Last night at the SLDN fundraiser, I did my utmost to stay silent when various participants maligned Republicans and “the right.” Though when one person suggested the Club for Growth had an anti-gay agenda, I blurt out that just wasn’t so. Just one look at their web page indicates that their primary interest is promoting economic freedom.
Yet, when these left-wingers see the Club as backing more conservative candidates and because, in their narrow view of the world where all conservatives hate gay people, they have determined that the Club must needs have an anti-gay agenda. When these people see the tea party rallies, they single out the most hateful signs and decide that all people there share the sentiments printed on that isolated placard.
But, then, it really doesn’t matter what the vast majority of signs say at the rallies, left-wing pundits will focus on the hateful ones (after having ignored the even more vile signs carried at anti-Bush rallies in the early part of the current decade).
(H/t for the sign: Michelle Malkin.)
The media, like all too many on the left are bound and determined to see those rallying against Obama’s policies as having nefarious notions.
There’s an energy on the right and it shouldn’t come as any surprise to those who have studied the history of American conservatism, followed the events in Washington these past few months, even listened to Obama’s campaign speeches. It has nothing to do with prejudice toward gays or any other minority. It has to do with an issue that that Democrat addressed in the campaign. In the third presidential debate, he said:
But there is no doubt that we’ve been living beyond our means and we’re going to have to make some adjustments.
Now, what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut.
But, instead of a net spending cut, we’ve had a severe spending explosion. No wonder Americans are upset. Had the President acted in accord with his campaign promises, the GOP today would be as Republicans were in the early 1930s, devoid of ideas with a dispirited base. Instead, Fred Barnes finds “the political energy and ardor are on the center-right“:
A coalition of Republicans, independents, and tea party populists is beginning to take shape. How come? Because they again have a common foe. In the 1970s, it was Carter’s feeble leadership in the face of stagflation and the collapse of U.S. interests abroad.
Today’s it’s the hyper-liberal policies of Obama and Pelosi that are for fostering rampant spending, surging deficits, ruinous debt, higher taxes, growing unemployment and unlimited government in Washington. On top of all that, Obama’s foreign policy of “engaging” adversaries and hammering allies is a dangerous flop.
It’s not just the spending, but the opposition to big government serves as the driving force for the better part of the protests against the President (and his policies). There is an idea animating these conservative protests, the idea of freedom.
And those who try to dismiss this activism as paranoia or racism reveal their own prejudices, their own ignorance. They have decided to hate what they refuse to understand. At the same time, they accuse their ideological adversaries of harboring animus against some and sundry . Seems a case of projection to me.
I think that it is going a lot deeper than the issues you have outlined. The boys at Hillbuzz have done some interesting blogs over recent days. The defining event for them has been the Ft. Hood massacre. If they are any indication of the shift in public opinion – that is moderate Democrats moving away from the DNC to become Independents – then there is a mood swing that is taking shape.
What is obvious to this outsider is that you have a very diverse group turning up to these T.E.A. events. They are white, black, Asian, gay…. etc. etc. and looking at the pictures of those who turned up in Washington, they are also in their 20s. Interesting indeed.
The way in which PC is permeating even through the military means that people are once again feeling threatened. The blog owners at Hillbuzz detailed how they saw the plane that went down in Pennsylvania, (and one other reader commented on the same thing but in a different location). They also detailed a story about a woman who overheard a conversation that was truly frightening at the time. She went to the FBI with her story, but it seems that it was dissed, and placed in the too hard basket… they had a similar story that led to them feeling concerned over an incident, only to be dissed by the clerk who took down the details. Is this what happened when Hasan’s colleagues tried to report him when he was at Walter Reed?
Political Correctness is out of control. The moderates on both sides recognize this fact and they feel very unsettled over a number of things including the way in which Pelosicare is being rammed down their throats. Perhaps the results in Virginia and New Jersey are truly a sign of the coming backlash next year.
I will not be surprised if there are more people who start denouncing their association with the DNC as they suddenly wake up to having been punked.
Yes! And the ones that they say are supposedly the “most offensive” are more often than not, completely inoffensive and lame. Liberals are such wussies!
Oh, I don’t know, I think most times they know full well that there is no racism involved, but they “ask the questions” anyway to imply racism simply to attack and undermine a movement they are ideologically opposed to.
Taxpayer March on Raleigh NC 11/14 beginning at 11:00 AM
The left only sees a lynch mob when their assumptions are challenged.
Every time the G-8 gathers, leftist anarchists show up and break things. It is emblematic that the tea party “mob” picks up their trash, enjoys polite comradeship, and obeys the law. But the left insists they see Brownshirts, the KKK, and murdering fundamentalist Christians hiding beneath the thin veil of calm.
“It’s not just the spending, but the opposition to big government serves as the driving force for the better part of the protests against the President (and his policies). There is an idea animating these conservative protests, the idea of freedom.”
Puh-Leazeeee
The tea party/anti-health care reform folks major talking point is how reform will defund Medicare. If you were serious about cutting spending you would not be running ads that discuss how grandpa will lose his care.
If you were serious about cutting spending you would be talking about how we have to get out of Iraq / Afghanistan and cutting military spending.
If you were serious about cutting spending you would be saying what we need to cut and by how much.
How much would you cut Welfare/SS/Medicare by?
What would you do with the people/income displaced?
How much would you cut educational spending?
How much would you cut to FEMA?
How much would you cut to the EPA?
How much would you cut to the highway funds?
How much would you cut to border control agencies?
But you are not, you have no specific ideas on where to cut, and if you gave them, you would never win an election because programs like Medicare, Social Security, Welfare are popular and necessary. (as you damn well know) – This is why the republicans did not cut spending, not because they are weak, but because they knew that they would be run out office if they did.
So I have to ask, are you purposely lying, being glibly disingenuous (like most Noonan Conservatives) or are you simply naive?
Um, gillie, Republicans didn’t cut domestic spending during W’s second term and they were run out of office in ’06 and ’08.
Funny that Gillie does not bother to ask those same questions of her party and the current president. He did run claiming to cut spending. Conservatives hold their own and others to the same standard. I could at least respect Gillie (though not agree with her) if her principles were consistant.
I think that more an more people are reflecting upon the idea that we had the American Revolution over a set of outrages that was in many ways *less* than what is being perpetrated on us today. America was founded as a reaction against tyranny. America was populated by immigrants escaping tyranny. America’s founding document, as well as the Constitutional rules by which the federal government exists–the rules which are now being ripped to shreds in full view and with cackling glee by the criminals in charge–are anti-tyranny by their very natures.
America is either anti-tyranny, or it is nothing. That is the root of the protests.
Actually thats misleading. Except immediately following WWII, NO ONE has ever “cut” federal spending. That is, the budget has always grown larger every year. It has never been smaller one year than the year before.
But Republicans did cut the deficit and did reduce spending as a percentage of GDP from 2004 through the budget for 2007.
The deficit under Republicans peaked in 2004, and was on track to be entirely eliminated, according to the CBO, by 2010. That is until Democrats took control of both houses of congress in January 2007. Their first budget exploded the deficit to more than Republicans had ever spent and their second budget more than quadrupled that record.
The tea party/anti-health care reform folks major talking point is how reform will defund Medicare. If you were serious about cutting spending you would not be running ads that discuss how grandpa will lose his care.
Unfortunately for you, idiot child, you don’t understand how Medicare is funded.
Grandpa has been paying into Medicare for over forty years out of every single paycheck he’s received. The problem here is that his lazy shiftless grandson gillie doesn’t want to work, but wants fat welfare checks and free health care. So gillie goes into Medicare and steals the money from Grandpa.
If you were serious about cutting spending you would be saying what we need to cut and by how much.
I can think of one right off the bat.
Considered one of “the kings of pork” on Capitol Hill by taxpayer watchdog groups, the 19th-term Pennsylvania Democrat has piloted almost $200 million from Washington to Murtha airport.
Or another:
On an FBI undercover tape, the fraud was plain to see: A patient came to a South Florida AIDS clinic, signed some papers, walked into an office and was handed $150 in cash. She politely thanked the workers and left, her visit to the doctor finished without ever receiving any treatment.
According to records seized by investigators, the office staff (who was assured of the patient’s cooperation) used her name to fraudulently bill Medicare for a list of expensive treatment and medications.
Law enforcement officials said it’s just one of the many widespread, organized and lucrative schemes to bilk Medicare out of an estimated $60 billion dollars a year — a staggering cost borne by American taxpayers.
But of course, screaming and crying gillie doesn’t want any of THOSE cut. He wants to cut and defund and get rid of our military. Indeed, his Obama Party states flat-out that the United States doesn’t need a military.
When do you intend to do something about those, worthless gillie? That’s right, you don’t; you’re an Obama Party puppet, and you are all about stealing money from the people who earn it.
Oh, let me!!!
No we wouldn’t. One does not follow from the other. It is entirely possible to prioritize, and keep funding things that are actually the constitutional obligation of the federal government, while slashing funding on all the wasteful, counter-productive, liberal idiocy you support.
ALL OF IT eventually. The problem is that people have paid into these liberal criminal enterprises and they want the tiny pittance of their money that Democrats allow them to get back back. The federal government has no business in any of the above. I would phase out Social Security, giving benefits to those who had paid for them and freeing up future generations with programs where they are saving and investing their OWN money in ways that thieving Democrats cant get their hands on their money. I would phase out all federal welfare over time, with corresponding tax cuts, which would allow the States to take over the role as they see fit.
That doesn’t even make sense.
ALL OF IT! There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for the federal government to be involved in education. I would shut down the department, fire all the employees, and return the money and power to the states where it belongs.
Dunno, I’d have to look. perhaps none of it. Emergency response and management is an entirely appropriate thing for the federal government to be doing. Hurricanes, flooding, and other disasters dont obey state borders.
Drastically if not totally. There is no reason that states cannot protect their own environments. The department has become tyrannical. Unelected bureaucrats with untold power over the people. Barack Obama thinks he can use the EPA to enforce “cap and trade” even if cap and trade never passes as a law. The idea of any agency having that kind of power should terrify everyone. But liberals want tyranny, so naturally it wont terrify them.
Possibly not at all, and might possibly increase their funding. I would certainly eliminate any funding going towards mass transit, which all studies prove doesn’t work and actually makes traffic worse, and is one of the most egregious wastes of money by government at any level.
I wouldnt. i would increase their budget. Not only are they underfunded, but better enforcement of immigration laws would save taxpayers BILLIONS in jobs lost to illegal immigrants, crime committed by illegal immigrants, medical and other government program resources used on illegal immigrants.
I’d also eliminate the department of Housing and Urban Development, which there is no constitutional justification for, which is entirely unnecessary, deeply corrupt, and simply has no business existing.
Might be a couple other departments that could go. A flat tax could eliminate 95% of the IRS, and would certainly be more fair than the regressive tax we have now that makes it harder for people to get ahead.
WRONG! You tell this lie so often, it needs to be corrected. Social Security is not “popular” — people want THEIR money back. That’s a huge difference. They’ve been forced to pay into these programs all their lives, and they want their money back.
BUT if you poll younger workers, and offer them the alternative of a program that allows them to invest or even just save for their own future, which would get then a FAR better return on their money, they overwhelmingly prefer to DUMP social security, which ends up forcing millions of seniors into poverty who could otherwise have a much higher standard of living in the name of “helping” them.
When will you ever learn, Giltard, that the REASON Obama is a miserable failure, the REASON Jimmy Carter was a miserable failure, the REASON Americans immediately kicked Democrats out of congress last time they took control and the REASON they are going to immediately kick Democrats out of control next November is because liberalism itself is an outright failure. I suppose you would have to stop ignoring the facts before that will happen.
Yay run-on sentences!
I like the line about the 1930’s Republican party because that was basically the narrative that came out of the 2008 elections. The Republicans are in a better position than many thought they would be at this time, but they still have some problems. Republican voter id is still very low, so the party brand hasn’t recovered yet. The base might be energized by the Hill leadership still seems ineffectual, at least they still seem to be reacting more than putting out ideas.
The anti-incumbency mood that is building will help Republicans this time around, until in 2006. That mood might only hold though as long as the economy/jobs remain down. If things turn to a positive, it will be interesting to see if Republicans will still be able to make gains. They will have to rely on ideas then and not an unhappy electorate.
Let’s get back to the original thought of Dan’s Post, that in General, liberals are extremely closed minded. Period.
The hell you say. Do you think they’re “necessary” because the Proles are too f-cking stupid to manage money on their own or to get out and work? Are people so pathetic that they need to suckle on Uncle Sugar’s tit lest they die? I’ll remind you Welfare was cut and Chairman Obama increased it.
Yes, we need to rid ourselves of the crippling Ponzi schemes liberals use as a cudgel to bash adversaries AND supporters alike.
Where is it written that disaster mitigation falls under the purview of the federal government? Why do we keep insisting on brain-dead f-cktards in DC, who don’t know how to deal with real life, run the show?
Then again, others had to handle New Orleans when those liberals, unfit to pour piss out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel, couldn’t figure out what to do.
#16 Because, as we’ve seen, a natural disaster can devastate an entire state leaving them unable to respond.
And I’d say natural disasters fall under the heading of national defense…but only when state’s cant deal with them. I think we have the proper balance now. With states holding primary responsibility, having to ask for federal assistance if they want it. But I think we would be negligent if we werent prepared at the federal level for the possibility of states being unable to respond.
Just curious…is that sign in the picture from the DC Nov rally or Sept rally? Seems the folks at Fox are a might confused about which rally is which….
And I’ll say it once again, unemployment hit it’s high in America in late 70s / early 80s in 1983…..2 years into the Reagan presidency, well after Carter left office. So, as far the economy is concerned, I’m happy to give the president and congress a little leeway in cleaning up this mess. Or do the members of another party not deserve the same consideration that the Reagan got?
And I will CORRECT you once again, and you will ignore the facts once again, so you can go on repeating complete and utter bullsh*t once again
Congress has been under the complete control of Democrats for THREE YEARS, not one.
The recession didnt even BEGIN until they had been in control for a year, and the financial crisis didnt happen until they had been in control for TWO.
Unemployment BEGAN under Democrats and has gotten WORSE with a Democrat president.
#18: You’re right, AE. Kevin tried to make the same drive-by point a week ago in a comment under a post titled, “Obamanomics in Action: Double-Digit Unemployment.” You called him out then, and of course, he slinked away and ignored the facts so he could make the same stupid point again here. In addition, Dan pointed out to Kevin that his point conveniently ignored the fact that Obama PROMISED that his stimulus package would result in overnight improvement to the economy and that unemployment would NEVER exceed 8 percent. Clearly, Kevin believes that Democrats should be able to campaign on and promote legislation by making such promises, but that it’s unfair to measure their performance based on them later. In other words, he’s a liberal.
Kudos to you, American Elephant!
“it needs to be corrected. Social Security is not “popular” — people want THEIR money back”
What planet are you living on? Seriously, do you ever speak to anyone outside of Glen Beck?
If any republican ran on the principles espoused in comment #11 they would never win.
– Which is why republicans will NEVER cut spending.
“The deficit under Republicans peaked in 2004, and was on track to be entirely eliminated, according to the CBO, by 2010”
You are just being disingenuous or purposely ignorant, – This was only IF disastrous Bush tax cut was allowed to expire. Or did you support rolling those back – hopefully Obama will when the economy stabilize and we can get back out of this hole.
“the REASON they are going to immediately kick Democrats out of control next November is because liberalism itself is an outright failure”
Lets see…in the last election dems increased their majority in congress – – in a terrible cycle with little Dem turnout.
It appears you guys are counting your seats before they are filled. If jobs recover you folks are T-O-A-S-T. If they don’t you have a betting chance.
Yes, I second American Elephant’s cut the so-called Education department COMPLETLY! Since the Education Department was formed under the Carter Administration, the federal government has taken more and more education decisions, and money, from the states. Oh, and test scores are abysmal. Take a watch at Jaywalking on the Jay Leno Show sometime. There is the Education department budget at work! Oh and lets cut FEMA COMPLETLY! Gee, it seems that while New Orleans is still reeling from Hurricane Katrina, there was an earthquake in San Francisco in 1906. And there was no FEMA to muck it up. And amazingly, San Francisco grew even stronger than before. Highway funding? All but upkeep of the interstate and United States highway systems. EPA funding? CUT IT TO ZERO! The EPA has stunted economic growth since its founding. The United States lived and prospered long before the tyranical reach of Washington. And we would be better off giving Washington a heave-ho. Oh, one more thing. Cut congressionl pay and make congress PART TIME!
#21 ” All but upkeep of the interstate and United States highway systems. ”
I say cut it completely. Turn them into toll roads. That way we won’t have to pay for roads we don’t use, and ones that no one uses won’t be draining resources from ones that are. People in NY state won’t have to pay for roads in AZ, and maybe the couple dollars everyone pays on their way from AZ to CA would help make the CA interestates better, so long as the money can only go to roads and environmentalist loons don’t protest the use of tar or some other nonsense.
You are just being disingenuous or purposely ignorant, – This was only IF disastrous Bush tax cut was allowed to expire.
Reality slapping you again, liberal parrot?
You see, gillie, you simply aren’t capable of recognizing the fact that not creating more expenses for people and businesses who are productive and generate value allows them to do even more of it — which is why tax revenues hit record highs following the Bush tax cuts.
You can’t comprehend that because you, like Barack Obama and the entire Obama Party, are parasites. You are not capable of working or earning your own money. You create nothing of value; all you do is steal it from others. You are a welfare addict, incapable of doing anything but whining and taking.
They are almost identical to Ronald Reagans beliefs and how many states did Jimmy Carter win? Oh yeah. Six. Walter Mondale? One.
Really Gillie, have you ever been right about anything? Even a stopped watch is right more than you.
Which is where Mutual Aid comes into play. Cities, towns, counties, parishes etc. have Mutual Aid agreements with others to get what they need after a disaster. I’ve not seen where an entire state has been devastated, but that’s besides the point.
We had the largest treasury revenues in history and 52 months of job growth WITH the “disastrous” Bush tax cuts. The economy is not projected to stabilize any time soon, nor are jobs expected to be created. We’re gonna be in this Statist, Neo-comm dug hole for quite a while yet.
And how pathetic is it when the “jobs created or saved” bullshit doesn’t even stick to the walls?
Nobody’s buying it, they’re all just sinking deeper and deeper in the liberal slough of despond.
And polls showed that a majority of Democrat supporters wrongly believed that Republicans had been in control of congress up to that point. Obama and the Democrats did everything they possibly could to perpetuate that lie.
But unlike then, people now know that Democrats have been in charge.
And they HATE you. Independents have abandoned your party like rats abandoning a sinking ship. Every single time Democrats govern on their own, without being able to dishonestly blame Republicans, Americans utterly reject you, as they are doing now.
Even Gallup, which polls ALL Americans not just voters recognizes that the public at large prefers Republicans next year.
If wishes and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a wonderful Christmas.
The problem is that LIBERALISM is what is keeping jobs from recovering! In order for jobs to recover and Democrats to keep their jobs, they will have to reject their ideology and pass conservative policy. It will be fascinating to see whether Democrats love their ideology or their jobs more.
Even Europe now has a lower unemployment rate than America under Democrats. The same Europe that was warning the world NOT to follow Obama and the Democrats example on economic matters. Unfortunately, the things Democrats have done, from increasing spending, to tax increases, to increased entitlements, to increased regulation with the promise of more of all the above, guarantee that the economy will get worse.
I truly wish it were not so, but policy matters. And your party’s policies are only proving to be the miserable failure that we’ve always said they were. And why we were right to oppose Obama.
TGC, I dont understand your objection to federal disaster aid, so perhaps you should start there. Katrina (and Democrat incompetence), left Louisiana completely unprepared and unable to protect and rescue their own citizens. But I dont believe we should have left Louisianans to die simply because they chose incompetent leaders. Neighboring states were also devastated, and while they did much better helping themselves, i dont know that they would have been prepared to help LA at the same time. I suspect they wouldnt have been able to.
Jon Liebowitz himself said that anyone who relies on The Daily Show for news is a dumbass, and yet there you are.
Second, thank God for the liberal media who wouldn’t act as forward observers for Iraqi artillery, or as the propaganda arm of Saddam Hussein, Hamas, al-Qaeda etc. Thank God they wouldn’t blow up cars to prove how “dangerous” they are. Thank God they wouldn’t go to Kinkos to make up military records. Thank God they wouldn’t intentionally leak national security information. Thank God they wouldn’t smear the soldiers. Thank God they wouldn’t insist that Ft. Hood wasn’t a terrorist attack, but if it was, it has to be because we’re in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank God they wouldn’t try and blame our soldiers for it and ignore the radical Muslim links the asshole had.
And how about CNN running footage of Valujet 592 whenever a subsequent, and irrelevant story about Valujet came out in the news? Or how about CNN and other liberal outlets getting pissy when they’re barred from showing dead bodies on TV?
Shall I go on?
Actually, they did. After Katrina, the majority of responders were from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida etc. And I’m not saying that we should have left Louisianans to die. All’s I’m saying is that the states should do more to help themselves and each other without federal bureaucrats mucking up everything.
Yes FEMA USAR and other departments were there immediately after the storm, but so were local agencies which outnumbered the fed. Why shouldn’t states be more reliant on themselves and their neighbors rather than the fed? Isn’t that how this country is designed?
No, youre right, they should take care of their own business. I’m just saying I think there is an appropriate role in this instance for the federal govt when they cant. Certainly more appropriate than the department of education.
I can’t believe that after all these months, you’re still flogging this dead horse about the ‘net spending cut.’ Are you telling me the conservative response would be any different if Obama hadn’t muttered those words?
Wow, this coming from the man who believes that some parts of the constitution are more important than others?
Welcome back Levi, you must like abuse.
PROGRESS !!!!!!!
Levi admits that Obama is reduced to “muttering” in his dithering. Does the teleprompter have elocution cues? (“Mutter” here; “Soaring Voice” there; “fake solemnity” now.)
I can’t believe that after all these months, you’re still flogging this dead horse about the ‘net spending cut.’ Are you telling me the conservative response would be any different if Obama hadn’t muttered those words?
Translation: “Let’s not talk about what Obama actually said. Let’s invent a hypothetical universe in which I can attack you, rather than stay in the real one where I have the choice of either confronting my Messiah’s failure and admitting that I am a racist for doing so, or demonstrate how completely I am in the tank for the black Jim Jones.”
Even the President noted that Pvt Francheska Velez was expecting a baby.
Adding my voice 13 Charges of murder should be 14 charges of Murder. Who is going to speak up for Baby Velez? 12 Soldiers 1 civilian and one unborn baby. That’s 14 counts.
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/11/ft-hood-massacre-13-charges-of-murder.html