Sunday, February 28, 2016

Total Republican failure.

Voter were beginning to understand Republican failure, surrender, and co-optation before the Tea Party came upon the scene. For me, it became obvious upon detecting the silence of the grave as Republicans gained majorities in Congress in 2014 and just stood there in place like an ox chewing grass.

They acted like – and were – chumps when they later got around to play acting over shutting down the government. Despite much data from the past on likely Democrat tactics, they had no response prepared for when the Obama had Park Rangers threaten to make looking at mountains in Yellowstone Park a major felony.

Dems can come up with political videos where old women are thrown off a cliff but not a dime of the Republican war chest could be found to pay a political PR firm to punch back in any way. Where was Reince Priebus's inner Lee Atwater?

Anyway, here's what David Stockman has by way of a bill of particulars where Republican failure is concerned:

Yet after decades in Washington they and most of their Senate colleagues have accomplished nothing that resembles the old Republican verities. In fact, during 2000-2006 when Republicans controlled the Congress and the White House, not a single welfare state program or agency was eliminated or even reformed, while vast new expansions of education, Medicare, agriculture, alternative energy subsides and much more were piled on the pre-existing heap of state.

Accordingly, the Federal spending share of GDP grew faster than at any time in history; and the $4 trillion worth of new national debt incurred during the eight Bush years smashed all prior peacetime records.

* * * *

In all, the GOP establishment has become an integral part of the Washington ruling class. It has no passion——only lip service—–for the anti-Washington predicate on which the party was founded.

Stockman doesn't spare the Democrats but he's described the gutlessness of the Republicans very well. If he would desist from using the word "bombast" where Trump is concerned he could have cut the word count of his essay in half but it's worth reading and is one of many that are coming out that point out the obvious – the curious nonfeasance of the Republicans.

I don't know if it's Ann Coulter who keeps saying that such and such a politician is paralyzed because someone's got the naked pictures. Whatever wit came up with that it seems to me to capture the odd fact of political life where we have two ostensibly antagonistic political parties but, in fact, they are Siamese twins separated yesterday.

For years we thought the Republicans were like a stick of dynamite ready to explode into action in just a day or two more, maybe a week at most. Bang, kapow, thank you Jesus! But it was just never, ever to be. Every darn time it was, to borrow a term from artillerymen and mortarmen, a hang fire. The lanyard got pulled or the round got dropped down the tube but . . . nothing. A dented primer and no flash, no bang.

Stockman understands that Trump has figured out that a boatload of people got sick and tired of a "Groundhog's Day" that's dragged on for 35 years.

"The Donald—–The Good And Bad Of It." By David Stockman, Contra Corner, 2/27/16 (emphasis added).

8 comments:

  1. If anyone other than Cruz wins the R nomination, I will - for the first time ever - refuse to vote for a President.

    BTW - I do realize that - short a miracle (and I'm a Catholic, I do believe in miracles) - Cruz will NOT be nominated.

    No matter - the Republicans will be informed that I will REFUSE to vote for President, REFUSE to support the nominee, either in money or personal actions.

    If they nominate another wanna-be Liberal, I'm removing myself from the fray.

    Anyone wants to start another party, WITH PRINCIPLES, I'm there - I will help them with the process.

    But, no more I'm-pretending-to-be-Conservative-but-just-another-Liberal candidate.

    I may vote Libertarian, as a protest.

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  2. I think many millions are at or near that point, Ms. Fox. I sometimes think it will be a mistake for there to be a change to a Republican president, however loosely one might want to define "Republican." Yellin and the banks are probably going to do all in their power to delay the economic melt down till a Republican is elected (or Obama leaves). I don't know if Lenin said, "The worse, the better" but it's completely insane to say that in the long run we would be better to have a Hillary disaster to drive home the lesson of what leftist politics are all about.

    It's a watershed election, however, because I doubt we can survive as we used to be as a nation if something drastic isn't done on immigration.

    Still, just as with Scalia, the fate of the Republic should not hinge on one or two men. As I see it, the vast majority of Americans don't care about the Constitution or an inundation by third worlders/Muslims. Some do but it seems to me the life has gone out of America. We are so feeble, passive, and confused. An aroused citizenry would set things right in a lot of departments PDQ but decay and surrender seem the order of the day.

    If Trump is sidelined by some kind of GOP backstabbing, I, like, you am inclined to take my vote elsewhere. The Eat More Vegetables Party is my current second choice.

    :-)

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  3. I'm with Linda on this one, except that voting Libertarian won't be out of protest, but rather long-neglected principles if Trump gets on the ballot. Life isn't Idiocracy, and I don't want Donald Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Trump for entertainer-in-chief.

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  4. I don't want Trump, either. But I want Hillary/Sanders/Warren/Biden even less.

    If America can reelect Obama to a second term, then it probably deserves Trump.

    We're seeing a lot of economic, domestic and foreign-relation disasters wrought upon us by people we elected and hoped would know better.

    Foolish us.

    It's probably true that we get the government we deserve. After all, we (or however many dead democrats) voted for it.

    But I just can't stay at home come November. Whether it's Trump or a write-in, I'll do whatever my vote can do to vote against Hillary and her ilk.

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  5. Sorry. I meant "it's not completely insane . . . ."

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  6. FrozenPatriot, I'm not a student of Taoism but, whether The Tao or simply the wisdom of 72 years on the planet is the better guide I don't know. Suffice it to say, that a lot of pixels have been spilled trying to warn the West on several mortal dangers all without success. There will be an "adjustment" that will set matters right and it will defy the powers of any human to predict.

    I'm not a nihilist or a passive person but sometimes ya just gotta accept that Marcus Arelius was right when he said, "Consider that men will do the same thing nevertheless, even though thou wouldst burst." Or, stated another way, we're at that inflection point in history where the Alcoholics Anonymous stalwarts would unhesitatingly point out, "Let go and let God."

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  7. Tim, when all's said and done, notwithstanding my belief that wisdom involves the acceptance of the inevitable, there's still a place for citizens to try to affect the course of events. Roman emperors appeared after some pretty awful one's departed the scene and kept it going for a few more centuries.

    The speed of the collapse we see, and the fact that it is occurring for the most pathetically impure and stupid reasons, are reasons for us all to tear our hear. But . . . we should not take counsel of our fears but rather gird up our loins and fight the good fight. And if that isn't inspirational I don't know what is!

    :-)

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  8. "Principled" idiots that dislike Trump over issues of style and lack of "conservatism" are the bigger fools. Trump promises a big change of direction from the globalist uniparty and who can be in favor of the status quo? "Conservatives" gave us Bush, Bush, Dole, Bush, Bush, McCain and Romney and asked us to vote for these losers for the good of the party. And we did. Now we want something completely different and they have a tantrum: 'we will not vote; we will go third party; we will vote for the wicked witch, or the like.' No! You "principled" jackasses. You hold your noses this time and vote for our guy.

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