As a registered Republican, I find myself — along with a percentage of my readers — predominantly disgusted with the Republican Party. It is one major reason I no longer contribute to the RNC and, instead, write checks solely to my local Conservative interests.
All politics is local.” -Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill
That in consideration, as my mind wanders this late Saturday night, the rain falling heavily outside, the first rain of my fall season — I reflect not only on John McCain’s current campaign but Republican politics for the, say, past eight years. And that is this:
Republicans won’t fight.
And I don’t know why.
This frustrates me, angers me, fills me with a sense of rage because, of those who know me, they realize I do not back down from a fight. I have no problem whatsoever with calling things as they are, with not becoming a doormat for the newest, hippest, most recent “thing.” I have no problem whatsoever utilizing the word “NO” in the strongest terms and backings possible.
If there’s one thing that I remember from my red-haired and -bearded high school Poli-Sci teacher at Fairmont East, Mr. Helms — and that history has reinforced election after election — it is this:
Democrats don’t win elections; Republicans lose them.
It was a truism then; it is a truism now.
I firmly believe this presidential election truly is McCain’s to win, if he would but pull out all the stops and go for the Demorat jugular. If he would but fight.
He’s already given up Michigan; that was a massive, massive, massive mistake. It set precedent; it sent verbal and non-verbal messages broadcast near and far, and that is this: I’m John McCain, and I won’t fight for what is mine.
Perhaps McCain thought that, because Detroit and, by extension, the entire state is unionized, it’s out of his hands.
I say: wrong. What Detroit workers want is consistency. Assurance. Remembrance. Not a bailout; they know they’re waaaaay down on the Food Chain. Just assurance that they’re not forgotten. That they “matter,” as Blue Collar workers, to the Republicans.
That, John, you’ll fight for them.
But you gave them up in a heartbeat.
Then, further, you sent Sarah Palin, the most fresh, the most energetic, the most nouveau and charismatic Republican to represent the party in years, to do battle with Joe Biden completely chained, fettered, restrained.
She “took one for the team” John, but she should never have to do that again. I, you, me, my readers, can all tell: she’s just waiting to be let loose. She’s more Conservative than you could ever hope to be. She knows it; you know it.
And still you keep her enslaved, chained, repressed.
I say this now, sir: to your own detriment and to the detriment of the entire electorate of this nation.
If you don’t come out swinging this next week, if you don’t take the fight right back to the Demorats, the MSM, the Defeatist Elitist Media, then you have essentially doomed Conservatism for many, many years to come.
The paradigm has changed; are you too old to recognize this? Is it pride? Is it a sense of misplaced decorum? Is it a sense of “gentlemen’s rules” five generations back? Is it a feeling of “they’ll play fair if I play fair” because — if you’re predicating your campaign upon anything even remotely resembling this philosophy — you’re “failing to plan” and, moreover, “planning to fail.”
Because there is NO restraint amongst the Demorats. No lie too bold. No half-truth not embraced. No courage allowed. No fact left untrampled.
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” — Joseph Goebbels
This next week shall determine the entire election.
BZ
Sen. McCain tried to be ‘bi-partisan’. That is a CF no matter which way you cut it. Reforming the system means changing the system substantially, not in saying ‘its basically ok and just needs some tweaks’. The D party wanted to ‘help’ poor Americans on homeownership. Look what we got. Who helped them? The R party that did not stand by sound and firm economics and insist that people show responsibility and actual ability to hold a paying job and pay a mortgage.
Good going on that fiscal conservatism front!
They were more than happy to buy into the ‘Peace Dividend’ and reap the benefits of being able to divert money from DoD to other programs. Except for a couple of Army Divisions that came in for the lowest readiness rating of any unit since Vietnam in 1999, the lack of logistical stores and not having the faintest idea of what sort of wars we just might end up fighting, it all worked out so great! How come those in the R party complain about not having enough troops? They helped to CUT THEM in the 1990’s and it takes time to train, supply and ensure that logistics are met to keep our soldiers in the field and supplied.
Great work there on being conservative for the military.
Then comes national security in the ‘hey we promise to stop illegal immigration’ in 1986… and that comes to? Yeah, amnesty bills proposed by the R party. Don’t mind the Egyptian jackets with al Qaeda patches found on the border post-2001, I’m sure they would love an amnesty, too. Ditto the Snakeheads from China packing tens of people into shipping containers. And the Hezbollah operatives running a tax fraud scheme for avoiding cigarette taxes. What is a few million a month to such an organization?
Good job with national security conservatism.
Say, just what is up with the R party? If I wanted to vote socialist I would vote D… how come I got a RINO who sucks up to San Fran Nan, visits Assad in Syria and then votes for the D crap bailout and just about every other D sponsored bill? Its a ‘safe district’ all right… for a RINO. Effectively someone from the D party as that is how the district votes for everything else.
It is bad news when I have to depend on the low purchase price Blue Dogs to stand up for something even half-way sane… and they do have a low purchase price attached to them, which is why pork buys them off. If holding to conservative values, even when they *lose*, demonstrates what is a better way to go and keep on pushing for it, then why doesn’t anyone who is elected stand up for them? I count about 20 or 30 Upon the Hill who can do that. And they aren’t in the Senate.
I will vote for a good person that I understand and have some basic agreement with. You don’t have to hit 90%… heck a bit over 50% is good enough. I can’t find that right now, outside of Gov. Palin. I will vote for her… a write-in for President. She is hitting over the 50% mark by a wide margin and actually *does* what she *says* she will do and *means it*. Those power-hungry in the D party and their affiliates in the R-party where ‘hey we are close to a majority if you keep them!’ means not getting anything of value done I have little want nor need for.
Sen. McCain, in giving up on MI is giving up on truly changing the R party. Gov. Palin should, after a couple of more money trips to TX and CA, say, ‘to hell with this, I am going to where we need to WIN’. I think she is up to that job of connecting with blue collar America and uniting it with middle class America and small business America. Believe it or not, that is a *majority* of America.
Do attack Obama’s contacts, by all means… but run the cultural ground game hard for the next few weeks in those ‘iffy’ Rust Belt and Appalachia states and cement a winning coalition. Which means the ‘Maverick’ will need to understand that he *needs* Gov. Palin to keep *him* in line to be successful. A good LEADER would do that and not let his hubris stand in his way of doing what is necessary.
Don’t hold your breath as Sen. McCain would have to run against his pals in Congress. Someone please hand a cluebat to Gov. Palin….
AJ: couldn’t have said it better. And if McCain tanks (it will be of HIS own doing), we WILL see Sarah Palin AGAIN.
BZ
Barack John
Left and rights of passage
Black and whites of youth
Who can face the knowledge
that the truth is not the truth?
Obsolete Absolute
Ron Ralph
Cruising under your radar
Watching from the satellites
Take a page from the red book
and keep them in your sights
Red alert Red alert
USN
PNVUS: recycled Rush lyrics? Give me a break!
BZ
BZ, I consider you to be a friend, a brother in blood and in bond, we have walked too many of the same paths for it to be otherwise and I seriously respect your views and opinions, even when we don’t agree, we remain more than civil with each other, which is a hell of a lot more than can be said of a few folks here…
As such, let me take this opportunity to piss in the Cheerios of the Republican Lockstep Loons, there is NO Republican party, it no longer exists…
The is no Democratic party either…
The 2 have merged and formed the American Socialist Party and we are a hell of a lot closer to being the United Socialist States of America than at ANY time in our history…
I never had a hell of a lot of respect for the Dems, it’s been years since we had one that was worthy OF respect, but now, there are NO Republicans worthy of support, and those that continue to support them are traitors to this nation…
I admire greatly your giving to THE CANDIDATE and not the party, it’s a damned shame we can’t vote that way too, but as you and Rob have pointed out, the None of the Above is just not a viable option, and I had to accept that, but when John McCain voted right down the line with Obama, Biden and the rest on this Wall Street bailout bullshit, I decided that right then and there, that’s it, I will NOT support McCain, my vote would be for Sarah Palin, by proxy, and cast with the distinct hope that someone gives that *folksy* bitch a few lessons in speech, otherwise, she is out of the mix too…
Imagine an exchange of ideas between Putin and Palin.
‘Well goshdarn, by golly Mr. Putin, if ya don’t go along with us on this offer we’re a bringin’ to the table for ya, I might just have ta skin ya out like a moose and let the 1st Dude run over ya with his new snow machine, just sayin’ goshdarn it, you betcha I am’…
We’re screwed!
a jacksonian, you suggested Palin try in Michigan, SHE WANTS TO! I think she should and she has said she wants to, her and Todd, and I’ll bet she gets the ok from McCain. Furthermore, I would not be at all surprised to see her win that state back! Wouldn’t that piss off “the chosen one?”
BV, nice blog you have here. I was surprised to see myself in your blog roll, I’ll be returning that favor and will be back. I consider myself a “conservative leaning moderate”, but so far I see we think alike in many many ways.
AA: welcome to The Usual Suspects, I admire your blog greatly.
TF: I’m quite at the loss, Fred, to do much more than what I am doing. I’ve “found my guy,” so to speak, in Tom McClintock. I can’t, I WON’T vote for Obama nor will I NOT vote in this election; if I stay at home I’ve as much as proffered a vote to he and Biden. So, as I indicate in the sidebar, I’ll grit my teeth and vote for McCain/Palin.
Absent some kind of horrible insurrection, absent my taking my positive activities down to the most base of local levels, and absent writing about it on my blog, I’m at a loss.
We huff and puff about “vote them all out” but you and I both know there are too many of THEM — those uneducated persons who are either buffoons, too stupid to wield a voting pen or completely indifferent to politics — and not nearly enough of US.
Regards Palin, she’s still getting her feet wet. She’s taking numerous hits “for the team” and, as she doesn’t have a massive amount of power (YET!) she’s playing by McCain’s rules — whatever the hell those may be.
I really am thinking this will be something of the “make or break” week for the McCain campaign. He MUST “amp up” the bluster, the outrage, “take it back” to the Demorats or he, well, he’ll be watching January’s swearing-in ceremony from Arizona.
BZ
The GOP has got to accept the fact that the MSM has a moral imperative, as much as they have any such thing, to hate Republicans and they will hate them no matter what and the GOP needs to stop trying to please the media and go with what they believe instead of trying to satisfy people who hate them on principle. McCain was one of their favorite Republicans until he got the nomination.
All bullshit aside……..
Last night I was at the Dodger game with a group of those evil-Hollywood friends. There was this Liberal Bimbo wearing an Obama button that wouldn’t shut-up. Believe it or not there were more McCain supporters than Obama so the conversation turned ugly real quick. I usually stay out of these conversations but she wouldn’t shut the Hell up. After a few drinks she started getting louder and louder, we were in one of those evil-Hollywood studios skybox things with a bar and seats that rocked back and forth. She turned to the group and said, “Tell me one good thing about voting for McCain”.
I answered and said, “Tina Fey will be on SNL for the next four Years”.
After a round of applause she sat down and didn’t say another word all night.
There was another guy wearing a shirt that read, McCain, the White Obama.
It is truly a strange time in America, a sad time I must admit. People who were once friends no longer speak to each other over this election. Our country is becoming a Socialist Country and Obama hasn’t even been elected yet. If you ran a corrupt business our country will now bail you out and so on and so on.
Oh, how it could have been, just think if McCain had………what’s the use, he didn’t.
BZ, I hope I am wrong, I really do, but it is my feeling that McCain couldn’t start a fire with a gallon of high test and a box of matches..
We’ll see…
Palin does have a future, but she needs a speech coach, in THE worst way…
Ranando, Tina Fey and SNL for 4 years?? Oh hell yeah!! LMAO
Ranando: how about a T-shirt that says: “Obama. The OTHER White Meat”? And that was a GREAT response about SNL!!
TF: I think we’ll see a distinct turn this week, for good or for bad. . .
BZ
AA – I talk about the divide that the Republican party stumbled on with Gov. Palin on 05 SEP 2008 and then left comments in a few places that the place to *win* is the Rust Belt through Appalachia and cement a new cultural basis for the Republican party. That is the weak point in the old Democratic coalition and Gov. Palin fits that demographic perfectly. That even goes into WI and MN, plays through IN and MO all the way down to AL and GA, and up north to PA and even old ‘Yankee Northeast’ small town America.
It is not conservative/liberal, but small town and rural/big city. Decentralized vs. Centralized. The R party cannot win with ethics based on RINOs, country clubs and elitism… that is now the D domain. Time to side with the majority of America. If only the R party could realize what they have to do as a party. You can’t convince these folks to come into the party when it is going along with bailouts, earmarks, restricting basic rights, and generally kowtowing to the D party at every turn. People who work for a living generally need a spine and some courage to do so… going off on junkets and a 3 day work week tells them much about the politicians they elect, which is why we are headed to the first sub-50% turnout election in decades, and perhaps since the Civil War. And that should worry *everyone*.
I love the picture at the top of this post. LOL!
Kudos to your lovely wife, BZ. She sounds like a fighter and so are you. Not voting in this election will help Obama, and that’s something I refuse to do.
I’ve gotten to the point where I detest Obama’s voice. It’s painful, really painful, to listen to him, but the debate is tomorrow night and I’ll watch it if it kills me! Let’s hope McCain comes out stronger. Palin cannot carry this election all by herself.
I answered and said, “Tina Fey will be on SNL for the next four Years”
Wish I could have seen that! Well done.
Excellent post!