In my numerous years of writing and analyzing politics I have made some good friends in the conservative ranks, while we may not agree totally on the direction government should take, we did treat each other with respect and the exchange of ideas has been great….I feel I must apologize to my conservative friends for this post…..while I mean every word of it, it may ruffle some feathers………and for that I regret that I have done so….
With the coming election and the possibility of gaining in the House and the Senate and you guys are passing around BS like the so-called mosque debacle or immigration and the 14th amendment and then there are those birther morons that cannot let that go…..why?…..you guys have perfect weapon against Obama and the Dems……the ECONOMY! So why do you guys spend an inordinate amount of your election time talking about the BS mentioned above?
You guys need to find some that will step forward and put all this crap to bed….you need a strong voice for rational thought…..so far you guys are NOT using rationale or logic in these months before the general election…why? I realize that you have very limited ideas on how to fix the country….I mean you are just re-hashing Reagan’s ideas….sorry guys…that was 30 years ago….step into the 21st century and find some real solutions for the problems of the country…..
Here is an idea…..try using the FACTS to make your case! As long as you hold onto these conspiracy theories….you are BLOWING IT!
Some of your candidates are proving everyone on the Left right…..that you are a party of white people…or that you are a party of old guys…….that you have NO new ideas and that your only concern is to return to power and that it has NOTHING top do with what is best for the country…….
Just remember you can fool some of the people all the time….and this is what you are doing….FOOLING the American people….
I am questioning your sincerity and the collective intelligence of your leaders, when the best you can do is campaigning on emotional issues that appeal to NO one but the people that already hate the Prez and will vote against anything he is for…..what kind of political tactic is this? That conspiracies trump facts and sanity.
Why would you think that you could attract younger voters or Hispanic voters? You are showing your hate…..you are showing prospected voters that you have NOTHING to offer them in the way of solutions to our problems. They are NOT listening!
A very good post and a very good summary of the situation…
It IS somewhat different in the UK since our electoral system is different, but what you describe is what BOTH (indeed now I think we could even say ALL, following the current surge of the Liberal Democrats) our major political parties (one after the other) have had to go through in order to re-invent themselves as modern, relatively intelligent and electable.
Labour was the first – and only the forward thinking Tony Blair was able to drag it kicking and screaming into the 20th century. Sadly, the old guard failed to die off quickly enough and Blair’s “New Labour” was no more than an ill-fitting sheepskin behind which lurked the Luddite malevolence of Gordon Brown and his bunch of crooks and clowns waiting to drag the party back down into the dark and evil bowels of their 19th century cave – instead of putting on their shades and facing up to the bright, sunlit arrival of the 21st century. Shame that…
So too has it been with Cameron and the Conservatives and, whilst it is true that the Tory old guard is also waiting in the wings, I suspect (I HOPE) they are mostly so far out of touch with reality that I doubt they can be more than an irritation to the forward thrust of the Cameron-Clegg alliance (thanx by the way for the link you left me on QH).
Clegg too has been a huge surprise in the UK and I believe he is trying very hard to drag his woolly-headed patchwork of weirdos and dreamers forward as a viable party. I doubt he’ll succeed in the longer term, but I really do hope I’m wrong – he is an astute and energetic politician with a good brain and a degree of common sense rarely displayed by someone of his party.
It seems to me that what you have described is entirely symptomatic of similar processes going on in US politics. Your centre-left party has come to power on the shoulders of a “bright new star” with the promise of great things to come, but little is being delivered that even hints at all the promise of which the electorate dreamed (probably quite unrealistically). You may see a brief resurgence of the right – and it will be likely to be waa-aaay to the right and it may have influence for a while, but it too will fail abysmally to deliver anything other than the sort of outlandish irrelevances that a few wingnuts jerk off to.
You need a phoenix that will rise from what will I suspect be some pretty disgusting ashes – but when? where? the time is, I fear, not yet right – cometh the hour, cometh the man, the saying goes – let’s hope so.
Talking of that, perhaps (I think) what America REALLY needs is a strong, powerful and extremely COMPETENT (and probably ruthless) woman as Prez… Who knows – maybe she’ll even turn out to be a redhead for you 😆
Thanx….I have many conserv friends and have ask them to explain their party to me…..so far they are at a loss for words…..all this anger with the American voters is just hype (post to follow in a day or so)…the primaries do not hold up the assertion of an anti-incumbent mood in the country.
The more I learn about the IK system the more I am appreciating it……and it is worth a try, IMO……
I would be all for a woman prez….just not Hillary…..she would have been a harbinger of a return of Bill and I do not think the country would have survived it….and a red head would be lovely….
Well, I think the US missed a huge opportunity in not electing Hilary Clinton since she is her own person and not in the least “Bill with a bust”.
However, I also think that Bill Clinton (seen from the point of view of an outsider) was in many ways a very good Prez. I’m sure he got a lot of things wrong, but then, just like Maggie Thatcher in the UK before him, many of the things he did were mere shadows of what he intended (just as with Obama and healthcare) simply because the opposition spent all its time (and much of his – plus millions of dollars) playing politics instead of debating real issues and their effect on the country.
Let’s face it, much of his time and energy went into defending himself against accusations of infidelity – what the F*CK has THAT got to do with running the country? Who (apart from Hilary) gives a damn if he was shagging some VERY and openly willing neophyte? Frankly, my greatest emotion about that question would be envy and it seems that, on the whole, American women agreed with me!
I just wish I could manage (afford?) to interest sexy twenty something women in exploring the virtues of big fat Havana cigars with me… 😈
Well Clinton I my opinion is the cause of, or at least one of the causes, of the recent meltdown…his policies were more conserv than some of the conservs……some of his policies were…..well not to my liking…but then few are these days.
BTW, my best day as far as post go was a post I had about Hilary in Michigan during the primaries of 08…….boy were her supporters pissed!
“You guys”? “Birthers”?
Is it any more reasonable for me to call you (a liberal) out on the [liberal] LGBT community’s obsession with society’s acceptance of their deviant sexual relationships?
People are simply speaking out about issues of importance to them. Is the economy important? Sure. But right now the mainstream media doesn’t want to give much airtime to the economy…since it only serves to make their cronies in the Democrat Party look bad. So, the media is paying more attention to the other squabbles which may not be as important fiscally, but definitely do matter when it comes to society and our country in general: the mosque at Ground Zero, the POTUS’ belief system, illegal immigration, etc.
And really, all those issues (including the economy) are symptoms of the bigger problem that mainstream America seems to be revolting against: liberal/progressive foreign and domestic policies. People aren’t buying into the Keynesian economic crap anymore. People aren’t buying into the multiculturalism crap anymore. People aren’t buying into the Government-makes-the-best-daddy B.S. anymore. Because we have seen a bloated behemoth of a federal government swell to an even more enormous size, as it continues to seek justification for its morbidly obese existence by increasing government dependence and continues to stuff its face full of regulation, restrictions, redistribution, and taxation.
Americans are done with all this insanity. This was not the hope and change they wanted…which is probably why even young people, under-educated women, and Hispanics are disapproving of Obamacare.
And seriously, what the hell is wrong with a “party of white people”? Good God. Does no one question that blacks vote more dogmatically with their party line (The Democrat Party) than any other group in this country? They’re the only ones who give Obama a high approval rating, for crying out loud. Had it not been for whites (including those who generally voted Republican), Obama would never have been elected in the first place!
Of course, if you actually read the serious conservative media outlets and blogs, you wouldn’t be accusing conservatives of campaigning on emotional issues. Ever been to a Tea Party meeting? (And there’s nothing emotional about illegal immigration.)
Your last question first….yes I have been to a TP meeting or rally or whatever one wants to call them. I found some committed Libertarians there which I understand their thinking….but (there is always a but) I found people like a 70 year old man on Medicare that did not want the government controlling his health care….I found numerous people that said that Obama is a socialist (not even close)…..so there are some committed people in the movement and my hat is off to them….but there are also some that are just furthering an agenda of hate or ignorance.
But you have a party of white guys….the GOP…at least that is what it seems and there is nothing wrong with that if there is NO hate for one people over another.
And yes it is an emotional issue….illegal immigration at least the way it is being framed….it is a problem…yes…..but no pregnant woman is crossing a desert to have a baby in this country. I was at a Home Depot about a year ago and there were a couple of day workers waiting….not one was American….so they are not stealing those jobs at least here on the Gulf Coast. It is a problem that needs a bi-partisan solution…not name calling and insults and lies.
LGBT issues….that is NONE of my business…just as my sex life is NONE of their’s…….when we try to legislate morality we are fighting a losing battle.
I will agree that Keynesian economics needs help but so does the also antiquated supply side economics…….the trickle down that Reagan promised has not made it to my level yet….so I am NOT impressed with that one either.
Sorry wanted to add….that for years I was a poster on many discussion forums…..but I started a blog to get away from the crazies and the insults from both sides….I am respectful of a persons beliefs as long as mine are also respected….we may not agree but we can still have a substantial dialog….to your point…I do not read many conserv blogs or liberal blogs for that matter….I link to a few but seldom read them only when I am looking to see who is posting what….I do read republicans United because they seem to be adults….I do get my news from papers and news outlet on the web….I have quoted the Washington Times as well as the WaPo….so I do know where the conservs stand on certain issues, but so far the leaders are not acting like adults, IMO. And then neither are the Dems in this case…..we need a change.
Interestingly, I will agree with both of you. I take issue with Natassia since she comments on things like “deviant” sexual behaviour and such as if it is an insult (if I’ve misunderstood then I apologise). Define “deviant” who are you or anyone else to decide what is “deviant”?
On things like Keynesian economics, big government and the like, Natassia, I COULDN’T AGREE MORE with you – it is rubbish and the more people realise that and say so, the better – in my opinion.
Immigration? Tricky for me as non American never even having visited America (and no especially wishing to). I like most of the Americans I know, I just have a sneaky feeling they are the atypical ones.
“Birthers” as you call them – just personally speaking as an outsider, it seems like a pretty irrelevant waste of energy to me once the guy was elected – much of America is facing possible destitution, you have runaway government in some respects, you’re still fighting wars along with us Brits and neither of us wants them, America faces possibly losing almost overnight much of its military dominance and these people are worried about someone’s birth certificate – I ask you! Does that really sound sensible to you? Still, as you say, it’s their right and if it matters to them… what the heck…
However, where I do agree 100% with Lobotero is that, whether I, or he, agrees with the politics involved, surely America is in considerable trouble at the moment and needs a good opposition party that will research the real issues that matter to ALL Americans and perhaps find some answers. From what I read and see in the “respected” newpapers in the US, you don’t have a cohesive political party adequately fulfilling that function right now – and, if true, that’s both sad and serious.
Stirring up trouble. I like it.
“I mean you are just re-hashing Reagan’s ideas….sorry guys…that was 30 years ago”
Very true. I find the prospect of GOP resurgence to be quite foreboding because of this. More tax cuts? More militarism? More dismantling of the social safety net? I’m not sure that this country could survive another stretch with those policies in full force. There’s no sensible plan for addressing unemployment or climate change, to name a couple of issues.
It seemed after 2008 like the GOP would have to restructure itself to stay relevant. To some extent, they’ve been influenced by the self-contradicting Tea Party and their libertarian sentiment, but what about the leadership of the party? They’re stuck in a rut and seem to spend a great deal of time making absurd accusations, obstructing legislation and pushing for the same old same old.
Hiya Clint….nice to see you again……I agree completely……I mean the whole thing about trying to exile liberal Repubs is just silly……so far I have NOT heard one new idea and I keep listening…I would like something new from the GOP.