hard-boiled

February 2nd 2010

No Room for Reagan - The Atlantic (February 1, 2010)

Great short read even if you have no idea what Tea Party Republicans are.

Wouldn’t have thought the day would come so soon that Reagan would have been considered less conservative than the most vocal currently representing his party.

Posted at 11:48am and tagged with: reagan, tea party, republican, really? defense of marriage?,.

“

In the end, chairman Michael Steele persuaded the Republican National Committee not to require that any candidate hoping to receive help from the party promise to support eight out of ten principles in the so-called Reagan Resolution.

The “Reagan Resolution” allows for only two apostasies per candidate. By my count, Ronald Reagan committed at least four. Good thing Chairman Steele made the whole thing voluntary. It would be sad to think that the Republican Party no longer has room for Ronald Reagan.

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October 18th 2009

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Olympia’s ‘Betrayal’ - Mickey Edwards

This picture is perfect in every way.

I take issue with the article in so much as it feels like a high school primer for a U.S. government class. Unfortunately that is exactly what people need lately.

Posted at 8:09am and tagged with: olympia, snowe, republican,.

Olympia’s ‘Betrayal’ - Mickey Edwards
This picture is perfect in every way.
I take issue with the article in so much as it feels like a high school primer for a U.S. government class. Unfortunately that is exactly what people need lately.

May 13th 2009

: : The National Council for a New America : :

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Last bit of political garbage for today.

Is there a suggestion here that there is something wrong with the current America? Do you not like where our borders are? Do you like ‘white’ more than ‘gray’? Or are you simply suggesting that we move the capital? I’m not sure I get it.

This new Republican initiative sounds more like a domestic terrorist organization than “policy-based conversation” group.

Posted at 3:06pm and tagged with: national, council, new, america, ncna, terrorism, anti, anti-american, republican,.

May 13th 2009

Relevant or ‘Pure’?

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It’s no mystery that the GOP is the butt of the majority of political jokes lately, but they certainly aren’t making it any easier on themselves.

When a relevant voice in your party (Specter) leaves, that should be a sign that you need to be a bit more introspective. There might be something seriously wrong with your party when someone who embraces your party’s ideals leaves because of ideological differences…

What better way to respond than to say that maybe there is more fat in the party to shed.

From the NY Times:

A fundamental debate broke out among Republicans…over how to rebuild the party in the wake of Senator Arlen Specter’s departure: Should it purge moderate voices like Mr. Specter and embrace its conservative roots or seek to broaden its appeal to regain a competitive position against Democrats?

What I really enjoy are unsubstantiated generalities:

“We strayed from our principles of limited government, individual responsibility and economic freedom,” - Chris Chocola

Those are big words coming from a member of the party that has such strong feelings about abortion.

At least a few of them have some brains:

“We are not losing blue states and shrinking as a party because we are not conservative enough. If we pursue a party that has no place for someone who agrees with me 70 percent of the time, that is based on an ideological purity test rather than a coalition test, then we are going to keep losing.” - Senator Lindsay Graham

It would seem like the best of the worst (in my opinion) have their backs against the wall. They need to either sacrifice what they believe to be ideological pinnings that should not be compromised, or simply go down swinging, but certainly go down.

Either way, the floundering, squealing sound of marginalized Republicans will be fun to listen to for at least 3+ years.

Posted at 2:58pm and tagged with: marginalized, republican, relevant, pure, specter, GOP, democrat, fail, crist, arlen, nytimes,.

April 15th 2009

He Didn’t Forget

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I was reading this article today and I couldn’t help but laugh at how far off John Murray was. Quote:

Mr. McCain is coming under fire for his conspicuous memory lapse when listing the names of Republican governors who could be the next in line to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.

“We have, I’m happy to say, a lot of voices out there,” Mr. McCain told host Jay Leno before listing Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Utah Gov. Jim Huntsman, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. “There are a lot of governors out there who are young and dynamic.”

Recognizing his error, the Arizona senator added,

“I’ve left out somebody’s name, and I’m going to hear about it.”

He didnt forget. To me, at least, it is obvious that he knowingly left Sarah Palin out.

By failing to mention Mrs. Palin’s name, some conservatives say Mr. McCain is fracturing a Republican Party that must start uniting now if it is going to topple Mr. Obama in 2012.

A good start might be by not uniting around a polarizing figure from within your own party…

Quoting someone else, Murray continues:

“My hunch is that Sarah Palin is not offended. She is so focused upon running her own state — often to the detriment of her national persona — that she might say this is as it should be. She is not mentioned nationally because she is acting locally,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, co-founder of the Team Sarah Website.

“Team Sarah members are generally encouraged and attracted by her penchant to shy away from insider politics. She is clearly not playing the insider game.”

If doing your job in your home state - as a politician - is detrimental to your national persona - as a politician - then you are doing something wrong. She often talked about making “unpopular” tough decisions. Making them is supposed to make you a more viable candidate, not an afterthough in the mind of a living American hero.

Murray’s misread of intentions on the account of McCain is so obvious that the only other option is denial.

Posted at 11:25am and tagged with: Sarah Palin, Republican, Barack Obama, Jay Leno, John McCain, Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, John Murray,.