Conservatives and the Culture of Resistance
by Myrna SokoloffRemember the leftist protest group “Not in Our Name” active during the Bush administration? They believed that the United States over reacted to 9/11 that resulted in the murder of 3000 Americans, by going to war in Afghanistan. ”Not in Our Name” also opposed the war in Iraq. In fact they opposed all war. They also protested the arrest of suspected terrorists, the Patriot Act, wire-taps, you know the whole ‘War on Terror’ thing.
The protestors of “Not in Our Name” believed that President Bush was not speaking for them when he took actions that they did not approve. According to their website they wanted to create a ‘culture of resistance.’ “Not in Our Name”, along with other leftist protest groups were very successful in demonizing President Bush and the war effort both in Afghanistan and Iraq. Barack Obama was elected largely as an anti-war President. “Not in Our Name” disbanded in 2008. On their website they encourage their followers to join similar groups like “Code Pink” and “United for Peace and Justice.” Whether they will re-emerge to protest the widening war in Afghanistan will be an interesting family food fight for the left.
That phase “Not in our Name” now makes sense to me after months of disastrous foreign policy and domestic actions by the Obama administration. They made me angry enough to admit the Left’s concept was correct. Conservatives need to develop a “culture of resistance.”
My anger began with the Cairo speech when the President equated the slaughter of six million Jews in the Holocaust with the alleged daily humiliations of Palestinians. Then came the ‘World Apology Tour’. The President apologized for the past sins of America’s ‘arrogance’ all over the world. It was embarrassing. But this cringe producing rhetoric is the basic leftist ‘blame America” mantra. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is apologizing too. The Left really believes that any foreign policy issue we are facing can be traced back to some reprehensible act of the United States that was committed prior to Obama’s transformative election! I wanted to shout “you don’t speak for me”
On his trip to Russia the President should have pressed Russia on their aggression in Georgia, nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea and missile defense in a dangerous world. Instead the President wanted to offer concessions in order to cut back on Russian nuclear weapons which are no threat to us.
But it got worse. Iran erupted in protests against their own government over a rigged election. The brave people in the streets of Tehran were being beaten and killed. What was the President’s emotionless response? “That’s not how a government should interact with its people” Would any American say that after they stared at bloody pictures from Iran transmitted by cell phone or Twitter. It took a lot of complaining for the White House to finally use the words “shocked and appalled” to describe it. America has always been a beacon of hope to oppressed people in the world because it stood for democracy and personal freedom. Ronald Reagan was not afraid to call the Soviets an “Evil Empire’ at a time when they had nuclear weapons pointed at us. What has happened to our moral compass? In the Honduran crisis, the administration sided with the Castro brothers and Hugo Chavez and against the constitution of Honduras. Since when do we support the efforts of a leader to extend his term in office outside the law. Do you think Obama would have supported a right wing South American President if he wanted to extend his term? After all of that I understood why “Not in Our Name” was formed.
Americans voted for “change we can believe in” not the dismantling of the capitalist system in favor of a state run economy. Many independents and Republicans said in justifying their support for Obama in the belief that he was a pragmatist not an ideologue. He would use the smartest people to come up with the best solutions to the problems facing us. Those of us who said he was a leftist radical were ridiculed. But actions speak louder than words.
All the legislative and administrative actions on the domestic front are geared to consolidating the power of the state. Obama has appointed 34 separate Czars of everything who usurp the powers of the Cabinet Secretaries and Congress and report to the White House. It is a parallel government. The President has pushed the stimulus package, cap and trade, health care through so fast that no one can read the bills. All of these policies have been tried in Europe. Their governments are moving away from them.
The recent push back from Democrats on health care has created panic in the administration. The public is waking up to what government health-care rationing would mean and what it would cost. Conservative Democrats have to go back to their districts and explain their votes. The Tea Party movement has decided to take on health care as an issue. I am sure they can come up with some creative signs like “Don’t let Grandma die, we still love her!”
Actions by the President make me respond to the phrase “Not in Our Name” also regard something as basis as our religious heritage. When the President spoke at Georgetown University, the White House requested that the initials IHS, a symbol for Jesus, and the cross above the GU seal be covered during his speech. Georgetown University was founded by the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. Its Catholic faith is a vital part of its history and identity. By accepting the invitation, the President, a Christian, should have shown respect for its heritage and the place of religion in our country. Does this mean that if the President speaks at my graduate school-Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, he will request that the Star of David or the Ten Commandments be covered? Has the White House forgotten that ‘endowed by our Creator” is in the Declaration of Independence?
All this has made me conclude that the Left had the right idea about protest. They have always been better at it than our side. It’s a group thing. Conservatives prize individualism. So it is against our nature to do this. But we can learn from their success.
The Left learned organizing in the 60’s when they protested against the Vietnam War. They were always on the side of resisting the establishment which included our parents. I remember a party at Boston University in the sixties. I was dressed in my coordinated skirt, sweater and matching flats. The other students were not as well dressed. But the grungy guy I was with was cute. We sat together as a few of his friends agreed that the “revolution” was coming soon. As I sipped beer I didn’t like, I was straining to understand. I thought to myself “what revolution are they talking about?”
In the 60’s college kids were protesting the establishment- the war machine, government, parental authority, the constraints of the culture-remember free love and drugs. They wanted the breakdown of existing authority which was deemed to be evil, to create this free utopia where they could do anything they wanted.
The real Left, the older radicals, knew the truth. The new order had to be authoritarian to put in place a socialist form of government. The college kids didn’t get that part. Socialism has to be authoritarian to be effective. The power structure has to control the means of production and services. It is always an elite group at the top that makes the decisions.
The Left is still expecting the “revolution”. But now they control of the government. They are making the revolution happen from the inside. The radicals that were the counter-culture are now the establishment. Therefore conservatives must create a “culture of resistance” and become the counter-culture. We must resist the authoritarian system. We must call for “freedom”. We must demand choice in health care, freedom from taxes that fund programs we don’t agree with and freedom to celebrate the religious heritage of our country. We must also say loudly “you don’t speak for me” when the President does not put the national interests of the United States first!
Our “culture of resistance” must be an aggressive constant thorn in the side of the new radical establishment. Let’s see how the Left likes being on the other side of the barricades!
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135 Comments
I share your sentiments. In a way, the tea party movement is something akin to "Not In Our Name." However, taking out full page Ads in Wapo or similar publications might be nice. Then we could point out the hypocricy in the way it is covered in the M.S.M.
Spectacular article! Thank you.
Great article. Reminds me of an old term from sixties: plain clothes hippies. Requires listening to what a person is saying. Hilary Clinton has been at this for a long time she didn't get the post she was hoping for but she got the administration she has been working on since being on prosecuting team against Nixon.
Just so that we can put this matter to rest, Obama is not a true believer in Christ. He isn't the anti-christ either, but he is a type of anti-christ.
The Tea Party movement is our resistance, but it needs a sugar-daddy. Do we have a George Soros on our side?
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We definitely need to make our voices heard, but the best weapon in our arsenal is Obama himself. With every curtsey to an Arab, with every word of support for dictators, with the silence in the face of Iranian crackdown on their protestors, Obama is revealing himself to the people of America.
When it becomes painfully obvious to the masses that voted for him that his policies just don't work then we will see change. I'm just hoping we won't be reduced to third world status before that happens.
I could not agree more. Here are a few steps I thought of to help us become a culture of resistance. First, remain a productive and responsible member of society. So many on the left are not so it speaks well of us to our neighbors if they see us work hard, mow our lawns and take out the trash. Second, get involved in your community. I teach adults how to think from a Biblical worldview and how to use the guidance of Scripture in structuring our personal lives and society. It is also an effective way to counter the religious lies of the left and expose their attempt to create a false utopia on earth. Third, contact your Congressmen and Senators to urge them to vote no on Obama's agenda. I have a democrat as a Congressmen and even he has voted no on some of these items. Fourth, go to a Tea Party or other organization and join with like minded conservatives. It is good for morale. And, finally, be aggressive in confronting the left. A good example is the Tea Party goers who peacefully hijacked a pro-Obamacare rally at John Coryn's office. We should not be afraid to speak truth into darkness.
one of the lines in her article nearly jumped off the page: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. It's time to take the next step beyond Tea Parties, and speak to our congress in a language they will surely understand.
starvethebeast.net
Tea Party people hijacked a pro-Obamacare rally??? When did this happen?? Was it covered at all in the media??
Our Achilles heel is that unlike the radical left, we DO believe in the system of government we have, and only want to hold our government accountable under it. Perhaps it is past time for Constitutional Resistance.
Well, I just read that Arlo Guthrie is a registered Republican so I now truly believe that all things are possible. Woody Guthrie's kid! What a hoot.
meaning what?
Rush Limbaugh had a blurp on it in the Stack of Stuff section on his website http://www.rushlimbaugh.com. Pretty funny stuff.
Yeah but how did he vote this past election?
Well, unlike leftist radicals that try to avoid, ignore, and destroy the Constitution, our resistance is based COMPLETELY on the Constitution – and that fact should be underscored. It means that it will take a different form than those radicals who can effectively say whatever they want in pursuit of their 'goals,' since our actual goal is straightforward – protect the Constitution.
Great story Kipling, stick it to the man, I heard it on Rush as well. The Move On.org rent-a-mob of 1or 2 were met with 130 plus Tea Party counter revolutionaries, right on America, let’em know who the boss is. Where is the MSM?
Yeah. I've studied the scriptures extensively on this subject, and there's no doubt that the Antichrist will be able to work without a teleprompter.
See? Teleprompter jokes just never get old…you can work them in anywhere.
That's my point. I didn't see anything on the MSM, 3 Code Pinkers show up in front of a recruiting center and there are a dozen reporters and TV cameras there.
I ripped off "De-Liberal us from evil" and made it into a huge sign that I carried to a counter-protest this past weekend. A lot of people liked that one. That, and the "Che" Reagan shirt I had on.
The conservative groups are getting a lot better at using the left's tactics against them, and our group (csa-1776.org) has met and "beaten" pro-Obama/ACORN groups at a few venues. Every conservative needs to get involved.
He's Paulite.
I would like to see the Conservatives and Republicans interviewed by the MSM confront them on camera regarding their lack of coverage. We should use every opportunity to publicize our activities and confront the MSM on their bias.
We can do this without a sugardaddy, we need to stand on our own.
Actually I think regular folks like us need to confront them. Whenever one of us is around an event that has members of the MSM present, they need to hammer them on their bias. Coming from regular folks it carries more weight than from a politician.
1 Joe the Plumber got a ton of exposure, imagine what a hundred or a thousand could do?
Agreed. But the MSM can always edit us out or refuse to report all together. Someone that is already on camera, especially live, can force defacto coverage by just mentioning it.
This is true, too bad there are so few republicans willing to do this. I guess they are afraid of alienating the media.
Has the White House forgotten that ‘endowed by our Creator” is in the Declaration of Independence?
At this point, I could believe he heard "all men," "endowed by their Creator," then looked between his legs and thanked his Kenyan father. He does not seem to understand what this country was founded on, let alone the meaning of the words in the founding documents.
Obama has been the best thing to happen to the Republican Party in years.
the daily horrorshow…
It is getting to the point where the daily onslaught of Newspeak from the Current Occupant and his minions in the media is getting the desired effect- hopeless confusion- and therefore they believe we can be steamrolled into a secular left utopian commune with the New Royalty safely in charge…
Them.
Not so fast, we reply. Congress is being beseiged by citizens outraged at this quasi-communist assault on our Great Nation. And, as Howard Beale said- 'we're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore!'
Keep the fight. Never quit. Never surrender. We can still win this…
I would have preferred Hillary/Biden. More ammunition, less debt.
All this has made me conclude that the Left had the right idea about protest.
Indeed.
Great article, and I must say that the LEFT probably all felt this way DURING the Bush Administration and now that a PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL is in office we have the tea parties and words about a REVOLUTION….. Honestly, great article and EVERYONE should read it!!!
Great article, and I must say that the LEFT probably all felt this way DURING the Bush Administration and now that a PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL is in office we (The RIGHT) have the tea parties and words like REVOLUTION….. Honestly, great article and EVERYONE should read it!!!
With respect, I don't think that adopting the tactics of the Left will work for Conservatives.
As PJ O'Rourke noted in the 1980's Leftists are good at getting together large groups for demonstrators because none of them actually have to work for a living like most conservatives.
I would also point out the failure of civil disobedience tactics employed against the Left. As someone who participated in Operation Rescue in the late 80's, I can attest to police brutality which never showed up on the mainstream news, the invocation of RICO statutes against peaceful demonstrators which resulted in federal convictions for misdemeanor offenses. If the cameras don't roll, it ain't gonna be on the news. Cont.
Those leftists currently ensconced in the seats of power are from the same ieological root and branch as the Bolsheviks who, when their former Social Cadet allies went on a hunger strike in the Lubyanka prison, simply walled off the wing in which they were housed until the emaciated survivors came crawling out.
It won't be grandiose gestures which will dig us out of this gulag. It will be the same old gruntwork of showing up at the precinct and district meetings, staying connected on sites like BH, and working to change the direction of a GOP which has temporarily lost it's bearings and it's nerve.
'Conservatives need to develop a “culture of resistance.”'
Isn't that the nature of Conservatism? William F. Buckley's "Standing athwart history yelling stop" is a reminder that that is indeed the case.
Conservatives have a culture of resistance. Republicans do not, they capitulate whenever expediant. I wouldn't confuse conservatives with Republicans. It hurts the conservative cause.
Very true indeed. Good old hard work is going to get this done for us. That's a definite advantage conservatives have over the progressives–we don't mind steadfast work.
Progressives have used the Orwellian Newspeak tactic, but that only goes so far. Any reasonable person can see that changing the Heath Care debate from "Universal Care" to "Universal Insurance" is just a change of words when the bill says the same thing. As long as the public was buying their doublespeak, this tactic was working. But it ain't working anymore…
(Choke! Gag! Gasp! Retching!! Going pale and faint!! Looking for something to toss breakfast into……)
(I can't believe it's come to this)
Me, too.
And so, that little cartoon on the cover of the New Yorker those many months ago wasn't lying.
Unfortunately, the revisionist are having their way. They view the founders as a pack of bigots, who were too involved in their own debauchery and self interests to care about the union. This was just a power grab for the white guys.
The framers had first hand knowledge about tyranny and it's consequences, fought and suffered over it and gave us a document that has served us well for 250 years. It is the keystone of our greatness. Now the statists are out in droves trying to take a flamethrower to parchment paper. I'm hoping they're jumping the shark.
I give this article a big 2 thumbs up! I am mad as hell and i don't want to take it anymore! Obama is a fraudulent president with an agenda that will be the death of this country. He needs to fail and his bluff called. Conservatives need to start the militant 'Don't Tread On Me' and 'Right Wing Extremist' Movements. Both would be the no surrender/no quarter activist arms of the Tea party gang. We should be out in the streets protesting Obama and his failed policies. We need to take out ads wherever possible to call attention to this administration's stupidity. We need cash and a Surgar Daddy to do this right. Do we have any rich Conservatives willing to pony up? I don't have alot of money but I am willing to contribute my time, writing ability and voice.
I like to call the current situation a much needed kick in our complacency.
And they took it in the shorts over that cartoon….
I also love it that Spike Lee is in Venezuela and says the media should never be censored all the while touting Obama's election. Nevermind that Obama supports Chavez and the Castro brothers and that tool the Hondurans rightfully ousted. I guess oppression is cool as long as a black says it's ok…..
We need A RICH someone to offer a big,fat $$$$REWARD$$$$ for that Birth Certificate!!!! Nobody loves Obama so much that they couldn't use a few million in the bank.
i actually found this article quite interesting, and i'm what most of you would call a pinko commie (read: proud progressive). there is a distinct difference between the activism of the left and right. right revolution seems to come from the top down a la bush/cheney and their dubious assaults on the constitution. the left is largely driven by working-class, smelly-hippie protests. which is more effective? i think history would argue that they both are. like it or not, the previous administration did a superior job at pushing through a foreign and domestic policy that was, at best, borderline criminal. the left has been successful when it comes to many social issues (civil rights, gay rights, etc), through the medium of popular protests. however, the left failed miserably from 2001-2008. vietnam was ginger beer compared to the iraq war, on purely constitutional grounds, and the left did NOTHING to stop it. even when they had control over the senate and the house, that miserable wretch pelosi immediately took all notions of prosecuting bush/cheney off the table. weak as water. anyway, i'm not sure where i'm going with this, other than to say that i wouldn't expect the right to change the way they do protest any more than the left will. it's kind of written in the political dna. but i wouldn't worry too much. the "progressive revolution" that obama promised is such watered-down centrist b.s. that the shine he walked in with has now faded amongst most of the progressives i know who voted for him (I DIDN'T). if you lot can drum up someone who actually has some charisma and some real ideas, you'll have a decent shot next time around. keep throwing people like palin into the mix, and you'll continue to be a laughing stock.
[...] Myrna Sokoloff is a little late to the Revolution, but glad to see she made it! The Left is still expecting the “revolution”. But now they control of the government. They are making the revolution happen from the inside. The radicals that were the counter-culture are now the establishment. Therefore conservatives must create a “culture of resistance” and become the counter-culture. We must resist the authoritarian system. We must call for “freedom”. We must demand choice in health care, freedom from taxes that fund programs we don’t agree with and freedom to celebrate the religious heritage of our country. We must also say loudly “you don’t speak for me” when the President does not put the national interests of the United States first! [...]
Too many liberal conventional wisdoms here to know where to start. All I can say is go to the primary sources and quit reading leftist propaganda. Look at the Congressional Record and see how the liberals voted on the war. The Tea Parties are hardly the top down protest you mentioned as coming from the right.
The left is good at tearing down the foundations of the United States but they cannot build anything better. They have given up a fount of living water to build cisterns that will not hold water.
They are playing rough, wear a cup.
"Those of us who said he was a leftist radical were ridiculed."
That's for sure.
I have a liberal buddy who used to mock the McCain's campaign cry of "he's a closet socialist". Although, technically, my buddy is correct. Obama is not a closet socialist. He appears to be a full-blooded, out-in-the-open socialist.
TOTUS is the Anti-Christ. A fiendishly clever disguise, as everyone blames his helpless brainwashed minion! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!!
indeed, that's what happens when someone dares speak the truth about BO.
hmmm can we get Hugo to keep Spike?
Speaking of BO:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&am...
There is one difference now…it does not have to be the MSM cameras that roll! Technology offers unlimited possibilities.
I'm no stranger to playing rough. *grins*
Every time I hear some scum talk about "the war machine" it's always America's war machine and never China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Iraq under Saddam, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Russia when it was full-blown communist… that says a lot.
Great article.
alot of BO in that indeed. I think CNN are the ones who should be pronounced dead.. or at least near-dead.
They are just one scandal away from achieving New York Times irrelevancy status….
Just a matter of time bro….
indeed, they're downhill slide is gaining velocity more and more with every day. I'm noticing that businesses that have monitors that play the news (be it fast food resturants or malls) are switching to Fox more often than CNN these days.
You know what I call that?
sweet……
it's a beautiful thing
true liberals did NOT vote for the war (i.e. kucinich, et al). unfortunately, virtually all the democrats in the house and senate are now, by historical standards, moderates. they allowed themselves to be pulled to the right out of the culture of fear that the bush administration instilled in the political and social culture of the early 0's. that's why kerry got his butt kicked in '04… because he was profoundly weak, had a wishy-washy voting record, and stood for absolutely nothing. and the appalling voting culture of the dems vis-a-vis "anybody but bush," sealed their fate; expecting to win based solely on the fact that your candidate isn't the other guy?!? pathetic. thankfully, i stopped voting D many years ago, and will continue to do so.
as far as the "foundations of the united states" goes, i'm not really sure what you mean. jefferson was the prime architect of our declaration of independence, and three out of the first 5 presidents were, what we would refer to as "leftists." many of the policies which we take for granted (social security, free public education, medicare) were ushered in by democratic administrations……eh…. actually, i think the education thing was T.R…. i could be mistaken on that one, but i'm too lazy to google it. anyway, the point being, i think we could agree that "tearing down the foundations" of this country occurs when freedom, liberty, justice, and the tenets of our constitution are diminished, impinged upon, or otherwise deprived of the citizenry. and i can't think of a bigger offender of these things than good ole george w (with nixon running a distant second). who knows… obama may top him, but i doubt it.
Great post, but "Not…" were never anti-war or anti-violence, they were anti-us warmongers through and through. They were anti-Bush partizans too, but really as an afterthought, as they were and are violent anti-us always. Allowing them to hide their vicious anti-humanitarion hatred and violence as "progressive" is a real mistake by us. We should be labelling them as the violent deviants they are.
it was all just more LIBERAL VITRIOL AND HATE toward Real Americans
now, their boy is in charge and they dont have to use the LIBERAL VITRIOL AND HATE toward Real Americans – they have to use their America hatred as defense for obama – No.1 America basher
the conclusion that hillie is preferred to the one, is a real paradox, unfortunate, but true.
Appreciate the reminder. One thing that gives me hope is the evidence that the MSM are burning through both their credibility and their operating capital.
You could check with Richard Branson, decent guy and capitalist to the core.
Perceived downside 1, "Branson has stated that he was formerly a global warming skeptic and was influenced in his decision by a breakfast meeting with Al Gore." Yeah, "influenced" to cash in, he is setting up to be a primary supplier of "alternate fuels," including for aviation. As soon as they are commercially viable, guess who the eco-mentalists will be buying plane tickets from, even at higher-than-normal rates. Likewise examine any of his "green" ventures, be assured that, yes, he does see green there, lots of it.
Perceived downside 2, well he is British. But then we did not hold it against the Founding Fathers, so…
If our side can come up with better slogans i think it would be beneficial
Let's avoid:
"What do we want , and when do we want it"
"1,2,3,4 we don want your _____ war"
and "Party unity my @ss" (that group failed miserably)
Since news is broken down into soundbites, we need to work within that concept
I liked the poster held up by the guy in a Yarmulke "Pork spending ain't Kosher"
How do you spell "rowshambow"?
We all now know that those demonstrations are only as large as they are because they pay people to show up …
Umm… the left's protests sure as hell are top-down driven! Who the hell do you think pays for all those Acorn folks to show up?! They are not there out of some sense of anger; they are there because they're unemployed and need the money!
In President Bill Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address, which is on YouTube if you care to see it, he stated that Saddam Hussein spent the better part of the 1990's seeking and developing WMD's.
Clinton believed the evidence to be so compelling that, also in 1998, he signed into law the Iraqi Liberation Act – making regime change in Iraq U.S. POLICY.
All this before you ever HEARD of George W. Bush.
You liberals and leftists continue to lie to yourselves and the entire world by saying "Bush lied".
"Bush lied" is a mantra for leftist simpletons.
Hate to break it to you, but Palin was the only reason people felt okay about voting for McCain.
hey, i didn't vote for clinton either. he lied, bush lied, obama lies… leaders lie. that's what they're paid to do. and clinton was NO liberal. he supported corporate welfare as much or more than reagan did, did NOTHING about the state of healthcare, supported sanctions against iraq that wound up killing upwards of a million innocent civilians, deregulated the energy industry which was nearly as irresponsible as reagan's deregulation of the banking industry. don't get me started on clinton. i probably hate him (and his idiot wife) more that you do.
now, if we really want to dig into saddam hussein, let's start with the eisenhower administration's implicit support of the baath party during their 1959 overthrow, and we can then look at the pentagon receipts for all the "weapons of mass destruction" that we sold to him during his war with iran. i don't blame bush for the iraq war. i blame a long history of democrats AND republicans making bad deals and bad alliances with idiots and criminals. then again… birds of a feather….
in the words of johnny mac, "you CANNOT be serious." really? you actually think she was a viable VP candidate? i'll admit, she's easier on the eyes than biden, but her grasp of the salient political issues of the day are roughly akin those of a 7th grader. can you imagine her trying to conduct foreign policy meetings with china, or worse, north korea? plus, she's a quitter, and nobody likes a quitter. oh yeah, right. "higher purpose." sorry, but when your constituents hire you do to a job…. you finish out the job, even if it gets gross and even if the press doesn't like you. heck, even bush finished out his term when 8 out of 10 americans thought he was an appalling wretch. just being objective here, but if she tries to run for prez, this quitting business is going to get thrown in her face at every opportunity, and it's gonna be a sticking point for your swing-voters… you HAVE to admit that, at least.
How do you consider 3 out of the first 5 presidents to be leftists? What is your definition of leftist? What is your criteria? Social security did not come about until the 1930s. Medicare did not come until the 1960s. How are these foundational issues? Free public education worked fine when it was a local issue but in the 20th century it became politicized. The United States from 1900 onward would be unrecognizeable to the Founding Fathers.
Mr. Obama has basically shredded the Constitution, the separation of powers, and federalism. The Republicans have much to answer for but are pikers compared to the Obama-ites. Only conservatism – Bush was not a conservative but only conservative on some issues – can save the Constitution, liberty, and true justice.
Well, that, and the fact that it's hard to mount a resistance when you have to stop to go to work.
Wow, you hit all of the liberal "hate Palin" talking points – what, do you guys get outlines by emails or just direct beams through the tinfoil hats? You love to label anyone you hate as "dumb" and dismiss them. "Quitter" is a new one – she had her reasons, nothing will be good enough for you types to accept, so we'll agree to disagree. And then your last throwaway "everyone hates Bush" comment and you're done. So predictable, so untrue, so trite, so sad for you.
And then there were the "creeping socialism" comments. No way – they're in a full-blown gallop toward socialism. They don't even want to give anyone time to actually read the bills they want to be voted upon, and it had better be a vote for it not against it, or the opposition will be steamrollered.
sarah palin couldn't even properly explain what the vice president does…. to a THIRD GRADER. honestly, you can not tell me that her political savvy impresses anyone other than those who live in the pockets of what she divisively called "real america." and as far as her quitting… she had her reasons? yeah, she couldn't stand the heat of all the ethics charges being lobbed against her. if she can't stand that kind of heat on a state level, how on earth do you think she could handle being president? i know that it's a neo-con kneejerk lovefest when any politician throws out the "anti-big government" chestnut, but what does that even mean? it's a broad political bumper sticker with no teeth.
and i never said "everyone hates bush." i said that according to his final approval ratings, 8 out of 10 hated bush (or if you look at a poll of world opnion, it was more like 98 out of 100). and i only bring that up because this past week, the conservatives have been licking their chops with the solitary and dubious poll showing obama sinking under a 50 percent approval rating. the bush rating is just some perspective. i would bet a shiny nickel that this is as low as he'll get. again, though, i didn't vote for him, and i doubt i will in 2012.
Wow, if this is "watered-down centerist bs" I'd hate to see a "real" leftist agenda.
i would say that jefferson, madison, and monroe were all early examples of political leaders who espoused what we now traditionally accept as "democratic party" values. "leftist" is probably a bad term to use, particularly because it is now associated with socialism/communism, so i'll humbly retract my usage of it. can we agree on "left-leaning?" and yes, i'm aware of when the aforementioned public policies were implemented, but my point is that they were implemented during democratic administrations…. thus illustrating that certain "foundations" that we take for granted now, have both conservative AND liberal roots.
obama hasn't really done anything that previous presidents haven't done… he just did it in one fell swoop with massive media attention. basically, it was a nuclear explosion of corporate welfare, which has been practiced on a smaller scale, quite literally, since the founding of the country (read "steam" by andrea sutcliffe). so if he is guilty, then every president we've had is guilty. both you and i can probably agree on the point that this whole bailout was an atrocious act, although our reasons for being incensed are very different. and i'm glad that you recognize that bush was not a conservative. in fact, every true conservative i know (and yes, believe it or not, i have several conservative friends), thinks he's did more damage to the word "conservative" than clinton did to the word "liberal."
Not to nitpick or anything, but 8 out of 10 people did not "hate" Bush. There are plenty of people that heartily disapproved of Bush's job as a president but still thought Bush himself was an okay guy. Hate's a strong word, and it's not as rampant an emotion as many leftists seem to think it is.
"Dubious poll"? From what I understand, Rasmussen has been the most accurate poll for the last few elections…could you please give evidence that this poll is not to be trusted as much as other ones? And please give me something other than the fact that Scott Rasmussen is a Conservative.
I'll bet you an even SHINIER nickel that this isn't as low as he'll get
.
1) single-payer healthcare
legalize gay marriage. to deprive any citizen of their civil rights due to an interpretation of religious doctrine is totally un-american. don't want your church to recognize them? fine. it's a civil institution, anyway.
2) end corporate welfare/corporate bailouts/ceo pay loopholes
3) restructure the personal income tax tables back to 1960's levels when the rich paid their fair share.
4) make renewable energy a MANDATE with real teeth, not some esoteric, futuristic "goal." we are the most innovative country in the world. we could be oil free (or certainly import-oil-free) in a decade if we wanted to be.
5) make nuclear de-escalation a primary goal of our military policy… starting at HOME. also, remove our troops from the middle east (easy to do if we don't need their oil), and we take away the singular reason that terrorist groups have us in their targets.
6) realign federal funding for education so that public schools are equally-funded, not reliant on property tax bases that cause wild discrepancies between neighboring school districts. if we can bail out incompetent banks, we can bail out schools who can't afford heat, desks, and functioning toilets.
7) end the war on drugs. it doesn't work. it causes more crime than it prevents, at a huge financial cost to we, the taxpayers. california will soon be raking in 1 billion dollars a year in marijuana taxes. we are stupid not to do so on a national scale, especially when we see how many tax dollars are brought in through the sale of booze and smokes.
9) give the people who live in washington d.c., representation in the house and senate. taxation without representation ain't fair. (this is a pet peeve of mine)
10) dramatically scale back the kinds of weapons that u.s. citizens can own and purchase. our gun policy is directly responsible for the astonishing number of gun crimes that occur in this country. we are no longer a nation that needs to raise up militias to fight against the british. and we don't need billy bob buying an ak-47 so he can go shoot empty beer cans in the back yard. and with all the extra space we'll have in the prisons, once we release all the non-violent drug possession offenders, there will be plenty of room for the criminals who are found in possession of, or are guilty of using these weapons.
i could go on, but you see where i'm headed with all this. what do you say…. can i count on your vote in 2012? heh heh. j/k.
I live in China right now (TEFL teaching), and have been for nearly two years now, and it is so horrible watching all this crap go down from such a long distance. I really wish I could be back in America to join in with the Tea Parties and whatnot. Kudos to everyone who's involved in the fight, and I'll be sure to join in when I get back in September.
ok, ok, 8 out of 10 DISAPPROVED of his job performance. happy?
i pick on the rasmussen poll, because it's only ONE poll. gallup still has him at 59 percent. i realize that 50 is a really symbolic number, so of course anything under that is huge material for anti-obamas, but let's be honest, rasmussen IS a conservative site. it would be just as dubious if we singled out polling numbers on huffpo for the opposite reasons. the average of all polls is the most accurate way to go about it, although let's remember that these polls don't include non-voters, children, the impoverished, prisoners; these are generally people who would vote left, if they could. a moot point, i realize, but just sayin…
i'll take you up on that shiny nickel bet, at least for his first term. the grand arbiter of his approval rating will be the economy, and the worst is almost definitely behind us. his administration will incorrectly tout that their policies saved us from financial ruin, and it will give him the re-election, hands-down. the truth is, he came into the job with good timing. he hit the nadir, and the economy is going to recover for the reasons it always does…. it's inherent cyclical inertia, not because of his "stimulus spending" (read: reprehensible bailouts).
You might think that your response was "nuanced". I, being a knuckledragging conservative, call it splitting hairs. You completely prove my point in your continued frothing at the mouth of any mention of Sarah Palin, repeating the liberal talking points on Sarah Palin that I mentioned earler and you still can't resist kicking at a good man, even when he's not down. Hateful and spiteful.
I sort of hope that this whole situation with Obama was what our country needed, like a blessing in disguise. If we had another republican in office, there just would've been more demonizing by the left (although the amount of upset caused by the election might've been worth it, haha), and let's face it – McCain wasn't exactly conservative, regardless of his VP pick.
So to me, it's better for the country to have been outright stabbed in the chest by a liberal as opposed to being bled to death by a moderate. That way, people might actually snap out of this funk we've been going into every year, and not only vote out the new president and socialism altogether, but also vote out the b**tards that call themselves republicans (or worse, conservatives) that are clearly turncoats and corrupted.
Obama might've unwittingly acted as sort of a vaccine that our country's been needing since FDR…no pun intended.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the U.S. gave only what amounted to roughly 5% of Saddam Hussein's entire weapons stockpile. The rest he got from Russia and China.
We rightly put up sanctions against Saddam Hussein's Iraq in order to ensure that funding for humanitarian aid wouldn't be used for the development of WMD's.
Then, Saddam Hussein ALLOWED his people to starve to death, without lifting a finger to help them.
i'm not hateful and spiteful. i'm realistic. bush ended his presidency with the lowest approval rating of any president in history. am i wrong? how is that kicking him when he's down? he did it to himself…. well…. ok, i'll back off that a little. he was at the mercy of the PNAC group, headed by cheney, who pretty much dictated the foreign policy decisions which are now some of the major "hating points" against him. but still….. he WAS the "decider," right?
and i'm sorry, but palin is a political joke. i don't understand how any true conservative still stands behind her. even one of my best friends, who is a DEVOUT reagan conservative, a corporate lawyer, and with whom i differ on almost every single political issue, now freely admits that she is totally outer-limits, having supported her during the election. that's political barometer enough for me. there is a time and a place to take the blinders off and realize that not everyone on your team is gold just because they wear the jersey. i say the same things to "liberals" about clinton, and i get barked at even louder than i get barked at on this website. objectivity people, objectivity.
typical clinton apologist……
sorry, couldn't resist.
I spell it by making sure to wear a cup.
Unless, of course, you are Mr. "Iron Balls" McGinty.
balls of steel
You continue to prove my point. Realistic? Not even close, and not an excuse for trashing anyone in this manner. You continue to harp on "Palin/conservatives dumb" and "George Bush bad". Can't you even be original? Oh yeah, "Palin quitter" – that's a new one, though as fallacious as your other lib talking points. Two things I learned early in life, two things you obviously didn't: (1) If you don't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything. (2) When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Still hateful, still spiteful, and petty as well.
Great point!
based on your previous posts, you obviously only apply lesson number one towards your conservative buddies. so far, you've called me hateful, spiteful, petty, and accused me of wearing tin foil hats, or something like that. not very nice, is it?
1) i never said "conservatives are dumb." i think sarah palin is highly unintelligent, but i think pat buchanan, george will, and william buckley (rip) are extremely smart. i may disagree with them politically, but respect them for their reasoned and eloquently stated beliefs. sarah palin didn't even know that africa was a continent. it's like when charlton heston was interviewed about the first iraq war and he stated the infallibility of the u.s. military position in biblical terms, then was unable to name any of the countries that border iraq.
2) i didn't say that george bush was "bad". i said that he had the lowest approval rating of any exiting president. am i wrong?
3) how is saying that palin quit her job fallacious (nice SAT word, btw)? she. quit. her. job. "resigned" and "quit" are synonyms. look it up.
I based my observations/judgements on you directly on your comments about Sarah Palin and George Bush. Deal with it – grow some skin thicker than what you have now.
I'm sure some of your best friends are conservative. How big of you. Still doesn't change the fact that you'll trash any conservative that doesn't fit your little paradigm. Perhaps conservatives should just meekly shut up and agree with you so you'll approve of them.
You see George Bush from your own prejudiced point of view – I look at him from an entirely different one. I'd say you're wrong, you look at your polls, I'll choose not to believe them – those type of statistics are biased and slanted to however the pollster wants you to believe – consider who's conducting the particular poll and who they're polling.
Me like that you think that me smart for using big word, though another big word come to mind (condescending). Me also think that Obama quit to be big cheeze in big white house – was he ever a real senator or just use office to get elected prezzident? How about that Hillary person that moved to NY to get elected senator and use her senate seet to also try to get elected prezzident? Then resigned it to be the Secretary of State person? Hmmm, no quit there? Me just knuckle dragging conservative – me no understand difference.
I'm not sure what you would characterize as traditional democratic values but the Jeffersonian party was for state rights, a weak federal government, a strict interpretation of the Constitution, and a minimal role for the Supreme Court. It sounds like the very opposite of the values espoused by the Democratic Party of today.
I'm always leary of the "every other President has done it" argument. No President, except possibly in wartime, has taken over U.S. corporations and sought to nationalize the economy to such a scale. None have went around the world and graveled for supposed American sins. No, Mr. Obama is in a group all by himself.
Yep, that's a real leftist agenda all right. I am diametrically opposed to each and every one of your heart on your sleeve leftist fantasies.
to address your points in the first paragraph…. fox news doesn't question anything obama does? really? obama stacks the decks during press conferences, but bush NEVER did that, right?
and who are YOU to determine who is christian and who is not? are you god? are you any sort of religious authority? do i assume that "christian" in your book means: politically conservative, anti-abortion, anti-gay? i have news for you… you live in a very narrow-minded world if this is the case. someone is christian if they believe that jesus christ is the son of god who came down to earth to die for our sins and offer us eternal life in exchange for our belief in him and only him. atheism (my team), is the lack of any theistic-based belief system. just so you know where i'm coming from.
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