Modern Republicanism

Great Article: "Dick Cheney is Mr. Republican"

2009-05-20T11:22:00.004-04:00

"Dick Cheney is Mr. Republican"
By Roger Simon
http://politico.com/

Dick Cheney is 68, white and bitter.

He is the Republican Party today. The Republican Party has no serious wing other than the Cheney wing. The moderate wing of the Republican Party is distinguished by the fact that it does not exist, and yet it is still shrinking.

Arlen Specter, senator from Pennsylvania, recently left the Republicans for the Democrats, and Jon Huntsman, the Republican governor of Utah, is joining the Obama administration as its ambassador to China. After Huntsman’s appointment was announced last week, article after article said he had been one of his party’s “leading” candidates for the presidential nomination in 2012.

Leading candidate? With the possible exception of Salt Lake City, you could fire a cannon down the main street of any city in America at high noon and not hit a person who had ever heard of Jon Huntsman. Everybody has heard of Dick Cheney. True, a Washington Post headline last week said: “As Cheney Seizes Spotlight, Many Republicans Wince.” But a wince can sometimes be mistaken for a spasm of ecstasy. Cheney has many pluses. He is very, very good on TV. (People who don’t like what he says overlook how good he is at saying it.) He is calm, articulate and often courageous.

Who else but Dick Cheney would have the guts to go on “Face the Nation With Bob Schieffer” and say “in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh” rather than Colin Powell? After that, Maureen Dowd wrote: “Cheney, who had five deferments himself to get out of going to Vietnam, would rather follow a blowhard entertainer who has had three divorces and a drug problem (who also avoided Vietnam) than a four-star general who spent his life serving his country.” To which the Republican wing of the Republican Party replies, “Yeah? So who wouldn’t?”

One of Cheney’s greatest attributes is that he revives the whole “Daddy Party vs. Mommy Party” argument that has bedeviled Democrats for decades. Republicans say they are the Daddy Party. They are strong and will protect us from communists, terrorists and people who want to take away our guns. Republicans say Democrats are the Mommy Party. They say Democrats care only about social programs for the poor, don’t care about national defense and don’t understand terrorism. Bill Clinton described the dilemma in December 2002 by saying: “When people feel uncertain, they’d rather have someone strong and wrong than weak and right.”

Cheney offers a clear choice. He is for waterboarding to save the United States from terrorism. He is a Daddy Party kind of guy. True, President Obama gave the go-ahead for the military to shoot three pirates last month. But Cheney actually shot a guy in the head once. How Daddy Party can you get? And why do you think Barack Obama has been so busy recently trying to cover his right flank?

Now he doesn’t want to release torture pictures, he is in favor of military tribunals and he is not planning to reinstate a ban on assault weapons anytime soon. He also is not joining the attack on Nancy Pelosi, who apparently knew all about waterboarding (but insisted it be done with Evian).

The Republicans need a person who knows how to attack. John McCain never seemed comfortable in that role. When McCain would mention Obama during his campaign speeches and people in the crowd would yell “Off with his head,” McCain would actually try to calm them. Cheney would have said: “Why stop with his head?”

Dick Cheney is the voice, the face, the spirit and the guts of the Republican Party today. He’s tanned, he’s rested and his approval ratings can only go up. The Republicans could do worse in 2012. And probably will.

Roger Simon is POLITICO’s chief political columnist.

"Obama Naysayers Speak Out"

2009-01-19T00:48:00.001-05:00

Obama Naysayers Speak Out

Daniel Libit – Sun Jan 18, 6:51 am ET

AP – President-elect Barack Obama speaks during 'We Are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln …

With Barack Obama's approval ratings in the 70s and his visage plastered on every shop window and Metro card in Washington, it's hard to remember that 58 million Americans voted for the other guy.

Even President Bush — who presumably counts himself among that group — said last week that Obama's inauguration is "a moment of hope and pride."

That's not exactly how Michelle Malkin describes it.

"Jan. 20 has turned into a schlock inauguration, (where) every last moocher has come to cash in on Obama," says the conservative blogger and pundit. "There are some of us who want to bang our heads against the wall."

While most Republicans now in office are saying all the right things about Tuesday's proceedings — roll tape on "peaceful transfer of power" and "historic moment for the country" sound bites — some conservatives can't quite get themselves in the "We Are One" mood.

Not even for a day.

On his radio show last week, Rush Limbaugh railed against "people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, 'Well, I hope he succeeds. We have to give him a chance.'"
"Why?" Limbaugh demanded. "They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated, the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I'm not talking about search-and-destroy, but I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year and a half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed."

In the wake of the disputed 2000 election, only 47 percent of the public predicted that Bush would be an "above average" or "outstanding" president. In a new Associated Press-GfK poll, 65 percent of the public attaches those words to Obama.

Asked about Obama's inauguration last week, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay hammered on the cost.

If Obama were "serious" about changing Washington, DeLay said, "He would announce to the world: 'We are in crisis, we are at war, people are losing jobs; we are not going to have this party. Instead, I'm going to get sworn in at the White House. I'm going to have a nice little chicken dinner, and we'll save the $125 million.'"

DeLay said he understands why Republicans in Congress aren't complaining about this publicly: "Those in elected office are looking at Obama's popularity numbers and don't want to be perceived as anti-American by being anti-Obama."

He didn't name names, but the normally outspoken Rep. Michele Bachmann might fit the bill.
Just before the election, the Minnesota Republican told Chris Matthews that she thought Obama might have "anti-American views."

Last week, she told The Hill: "I look forward to working with him and I would expect to be as friendly as I would be to [any president]."

In March, Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King predicted that an Obama victory would have "the al Qaeda and the radical Islamists and their supporters ... dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11th."

Last week, King was still grumbling about Obama's middle name — Hussein — but he told Politico that he's "very respectful and appreciative of the historic moment" and counts it "among life's privileges" that he'll have a seat in Congress when Obama puts his hand on the Bible.

Malkin conceded that it's appropriate to show some deference to the occasion, but she complained that Republican lawmakers aren't standing their ground.

"Especially in the Beltway," she said, "they are more wrapped up in who got invited to what dinner and who didn't. And my criticism of the GOP establishment, as they've rolled on every [Obama Cabinet] nomination, is they are completely out of touch with how fly-over America feels about this spectacle."

Or, as Bob Anderson put it: "Pffffffffffffffffft."

Anderson, a retired chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, is the founder of the conservative grass-roots organization "What are we fighting for?"

Asked to elaborate on his onomatopoeia, Anderson said that "Obama-mania" is leading the country into bad times.

"The only positive thing I can see is hopefully it will be bad enough quick enough that the people will stop drinking the Kool-Aid and see what we're about to lose," he said. "I think we have a very short launch window."

RedState's Erick Erickson is blasting off.

"I think we're going to be treated to.hagiography for weeks if not months," Erickson complained. "The first time Obama uses the bathroom, Newsweek will do a five-page spread."

Tom Hoefling, the political director for Alan Keyes' group America's Revival, has had it with all the talk about the "historic" nature of Obama's inauguration.

"What's historic about it?" he asked. "So it's historical because of his skin tone? Isn't that a racist idea in the first place? ... I could care less what color his skin tone is. What matters is his philosophy -- his political philosophy and his ideology."

Anderson suggested that squeamishness about race is silencing the dissent.

"We're so focused with political correctness people are uncomfortable in saying your baby is ugly and stuff is broken," he said. "While we're sitting around the campfire and trying to sing Kumbaya, our country is slipping away from us."

Anderson won't be watching the inauguration. DeLay will be out in California to rally conservatives. And Richard Viguerie, the king of right-wing direct mail, said Tuesday will be "just another day at the office."

"Yeah, sure, we can be happy that we've taken another step in the racial progress, but I just am not about race, quite frankly," Viguerie said.

He doesn't necessarily begrudge those who will celebrate this week, so long as they keep it short.

"You can take a sip of Kool-Aid. It's OK to smell it, stick your finger in it. But on Jan. 21, let's get back to business."

(Disclaimer: This is not my work. I give full credit to its rightful owner.)

Sunlight

2009-01-12T18:46:00.003-05:00

Through the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, I was introduced to a website that I have since used countless times. The website is call "Richmond Sunlight" and is a program of the Virginia Interfaith Center. Run by Waldo Jaquith, it is a bi-partisan attempt to inform Virginians about the actions being taken by our General Assembly. It has been tracking every congressional bill in the General Assembly since 2007 and very effectively serves as a conduit for citizens to "oversee" and comment on the actions of their representatives. Through a process called "Photosynthesis", you can track and comment on any bill that has been filed. From there you can see who sponsored the bill and participate in simple polls concerning each bill. I highly recommend this website for anyone interested in seeing the ACTUAL laws that our state-wide congressional leaders vote on during their sessions.

To visit Richmond Sunlight, please visit http://www.richmondsunlight.com/

Random Musings

2009-01-11T14:17:00.002-05:00

When did being a Republican become synonymous with being ignorant and stupid?

When did we allow the Republican stereotype to be the gun-toting, uneducated red-neck?

When did we allow the Democrats to capitalize on intellectualism? As if the views and platform of the Republican Party were intellectually inferior.

When did being a Republican mean being a middle-age, protestant, white male? As if the party isn't also made up of all ages, all religions and all races.

When did conservativism become old?

What is the Democratic Party made of?

2009-01-09T19:08:00.006-05:00

1. William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States
Impeached by the House of Representatives over allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice, but acquitted by the Senate.

2. Edward Moore Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts.
Pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, after his car plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

3. Barney Frank, Representative from Massachusetts
Admitted to having paid Stephen L. Gobie, a male prostitute, for sex and subsequently hiring Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used the congressman's Washington apartment for prostitution. A move to expel Frank from the House of Representatives failed and a motion to censure him failed.

4. Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois
Arrested by FBI agents and charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and with solicitation of bribery. The Justice Department complaint alleges that the governor conspired to commit several "pay-to-play" schemes, including attempting to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. He has since been impeached.
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/governor.blagojevich.impeachment.2.903841.html

5. Sheila Dixon, Mayor of Baltimore
Charged with four counts of perjury and two counts of theft over $500, as well as theft under $500, fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and misconduct in office.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-dixon0109,0,3147190.story

6. Democratic National Committee
The Federal Election Commission imposed $719,000 in fines against participants in the 1996 Democratic Party fundraising scandals involving contributions from China, Korea and other foreign sources. The Federal Election Commission said it decided to drop cases against contributors of more than $3 million in illegal DNC contributions because the respondents left the country or the corporations are defunct.

7. James McGreevey, Governor of New Jersey
Admitted to having a gay affair. Resigned after allegations of sexual harassment, rumors of being blackmailed on top of fundraising investigations and indictments.

8. Eliot Spitzer, Governor of New York
Resigned from office after being tied to a prostitution ring.

9. Jesse Jackson, Democratic candidate for President.
Admitted to having an extramarital affair and fathering a illegitimate child.

10. Gary Condit, Congressman from California.
Condit had an affair with an intern. Condit, covered up the affair and lied to police after she went missing. No charges were ever filed against Condit. Her remains were discovered in a Washington DC park.

These are ten of the many instances of Democratic misconduct that I could find in a simple Google search. I'm not trying to assert that the Democratic Party is made up completely of cheats, liars and sexual predators; but I am asserting that due to the facts listed above, the Democratic Party is not perfect (and as such, should stop acting that way). I am always surprised when the Republican Party is burned at the stake for moral failings, by holier than thou Democrats.

(Information for this posted was sourced from http://www.boycottliberalism.com/Scandals.htm. Feel free to take a look.)

Evan Sayet

2009-01-09T16:59:00.003-05:00

This lecture is called "How Modern Liberals Think" by Evan Sayet. Hosted by the Heritage Foundation, it explores how the Modern Liberal thinks and describes the Modern Liberal's goal for American politics. Mr. Sayet does an excellent job explaining the Modern Liberal's frustrations with the United States and the West. I feel that this is an appropriate lecture to feature. I do not own any of the material mentioned or shown in the video.

Monday, March 5, 2007

Featuring:
Evan Sayet

Hosted by:
The Heritage Foundation

First Post

2009-01-09T00:56:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Modern Republicanism! This blog will serve as a soundboard for my ideas, concerns and predictions surrounding the Modern Republican Party. In my own definition, the Modern Republican Party will be the GOP that emerges from the defeat of 2008. Many questions will be asked and answered over the next two years as the GOP prepares for the 2010 mid-term elections. In this blog I will offer my critiques, suggestions and (sometimes) my frustrations concerning the Republican Party. As a citizen of the great Commonwealth of Virginia, I will periodically include commentary dealing with the Republican Party of Virginia.