By Nina May
Sunday, February 24, 2008
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Conservatives have this uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and overplay every hand dealt them. They squandered the Reagan Revolution by parsing and dicing an agenda of positions unobtainable from even the most charismatic, or messianic of candidates. The color required to attain “conservative” credentials on the litmus paper appears in no color wheel known to man. The acceptable candidates in this category are whittled to a pencil point that can only scribe the name of Ronald Reagan.   Republican presidential hopeful, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., smiles while speaking at a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
In the hopes that more people would have adopted his manner of principled politics, abandoning the mud fight that is covering the nation in sludge, conservatives have searched diligently for an heir apparent while consistently aborting their own. No one is pure enough, conservative enough, and principled enough to wear that mantel, yet they still hold every elected official to that standard. And, ironically, the country holds the entire Republican Party to that same standard while acknowledging that the Democrats and their party are incapable of feigning an attempt at such lofty heights. Barney Frank is seen as the voice of all that is virtuous in sexual preference while Mark Foley is run out of town on a rail for his dalliances in alternative lifestyles. Senator Larry Craig is tarred and feathered by the giddy left while claiming the right is homophobic. Tom Delay is driven out of office by an over zealous partisan prosecutor while Congressman William Jefferson commandeers government sources to salvage his personal items, including the $90,000 in his freezer. George Allen can utter a made up word that morphs into a racial slur while the Democrat who filibustered the Civil Rights Bill gets a pass, once again. I’m not really sure what happened to Newt Gingrich, but I am sure he didn’t lie under oath or seduce an intern like Bill Clinton did. Bill has had so many sexual improprieties it would require a certified public accountant to keep track of them and somehow he is the victim and the women are the vile creatures seduced by that siren of the right wing conspiracy. His wife gets the mea culpa senate seat in a state she has never lived in, and a multi-million dollar house she didn’t spend a dime on . . . and she is the victim, not the women her husband abused. We have watched Clarence Thomas endure a “high tech lynching,” seen Condoleezza Rice reduced to caricatures of Aunt Jamima and seen Michael Steele have Oreo cookies thrown at him for daring to leave the liberal plantation and express their own political views based on principal. Alan Keyes was all but ignored in his bid for president even though his resume, his intellect, his articulate ability and passion for a country he has always loved, shine like the sun compared to the flickering candle of the finalist in American Idol President, Barak Obama. Why have all these people been held to an impossible standard by both the left and the right? Different reasons. The left has identified all things Republican as akin to the anti-Christ . . . not that they acknowledge there is a Christ, but it is an apt analogy. And the “right”, once again, can’t seem to get its judgmental act together to recognize good people and get behind them when they are willing to put their lives on the line for the country. So what we are seeing on the horizon is a perfect storm for a group bound by common philosophy that is at odds with all the participants in the 2008 presidential elections. If conservatives would take a moment from eating their young, look up from the bloodied carcass of fallen comrades they have abandoned in the hunt for perfection, they would see a perfect storm on the horizon. John McCain has somehow, managed to edge out other candidates who were rejected by conservatives because they were not perfect enough . . . or they were too perfect. I can’t seem to get my arms around the fact that Mitt Romney looked too perfect, had great credentials, good administration skills but just wasn’t good enough. Giuliani was America’s Mayor, and granted, Mayor is not a resume topper, but neither is being the housewife of a man who cheats on you and finagles a senate seat in lieu of candies and flowers. Only Duncan Hunter had a perfect conservative score, yet the conservative elite sat around, wringing their hands searching for a candidate with a perfect conservative score. And even Mike Huckabee is far more conservative than John McCain, yet, he was rejected in favor of Hillary and Obama. It has been twenty years since Reagan left office and the only ones who have accomplished anything have been summarily reprimanded and reproached for doing too much, not doing enough, not doing it the right way . . . whatever . . . they have passed and the movement is a dying ember fanning itself in the hopes of igniting a flame of revolution. This is the perfect storm for such a revolution, if that once powerful group of leaders would give one final gasp of passion and unify their collective efforts to throw down a gauntlet of compromise and ultimate victory. That gauntlet, to the heir apparent in the Republican Party, John McCain, is very simple and has only two parts. The vice presidential running mate should be vetted by the conservative wing of the party as acceptable, and he will magnanimously acknowledge and agree that if he is elected, he will serve only one term. If conservatives can coalesce behind those terms, which would be a miracle, then there could possibly be hope for the future. If not, Hillary or Obama will win . . . depending on who gets the Democratic nomination. And if McCain does not agree, those who feel they are once again being railroaded and forced to accept an unacceptable candidate, should not sit this election out, but vote their voice and select a write-in candidate who should have been chosen as a running mate. One very positive by product of losing the general election is that the leadership of the Republican party convenes to elect a new leader as opposed to having one selected by the sitting president. This is the silver lining of a perfect storm. If Hillary is the nominee, she will be a one-termer with a hostile senate and congress because it will be a known fact that Barak was cheated out of the race. She will be a pariah in the media, in the Democratic Party, and in the nation’s eye. She will retaliate with draconian measures to bring her “subjects” in line and a revolt will occur. If Barak wins, the populace will be crying “uncle” in two years as they struggle to regroup from oppressive taxes, regulations, restrictions and government’s tightening stronghold of unrestrained power. And that huge money-making machine known as “baby boomers,” will begin to slowly grind to a screeching halt as young retirees realize they would much rather spend the rest of their lives doing what they want, not what the government dictates. That young, impressionable group of new voters will be expected to pick up that slack, receiving paychecks that barely cover expenses and their altruistic nature will turn ugly with greed as they realize they have nothing to show for giving the government 50% of their hard earned money. They will expect their young president to have the answer and his response will be to tax and spend more and more. If either Hillary or Barak wins it will be because McCain would not negotiate with his base and humbly understand that winning the election is impossible without them. If McCain agrees to the conditions, reneges on the agreement to not run a second term he will become Bush 41, surrounded by moderates who actually thought he could win without the base, which ironically was the same reason Dole lost. So McCain can do what is best for the country or he will either Bush himself or Dole himself. And it is between him and the conservatives in the party if they have the courage to press the issue. If they don’t, then they should not complain if they are forced to give allegiance to Hillary or Barak under penalty of whatever. And if they don’t, they forever . . . forever . . . lose a position as a serious political voice in the destiny of the country. The perfect storm is brewing and it is up to the conservative base to recognize it and do something about it |
23 comments on Can the Conservatives at least try to win ??
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Well, well, very interesting.
YES some good reading in there !!!!!
the electorate wants moderation in moderation or extreme liberalsism it cant decide. I think nader may be a factor
Oh my shades of 2000 election !!!!
As for your post title, I did not know there was going to be a conservative on the November ballot. Is someone new running??? Someone as yet unannounced??? RonPaul was the closest to a conservative in the primary, and where was he?????
I guess McCain is as close as we are going to get ,,, better then a commie liberal !!!!
I will be back to comment.. Just wanted to say hi..( Hi Joez !!!) I'll return!!
OK ,,, I;m not going anywhere !!!
No they are too fucking stupid to win...
Enjoy Keating 5 McCain...LOL
WHITE WATER and Fort Marcy Park !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You see I run an open blog here I don't block anyone , and I don't delete their comments like some people do , I believe in FREE SPEECH !!!
Way back in 1988 my co-authors and I were putting the final touches to our book, Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans when someone slipped us a plain brown envelop. Inside was a transcript of a meeting between thrift regulators and five US senators who had interceded on behalf of Arizona S&L owner Charles Keating. At the time the regulators were warning that Keating's thrift, Lincoln Savings and Loan, was dangerously insolvent and that Keating and his cohorts -- including then junk bond king, Mike Milken, were robbing the federally-insured thrift blind -- or, more precisely, robbing the US taxpayers blind.
Keating had been generous in sharing his new-found wealth with the five senators, particularly his two Arizona senators, John McCain and Dennis DeConcini. They became known as "The Keating Five."
Alarmed by such high-powered political arm twisting, FHLBB attorney, William Black, decided to document the meeting. He claims to this day that he did not secretly record the five senators. But over the years I've read countless transcripts and I remain certain that the following is a transcription taken off an actual recording.
Of course, once authenticating the transcript we wasted no time including it in the appendix of our book. The disclosure of the meeting and verbatim remarks by each senator caused them no end of misery. One would have thought McCain especially had learned his lesson about messing with the work of federal regulators. And it appeared he had. But then comes the revelation that he once again chummed up to an industry group -- this time telecom -- and inserted himself into the regulatory process in ways that look distressingly similar to the Keating affair.
The Keating affair was about money and influence, not sex. This new revelation may or may not have sex in it -- but fankly, I couldn't care less. I don't lay awake at night worrying if my senator is getting laid by the wrong people, I worry if they are getting paid by the wrong people.
In the case of Charles Keating that money and influence, and the delays caused by political pimping by people like McCain, cost American small shareholders and taxpayers dearly:
Much has been made of the $2 billion that it will cost taxpayers to bail out Charles H. Keating Jr.'s Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. But for the people who were persuaded to invest their life savings in now-worthless securities, the cost is emotional as well as financial. (NYT - 1989)
http://www.alternet.org/election08/77662/
And your purpose of this is to show WHAT??????????????????????
more of your stupidity !!!!!!!!
Do you remember it was 4 democrats and 1 republican , and the republican was found not guilty !!!!!!!
I see your Whitewater and Macy and raise you a gitmo, illegal wiretapping, illegal invasion and occupation, deleted emails, torture and stolen elections
Nothing illegal about the wiretapping, the War was authorised by congress . panties over a terrorist head is not torture, there was no missing E-mails, and the liberal press went over the election results 43 times and President Bush won every time a very poor try even for you !!!!!!!!!
by a republican congress...theres a shock...LOL
YOUR stupid liberal democrats in the senate could have stopprd it anytime!!!!
A Nightmare World of Torture and Prison Guard Suicides
Confessions of a Gitmo Guard
By DEBBIE NATHAN
A psychiatrist who has treated former military personnel at Guantánamo prison camp is telling a story of prisoner torture and guard suicide there, recounted to him by a National Guardsman who worked at Guantánamo just after it opened.
Dr. John R. Smith, 75, is a Oklahoma City psychiatrist who has done worked at military posts during the past few years. He is also a consultant for the University of Oklahoma's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services, and is affiliated with the Veteran's Affairs Administration Hospital in Oklahoma City. The court-appointed psychiatric examination of Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Murrah Federal Building in 1995, was conducted by Smith. A few years ago, he became a contract physician, treating active duty members of the US military in need of psychotherapy.
Smith spoke on February 22, 2008, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, held in Washington DC. His presentation dealt with the psychological impact on guards of working at Guantánamo . He focused on a chilling case history, of a patient he called "Mr. H."
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Smith described Mr. H as a blue-collar Latino in his 40s who had done routine service in the National Guard for years before being called up to Kuwait. Then, shortly after 9/11, he was diverted from Kuwait to Guantánamo . The detention camp had just opened. Mr. H was deployed there to work as a guard.
Untrained for the job, Mr. H was taken aback by the detainees. They threw feces and urine on him, said Smith, and tried to get him to sneak letters out, telling him that if he didn't, "they would see to it that his family suffered the consequences." The prisoners also mocked Mr. H, that his being in the military made him "a traitor" to Latinos and other minorities. Mr. H was confused and terrified.
Meanwhile, according to Smith, "this good Catholic man with a family who had pretty much always followed the rules" was called on to participate in torture. One of his jobs was "to take detainees to certain places and see that they were handcuffed in difficult positions, usually naked, in anticipation of interrogation." Mr. H often watched the questioning. He saw prisoners pushed until they fell down, then cut. They responded to the torture with "defecation, vomiting, urinating," and "psychotic reactions: bizarre screaming and crying."
Smith noted that Mr. H said he was "required to handcuff and push to the ground detainees who were naked." The prisoners were also made to "remain on sharp stones on their knees." Detainees, Mr. H told Smith, would try to avoid interrogation by rubbing their knees until they bled in order be taken to the prison hospital.
According to Smith, Mr. H's comment about these events "was poignant and simple: 'It was wrong what we did.'" While still at Guantánamo , he responded to being a participant in torture "with guilt, crying and tears. But of course it was forbidden to talk with anyone about what he was experiencing." He "became more and more depressed." Apparently, so did other military personnel. Smith said Mr. H told him that in the first month he was at Guantánamo , two guards committed suicide.
Smith said that by the time he saw Mr. H, he "had become very ill. He was suicidal, terribly depressed, anxious," and "riddled with insomnia and horrible dreams and flashbacks." He had already seen two military therapists and not improved. But those therapists "were active duty and he didn't dare tell them" what had happened at Guantánamo . Smith was not active duty, and after two or three sessions Mr. H opened up. With medication and psychotherapy, he became less suicidal but was still too sick to do any more military service.
Thats more than panties on the head. And yes, wiretapping is ILLEGAL without a warrent thanks to something you may have read about in gradeschool called the constitution...
That report is the biggest bunch of crap I have seen in a long time but of course you liberals who worry more about the rights of terrorist who rape , and murder cut off hands legs arms tongues ,,, WHY have you and your friends NEVER STOOD UP and denouced the TERRORIST for what they do ??????????????????????
I've read all of the above.
THUMBS UP ON THE POST JOEZ !!!!
Keep beating that DRUM my friend!!!!
Ahhh, assuming all over 200 have been charged with something when the majority were PURCHASED by the U.S. government and only around 60 may be charged with anything at all. The other 140 being tortured, who cares...right joe...
Are you off your med's again ,,, just what in the hell are you talking about,,, 200 charged who are the 200 and what was purchased, 60 charged with what ,,, and this torture you talk about , is no more then what a hazing in a collage prank , or a man joining the SHRINE or a sailor crossing the Equator for the first time , TORTURE is what the terrorist do in the houses they have sit up to strap people to metal bed springs and electorate them , chain them to the walls and hang them from the ceiling and cut off body parts ,, OH ,, I forgot what ever the terrorist do is OK because they are doing it in the name of ALLA ,,, kiss my a$$ !!!!!!!