93 Comments

Mark:

> Close the border …

Does anyone have a clue what you mean by that? I don’t. I lived on the TX border for years, and have friends, family, and business acquaintances there still. That border is the most heavily trafficked border in the world and Mexico is our 3rd largest trading partner. There will be no closing of the border without squeezing the crossing points very hard. Which means the just-in-time inventories that we spent the 90’s building (I helped build them for US multi-nationals) across both N & S borders will stop functioning as the new highways (see I-69 extension) to accommodate the vast rise in N/S trade won’t function so they’ll just hurry up to wait for hours as bureaucrats at the border make law abiding citizens wait for hours to cross.

So this is about the 50th time I’ve read you say (yes I’m a fan) we need to “close the border”, but as someone who lives on the border and knows something about the economies of the TX border region, believe me I have no idea what you mean by that. I think what most people mean by “close the border first … and then we’ll do X” is “since we know the border can never be closed in any real sense, there is no danger of X ever being done, which is good if you don’t want to do X in any case. But I give you more credit than most, so please explain what you mean in practical terms that the border be “closed”, and to what.

May 16, 2008 - 9:28 pm mannning:

We need a mind shift, and a house cleaning. Many of those that carry the conservative flag have dishonored it. More to the point, we need something like the Gingrich “Contract With America”, and the moxy to carry it out.
A catch phrase wouldn’t hurt either, but not a retread of the past. Something that rings a bell in the mind saying: these guys get it, have it, and should be in charge!

May 16, 2008 - 9:35 pm ic:

Republican porkies have themselves to blame. If their constituents wanted porks, they would have voted Democrats.

May 16, 2008 - 9:57 pm jim flenniken:

i have to say that i’m a little bit perplexed by this republican congress. on the one hand they seem to be losing because they won’t take a stand on issues; and on the other hand they seem to be afraid of taking a stand and as a result run the risk of losing. if not taking a stand on key issues that conservative care about is not a viable strategy why stick to it? since you seem to be about ready to be replaced and sent home why not take a position on key issues? heck, someone might actually vote for you.

but these republicans seem intent on pork barrel spending in the hopes that they can buy their way into the good graces of the folks back home. so this is what really puzzles me: why would someone go into a voting booth and vote for a republican behaving as a democrat when pulling the next lever over would allow you to vote for a democrat behaving as a democrat? the logic of these republican congressmen defies explanation…..

May 16, 2008 - 11:27 pm TLM:

This piece says it all, so I won’t add my thoughts about the Republican Party. Back to slaying dragon-ladies…..

Ah, Hillary. Tough week for ya lass, what with Edwards bouncing for Obama the day after you thumped him in West Virginia. But all is lost, so you got nothin’ to lose. I know the boys cut a deal, but so what? Obama doesn’t want Johnboy’s white trash votes, and he never had very many anyways. My guess is Obama will let Edwards run the pooper-scooper around the White house lawn a few times before he ships him back to Hicksville. Veepstakes is off the table so it’s not like you’re losing to TWO boys. Come on, chin up girl! Don’t get that dear-in-the-headlights look about you. Remember? Girls rule. Boys drool. Just like they taught you at Wellesley. Time to go to Plan G, or whatever it is. A few suggestions:

Don’t challenge him to a mud slinging contest — that’s bad for the Party.
Challenge him to a mud wrestling contest. That’s good for us and you’ll win.
Get’em in a headlock and make him say Uncle Wright three times.

On the campaign trail always order hard boiled huevos grandes. Natural colored eggs covered with ketchup are best. File your teeth if you have to, but smile wide and chomp ‘em hard, shell ‘n all. Afterwards, use the Mens room and watch the guys scatter.

Know what a codpiece is? Attach one to your pantsuit and wear it to your next debate with Obama. Then, pull an Al Gore and stomp around the podium while he’s talking. He might wet himself, and either way, the video’ll go viral.

Just before the convention, call Andy Young and cut off Bill’s supply of black girls. Talk about the elephant in the room, he’ll go rogue and trample the opposition. Just keep him away from Michelle, though. I’m sure she can take him.

Worst case scenario: take the Veep job. Once you’re in, make them play MacBeth every night in the White House theatre. Get a white nightgown and while he’s sleeping stomp the hallways screaming OUT OUT DAMN SPOT. Run again in 2012.

Remember. He’s a boy. So don’t quit don’t quit don’t quit don’t quit don’t don’t quit don’t quit don’t quit

You go, uh, girl.

May 16, 2008 - 11:38 pm Trudy B. Taylor:

that which is most important in the near term vis a vis foreign policy will probably be obama-proof. even the ditsy democrat party does not want to be known for another saigon air-lift. there will be no pullout, precipitous or otherwise, from iraq. we are there for the duration, and i for one (seemingly) wish it to be 100 years…

nothing pleases me like gridlock. all im hoping for at this time is mccain in the whitehouse and a filibuster-proof senate. even these may be pie-in-the-sky expectations. the reps need to grow up concerning immigration. we need mccain’s version. and we might’ve gotten it last year if he and others had been a bit more vocal on border security. i still cant figure out who is really dragging their collective feet on meaningful closure of the southern border plus relevant tightening of the northern one. i still cant figure out why mexico and the u.s. cant seem to realize that we are stealing southern mexico’s middle class. the payoff (for us) will come , if we are lucky, in the 2nd and 3rd generation of thses individuals who refused to be held back by lackadaisical obstacles set up by an overly complacent government with a short span of attention. the key, as dr. hanson has been extolling for as long as i can remember , is assimilation. knowing, too, that our culture will morph somewhat to accommodate them, also.

that’s ok, we’re plastic enough to withstand that.

a questionconcerning mccain’s latest. omg-who’s he got singled out for veep?

May 17, 2008 - 7:56 am M.E.:

I am an European, and therefore many specific elements and nuances of American politics escape me. I see clearly a radicalization of the Democratic Party that develops into a vulgar socialist Party of European type. John McCain (somebody calls him “RINO”) has a positive program and a rational vision of the things. In the other (democratic) part (it doesn’t matter, Obama or Hillary) I only see absolute negative demagogy. So my question is: are Americans able as a nation (not as individuals) to distinguish between a constructive man like John McCain and a cheap demagogue like Obama (or Hillary), between a positive program and an empty rhetoric? Someone has said that President George Bush “has almost destroyed the Republican Party” explaining in this way that “Bush’s approval rating is in the cellar and dropping”. I cannot judge but there is difference between “destroying” and “crisis”. If the problem that the Republican Party has now is “crisis” in biological sense of the word, it’s absolutely normal and necessary: crisis can be a sign of vitality and not of death.
But from my “distant” point of view the essential is the results of Bush’s politics. For those who have been witnesses of the evolution of the last 20 years, the change produced by the Iraqi war appears still more radical than the dismantling of communist system. Who rules over Rome, rules over the World. So it is not indifferent who rules over the White House, a vile demagogue or a true statesman.

Salve et vale.

May 17, 2008 - 12:04 pm TLM:

Re Trudy

Totally agree. The overall perspective from VDH on these issues is invaluable, and the commentary is a plus. By the way, my spoofs on the Dems are somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

May 17, 2008 - 12:04 pm Ron Kean:

Who knows what to expect if Obama wins. His good buddies are Ayres and Hamas. Louis Ferrecahn could easily lead grace for White House Breakfasts. It’s easy to picture a greater representation of Muslims in positions of high responsibility in the White House.

The President,everybody in the House and the Senate - everybody signs off on spending. They’re all in it together. A Republican President and a Democratic Congress…tough road ahead. A Democratic President and a Democratic Congress…Yikes!

I’m reading Michael Yon’s book. There are many people who don’t know that things are turning around in Iraq. I have the Feith book on order. I want to read it before I want to see a review.

Why can’t politicans realize that opening ANWR is the recipe for success?

Immigration: They just busted a kosher meat packing plant in Postville IA for employing a few hundred undocumented workers. It might be closed down now. It supplies 60% of the kosher meat in the USA. Like farmers who need many people to pick produce from the field, I’m going to feel this and probably advocate some documented workers program.

Bush and leaders from other free and democratic countries should all go on a retreat somewhere and look relaxed and confident. Sleeveless sweaters and golf.

Too bad Bush softened up in his old age. He’s taken a lot. His Palestine talk shows inconsistency and maybe naivety. A raid on Iran could save him.

I really like the new understated spell check feature on this site.

May 17, 2008 - 8:56 pm RE:

M.E. - “So my question is: are Americans able as a nation (not as individuals) to distinguish between a constructive man like John McCain and a cheap demagogue like Obama (or Hillary), between a positive program and an empty rhetoric?”

Historically the American people have been able to filter out, the charlatans but the trend is very frightening. I believe we are seeing increasing evidence of the deteriorating educational system in the US than is producing people that are far more indoctrinated than educated. That someone as vacuous as Obama is even considered a viable candidate is surreal and terrifying.

I’m very surprised that VDH did not include education reform on his list.

May 18, 2008 - 6:57 am Ten:

Other than being clearly askew on the fiat-currency American economy and insufficiently clear and firm on American Socialism — where folks see government as a great dispenser of services and not a protector of rights — this is a fine piece. If only that it points to the Republicans for failing conservatism at every recent turn.

May 18, 2008 - 9:53 am Mark:

> But from my “distant” point of view the essential is the results of Bush’s politics. ….. the change produced by the Iraqi war appears still more radical than the dismantling of communist system. Who rules over Rome, rules over the World. So it is not indifferent who rules over the White House, a vile demagogue or a true statesman.

M. E. - This is nonsense. There was no radical change, other than the shift away from “realist” school of foreign policy (a misnomer, truly “realpolitik”) of the Nixon, Bush 1, Clinton years back to the foreign policy practiced by Reagan, adapted to the post 9-11 world.

Read US history to see how false your “grand shift theory” is. See how Jefferson went to Africa with a nascent Navy to deal with piracy and kidnapping that the Europeans were satisfied to pay off the criminality. Every power since then who didn’t respect human dignity has had to face the US sooner or later. Nothing has changed, it is the cynical “realist” school that is incongruous. Bush will be viewed favorably in time as Harry Truman was. Leaders shouldn’t chase opinion polls. That isn’t leading.

May 18, 2008 - 10:13 am jeff:

We need to be conservative again-not religious right conservative, but good government Thomas Jefferson type conservatives.

The problem with being a conservative is that you have to make an intelligent argument, not one based on emotion. The Democrats arguments are all emotionally based, with few actual hard facts.

May 18, 2008 - 10:24 am NotYourDaddy:

Great article! Repblicans are trying to run as watered down Democrats. Presumably, this is because the Republican party is losing its base, and they assume that’s because the country is leaning to the left, so the party “leaders” are trying to lean with it. (How’s that for leadership?) However, the real reason the Republican Party is losing it’s base is because it’s lost its direction. It is no longer the party of conservatives. It’s the party of confusion.

McCain is a great example. I will support him in November because he’s not as bad as Obama. But he isn’t doing the party any favors by his constant attempts to “reach across the aisle” and pander to the left. Nor is he doing himself any favors. The conservatives who were just starting to come around to gudgingly agree to vote for him are now shaking their heads and turning away again in disgust.

I agree with almost all of the points in this article, particularly about spending and the economy, though I’d like clarification on what is meant by free “and supervised” trade.

I also agree with Mark’s comment that closing the border is difficult, and I don’t think we can wait until that happens to start initiating other measures. I have a few ideas in my blog post Illegal Immigration: A Supply Side Solution.

May 18, 2008 - 10:24 am David Thomson:

“Who knows what to expect if Obama wins.”

Republicans need to fear “Barry” Obama. He is a very dangerous man. Unfortunately, even many conservatives have been programmed to perceive a charming “man of color” as simply another innocuous Sidney Poitier! One should not necessarily be pro-John McCain. As matter of fact, I have consistently criticized the Arizona U.S. for his “good person” anti-intellectualism. He was not my first choice. No, the heck with McCain. You should instead be adamantly against Obama. He is truly a serious threat to your family and the country you claim to love.

May 18, 2008 - 11:06 am John Moore:

Mark, I agree that Bush *should* be viewed more favorably. But the winners write the history, and today, the winners in History departments all over the world are the left.

While Republicans have certainly screwed up, and Bush has made many terrible mistakes in not adequately defending his policies and his allies, this is only part of the threat facing Republicans.

The biggest threats to rational Democracy in the US are our education system and our monolithic main stream media.

Republicans start with a huge handicap because of that media (15% estimated by the Boston Globe - part of that lefty media). One needs only remember the 2004 campaign to see badly Republicans are treated by our journalist elite.

The left likewise dominates our educational system, both indoctrinating our young, and failing to educate them at the same time.

May 18, 2008 - 11:09 am T.S. Flanagan:

Hanson says Iraq and Afghanistan have improved. True, but that doesn’t mean they stop costing money. At least a trillion dollars so far, and what exactly have we purchased for that money? So it’s disingenuous, to put it politely, for one of the architects of this massive federal boondoggle, the ultimate in gore-pork, to pretend that “spending” and “war” can be neatly separated as issues.
No matter what Hanson says these days, his real message is a shriek: “I was NOT wrong!”

May 18, 2008 - 1:17 pm Dave:

Mark,

“close the border” can mean this–

police thoroughly all the NON-’Crossing Points’, that is, all the OPEN border areas where people walk across by the hundreds of thousands. Use technology, and lots and lots of people.. and STOP ILLEGALS coming across where they know they will not be stopped.

As to the legal crossing points, there are ways to make it faster. Use technology, old and new, to sniff out trucks full of people that should be full of merchandise. Use biometrics or scannable identity cards, on people and vehicles, to speed the passing of those who go in and out on business constantly.

It is NOT necessary to grind business to a halt in order to stop the flow of illegal crossers. What IS necessary is that ‘realists’ like yourself admit that this HAS to be done, not complain that it will never be done.

This country cannot survive the constant and increasing number of illegal immigrants. You might scoff at that, but it is incremental, like vines tearing down a building. Today another hospital closes because of financial losses, tomorrow another family goes on welfare because it cannot survive on the wages paid to work in agriculture or construction… and of course, with no control of these people, there is also no telling which are criminals, which are dangerous. Every crime committed by an illegal is a crime that should NOT have happened.

I do not deny any realities here, but I do ask that THIS reality not also be denied. Let us extend every possible foreign policy effort toward making a better Mexico for them to live in. But they cannot just come here, not without controls.

May 18, 2008 - 2:04 pm Misanthropicus:

Loved it & I’d place Hanson’s “program” paper as complement to Mitt Ronmey’s departure speech.

I will address only one issue - energy dependence: “[…] Why should others abroad, who are far less careful, extract oil for us in areas of the world more fragile than our own? [NB, and at significantly more expensive prices] We must end the notion that ANWR only yields a million barrels a day, or the coasts only 2 million, or tar sands or shale only a million, or nuclear power and coal only so many megawatts of power. To paraphrase, Sen. Dirksen ‘a million barrels a day here, a million there, pretty soon it adds up to real production. […}”

The yellow-dotted warbling marmots lobby sure can explain why the extraordinary price in lives and expenses we put to protect an (ungrateful) world’s addiction to oil is the policy to follow.

May 18, 2008 - 3:21 pm Jeffrey S. Neher:

This is a prime example of why you must put philosophy first and party second. People sometimes don’t understand when asked I reply that I am a “conservatine”. They say no, what party? and then, what is a conservatine? My party affiliation is not the important thing to me. It is finding the party that agrees with my world-view. For the last twenty plus years it has been the GOP. Had it been the democrat party, I would have registered as a democrat. Now, 2008, I am increasingly becoming an orphan. I am libertine in most cases, conservative in others. My basic thought is that the government needs to leave me the hell alone. Protect the borders, defend me against all enemies, and make economic pacts with other nations that allow us to prosper. Pretty simple.

As I look to the political system, the two party system, there is no place for me at the moment. My old party has abandoned me for political expediency and political victory. The ironic thing is that they have gained neither in their haste to ditch me and those ideals I hold dear. For years, the dems were in denial about their defeats at the polls. Now, the GOP is in denial about their victories. The dems don’t know why they lost and the GOP doesn’t know why it won. The 2006 elections have left both parties with mastaken views on why they did what they did. The GOP thinks it lost because of Iraq. The dems think they won because of Iraq. To be fair and to be sure, there was a percentage of votes cast based on the perceptions of the war. But, but, the arrogance of power and corruption, the attitude of incumbency, the lack of vision, the failure of one party to behave as it had campaigned was the overwhelming reason for the results. More dems showed up to vote than repubs. The GOP base was demoralized by GOP malaise and scandal, the failure to understand the border issue, the run away spending..the refusal to stand up to dems on any issue. In short, the GOP’s failure to be the conservatives in voting principle that they were on the campaign trail. The GOP leader, the president, is not leading a conservative movement. On taxes and defense he’s been conservative. On most everything else regarding the domestic agenda he’s been moderate to left. He early on made the decision not to take on the liberal establishment in D.C. This was a fatal mistake…one that is costing the GOP dearly. If not for the war on terror and the dems lack of spine in this area, Bush would have lost the 04 election.

So here we are in 08. The candidates on the left are a complete laughing stock…in the not so distant American past they would have been laughed out of the discussion. The candidate on the right is “left-light” on every issue but defense. We are left with a little socialism or a lot of socialism. Where is the leadership in this nation? Where have the Ronald Reagans gone? I know there will only be one Reagan, but the legacy he left behind is just waiting for someone to pick up that torch and run with it. We are left with career politicians..their only job being to keep getting elected. There is no visionary, no bold idea man seeking the position. Perhaps that man is a thing of the past. Maybe we are now in a world destined to be run by mediocrity. Maybe now we live in a nation where we can no longer vote for someone, rather, we have to vote against someone. The lesser of the two evils…..what an inspiring thought that is….

May 18, 2008 - 3:40 pm James:

THE REPUBLICANS DESERVE NOTHING!!! I have voted Republican my entire life. We FINALLY got a Republican majority House and Congress with a sitting Republican president, and what do we have to show for it? Privatized Social Security? REAL tax cuts (not that phony bologna $300 I got back)? We still have a capital gains tax, we had a growing budget AND government. The only plus was the Supreme Court appointments. Other than that, and a POSSIBLE Iraq victory, what did the Republicans do with their power. Tell me, someone, please….

May 18, 2008 - 5:08 pm Our Paul:

Love it, the blind leading the blind…

To win an election you have to hold your base, capture the uncommitted, and inspire the young to support you… Keep in mind that the base in both parties has “core”, as well as center right, and center left components.

Every poll shows that the three major problems the populous identifies are the Iraq War, Health Care and the Economy. If how to win an election is important, let us dissect Victor Davis Hanson’s post.

(strong)Health Care:(/strong) Not mentioned. Please, it is not a problem. Yes, we all know 7 to 10% of the population cannot afford Health Insurance, and we know the Health Care Maintenance Organizations and Insurance Companies fiddle the system whenever they can, however they can, on a macro bases, or micro bases. But, hey mon, let the market place work its magic!!! Conservative solution on Health Care, stay the course…

(strong)Iraq war:/strong) No problem, things are looking up: (i) Anti-war hype and slurs are a year out of date. We are finally on the edge of having done the impossible: removed the most odious regimes in the Middle East and fostered constitutional governments in their places.(/i) Right, it is just a perception problem, once the unwashed realized we have won, we can spend as much money there, and keep as many troops in Iraq, as will be needed to prevent terrorism. Conservative solution, declare Victory, stay the course…

(strong)Economy:(/strong) Wow, gas price now getting ready to go past 4.00 bucks, food up by X2, wages of the middle class stagnant, unions being decimated, and we have this:” Use this downturn as a warning not to spend what we don’t have when things rebound.” Got it, this whole thing is nothing but a temporary “natural down cycle”. Conservative solution, nothing to worry about, stay the course.

I just do not have the heart to further parse Mr. Hanson’s post, but my patriotic duty forces me to point out one last bit of inanity: ” Revenues continue to soar after the tax cuts, so the problem is too much going out, not too little coming in.” To truly understand how monstrous this claim is, one only has to look at our National Debt, estimated to be on a per capita bases at above $30,000.00 for every man, woman and child in the US. Graph it out, and it started under President — well, go to the link.

I am a Patriot, although I do not wear a flag lapel, I do believe in the tensions that a true two party system create. For Conservative principle and thoughts to survive, they will have to capture a reasonable percentage of young, as they are our nation’s future. And as for the middle, the uncommitted, good luck.

May 18, 2008 - 5:17 pm David Thomson:

“we have to vote against someone. The lesser of the two evils…..what an inspiring thought that is…”

What do you want me to tell you? Life sucks and then you die. John McCain irritates me every time he opens his mouth about “global warming.” He also did significant damage to our First Amendment rights. Nonetheless, Barack “Barry” Obama is far too dangerous to allow into the White House. He is truly a man of the Left. We should not be fooled by his Sidney Poitier like demeanor. Never forget that terrorist Bill Ayers hosted a fund raiser for him—and Jeremiah Wright was his pastor for over twenty years. The radical Left adores Obama. What more do we need to know?

May 18, 2008 - 5:26 pm 49erDweet:

Mark, Dave is correct. I’ve watched separate commercial truck border crossings in operation and know they are able to work efficiently. Instead of being part of the problem (”it can’t work”) I urge you to aid with the solution (”if we do thus and such it could help”). That way your experience and judgment could be put to good use, and it might even work better and be fairer to all involved.

May 18, 2008 - 5:57 pm Ron M:

These are all areas where the conservative message has been either lost or misdirected. However, there is a root problem that is at the core of these topics which is a complete dearth of true leadership.

Conservatives today do not have a Ronald Reagan to provide leadership and fortitude of commitment to the goals of conservatism. Some of this comes from a similar disease that existed in Congressional Republicans prior to the 1994 elections - an acceptance and complacency with being in the minority.

Leading is not easy. What is easy is to only contrast and criticize the decisions, direction, and vision of leaders. Leaders also draw arrows to the back and are demonized in the liberal dominated MSM and academia. True leaders, who believe in their vision, persevere despite these trials.

What Conservatives truly lack are the leaders who stepped up in 1980 and then en masse signed the 1994 Contract with America.

On Dr. Hanson’s observations and suggestions regarding the energy policy, there is one additional observation I would suggest become included in the communication towards a solution. Today, this country imports about 15 million barrels of unrefined and refined petroleum products to meet our needs. Dr. Hanson is correct with the observation that a few million barrels here or there will add up.

The other aspect of the equation is that to obtain these imported materials, we spend about $600 billion annually. As Dr. Hanson has noted, much of this money goes to regimes that are not true friends of this country. The message we need to adopt is to focus on re-investing these billions inside this country on developing more sources and more viable alternatives.

$600B can be used far better to invest domestically, create new jobs, encourage conservation, and develop new technologies than it can be to fund despots and their nations.

May 18, 2008 - 6:14 pm TLM:

I agree we should add educational reform to VDH’s prescriptions for improving conservatism in this country. In fact, in a recent commentary on this site I somewhat jokingly recommended we transfer the Department of Education to the Pentagon, as the crisis in K-12 education is a national security concern. Clearly, there is a continuing crisis in education in this country, and how that crisis is resolved is of vital importance to conservatives. Politically, I am moderately conservative, but I am near apoplectic at the demise of public education in this country. I’m not sure why this was left off Professor Hanson’s list as he has written extensively on the problems endemic in post-secondary schools in this country. I’m fairly sure he would agree that educational reform, at all levels, is necessary for sustaining conservatism as a viable political framework for good governance. Furthermore, it is necessary for sustaining a viable future for this country. The question is, where do we start?

We start by electing a president who doesn’t treat educational reform as a political crusade designed to obtain partisan advantage. W Bush treated the Department of Education as an orphan step-child, full of liberal minded reformers and idealogues (which it is). As a consequence, he essentially tried to do away with the Department, and when that didn’t work, simply ignored it. Not exactly a testament to good leadership, but for him — par for the course. What do you expect from someone who was never a serious student himself? (I love it when he reassures us he has assessed the problem, the person or whatever, and his “gut” tells him this or that. As he possesses a fairly non-critical intellect, by “gut” he may in fact be referring to his GI tract). No need to discuss Bill Clinton and the Department of Education. If he didn’t create the monster it now is, he certainly overfed it and took it off its leash.

The Democratic candidates have of course promoted their vaunted educational plans, which translate into more of the same. To my knowledge, John McCain has not formally announced his plans for reforming education in this country. Not to worry. For this problem, and many others, I firmly believe he is the go-to guy. He won’t policy-wonk this to death because that’s been tried and failed. He won’t ignore the problem because that’s not his style. I believe he’ll put someone in charge of the Department of Education who will actually reform it, and back that person to the hilt. He is a firm believer in leadership making a difference in solving problems. To whit, General Abrams in Viet Nam, General Petreus in Iraq, and Ronald Reagan for our own country. His choice to run the department will not be a political idealogue because politicization of the content and delivery of education is the underlying problem.

So who would that person be? Another PhD Ed with yet another nouveau curriculum to hock, written by someone who hasn’t taught students for decades? How about a Classicist/Historian who has always promoted critical thinking and empirical judgement as the hallmarks of a successful education. Could this be why VDH left educational reform off this list, as he is advising JM on this issue? As Frodo says, there is always hope.

May 18, 2008 - 6:52 pm TurfMonster:

I couldn’t be in more agreement about educational reform! We need it badly and it just might be the most important issue facing this country today. Let’s start with the universities and colleges and the horrible state of affairs that the liberal arts programs are currently in and reform them back to what they once were.

I post on several other boards and on the board which have a considerable number of posters in their 20s and early 30s and these people are utterly ignorant about history, to take one example. Everytime I post something about WWII and its relation to Iraq today - and I will add that I am not even close to being the most knowledgable person to talk about the history of WWII - I am almost always greeted with exchanges like “Not another $#%@#%@#$ WWII lesson,” or they simply leave the civil part out altogether. They don’t have any idea on how to respond simply because they don’t know a thing about WWII. And that goes for just about anything else with regards to history - they aren’t stupid people, they simply haven’t been taught how to think for themselves.

And I could go on about other areas, too, like the mathematics that behind our debt problems and entitlement programs.

Unless we change this ASAP, we’re going to suffer.

May 18, 2008 - 8:31 pm TurfMonster:

And while complaining about the need for educational reform, I should note that I committed a rather glaring grammatical mistake myself: “and on the board which have a ” should read “and on the one board which has a …”

Mea culpa! I will try to be more careful next time.

May 18, 2008 - 8:35 pm TurfMonster:

I made a second error that I also overlooked: “20s and early 30s and these people are utterly ignorant about history” should read “20s and early 30s, these people are utterly ignorant about history”

I’m on a roll with regards to my proofreading errors tonight!

May 18, 2008 - 8:41 pm steve:

Great post. Simple, logical, straight forward and gets right to the heart of the issues.
The fact that it appears impossible for congressional GOP “leadership” to do would seem to indicate that we are in for a very rough 4 - 8 years, right at the time when boomers (myself among them) are going to retire.
I count myself among the 80% polled who feel the country is on the wrong track - not because I yearn for the ruinous policies promoted by Democrats, but precisely because we are unable to adhere to the simple policies laid our by Prof. Hanson.

May 19, 2008 - 12:43 am RuleTopia:

Conservatives have proven ideas but lack strategic thinking.

Liberals control education which means young voters have leftist views and a distorted understanding of history and America.

Liberals control newspapers, network television, many of the most popular magazines (like Time), and the entire entertainment industry which means the American public gets a distorted view of liberal versus conservative values.

Finally, liberals control both government bureaucracies and the legal system (the courts and the rank and file lawyers believe in big government, not individual initiative, the family, and the church) which means that even if conservatives win sweeping victories at all levels, the legal system and the existing bureaucracies can undermine the conservative agenda.

Without a strategy to make significant inroads in these areas, the conservatives will never put their ideas into play.

May 19, 2008 - 3:04 am M.E.:

To Mark:

“This is nonsense. There was no radical change”…

I don’t want to defend my point of view. My main sources for the US history and actual politics are not Hollywood’s films, but Tocqueville, J.-F. Revel, V.D. Hanson, Norman Podhoretz. My personal experience of political emigrant (from the Soviet Union) who resides in the leftist Europe is also important. The essence of my “grand shift theory” is that after 9/11 it has concluded definitively the era of coexistence with the criminal dictatorships, but it is absolutely true that the US has always fought against the most hateful regimes in Europe, Asia, Vietnam, Iraq… You are perfectly right that Bush II is heir of not Bush I, but great Reagan. Obama blames McCain to be “bound to the failed policies of the past”, i.e. Bush’s policies. What then are Obama’s policies of the future? Coexistence with Islamofascist Iran and National Socialist Syria, collaboration with Terrorist International in destroying Israel and new democracies in ME. In this case my “grand shift theory” is complete nonsense, a fantasy of an idealist. May be the ancient Hindus were right: all change is an illusion.

May 19, 2008 - 3:46 am Bulgaricus:

Unfortunately, there is not a republican alive that would agree to these. First, they make far too much sense. Second, most reps are castrati w/o cajones, Third, they are just to stupid to wake up & smell the coffee. Get ready for 20 or 30 lost seats in the House & Senate & B. Hussein Obama in the White House…

May 19, 2008 - 4:12 am Peter M.:

If you want to understand what’s really wrong with the Republican Party and the conservative intellectual movement, read this:

http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2006-fall/decline-fall-american-conservatism.asp

May 19, 2008 - 4:33 am Mark M.:

Both the Democrat and Republican parties are one-world-one-people-please globalists. The main difference is in the tactics for how to incorporate the most backward nations (Africa, Mohammedans) into the scheme.

There are a number of other parties, eg the Constitution party but very few are allowed to know about them.

May 19, 2008 - 4:51 am Matthew Hooper:

Amazing. Simply amazing. This post could have been written in 2006… or 2004. There is absolutely nothing new here. Perhaps this is news, but the American people have heard all of this, and they’re sick of it.

“Close the border”? Get real. Build a 50 foot high wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder. East Germany tried closing their border with a wall, folks. It doesn’t work. As long as Hispanics can make a living wage in this country and can’t make a living wage at home, they’ll find a way in. And as long as Hispanics prove to work harder and longer than your average American teenager, employers will keep hiring them to do the job right.

The Iraq war is won. In just a year. Right. We said this in 2006. And 2004. Old News. McCain doesn’t think it’ll be over until 2013. And you accuse the Democrats of moving the goalposts? How about you start off by coming up with a realistic definition of “victory”… or better yet, a coherent explanation of just why we’re over there at all?

The economy is in “a natural downturn”. And Bear Stearns is just taking a short nap.

You’ll never win an election with these points, folks. And going negative on Barack Obama has failed miserably three times in a row now.

Face it. You had eight years. You sucked. This year, you’re toast.

May 19, 2008 - 4:54 am TLM:

I wouldn’t close the borders to everyone. Immigrants who have previously lived under totalitarian regimes (Eastern Europe, Cuba, Central Asia, China etc) seem to have few problems in America. They usually adopt mainstream American values once they come here, and seem to be a little more immune to the propaganda, from the Right or the Left, that makes up much of modern media in this country. And we’ll of course need to keep the foreign students who come here to study Math, Science, Engineering etc. Our own students have found it much easier to major in the social sciences or humanities where critical thinking is no longer a requirement. It’s not easy to BS your way to a B.S. degree.

May 19, 2008 - 5:26 am Rodney:

I have argued liberals many times about the failures of communism. I always delight in hearing “Well that was not real communism. Real communism works.” Now I’m on the other end, having to defend or differentiate between a conservative and a Republican.

May 19, 2008 - 5:59 am Lonetown:

When Republican stalwarts such as Tom Delay told us a couple of years ago, they cut all they could out of what was actually an immensely bloated budget, the end was in sight.

The we had to suffer with the likes of Stevens and reckless spending.

I don’t expect any improvement under the next regime but it will be alot of new faces.

May 19, 2008 - 6:16 am waylay:

You left out social security and the ‘housing debacle’.

We should stop discouraging hard work, savings and capital formation. Reward follows risk, it is not an alternative to it.

A home is a place to live, not an investment vehicle. We should lay the foundation for lower cost housing, not laud rising prices. Holding zoning strictures fast for decades, and layering on top of them environmental rules that inhibit the construction of housing — indeed indirect, enormous taxes on new home construction — is political pork for “local residents”, and leaves out new entrants and the next generation.

The government encouraged (i.e., or else lawsuits and liability) massive lending to bad credit risks through the notion of “community reinvestment”. And financial institutions made those loans backstopped ultimately by taxpayers. A bank is not a social welfare institution.

May 19, 2008 - 6:21 am Art:

The Republican machine has become so hypocritical.

They behave exactly like Democrats. They moronically send “questionaires” that outline the very conservative values that they themselves consistently ignore, and ask for donations.

My message to the Republicans is: stop wasting taxpayer dollars, worrying about whether I am playing poker online, and start actually acting like conservatives.

We don’t want or need more big government.

and…Global warming is a farce!

May 19, 2008 - 6:25 am waylay:

If we are open to immigrants, we should encourage all comers of means and education from all around the world. Opening our doors selectively, along racial and demographic lines, to Hispanics at the bottom of Latin American socioeconomic classes, is unfair and unwise. It is a government policy that will dramatically shift our society, widen the gap between rich and poor, and overburden institutions that attempt reinforce meritocracy in our society.

Pubic schools are about as efficient as public (i.e. collective) farms and public power. We double tax parents who choose a private sector alternative, and even burden adults without children with the same taxes. We let the interests of unions trump those of our kids.

A “check card” is not democracy. Collective bargaining is an artifact from the early days of the industrial revolution, when company towns were as oppressive of rights as big government is today. Information and mobility make markets work. Government should stop criminalizing speech, and stop discouraging production of cheaper housing wherever demand for workers creates opportunity.

May 19, 2008 - 6:34 am Rockman44:

In my opinion very well put. The GOP is in deep trouble. All they have to do is look in the mirror to understand why. The GOP congressional delegation has strayed from their path. Until the GOP returns to its conservative roots, if they ever do, its all down hill from here. It started when they went along with Bush’s, who is not really a conservative but more of a Rockefeller Republican, expansion of the entitlement program, and has not stopped. Does anyone remember the bridge to nowhere. A prime example of what is wrong.

The author says it well. If the GOP is to survive it needs to shape up, or forever be destined to the back benches. There is no one to blame but themselves.

May 19, 2008 - 6:38 am osogrizzly:

Mark - 5/16 9:28pm

Good morning Mark,

I’m having a bit of trouble with your logic. Can you explain to me how many tourists and business folks are wading across the Rio Grande, running across the desert in AZ, hiring “Coyotes” to smuggle products across the border and decorating “panty trees” on their way.

If, as you see to say, large numbers of American tourists and businesses are using these unconventional methods to cross the US/Mexico border are they successfully avoiding import duties on Tequila or are there other benefits that I’m not seeing???

Thanks for your prompt response.

May 19, 2008 - 6:44 am syn:

I think the problem is that Democrats would rather overtake the Republican Party since it is easier to do this than it is for them to purge the Marxists (Obama) from their midst.

The only Democrat who outed the evil in his party was Sen Lieberman yet what did the Democrat Party do, they purged him out.

SO where do Democrats go? They head over to the Republicans demanding all the liberal policies be inserted with them, then, to distinguish themselves from Consvervatism they say “see how evil those religious right wingers are? IF only we could get rid of them them we could win!” Now I am not of any religious persuasion however Reagan brought the ‘religious right’ into the Conservative fold for a reason, why on earth would we want to purge them out just to satisfy Moderates cowards?

Conservatives are being pushed out of the Republican Party by cowardly Democrats who cannot control their Marxists; this is why we are being lectured about how McCain is the only man who can when the Center.

Well McCain’s bases, the Centrists, are not giving McCain the money necessary to win. On the other hand, Obama has $100 million worth of Hollywoood/Moveon.org (in additon to what the DNC has) which McCain-Feingold allowed into the system.

Since Centrists (liberal-lite) did not purge the Marxists from their midst when they had the chance, McCain is going to be crucified come Novemeber.

May 19, 2008 - 6:45 am shunha7878:

amen, brother, amen. Oh, yea, is there any way to get rid of McCain?

May 19, 2008 - 6:46 am Katablog.com:

One need only read the comments to Tom Cole’s pathetic “rebranding” message over the the NRCC.org web site to see exactly what’s wrong with the GOP - the “leaders” are idiots that have listened to the marketing guys instead of their own constituents. True conservatives know exactly what their brand is. over 1300 people articulated almost the exact same talking points - but is anyone listening?

May 19, 2008 - 7:28 am Peggy Snow Cahill:

I would like to see the emergence of a third party, a small-government party that bridges the common goals of conservatives, libertarians, and others who want to see citizens of this country have more freedom and less infringement on our personal lives from goverment. Reagan’s line about our being a country that has a government rather than the other way around looks like it could be threatened. But we need leaders with clearer vision than our current crop of politicians. We need term limits to stop these career politicians and their culture of corruption. We need voices like Dr. Hanson’s and Charles Krauthammer, Mark Steyn, and others who have great hearts and minds to help us find our way through the upcoming storms. I think dark times are ahead, and we need vision and courage and faith to weather them. And it’s time to make common cause with those who are not conservative, but would like to see the government have less power to dictate to us, though it will be an uneasy alliance, and we may have to deal with the fact that freedom can be a messy business, if some decide that is how they will use it. Thank you, Dr. Hanson, for your light and inspiration and courage.

May 19, 2008 - 7:46 am TG Poll:

I think McCain has a good chance to win come Nov. However, I think there is a desire to see the repubs go up in flames come Nov and use an Obama presidency and dem congress as a recruiting tool for a conservative rennaissance. Now this strategy could backfire if Obama were to govern from the center. Now I know a lot of conservatives like to paint Obama as trojan horse for radicalism of all sorts but the truth is he’s a politician who wants to get reelected should he win. Like Clinton he could go to the center and get media cover while doing it which could detour conservatives for a few years.

May 19, 2008 - 8:02 am Trudy B. Taylor:

flanagan: nobody likes war. war changes everything and everyone. we are not the same, for better or for worse, because of it. oftentimes grownups get stuck with the hard work.even tho they are barely 20…

google the theory of maximizing discontinuity , read carefully and apply to the forces at work in a political hot zone such as the middle east. then review bush’s afganistan-iraq policy.nobody said it wasnt chancey, despite what’s being attributed to donald rumsfeld these days.

May 19, 2008 - 8:09 am tanstaafl:

…Congressional Republicans, responsible for turning principles into governance, deserve to lose

Yes, I’m a little tired of the fudging and dissembling of principle.

An example might be J. McCain’s statement that Mexicans in this country illegally are all “children of God”. Yes, but they’re children of God who are in this country illegally, and (unlike Russia or Myanmar or Zimbabwe or so many places in the world today) laws are still supposed to mean something in the US.

It all seems rather simple and full of common sense. But if “government” were actually focused on the boring task of governing and if anything at all came to be actually and definitively solved, what would the 24/7 news cycle and round-the-clock pundits do for a living ?

How would our Rock Star Congresscritters cope ?

May 19, 2008 - 8:13 am Bimmer7262:

VDH has the most spot-on commentaries across the board.
Unfortunately I see the need for true conservatives to make a clean break from the Republican party as the brand has been completely destroyed by the congress and this President. While I support many things that Pres Bush and the congress has done and fought for, their combined weakness in numerous areas is madening. Now with the clamour to be environmentalists as a way to appeal to the left becoming a daily vomit inducing side show, I cant see any way to repair this mess other than completely cleaning out all present house and Senate members or starting a 3rd party of strict conservative constructionists.

May 19, 2008 - 8:55 am mike devx:

“Historically the American people have been able to filter out, the charlatans but the trend is very frightening.”

Historically, I don’t agree. I think historically we’ve always been highly factionalized and highly emotional in our politics. It’s only the effect of the post-WWII 1950’s in which we’ve had any sense of non-biased sober assessments.

We’re returning to the norm, of hyperbias and emotional appeals.

Also, it irritates me when I hear complaints about strengthening our border security to the South. “It’s soooooo hard” appears to be the main complaint there. This is so tiring. To me the statement should be: It’s so hard to do PERFECTLY, and we shouldn’t even try that. Let’s stop trying to be so frickin’ PERFECT, and instead simply try to be effective. Just do it! Just do it! As best we can. Then clean up whatever small messes we make along the way. Let’s quit this incessant whining and nattering about the details. You can’t iron out the perfect plan in advance and then execute it flawlessly. That is unrealistic and ensures failure. Do it! And then clean it up!

May 19, 2008 - 9:10 am dj:

I suspect that a lot of the problem is a failure of leadership among the nominal Republicans. I believe the great failure of the party is that it now serves only to protect incumbents and little more. Remember when the Democrat Alcee Hastings was caught with cash in his freezer and an FBI search of his office. Remember when Dennis Hastert acted in defense of Hastings? Hastert was more concerned with protecting the privileges of incumbents than in catching a crook. Remember when Senator John Warner (VA) joined the Gang of Fourteen to work against the President. Warner said he was mostly concerned with protecting the comfortable ”collegial institutionality” of the Senate. I suspect many incumbents share the priorities of Hastert and Warner. Democrats and Republicans don’t really exist anymore. The USA is a one party state, ruled by the Incumbent Party.

May 19, 2008 - 10:24 am M.E.:

To Syn:

Do you think that an electoral victory is a question of many and not of positive program and personality? Who is Obama? A vile demagogue, without any his own idea and moral scruples, an emptiness that can be filled with all things: Marxism, fascism, racism, Islamism and so on. He is all and nothing as a bad actor. And he will win because he has much money, while honest and wise McCain will be “crucified” because “the Centrists are not giving” him “the money”. There is something that doesn’t work in this reasoning.

May 19, 2008 - 11:15 am whammo:

Wow, talk about Republicans eating their own. No, it’s not Bush’s fault. Not the disastrous war. It’s that the nutjobs R wingers in Congress aren’t winger enough for you nutjobs.

Yeah, that will work in November. Hope you got those Diebold machines working overtime stealing votes cuz that’s the only way an “R” is winning anything.

May 19, 2008 - 11:19 am Ratatosk:

There appear, to me, several reasons why the GOP is in the state that it is in. The big three IMO:

1. Bush took a with us or against us approach… not just among our allies, but also within our own nation. His actions in office, particularly during the first four years, made sure that all decisions were made by the GOP or the Administration. He continually has made Afghanistan, Iraq and the GWOT “Republican” rather than “American”. The Dems played their cards well and now, it appears that the Administration and the GOP have given us a long crap filled war… because they didn’t listen to the Dems. By shutting out half the country, they took all the blame. Of course, any sane person who looked at the situation knew we would be in a long messy war.

2. The Religious Right - Religion, in the sense that one believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and all of our morals and laws should be based upon it… is simply going away. Less and less people take the Bible as literal or as a definitive guide to morality. Religious people may find this trend disturbing, but it is the trend. By aligning the GOP with the christian right, the GOP is actively distancing itself from the next generation of Americans. A large gulf exists between “I believe in God” and “I think the government should stick Terri Schaivo’s feeding tube back in”. The GOP has really screwed themselves on this one.

3. Spending - Conservatives should be conservative. The GOP today, is not. Spending and government power have increased phenomenally during Bush’s administration. The USAPATRIOT act may or may not be good law… but conservatives look very bad when they admit that they didn’t read it before they passed it. We expect that blind trust from Dems who think the government is our bestest friend… but more is expected from conservatives that are supposed to be watching our backs.

May 19, 2008 - 11:38 am TLM:

I don’t usually care about this sort of thing, but the musicians that played at Obama’s Portland rally yesterday makeup a band called The Decemberists. Apparently this popular indie band took its name from the Decemberist Revolt against Tsar Nicholas, an event in Russian history celebrated by the Soviets. According to Wikipedia, The Decemberists often open their concerts with the National Anthem of the Soviet Union. Go figure.

May 19, 2008 - 11:55 am M.E.:

To John Moore:

“the winners write the history, and today, the winners in History departments all over the world are the left”.

I can agree with you that “the winners write the history”, but in what sense and what kind of history is this? I was borne in the Soviet Union and studied in the Soviet school. The communists were winners and they wrought their Marxist history not only of Russia, but of the entire World, and this history was a false (or mythological) history. But it is not enough to transfer the history in the myth, it is necessary to impose the myth with all the force of the State. The last example of this method of writing the history is that of the Spanish socialist Government that has imposed the law of “historical memory”, i.e. how the history of Spain must be taught. But Spain is not a totalitarian State (yet), the Government cannot control, as in the old “good” Soviet Russia, all means of information, and therefore its “victory” on the Spanish history is not complete. Neither in Russia it was complete. In a word, myth cannot resist a long time to reality. The reality is alive and moving, the myth is dead and motionless because tells about “last things”, but the real things aren’t never the “last”. So the victory of the Left is the victory of Pyrrhus. See real (not mythological) history of the king of Epirus. It is very interesting, much more than any myth.

May 19, 2008 - 3:12 pm blurto:

John McCain will win this Presidential election, because he is easily the most qualified candidate, and the American electorate recognizes this. He will achieve this without the help of the so-called “true” conservatives or “base” in the Republican party. They will not support him and and will spurn voting for him because he is neither mean spirited nor small minded enough to suit them and their agenda - plus he just doesn’t jump when they command.

When he takes office, he will ignore the destructive babbling and appalling advice of the Republican “base”, to the real benefit of us all. He will lead us with integrity, tempered by humility, and according to the Conservative Principles outlined at the top of this page.

There will be energy development without environmental degradation, an immigration policy that is strict but humane, rather than vindictive and cruel, rational spending and economic policy, the bitter end of Pork, and a realistic and sustainable conclusion to our noble efforts against terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. He will bring a resolution to these military actions that honors the people of those countries as well as the American men and women whose suffering brought real, positive change to the worst governments in the Middle East - and set an disquieting example for the rest of the despots.

He will govern honestly, for a refreshing change, and sincerely reach out to the young, hispanics, blacks and others whom have been disdained by the “true” Republicans and equally treated with condescension and contempt by the Democrats. This “across the aisle” kind of effort would energize and revitalize the conservative ideals we hope to perpetuate. John McCain could represent the salvation of a new Republican party, but without the moldy and self-entitled baggage that calls itself the “base”. Good riddance to them, hello a new future.

May 19, 2008 - 3:39 pm Larry:

The first Republican problem is trust. They have so violated their principles that many have simply stopped listening.

Spending: If anyone is to believe Reps would do something here, they need to do something like upholding Bush’s veto of the farm bill.

The War: America is very tired of the war, but willing to believe. Reps should get on the victory train and sell recent successes like crazy, while also warning about what would happen if Obama get his hands on things. They also need to get behind fixing the military’s problems, specifically veterans, rotations, resupply, and recruiting.

Energy: Too late for this. McCain, no less than Dems, is going to put in cap-and-trade, which is about conservation, not production. ANWR isn’t going to happen. Western states like Wyoming (!) and Colorado are getting unhappy about increased activity. The key is to accelerate the transition to carbon-free energy. Nuclear seems obvious, but costs keep increasing. Dumping the ethanol subsidy and tariff would be a good move.

Economy: Even if we are not in a recession, the public is not happy about the economy. Happy talk won’t get it done. Dems have no vision here, either, as the nonsense about tapping the SPR and gas tax holiday demonstrate. If Reps start talking about this period as a transition to a better future, people might listen, but not unless that future looks a lot clearer than it does at the moment.

Immigration: Closing the border appeases the base, but doesn’t expand it. Hispanics are gettable, but not by stomping on them. Stopping entries does nothing about the existing 12 million illegals. Are we to raid every major corporation that has significant numbers of illegals? We need to reform legal immigration as well, focusing on the global competition for talent over just about anything else.

Trade: Reps need a coherent story about globalization. They used to have one, but that’s over. If we don’t understand why the public has lost faith in globalization, there’s no chance to begin rebuilding it.

Foreign Policy: People know that State and Defense are already talking to Iran and others. Attacking Obama there makes for a soundbite, but doesn’t advance the discussion. Ignoring them isn’t going to stop them from going nuclear. Reps need a story about how to do that.

Homeland Security: Various Patriot Act provisions sunset over the coming years. Congress has already refused to give the telcos immunity without suffering in any way. People look at the joke that is airport security and hear about porous port security and wonder what our money is buying. The only riposte is “no attack since 9/11″. Reps need some stories about disasters prevented.

Ethics: Reps keep embarrassing themselves. The only question Americans are asking is “who’s next”? How about loudly condemning their own fallen? Spitzer resigned. Craig and Presser did not.

Health care is high on everyone’s priority list. Reps need to unite behind a big positive change. McCain is pointing the way.

Education. Everybody is running away from NCLB. What’s the next chapter? Are Reps ready to get behind vouchers? Science-based methods? Anything beyond union bashing?

And I claim to be a conservative!

May 19, 2008 - 10:00 pm Jeremy Janson:

Someone brought up the bizarre paradox of a congress that is losing because it won’t stand for it’s issues but is afraid of doing so. I think what it comes down to is the great example of a turncoat politician from four years ago, John “The Liberal who wore Centrists clothing” Kerry. He lost in part because people caught on to the fact that it was nothing but a ruse, and therefore likely a whole heap of lies. John Kerry tried to lie or conceal about virtually every issue in his pervious time in office, and the truth came out very easilly. And as a matter of fact, people do vote for these pork-jobs, especially in the South, where impoverished small towns are so desperate for jobs and growth that they will do nearly anything it seems, no matter how unprincipled, ridiuclous or undignified, to get them.

May 19, 2008 - 11:09 pm Andrew Ian Dodge:

My prediction is that McCain will win in Nov…Obama doing far less well than expected. The House & the Senate on the other hand will be rough for the Republicans unless they get their act together soon.

May 20, 2008 - 2:20 am JGsez:

The only way the GOP can save themselves is to admit they lost their way and embrace Gingrich Revolution #2.

May 20, 2008 - 6:11 am TLM:

To M.E.

Any comment on Obama’s favorite Portland Band The Decembrists? Not to make a big issue out of a name, but what were they thinking? Figured that would set you off.

May 20, 2008 - 6:20 am Al Reasin:

That is why grass roots conservatives, under Bill quick, have started the American Conservative Party. Join us at http://americanconservativeparty.org

May 20, 2008 - 6:28 am fretless:

How come this is so obvious to everyone EXCEPT the RNC and the governator?

May 20, 2008 - 10:12 am Gekkobear:

M.E. - “So my question is: are Americans able as a nation (not as individuals) to distinguish between a constructive man like John McCain and a cheap demagogue like Obama (or Hillary), between a positive program and an empty rhetoric?”

Ok, is McCain more conservative than Obama? Yes, based on what he says.

Is he better (from my viewpoint) than Obama on many issues? Yes, based on what they both say.

Will I vote for McCain? Not in a million years.

You do not get to violate your oath of office, create and pass unconstitutional laws, and repeal Constitutional freedoms; and then get my support. It will not happen.

I don’t care what you promise afterward, you’ve shown your oath means nothing and you can’t be trusted.

If someone were running on a platform of all of the above list, as well as repealing terms and term limits and becoming President for life, would you support them? Or would that one issue repealing the limits of Government warn you off enough that you’d vote for a less optimal candidate?

Well, McCain gives me a lesser version of that feeling inside. He can’t support the First Amendment or Free Speech, but he want to lead the nation? Not with my help.

May 20, 2008 - 12:20 pm M.E.:

To TLM:

You can see in Wikipedia the National Anthem of the Soviet Union’s story. It was called Stalin’s Anthem. What do I think? For me it was and will remain forever not a National Anthem, but the hymn of the Republic of Terror, of the death camps, not an Anthem, but the Anathema. I would say that Stalin’s Anthem can be an ideal liturgical song of Obama’s worshippers (not supporters but namely worshippers. I have read already the prayer like that: Obama, we adore you!). What is that? Madness of crowds? Collective hysteria? Is borne a new generation of demons “obamites”? I am a scholar of myths. There are many myths about fighting between gods and demons, between the forces of Good and Evil. When the Soviet Empire fell I thought that fight was over. It was an illusion. And now we see again the World is filled with demons of all kinds: Islamists, terrorists, leftists, obamites and so on. I am desperate.

May 20, 2008 - 12:33 pm John Samford:

“There will be no closing of the border without squeezing the crossing points very hard. Which means the just-in-time inventories that we spent the 90’s building (I helped build them for US multi-nationals) across both N & S borders will stop functioning”

SO WHAT! I’m tired of all the selfish pricks that seem to think a few extra bucks in their pocket is more important then America.
Suck it up! Be a man!

Boycott the MSM!

May 21, 2008 - 6:05 am George:

Wouldn’t Obama be cast as a heretic in the eyes of Islamic extremists, having in their eyes ’shunned’ being Muslim and converting to Christianity? I would imagine terrorist lunatics would make this case at some point..

May 21, 2008 - 4:34 pm WR Jonas:

I have come very late to this comment section . Nevertheless I agree with the basic premise of VDH that the Party needs rejuvenation, drastically.
I think we need a rallying principle and I believe we have one that almost everyone agrees on. Well, a few liberals will scream to high heaven but few can deny that we need to get out of the UN. What a shameful travesty this organization has become . It simply needs to vanish.

May 21, 2008 - 6:54 pm TLM:

Nah. Keep the U.N. When McCain wins he can send Obama there as our Ambassador. Maybe the junior Senator will learn something about the real world. If not, he can talk as much as he wants without doing anything. Either way he’ll be out of our hair.

May 22, 2008 - 4:57 am Art:

Quote from Whammo..”Wow, talk about Republicans eating their own. No, it’s not Bush’s fault. Not the disastrous war. It’s that the nutjobs R wingers in Congress aren’t winger enough for you nutjobs.

Yeah, that will work in November. Hope you got those Diebold machines working overtime stealing votes cuz that’s the only way an “R” is winning anything.”

You can always tell when a Liberal has joined the discussion by his/her disregard for facts, and the inevitable ad hominem attacks.

May 22, 2008 - 12:55 pm Mark:

> “close the border” can mean this– > police thoroughly all the NON-’Crossing Points’, that is, all the OPEN border areas where people walk across by the hundreds of thousands. Use technology, and lots and lots of people.. and STOP ILLEGALS coming across where they know they will not be stopped.

Dave: In actual fact, half of the illegals we have entered the country legally. Does no one know this?

And we have predator drones policing the border pretty heavily North and South. They are quite effective in detecting and alerting border patrol of intruders. And we have 3 times more agents in 8 years, radically higher deportation, and on and on and illegal crossings are way way down by all the accepted estimating methods. For this the US gov gets no credit, and people do not even know their borders are patrolled 24/7 by aircraft. That’s why chasing the Paleocon vote is a fool’s errand. They’ll never know progress because they are busy fighting last years war, and living in the world of conspiracies where the bad guys always win.

May 22, 2008 - 10:59 pm Mark:

> It is NOT necessary to grind business to a halt in order to stop the flow of illegal crossers. What IS necessary is that ‘realists’ like yourself admit that this HAS to be done, not complain that it will never be done.

Dave: Find any historical precedent for a wall that stops human traffic and still allows the large trade flows with Mexico we have. Just one. I support the predator drones that now patrol the border 24/7. I support vigorous border enforcement that has increased a great deal since 9/11, but half of the illegals enter legally. So I’m being quite realistic in saying that the crossing points will have to be squeezed very hard and it and/or it will take a very large army in addition to the 30k border patrol agents we will soon have to track and expel those who cross legally and don’t return ontime. So now hire another 30k of agents to do that. How large will the mass of border patrol agents have to be before you’ll admit that “10,000 more” was the answer for many years and we are no closer to your goal apparently, because you won’t admit we are any closer. We are meeting more modest goals (30% + reductions year-over-year) by the enforcement mechanisms I’ve mentioned that I support, and the figures have always moved with the job market anyway. It isn’t that enforcement will never be done, it is that what you recommend has never worked to your own satisfaction and never will.

May 22, 2008 - 11:20 pm Mark:

> Mark, Dave is correct. I’ve watched separate commercial truck border crossings in operation and know they are able to work efficiently.

49ersweet: Um … Mark is correct. They are just naturally efficient? This is the feds, you know. I’ve watched these bureaucrats in action myself, and I’m less than inspired by their performance. And I’ve regularly seen trucks wait for hours. Apparently others think so too.

http://www.swtexaslive.com/node/5724

May 22, 2008 - 11:31 pm Mark:

> I don’t want to defend my point of view. My main sources for the US history and actual politics are not Hollywood’s films, but Tocqueville, J.-F. Revel, V.D. Hanson, Norman Podhoretz.

M. E.: Sorry if I mischaracterized your view, as I think I did now. Bush did bring about a “radical shift” in the sense I think you meant it after rereading your words. Bush did perform a “radical shift”, but I only meant to say that it had ample precedent in US history and that the realist/idealist back and forth goes in cycles. If Obama gets in it is hello “realist” school again. Realpolitik really. As a neocon, I hate it.

May 22, 2008 - 11:40 pm Mark:

> I’m having a bit of trouble with your logic. Can you explain to me how many tourists and business folks are wading across the Rio Grande … If, as you see to say, large numbers of American tourists and businesses are using these unconventional methods to cross the US/Mexico border ..

OsoGrizzly: I have no idea why you think I was claiming this. Could you clarify your point so I can respond? Your sarcasm has obscured it.

May 22, 2008 - 11:45 pm Mark:

> I’m having a bit of trouble with your logic. Can you explain to me how many tourists and business folks are wading across the Rio Grande … If, as you see to say, large numbers of American tourists and businesses are using these unconventional methods to cross the US/Mexico border ..

OsoGrizzly: On second thought, since I’m out tomorrow I may not get back to this thread. So let me just say that it is generally considered a fact that near half of illegal immigrants came here legally. I have no idea why you think I meant that tourists and businessmen wade across the river. Obviously, 50% of all illegals walk, drive, and fly across just like everyone else. That’s the point, and I only mentioned this because most people have no idea. But if you’ve lived on the border and crossed extensively to work, shop, etc., you’d know about visas, visa waivers, international treaties, local border crossing cards, and more. All to say that those who propose to solve the problem of illegal crossings with no real knowledge of the subject are … well, when you don’t know that you don’t know … the problem does seem easy to solve doesn’t it?

May 23, 2008 - 12:06 am larryo:

Want to stop illegal immigration? All that’s necessary is a one-year federal mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who hires an undocumented alien for domestic purposes and a two-year federal mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who hires an undocumented alien in a commercial enterprise. No jobs - problem solved!

But you cannot support that, can you? Mandatory minimum sentences are great for potheads but not for businessmen and the wives of the rich, isn’t that right?

Conservatives my ass - you are morons - authoritarian followers without a brain cell working. What about this:

“Afghanistan and Iraq have radically improved.”

Boy, they sure have. The Taliban has retaken significant lost ground, the violence in Iraq is at a record peak and you call that “improvement.”

Jun 8, 2008 - 10:35 am

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