Valin Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 NRO: Michael Barone 2/20/12 Many Republican House members, and the bloggers and tea partiers who cheered their victory in gaining a majority in November 2010, seem to be seething with discontent and eager for confrontation. They believe, reasonably, that their victory represented a repudiation of the vast expansion of government by the Obama Democrats. They want to see those policies reversed, and pronto. And if the dilatory Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the all-campaign-no-governance President Obama want a confrontation, so much the better. Such impatience is unbecoming in those who call themselves “constitutional conservatives.” It is James Madison’s Constitution that prevents the winners of one election from directing the course of public policy as unilaterally as, to take one example, the British Labor party marched Britain into a socialist welfare state on the basis of one election victory in 1945. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Bravo Mr. Barone. As usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 Bravo Mr. Barone. As usual. Speaker John Boehner — who started off as a rebel himself and served as a leader when Newt Gingrich moved policy (sometimes adroitly, sometimes maladroitly) in a Republican direction — is as well positioned as anyone could be to make judgments on when prudence should override principle. The problem is he always opts for prudence. This is what happens when you stay in Washington to long. I think the best thing that happened to Santorum & Gingrich is they lost elections/power and left DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokke Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Bravo Mr. Barone. As usual. Speaker John Boehner who started off as a rebel himself and served as a leader when Newt Gingrich moved policy (sometimes adroitly, sometimes maladroitly) in a Republican direction is as well positioned as anyone could be to make judgments on when prudence should override principle. The problem is he always opts for prudence. This is what happens when you stay in Washington to long. I think the best thing that happened to Santorum & Gingrich is they lost elections/power and left DC. That seems to be the human way. You don't realize what is truly important until you lose it. One of the interesting side effects of sending our military into African conflicts is listening to the response of young black servicemen once they've been there. Turns out Africa isn't Nirvana, and America is actually a country with more positives than negatives. When our politicians are immersed for decades in Washington politics, they lose their ability to see what caused them to seek election in the first place. It isn't until they step back into the real world that they remember what is worth fighting for in this country. It isn't Congressional offices with a better view, and bigger chairs in a committee room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Bravo Mr. Barone. As usual. Speaker John Boehner who started off as a rebel himself and served as a leader when Newt Gingrich moved policy (sometimes adroitly, sometimes maladroitly) in a Republican direction is as well positioned as anyone could be to make judgments on when prudence should override principle. The problem is he always opts for prudence. This is what happens when you stay in Washington to long. I think the best thing that happened to Santorum & Gingrich is they lost elections/power and left DC. That seems to be the human way. You don't realize what is truly important until you lose it. One of the interesting side effects of sending our military into African conflicts is listening to the response of young black servicemen once they've been there. Turns out Africa isn't Nirvana, and America is actually a country with more positives than negatives. When our politicians are immersed for decades in Washington politics, they lose their ability to see what caused them to seek election in the first place. It isn't until they step back into the real world that they remember what is worth fighting for in this country. It isn't Congressional offices with a better view, and bigger chairs in a committee room. There was a book written years ago by a Black reporter (NY Times?) was sent to Africa, after a years he came home wrote a book...In it he said Thank God my ancestors got sold into slavery in America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I think to some extent, they are hobbled by us...the electorate. We loudly call for big changes, but many of the ones we are trying to sell are going to really hurt--even now. I get impatient when they vote for things like the continuation of the payroll tax and unemployment benefits on one hand, but I understand the politics of it on the other. I'd be lying if I didn't say there is always a slight sigh of relief when it isn't going to make things harder for me personally. We are in a tough spot. We are having to run against the largesse of the government by offering the bitter pill of austerity...and that is a very tough sell even to those of us who say its what we want. Most of us like the concept of having the size and scope of government reduced, that is until it affects of personally. At some point you take a good hard look at your parents trying to make ends meet on social security, relying on medicare...your children looking to get grants for education, your husband working for the government, your disabled brother on social security and you think "wow, if this all goes away at once we'll be in real trouble." Now, it's not that I'm going to vote against cutting government, even against my own financial interests in this situation. It's just that I do so understanding that it could have a seriously catastrophic impact on my life. A huge one, and not one I am likely to recover from in my lifetime...and it is difficult to vote myself into that situation when so many others do not. That is where politics becomes very personal, and where I begin to have compassion for those who are less motivated by some ideology and more motivated by self preservation. I get it and the left manipulates it. A nebulous call for "freedom" is a very tough sell against a measurable amount deposited into your bank account each month. And the only way we're going to get there is by showing results at each prudently taken step in the right direction, and an articulate and "non-scary" explanation of where we are headed and what the benefits are in going there. Maybe we should pay everyone to spend six months in Greece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raygun Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Valin's a posting maniac! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raygun Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 ...One of the interesting side effects of sending our military into African conflicts is listening to the response of young black servicemen once they've been there. Turns out Africa isn't Nirvana, and America is actually a country with more positives than negatives. ... There's a sketch - RIchard Pryor I believe - that bespeaks to that quite loudly. ONCE one has been in the military: ALL previous indoctrination pertaining to race / sex fall to the wayside. From a males perspective: any race or sex bleeds red. One will never understand that until they've been in the military and seen death firsthand. I'll say one word: "Bull" Halsey. Is it possible that "Bull" could be a woman? I'm-a-mad-dinner-jacket knows not fury until he's pissed off a bull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raygun Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Imagine the world if the elected President could just do what they want? I want to hear what Hillary Clinton has to say as Secretary of State. I would not want to be her at this point in time. She and she alone has power at this time. If she fails, then Barak is left with little option... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raygun Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 It'd be cool if I actually knew what I was talking 'bout: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raygun Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I find it interestesting that on another web-site every poster made points how in poor taste Hillary was. Amazingly: the "girl" - according to the mysogyist web-site - on the far right side (first level) was despariged. She's a shill for Hillary regardless of qualifications. What a bunch of nutters and bunch of looney-tunes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raygun Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 A reporter was asking an old communist what he felt was the big difference between the two systems. The old soviet said, “In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, it’s other way around.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raygun Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokke Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 ...One of the interesting side effects of sending our military into African conflicts is listening to the response of young black servicemen once they've been there. Turns out Africa isn't Nirvana, and America is actually a country with more positives than negatives. ... There's a sketch - RIchard Pryor I believe - that bespeaks to that quite loudly. ONCE one has been in the military: ALL previous indoctrination pertaining to race / sex fall to the wayside. From a males perspective: any race or sex bleeds red. One will never understand that until they've been in the military and seen death firsthand. I'll say one word: "Bull" Halsey. Is it possible that "Bull" could be a woman? I'm-a-mad-dinner-jacket knows not fury until he's pissed off a bull. Raygun! Great to see you on the internet. I'm still getting the Berean emails every morning. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino67 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Did Hilary not get the memo about wearing a white shirt? Or, did she just want to stand out in the crowd? Or, just a symbol of this administration's dismal failure to understand diplomacy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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