected, doesn’t it.

May 7, 2009 - 1:05 pm 107. grampa guy:

The Pastor of Muppets thinks that Sarah Palin’s having a brief contemplation of abortion, a temptation if you will, and then sticking with her principles qualifies her as a “hypocrite and a fascist.” (comment 28)

A mind such as that is straight out of Lord of the Flies. What an relentlessly stupid thing to say. The Left tosses around those words as if they had invented….OOPS!

May 7, 2009 - 1:44 pm 108. Will:

We sure hope so,however I believe we have a way to go.

May 7, 2009 - 5:00 pm 109. Jiggs:

As a lifetime NJ resident and living in one of the last Republican strongholds in north New Jersey, I agree that we are a dying breed. Of course, few can afford to retire here except state and county employees and the rest of us will have to find another more tax friendly state. Since more than half of the population is dependent of the government for their salaries and benefits they are welcome to pay for the influx of illegals and welfare recipients who are draining the system. Eventually the state will run out of money and the cash cows will have moved on. I loved to visit my mother in Paterson where many of her neighbors work off the books and receive food stamps, rent, tuition etc. Surprise! The well is running dry.

May 8, 2009 - 3:49 am