The way politics ought to be
I’m not a regular reader of RedState.com, but I was struck by the piece Erick Erickson posted late yesterday about President Obama and his second inauguration. The headline of the column is “The Loyal Opposition,” and I’d like to take the liberty of posting it here in its entirety:
Congratulations Mr. President on your second inaugural.
Saying that makes some of you really enraged. I said the same on twitter shortly after his official swearing in. Several of the replies were embarrassing and atrocious. Some accused the man elected by a majority of Americans of treason. Some accused him of willfully destroying the nation.
I believe the President’s policies are destructive and will harm our economy, our nation, and our sense of national self long term. I believe his policies have the effect of turning us into subjects of the government, not citizens in charge of it. Because of his expansion of the social safety net funded through class warfare, Mr. Obama’s policies will cause too many Americans’ fortunes to rise and fall with those of the government, unable to chart a course for themselves apart from government.
But I do not think the President means to do this maliciously. I do not think he is treasonous. I do not hate him. I am not outraged by it. The President has done what he set out to do. I cannot be outraged by him doing what he set out to do. I am far more outraged by the Republicans not doing what they said they would do.
We have too many outrage pimps on both sides of the aisle whipping the respective bases into a frenzy and fury against the other side. I don’t have enough time or energy to be outraged about it all. There are things to be outraged by, but not everything, and certainly not with full energy dedicated to every perceived slight and grievance.
What I am finding is that among conservatives there is too much outrage, piss, and vinegar. It makes our ideas less effective. We have become humorless, angry opponents of the President instead of happy warriors selling better ideas. We are not even selling ideas.
Conservatives, frankly, have become purveyors of outrage instead of preachers for a cause. Instead of showing how increasing government harms people, how free markets help people, and how conservative policies benefit all Americans, we scream “Benghazi” and “Fast & Furious.”
We’re off key and off message. We’ve become professional victims dialed up to 10 on the outrage meter. Who the hell wants to listen to conservatives whining and moaning all the time about the outrage du jour? Seriously? Mitt Romney ran a campaign on just how bad things are, but he was rejected by a majority of Americans who felt like he really did not care about them and really had no plans to improve their lives.
Bitching about Benghazi doesn’t do that either.
Be mad at me if you need to. Feel free to express your moral outrage and indignity at me. But then shut up and focus on convincing people not that the President of the United States duly elected by a majority of the American people is a traitor willfully trying to destroy the country, but that our policies will allow people to make the most of their lives and not be dependent on the rising and falling fortunes of Washington, D.C.
Be happy. The anger is unbecoming of the party of Lincoln and Reagan.
And if you must be angry, don’t be angry at a President doing what he set out to do, be angry at a Republican Establishment not doing . . . well . . . much of anything.
* * * *
I love this piece. I wish I had written it, or something like it. I think his words offer a lesson for every one of us who appreciates politics. In fact, this is what politics ought to be: a contest of ideas built on a base of mutual recognition that each side has something important to offer the American people. I hope the president has a chance to read this. I think he could learn from it too.
Thanks, Erick. You have made my day.
José says:
If they have a better idea, bring it on. The free market applies to politics too. I am confident that a lot of Americans are willing to consider an alternative. But unless the GOP truly changes I am not so confident that they have much worthwhile to offer.
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The Mustache That Dare Not Speak Its Name says:
That is a fine piece by Erick son of Erick. And not something you’d expect from him, considering his comments about former Supreme Court Justice Souter (Google it, not the sort of thing I’d repeat on a family website).
And speaking of Supreme Court Justices, did you see the hat that Justice Scalia wore today to the inauguration? It was magnificent, something that a Medici would have worn back in the good old days.
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j.davis Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 6:54 pm
The justices’ skull caps are discussed here:
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2013/01/about-those-skullcaps.html
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Jim Sirbasku says:
Cue JBB in 3…2…1
“Erick Erickson is a RINO….”
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South Texan says:
Thanks, Paul, for posting this.
I continue to be amazed by not only the disrespect, but also the hostility expressed toward our president.
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Stevie F. says:
I love the “outrage pimps” label. There is a class of commentator out there that always seeks to make their audience less thoughtful. Somehow in the age of mass information managed to create a citizenry will will understanding of their fellow citizens. Recreation anger and hatred is too easy of a sell and our politicians and media sources need to aspire to something better.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Eric was one of those predicting a landslide for Romney, he means well but is occasionally off base. Kinda like most liberals.
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ghostofann Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 8:09 am
Kinda like you are, JBB. Weren’t you also parroting that Romney would win in a landslide?
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paulburka Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 8:40 am
And Dewhurst…
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Blue Dogs Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 9:16 am
Dewhurst wasted almost $20 or so million of his own money in the 2012 US Senate race and get his you-know-what handed to him by Ted Cruz of all people.
Cruz is one of the most luckiest people in Texas politics
Anon Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 8:41 am
And Dewhurst.
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Truman Sparks says:
Erick was very gracious in this post. Paul, can you forward to the guys at Daily Kos and Burnt Orange Report so that they can be as gracious about future Republican victories? It would do our country a service if both sides could dial it down a notch.
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Burka Buy a Clue Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 9:13 pm
DItto Truman! I can recall the vicious, mean, nasty, foul, filthy things spewing forth from that Marcos Milquetoast at Daily Kos. He still needs his mouth and hands washed out with lye soap by my grandmother – about 500 times.
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Jed Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 1:32 pm
the parties differ on this, too.
accusing bush of self-dealing, for example, is far from poor politics. it is simply true.
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Reagan Republican says:
When Republican elected officials do this, they are called RINOS, score low on score cards and get angry TEA Party opponents. They also tend not to get nominated for president by the Republcan Party anymore.
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City Slicker Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Amen! Only choices we have are an angry party of no and one that is a party of no responsibility. Maybe a parliamentary system ain’t so bad?
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Garner's Bucket says:
And now Erick Erickson joins the ranks of those dropped from the list of “True Conservatives”. Cue the outrage from the belligerently ignorant.
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Beerman says:
Erickson will be the main villain on Faux News, Limpballs and JBB this week. You can bet on it!
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Alan says:
Erick Erickson decrying “outrage pimps”? Pot, meet kettle.
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Another Wilco Voter Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Best response to this post!
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Orale! says:
Right on hermano! I see how mi raza will hurt under this presidency, but nuestras ideas of opportunity thru free market need to prevail. Being a ward of the state is not an opportunity nor even a safety net for any Tejano.
En fin, como quisiera ver BOR y Daily Kos tone down their liberal venom. Calm down y visit la zona roja!
Paz!
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JohnBernardBooks says:
I remember when Juan Williams differed with the lefties in the media, he was fired.
I remember when the democrats fled to Ok and Rep Al Edwards criticized them for not doing their duties, he was immediately fired and replaced with lapdog Boris Miles.
“The state legislator and Houston schools vendor who took school trustee Larry Marshall on two all-expenses-paid trips to Costa Rica last year says he’s offered the same trip to school trustees across Texas.
Miles — who, outside his service in the state House is an insurance agent who services the Houston schools’ flood insurance policy — says he’s made the same offer to others.”
http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2011/06/texas-state-rep-borris-offered-free-costa-rica-trips-to-school-trustees-across-Texas/1308750636.column
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Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 3:38 pm
But Rick Perry sells Texas to big corporations whose profits are removed from the tax base. Costa Rica? Peanuts!
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Johnny Comment says:
Outrage pimps…..what a great way to put it. You see this not only in the conservative leadership (if there really is any)and the conservative bloggers, pundits and Fox fools. You see it in memes and on Facebook.It permeates conservatives from the Speaker to JBB. The bottom line commonality is a lack of truthfulness, bumper sticker slogans and a complete and total lack of ideas and leadership.
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SA Rose says:
US Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) had a good admonition when he spoke at the Inaugural Ceremony as Co-Chair of the Congressional Committee. Quoting Alex Haley (a longtime friend of his from his years as Governor of Tennessee), he shared 6 powerful words: “Find the good and praise it.” That could be a good path for folks to try to follow during the legislative session, too.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Phil Mickelson learned a valuable lesson yesterday. He spoke out about high taxes in California and the possibilty of leaving the state.
He was immediately attacked and vilified by the media, causing him to apologize.
Howzat for civility by the left?
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Beerman Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:02 am
Poor old Phil Mc, he will have to cut back on that $100,000 bucks or so that he bets on Pro Sports every week in Vegas!
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:52 am
doesn’t matter what he spends his money on, its none of your business. Your class envy shows your ignorance.
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Beerman Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 1:47 pm
JBB, I am not ignorant. I may be a little slow because of my 73 years of enjoying a great life. However, the last decade of nonstop litany of half-truths, untruths and fear mongering, plus the unadulterated BS being preached by ideologues like you has made me question my past localities to the Republican Party. I do not accept your hypocrisy as the guiding principals of America.
Also, I am envious of Phil Mickelson. If my golf game could make $50-$60 million a year, then I would gladly be willing to pay a 50+% tax rate to help support the democracy of our great country. However, at my age, it is difficult for me to win a $2 Nassau bet…..but, I keep trying 3 to 4 days a week.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:38 pm
Then what’s stopping you? Write a check for the additional money. What you cannot grasp is its HIS money not yours or your liberal friends, and he can do whatever he chooses with it. He chooses to not pay a 62-63% income tax.
So the liberals in the media attack him. Its called class warfare and dems love it, but it goes against the Founders vision of America.
Beerman Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 3:13 pm
JBB, In your perfect informed world, “What’s in it for me” seems to have overpowered “What’s good for all of us”?
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Karl Marx “From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need”
Actually I do get it.
buy a clue Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:40 am
He had to APOLOGIZE??? Oh the humanity, the liberal media is soooo evil. Why are conservatives such delicate flowers jbb?
Cry to me when liberals show up at Phil’s house with AR-15′s strapped to their backs saying they are just “exercising their 2nd amendment rights” just like all the wingnuts did at the congressional town hall meetings to discuss the ACA.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:50 am
funny you mentioned showing up at someone’s house, I remember the SEIU union mob terrorizing the 14 yr in his home when his parents were’t home. Its a tactic the lefties love.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/052410-535018-mob-rule-from-seiu.htm
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buy a clue Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 11:38 am
Remember Graeme Frost? Oh wingnuts are such lovely people. What’s your point?
Following his radio address, the Frost family became a target for criticism from the right, including from media personalities Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh, the magazines National Review and Weekly Standard, and Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 1:08 pm
no one does because it was a staged incident by democrats and was quickly exposed as a another democrat scam.
buy a clue Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 1:28 pm
So every bad act by a “lefty” is real but every bad act by a wingnut is a staged incident by a “lefty”. Wow, those lefties really have one heck of a work ethic. Busy as beavers that group.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:39 pm
no and only a low information voter would get that from what I wrote.
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 3:41 pm
Ever heard of a woman named Sandra Fluke?
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Yes I buy the slut’s birth control pills.
Blue Dogs says:
Morning folks.
Obama’s 2nd term will be more of the same: constant bashing from the Obama administration and Texas over voting rights, economics, etc.,
I also don’t see how he’s going to push for immigration reform when a majority of Americans want border security.
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centexliberal Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:52 am
Blue Dog…to Democrats border security and immigration reform are not mutually exclusive.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 11:20 am
Obama will have to balance out the need for secure borders and some aspects of reforms regarding immigrant families.
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Not Exactly... says:
I get the point that Burka and Erickson are trying to make, but it still assumes the premise that Obama’s policies are wrong and create a class of government-dependents.
Right now, our markets are flourishing and economy is expanding….partially due to policies that temporarily extended benefits to the unemployed. Other policies like ACA were created because there was NO market that served huge populations of certain sick (or soon to be sick) people.
Obama’s Administration is not siphoning resources away from private markets…we’re filling its holes. Voters understand and accept that premise.
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Jorge says:
Example of double down extreemism: General Abbott—one of the new leaders of the GOP—puts an ad in the New York papers telling gun owners to move to Texas to protect their guns ! They can’t help themselves.
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John Johnson Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 9:54 am
Who paid for the ad? Let me guess.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:55 am
Doncha just love it when somebody stands up to the lefties?
“Mr. Abbott’s ads were paid for not by the attorney general’s office but by his political campaign, Texans for Greg Abbott.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/us/texas-attorney-general-invites-new-yorkers-to-bring-their-guns.html?_r=0
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centexliberal says:
I understand that it was paid from Abbot’s campaign funds…and I bet he gets his money’s worth out of it.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 11:21 am
Abbott will be in the Governor’s Mansion come January 20, 2015 and it will likely be 8 years of bitterness and HELL.
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ANONYMOUS Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 10:19 am
Then, in 2020, the Democrats will return from their sabbatical and restore education and infrastructure and healthcare and compassion and sanity to Texas. And we will never look back.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
I hear “State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, says he’s found the perfect way for elected officials to practice what they’re preaching about the need for fiscal restraint: ban “double-dipping” by politicians.”
Bullock passed “double dipping” when he wanted more money as Lt Guv. It will be interesting to see how many dems support this bill and how quickly Rep Turner will be run out of the dem party.
I will call my Honorable Rep Reynolds today and ask if he supports House Bill 413.
You do the same.
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retrocon says:
Erickson takes a swipe at the purveyors of “outrage” but focuses his own outrage exclusively on the Right. I fail to see his logic. He admits he sees the President’s policies as “destructive” and “harmful” to the country but he cannot be outraged by THAT. After all the President is just “doing what he set out to do.”
Erickson describes Obama policy as fostering government dependency and of pushing his policies through “class warfare.” It seems Erickson might be aware that Obama himself, today’s archetypical community organizer, has been a leader in stoking divisiveness… yet, Obama cannot be a target of Erickson’s ire for “doing what he set out to do.”
Erickson thinks Obama’s policies are destructive and harmful to the country but wants to pick at Mitt Romney for pointing that out while campaigning for President? And what was Erickson’s big reason that Romney’s claims about “how bad things are” weren’t enough to carry the day? Because people “FELT like he really did not care about them and really had no plans to improve their lives.”
Remember Watergate? The scandal originated with a break-in at a national campaign headquarters — but what the press particularly jumped on, and would not let go of, was the connection of the Nixon Administration to a COVER-UP of its involvement. In the case of Benghazi or Fast & Furious, the scandals stem from incidents where innocent American citizens were actually killed! And there are obvious signs to a cover-up (Presidential privilege to suppress release of records, testimony, etc.) yet for Erickson it is just too much that some people might want to get to the bottom of it.
If Erickson wants to scold his fellow conservatives for being too outraged and of not articulating a winning message, he can do that without giving a virtual pass to Obama, the Left, and a weak press.
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Anonymous says:
Why is it that none of the disturbed and evil men, who steal guns, then, go and kill movie-goers and children in school, has ever been identified as a conservative NRA member?
Ft Hood~~~ Registered Democrat ~ Muslim
Columbine ~~~ Too young to vote; both families were registered Democrats and progressive liberals
Virginia Tech ~~~ Wrote hate mail to President Bush and to his staff ~ Registered Democrat
Colorado Theater ~~~ Registered Democrat; staff worker on the Obama campaign; Occupy Wall Street participant; progressive liberal
Connecticut School Shooter- ~~~ Registered Democrat; hated Christians
Common thread is that all of these shooters were progressive liberal Democrats.
INTERESTING, isn’t it?
Maybe Democrats shouldn’t have guns!
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:41 pm
can we stop the low information voter from voting too? Now we’re on to something.
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buy a clue Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 4:22 pm
we will always defend your right to vote jbb.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:29 pm
don’t have to I already defended the right.
vietvet3 Reply:
January 22nd, 2013 at 9:04 pm
Interesting… sources?
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Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:51 am
vietvet3: There are no sources because this is another right wing meme flying around on the web. See the repudiation:
examiner.com/article/the-idea-that-recent-mass-shooters-are-mostly-registered-democrats-is-a-myth
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Anonymous Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 8:28 am
Anonymous on Jan 22 at 12:50pm is a liar. An outright liar.
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Smokin says:
Do we think Gov. Perry and/or Sen. Cruz have read Erickson’s post and taken it to heart?
Keep in mind, neither has articulated any vision for what they want to achieve but for being against everything the socialist Obama proposes or supports. Their political fortunes are tied to bashing Obama and the federal government, as proxy for Obama.
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Tex says:
@ buy a clue – Your comment to JBB is hilarious. I’m glad you are defending his right to vote, but I think he should be drug tested at the voting both and pay a poll tax prior to voting. Just joking JBB, you are part of the reason I follow this blog.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:30 pm
aw comeon “part” of the reason?
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rw says:
He’s wrong, of course. The problem isn’t the anger or the ideas – it’s the people expressing them.
George W. Bush did what he set out to do. Democrats (including this President) are still angry at him for what he did. There was more anger in 2008 than 2004 – the difference was that in 2004 the Democrats gave us John Kerry – a pathetic candidate. They upped the ante in 2008.
There’s still anger to this day from some people.
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Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:38 am
W didn’t “set out to do what he did”. He was thrust into the maelstrom because of 9/11.
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Jed says:
when millions die (iraqis are people too) for no reason other than to line the pockets of a handful of rich turds, and countless american lives are ruined in the process, i for one will never stop being angry.
the two sides aren’t equivalent, no matter how important it is to some journalists to make believe they are.
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Not an editor.... says:
Good call to print this, Paul. Regardless of whether the author’s positions are right or wrong, whether he’s been fair or unfair in the past, he has nailed it on the tone of the Rs.
Vicious doesn’t work any more.
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Tex says:
Really? GWB 43 did not roll with “what he set out to do.” He lied. GWB said we should not invade other lands while running for president. Worst president ever. Oh, don’t get me started on what he did or did not do to the economy of this country.
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Anonymous says:
I think President Clinton made the same point that rw made about W. doing what he said he would do when it comes to economic policy. He ran on a policy of wrecking federal finances on the eve of baby boomer retirement, even if he didn’t put it quite that way but sounded instead more like a J.G. Wentworth commercial (it’s your money …). And he did it.
He ran on a policy of getting government out of the way of capitalism and he did it.
It took a whole lot of things for that campaign to succeed – for example Bill Clinton’s zipper; Ralph Nader; the designer of the butterfly ballot; mainstream media types telling us to vote for W because he was the better choice to have a beer with; so many of the D rank and file sitting around whining about Al Gore’s lack of charisma rather than fighting for their guy the way Rs fought for W; and certain economists like the guy who writes for the Washington Post assuring us at least impliedly that there was no connection between the health of the social security trust fund and the ability of the US treasury to pay off the whopping debt the treasury owed the trust fund once the IOUs started to come due.
So in a way I think we all share a little responsibility for the mess W made domestically with the economy and the treasury. He did what he said he would do.
But I don’t think W campaigned, at least in 2000, on the foreign policy he adopted at the behest of the neocons. I think the average voter had every right to assume that W on foreign policy would listen to and heed the advice of his father and his father’s foreign policy team. I don’t remember anything about the 2000 election that would lead one to expect W would ignore the sorts of views on foreign policy associated with his father and instead cleave to the neocons.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:37 am
Just so we understand the low information voter point, “its Boosh’s fault”.
Is anything EVER a dem’s fault, ever?
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Anonymous Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 8:45 pm
Not enough information in the above comment for you, JBB?
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Dem John Whitmire has an answer to the school shootings, “a new tax”. I believe someone recently posted “there isn’t a dem taxNspend agenda this session.”
With democrats there is always a “taxNspend” agenda.
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Go Irish Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:58 am
Here’s part of the problem, JBB… you pick and choose the facts to promote your narrow, simplistic point of view. The school safety proposal was laid out by Democrat Whitmire AND that “taxNspend” Republican of the Senate Finance Committee, Tommy Williams. Republican Dan Huberty is the House sponsor. What say you now???
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JohnBernardBooks says:
I will be working so I won’t be able to parcipate, but all the low information voters and bored state workers can play.
It’s time for the drinking game. Everytime Hillary says “I don’t recall” her patented trademark phrase, at the Benghazi hearing you get to take a shot.
Should be vodka in her honor and should be a hoot!
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bnrtn says:
Civility in political “discussions”: When you know the Truth and that Truth is felt to be thwarted, then all things are permitted.
Interesting how things moved along rather well when most citizens could afford to pay little attention to politics. Yes, I know, those were the bad old days and America is much better off nowadays
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Jed says:
i have yet to see any data that show our political discourse to be any more or less civil than ever.
the habit of bemoaning the fate of civility and pining for the good old days of “functioning” politics is as old as our constitution, perhaps as old as democracy itself (i think pericles had something to say about it).
i can’t comment on whether it has always contained an element of false equivalency, but that is certainly the case here.
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Tom says:
“Everytime Hillary says “I don’t recall” her patented trademark phrase”
The total was zero.
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John Johnson says:
Emails she couldn’t remember seeing or cables she said she did not read; staged outrage; deflections to the Mullins report which was a joke, in my opinion. The hearing today was a total waste of time…except for Rand Paul’s pointed, knowledgeable statements and demeanor.
A rising star to many…me included.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Her best answer by far, was “what does it matter how they were killed?”!
Apparently it mattered little to dems, all they cared about was covering up their incompetencies and winning the election.
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John Johnson Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 8:29 pm
Hillary is the Queen of Righteous Indignation and she exhibited it today as a defensive mechanism. She’s has it down to an art form.
It appears that she never read any of the cables and emails from Ambassador Stevens in which he asked for help repeatedly. She says it was a matter of money, when leaving the company of marines in place that were yanked out days before his death would have not cost the State Department one cent. The entire deal reeks of a cover up.
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Tom says:
Rand Paul to Hillary: “Had I been Commander in Chief I would have fired you, and so Madam Secretary, here is my question to you, ‘Is Libya sending weapons to Turkey?’
If that is your definition of a rising star, God help you.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Tom, knowing the Clintons eliminating their enemies (see Ron Brown plane crash 1996), I wouldn’t piss off the most powerful political couple if I was Senator Paul.
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Anonymous Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:39 pm
Do you have any evidence for the proposition that the Clintons have their enemies eliminated? That’s quite an assertion.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:11 pm
The mysterious plane crash in 1996 involving the late US Commerce Secy Ron Brown (who was also DNC Chairman) still is suspicious because when doctors did an autopsy, they found a bullet hole in his head-hence Brown may have been shot to death.
Anonymous Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 9:00 pm
Anything, other than a Morrow-esque trail, that ties that bullet to the Clontons?
John Johnson Reply:
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:16 pm
So sorry, Tom. Were my words too harsh for you? If Rand Paul’s were, mine must have been, too.
In a Senate hearing on Benghazi, more words were used to applaud Hillary’s “contributions” over the years than answer pointed questions. It was ridiculous.
Rand Paul’s cut through the bullshit, pertinent, on point questions…and informative statements…were a breath of fresh air….so, Tom, I guess we disagree on this issue.
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John Johnson says:
All you Rand Paul haters take a quick look at this. Tell me you don’t agree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svGDZOW-brA
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Tom says:
If you Google “Rand Paul is an . . .” it automatically fills in the word “idiot.” Among the many stories about him is this gem:
Appearently determined to prove the Bush Theory — all famous name sons of office-holding Republicans represent a generational degredation of genetic attributes — Rand Paul has once again made a fool of himself.
Yesterday, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, Rand declared that those who think there should be a right to healthcare believe in slavery:
“With regard to the idea of whether you have a right to health care, you have realize what that implies,” the senator said. “It’s not an abstraction. I’m a physician. That means you have a right to come to my house and conscript me.”
“It means you believe in slavery,” Paul added. “It means that you’re going to enslave not only me, but the janitor at my hospital, the person who cleans my office, the assistants who work in my office, the nurses.”
JJ,I’ll be happy to entertain you with many more hilarious stories on your hero.
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John Johnson says:
Keep them coming. I’ll read yours if you’ll read mine. Did you take a look at the link? Bet not. While his slavery comparison is a massive stretch, his take on how Congress operates is not. He is so much more intelligent and original than…say…Louie Gohmert. He also isn’t pandering to anyone. He appears to be his own man. I’ll allow him a few slips early on. Cruz, too. Bet Paul ends up the star.
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buy a clue Reply:
January 24th, 2013 at 9:10 am
good lord, could you set the bar any lower?
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BCinBCS Reply:
January 25th, 2013 at 12:26 am
Nope.
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John Johnson says:
No argument from me on this point. LG is about as low as you can go.
Instead of just being the obnoxious pest on this site as opposed to the witty, humorous one, why don’t you read the book, watch the utube link and actually join the discussion?
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buy a clue says:
Here’s your “much more intelligent” hero gramps. What a genius.
“By lip-synching the national anthem, Beyoncé has cast a dark cloud over the President’s second term,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). “The only way President Obama can remove that cloud is by resigning from office at once.”
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buy a clue says:
Why would I read a book by a discredited hack who lies and makes up data to “prove” his point?? The only reason you are in love with Murray is that his nonsense confirms your preconceived notions and gives you a tingle up your leg. Get your head out of the sand gramps.
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John Johnson Reply:
January 24th, 2013 at 10:14 am
“Tingle up your leg”. Aren’t you plagiarizing your mentor, Chris Matthews…that solid rock of objectivity?
Murray’s sources of facts are well documented, yet you wouldn’t know because pests just crap on what they don’t eat.
You could read the book and then tear it apart instead of just repeating what you heard someone with biases say. There are no biases in Mr. Murray’s book that I detected. If you can find some, be specific; don’t just keep being a pest.
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John Johnson says:
Go away pest. Rand’s comments were a humorous jab at O, which you have taken out of context, like many want to do these day. Here’s the quote:
“Mr. Paul said that the White House’s refusal to comment on the Beyoncé crisis “only serves the argument that this President has something to hide. If Beyoncé lip-synched the national anthem, how do we know President Obama didn’t lip-sync his oath of office?” he said. “If that’s the case, he’s not legally President. But just to be on the safe side, he should resign anyway.”
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buy a clue says:
Ha, a conservative republican complaining about context. This is especially hysterical given the wingnut freakout over Hillary’s “what difference does it make” comment and every out of context comment from Obama you loons have been drooling over for the past 4 years.
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John Johnson says:
You are always good at adding “yeah, but’s” to a discussion when hit with a stout retort…in fact, you are one of the best at it.
“Never”, “always”, “every”, “all of you”. Key words in your limited arsenal.
You poor little angry pest.
P.S. I will give Hillary credit…her righteous indignation at being asked a pertinent question was as good as it gets.
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buy a clue says:
good god you are delusional. not surprising coming from someone who thinks jbb is funny and insightful and can’t see him for the troll he is. hope your head is enjoying the sand gramps.
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John Johnson says:
Quite comfortable, thank you.
Fighting off an angry pest is no fun, but it’s not like you are doing any real damage. You are just a regular guy with some anger issues. I get that.
And for the record…I don’t consider JBB a troll. I don’t often agree with him, but he is funny. His retorts are witty. Yours aren’t. In my estimation, you are the angry troll. Hope leveling with you like this doesn’t spoil you day.
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Jim Sirbasku says:
JJ–
Back when you were against Craddick and The Bigs, back when Wendy was just a glimmer in your eye, you added something to this blog. Now you are an incoherent babbler that actually believes in Rand Paul and thinks JBB is witty, while salivating over Wendy’s lady parts.
Lay off the sauce.
JS
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John Johnson says:
To each his own. This would be a boring website if we all agreed.
I have no comment, one way or the other, on your political views. I just find you obnoxious.
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really burka? says:
You let people call others “sluts” on your blog?
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