Moments Of Clarity
Stephen Bainbridge is out with a piece that sums up many of the issues I've addressed in this space, and shows why I chuckle every time I get one of those "you're not really a conservative" e-mails:
It's time for us conservatives to face facts. George W. Bush has pissed away the conservative moment by pursuing a war of choice via policies that border on the criminally incompetent. We control the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and (more-or-less) the judiciary for one of the few times in my nearly 5 decades, but what have we really accomplished? Is government smaller? Have we hacked away at the nanny state? Are the unborn any more protected? Have we really set the stage for a durable conservative majority?He continues:
While we remain bogged down in Iraq, of course, Osama bin Laden remains at large somewhere. Multi-tasking is all the rage these days, but whatever happened to finishing a job you started? It strikes me that catching Osama would have done a lot more to discourage the jihadists than anything we've done in Iraq.A good quick read....
posted by The Cunning Realist at Sunday, August 21, 2005
13 Comments:
I think good old George will go down in history as a success at promoting and fostering radical Islam throughout the Middle East.
This piece from TPMCafe (not to mention the Iraqi "constitution").
Danger in Bangladesh
By Arun
On August 17, there were 459 bomb blasts all across Bangladesh, in 63 of the 64 districts, within a space of 30 minutes. In the leaflets, in Bangla and Arabic, found with the bomb devices, Jama'atul Mujahideen, Bangladesh, which was banned on February 23 this year, said: "It is time to implement Islamic law in Bangladesh. There is no future with man-made law."
(from the Daily Star)
It will be difficult for the die-hard Bush appologists to ever see past towing The Party line, for fear that it will acknowledge failure..or much worse let any ground slip to the other party.
To stick one's neck out too far will put the smearsters on your scent—as your laughable e-mail's will attest.
Prime example: Today on Meet the Press, Trent Lott bracketed any criticizm of the Dear Leader's policies with a lame attempt to throw off the perception that he can see thru the rhetoric..."don't interpret this as criticizm..."
Zen hits on the main point: unless the Republicans repudiate George Bush PERSONALLY, no change is possible. Hagel makes me sick. He's willing to say the war in Iraq is going poorly, but he's not willing to take the step which can end this disaster and clearly and publicly lay the blame on Bush, personally, for the problems we face.
Bush's lack of leadership is the prime cause for all the poor planning and mixed signals and conflicting plans on display in Iraq.
Bush PERSONALLY must be held responsible, and separated from his political power by Congress deciding to ignore him and do what is necessary in Iraq. Nothing less will suffice.
It is always dangerous to drag in religion as a justification for ones political action.
The following was said some time ago -
“The National Government will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built up. They regard Christianity as the foundation of our national morality and the family as the basis of national life.”
This was not said by Bush, who has stated similar sentiment continuously, but by Hitler during his first radio address, and it is something our right wing conservative GOP faithful would endorse 150%. Scary.
But then they have endorsed and supported toture, imprisonment without charges and kidnapping.
I sometimes wonder if there is a line they will not cross, but I have my doubts. One step at a time with rightous justification will get us to approve that crossing.
I would recommend reading the entire Acceptance speech delivered by Fritz Stern upon receiving the
Leo Baeck Medal at the 10th Annual Dinner of the Leo Baeck Institute in New York.
Fritz Stern is jewish, a refugee from Hitler's Germany and a leading scholar of European history.
W's pissed away just about everything that he inherited in Jan.2001, economey, international credibility and reputation etc.
To Bush, everything is a question of salesmanship, pizzazz is more important than substance.
To Bush, loyalty is more important than knowledge and solutions. O'Neill canned after he said tax cuts were a bad idea. Larry Linsey was pushed out after he pointed out that the Iraq war would cost over $200 billion. We are well over that now; $6 billion/ month, plus mega-future costs. But hey, they lied about the cost of the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit too. Fiscally conservative... I don't think so.
The important thing is the sales job. I think Bush sold the Iraq war on WMD pretty damn good. What's the motto: ABC - "always be closing"; "don't pitch the bitch". No wonder Zig Ziglar loves Bush. It doesn't make us safer, it doesn't save our kids from fighting a preemptive war of choice, it doesn't make us a smarter or stronger country, basically all it does is make Bush feeeeellll good. Ah, that should be enough for Cindy Sheehan; to know her President feels good about himself.
When is "victory" in Iraq?
If the constitution is passed in any shape that it comes just to get it done, and if the elections are held, and some government formed corrupt or not, and the police trained to some degree, but the fighting is the same or worse, do we stay or go?
Forget an exact "timeline", Mr. President just tell us what the noble cause is?
This "Republican" party is not a conservative party. Call it
"Republican", just don't call it conservative. First off, where are the conservative principles?
Zen hits on the main point: unless the Republicans repudiate George Bush PERSONALLY, no change is possible.
For this nation to ever get back on track, every republican in this country needs to look inside himself, and accept responsibility for his or her role in enabling this corrupt regime.
Bush didn't do this by himself. Bush accomplished this with a Republican Senate and House. And how do you think we ended up with a Republican controlled WH, Senate and House? Bush accomplished this with the help of millions of people who voted for him and for republican senators and congressmen who would support any initiative he set forth.
Blaming Bush is an easy way out, folks. Republicans have themselves to blame. They got what they wanted, they enacted thier agenda, and now reality is not being kind to their ideas.
Yes I agree, giving Bush the sole credit of masterminding the policies we see now tearing the nation apart, is giving Bush way too much credit. Just as we are warned not to "misunderestimate" him, we should also not focus so closely on him as to ignore the background. He is but a frontman, a symbol, and yes a salesman.
Although he sits in the hot-seat it works both ways for him. The Party doesn't mind Bush taking the heat for many of the things they should be held accountable for. But when there's an attempt to strap accountability on Bush, the Party comes to the rescue. It's a cycle of backscratching.
The Party defends Dear Leader, while at the same time hiding in his shadow when the critics arise. Bush manages to weater the storm because of Party support and the Right-wing media attack dogs that shift blame and allow accountability to become a rare dish.
After all it's common knowledge that George doesn't breathe without instruction from Rove or Cheney.
I have a question for all those who have left posts here:
Did you vote for Bush in '00 or in '04?
I ask this not have a 'gottcha' moment but to simply gauge the backlash (if it really exists) to the Bush agenda.
For me, my biggest problem has to do with utter lack of effective execution in the policies that have been enacted. I know that goes along with what some of you have already stated but it seems that GWB (and the GOP) is the antithesis of the MBA Pres. If he were a businessman, he'd have been fired. Look at Carly Fiorina. She wasn't fired for her ideas. She was fired for the poor execution of those ideas.
I voted for Bush in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. Former Conservative, now moderate, guess you could say George Bush "turned" me!
from http://www.slate.com/id/2109218/
"The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know, decided to make use of the religious right in their class war against the middle class and against the regulations that were protecting those whom they considered to be their rightful prey—workers and consumers. The architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules. They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant. Lots of Americans like and admire them because lots of Americans, even those who don't share those same qualities, don't know which end is up. Can the Democrats appeal to such voters? Do they want to? The Republicans have sold their souls for power. Must everyone?"
this is for the most part true of the republican leadership and the neo-conservative movement. though not for all republicans, as this site so ably shows.
george was bought and payed for, propped up by corporate interests and ideologues who bare no resemblence to the eisenhower republicans of yore.
the question is, as a nation and as a member of the world, can this country survive what the neocons have done to it? i know over 2000 of our own haven't, and countless more from other lands.
you voted him in because he played to his base... fear and hubris. now you need to retake your party, or remake it, and stop this from continuing.
the emperor has no clothes folks. time to take responsibility.
and for the dem's, we damned sure best learn how to fight for this nation and not just on the battlefields.
Bainbridge, and TCR, speak for me. :)
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