Memo To Republicans: You Don't Have The Luxury of Principles
By patriotroom Posted in Liberals — Comments (73) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
To all republicans who can't stand McCain and intend to sit home in November rather than sully your pure conservative conscience by voting for the apostate, I have one observation.
First, for the record, McCain was nowhere near the top of my list.
Second, you are living in the primaries. They are over for us and not (pass the popcorn) for the Dems. But we have our guy. Once the primaries are over, they are over. Reset your dials, get rid of your wish list for what you would like to see in a candidate. McCain is what he is.
It's real simple now. McCain v. Obama.
If you love this country, you only have two choices. To not choose one is a vote for the other. So you can sit on your hands and when Obama is POTUS 44 and he eviscerates SCOTUS for 30 years, we will come knocking and see how you feel then. When his Global Poverty Act bill is signed and countless billions of our money will be mandated by the U.N to be spent on eradicating WORLD poverty, we'll see how you feel. When businesses and American citizens are saddled with crippling taxes to pay for enumerable earmarks, I hope you have an answer.
You don't have to like McCain. Just vote against Obama for God's sakes.
Remember the line in The Patriot?
"This war, [Mel Gibson] says, will be fought not on distant battlefields but among the colonists' farms and homes. "Our children," he warns, "will learn of it with their own eyes." When asked how he can square his refusal to fight with his patriotic principles, Martin answers, "I'm a parent. I haven't got the luxury of principles."
Mel, of course, goes on to kick some Redcoat a#s.
You are an American first. There are only two choices. You don't have the luxury of principles.
Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room
John Kruk? Mike Schmidt? Robin Roberts? (^.^)
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.“--Jeff Cooper. From Bill Coffey's collection of military quotations
"Austere, intolerant, well-armed, and blood-thirsty, in their own regions the Wahhabis are a distinct factor which must be taken into account" - Winston Churchill, 1921
Love the One You're With
(if you can't be with the one you love...)
.
It's perfectly apropos.
Last week, Hillary was playing "Indiana Wants Me."
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.“--Jeff Cooper. From Bill Coffey's collection of military quotations
So I assume you are talking to other folks then...
Unfair. Unbalanced. Unmedicated. -- IMAO
We may just have to let them keep doing these for a while. It's kinda like my mom:
--I'm serious!
-I know Mom
--No, I really Mean IT!
-Okay, Mom.
--I can't believe you would do such a thing
-Okay, Mom.
After a while, you just tune her out and nod your head.
.
We had a thread yesterday regarding BlackRepub's refusal to vote for McCain.
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Small is beautiful.
but lots of Americans are probably going to vote for the other guy too. I appreciate and support the gist of your post, but this Dems (even Obama supporters) are Americans too.
Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room
But just playing devil's advocate...if 51% of the American electorate want that, all we can do is gear up for the next election.
Pacino plays Obama in that one right?
Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
I would just Tick the D boxes and be done with it.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
If I believe that voting for McCain would be immoral based upon my personal convictions, I must give them up for the "good of the party?" I must abandon my conservative principles for a political party that shows signs of severing all ties with them? I should suck it up and go along with something inherently antagonistic to my beliefs because of vacuous assurances things won't be all that bad if we elect him? Really?
Nonsense.
I believe that this man's election threatens to wreak long-term damage upon the conservatism, traditions, culture and to the character of a great nation that I have long dreamed of passing down carefully to the generations that follow mine. Senator McCain has made it very clear that he harbors decided ill-will and hate for people who were raised to take this sort of heritage stewardship duty seriously. No, he didn't utter the words himself but when his emissaries told us to shut up we didn't need Toto's help to figure out who the man behind the curtain was.
As I see it, the inauguration of a "President McCain" likely means there is no place in the party for traditionalists like me going forward. We'll want no part of even watching as his post partisanship quickly devolves into a lefty love fest anyway. As a parent, I'll be more concerned with shielding the children from the horrors of usurped, phony conservatism if this man become POTUS!
Why would I ever cast a vote that would assure such a disaster? How many ways are there to say "YUCK!"?
Do I need to point out that all the man seems capable of doing is continually proving my points for me? We now have kerfuffles about La Raza, Cap-N-Trade, Huckabee, etc. etc. And that's only this week.
God forbid this man somehow gets enough votes in November to claim "a mandate." I'd much rather have energized allies fighting beside me against Obama than to find nobody in Congress willing join me in opposing McCain's various lunatic and leftist impositions.
If our nation truly does devolve to the point at which holding on to principles is a luxury, it's probably time to set it asunder and start anew. Until that happens, I'll keep my principles, thank you. And anyone who might criticize me for doing so may plant a pucker on my pasty hind-cheeks.
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
ABSTAIN-08
Blog: TMYN
Man, miss your input, and the Burke quote is particularly apt right at this moment, in the wake of old Cap'n Trade.
I'm tempted, but I can't go all the way down that road.
Unfair. Unbalanced. Unmedicated. -- IMAO
I'm not checking in here as much as I was earlier this year. Between business and finding other appreciative outlets for my writing, time is tight and I'm less inclined to review a parade of lemmings. It appears much dissent has been stifled here by one means or another. Kudos to you for keeping feet to the fire.
That said, I almost let this absurdity slide by. But when anyone contends I have to give up venerable principles to support anyone who so clearly loathes the conservatism I cherish, I can't remain mute. I won't remain mute.
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
Abstain-08
Blog: TMYN
Lemmings? Nice.
absentee
Also Find Me Here.
"It appears much dissent has been stifled here by one means or another."
Well if you're paranoid, they're always following you. Maybe you've been banned already. Oh wait, no. You haven't been. And no one has been for arguing about McCain.
It's like no one knows what real oppression means.
And you're the one calling others "lemmings"... nice touch.
Well EPU, if 95% are on board... is this the 5%.
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Donate to the Rs in Close Senate Races through Slatecard
How is having someone who is diametrically opposed to ALL your cherished principles in the White House advancing your principles???
The only way it makes sense is if you believe that the country will bottom out during this term (the second Jimmy Carter term if it's Obama, else the third Clinton term) and by having a Dem in the WH, there will be nobody to blame but them. This will supposedly open the door for a Conservative renaissance. It's sort of playing dice with the future of the country by losing now in order to win later.
I question if the Republican leaders would take the right lesson from their loss and the opportunity, anyway.
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.“--Jeff Cooper. From Bill Coffey's collection of military quotations
I question whether Republican leadership, as currently constituted, might take the right lesson from the forthcoming November debacle.
However, I take the position that Conservatives already have bloodied themselves and inadvertently lost to a mountebank. I have less than zero faith in a McCain administration being anything but more chummy with the left than the Senator McCain has been since he decided to tank his ACU rating. Four years of "legacy building" by John McCain will surely be worse for conservatism and might be worse for America than four years of "trying to get re-elected" by BHO.
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
Blog: TMYN
The crux of the matter:
"Four years of "legacy building" by John McCain will surely be worse for conservatism and might be worse for America than four years of "trying to get re-elected" by BHO."
But which is more important? Temporary advantage for Conservatism, or permanent damage to America? We won't know until it's in the rearview mirror.
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.“--Jeff Cooper. From Bill Coffey's collection of military quotations
...as it assuredly will, because the vindictive maverick McCain will see to it, then the damage will be permanent. There will no longer be a party to stand in liberalism's way for the future. That's the sort of long-term damage that compels me to remain in the abstention column.
I'm a tad more concerned about a second BHO term than I am about a single McCain term. But its a small tad at that.
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
Blog: TMYN
... your principles at the same time.
Does voting for McCain mean that you will thereafter support him in all he does and forget about the principles you hold?
Why not vote for McCain simply because he's the better of two choices, and remember your principles so that you can criticize him in the future and work to nominate better candidates than him in the future?
I am voting for McCain in November, but I will remember precisely why he was not an ideal choice, and tell my friends and family so much in as civil a tone as possible.
I don't understand why voting for McCain would be throwing your principles away as if they were not precisely what allowed you to discern why Obama would be worse, and as if you would be unable thereafter to argue based on those same principles against certain of McCain's policies.
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Small is beautiful.
...that the election of John McCain effectively will in the very short term quash my ability to participate in the party by making sure that people who believe as I do about conservatism have no say in it, then why would I vote for him under any circumstance? I do not recall ever encountering any elected official with such a pronounced vindictive streak, and I've known some real pieces of work in my quarter century as a political activist.
If any Dem or third party candidate wins in November, elements within the Republican party that I have grown to distrust immensely will suffer a major setback. Their efforts to neo-Nelson Rockerfellerize the party will suffer much damage. I'm already resigned to four years of disgust with whatever comes out of the White House and Congress from this pathogenic election. So, I'm looking farther down the road.
I will not subordinate my principles for any so-called conservative candidate who makes it eminently clear that he has it in for Republicans with my leanings. If that doesn't explain it clearly enough, then you just aren't going to get what I'm saying.
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
Blog: TMYN
...once Obama and his Democratic Congress finish with their Mugabe/Chavez-inspired program for dismantling the U.S.
It's your choice as to how you vote in November. Just be aware of the likely consequence of an Obama win, and don't entertain any fantasies of a "Conservative Counterevolution" occurring within the next 20 years, if ever.
...in a John McCain led administration?
At least if a Dem wins there will be some semblance of a "loyal opposition" to the leftist dismantling you fear.
And, please, don't rant at me about judges being a reason either. Bush's picks have been serendipitously conservative in their rulings(so far). And conservatives had to browbeat one likely disaster away. Do you think a President McCain might even consider conservative concerns about a nominee, much less become aligned with them? Fat chance. Court nominees are a crap shoot; they too often divert in judicial temperament from what is expected when they're confirmed. It is never worthwhile to hang support of a candidate on this issue alone. It's moronic.
What I foresee, regardless of who gets elected POTUS, is getting hosed on Taxes (Cap - N Trade is only the start), Nationalized Health Care (McCain will end up doing the HC "bipartisan" equivalent of NCLB), bad decisions on defense (Dems too weak, McCain too Wilsonian), etc.
None of the candidates is going to be smart about energy (ANWR is NOT the freaking Grand Canyon!). None will be smart on education; they'll all try to "fix" NCLB by making it more oppressive and giving it more of the budget (NCLB is designed to fail - you can't get 100% of the kids, or anything else, "above the median" - the universe does not work that way.)
From a conservative perspective, I cannot think of one thing about which I trust McCain to not do horribly with intent or do prudently without caving in totally to his friends across the aisle. He'll just claim its all a series of maverick successes of bipartisanship.
To sum it up, none of the candidates is going to be informed by tradition, history or custom about anything substantial. So, go ahead. Keep browbeating traditionalists like me who will have no part of electing the Republican dumb alternative. Your contentions about McCain being better beyond the superficial are absurd...slim hope at best. But if it makes you feel better, have at it.
I don't have "fantasies" about anything. But I have certitude that my voting for McCain would be something I'd terribly regret for the rest of my life. The biggest fantasies I see are mostly here...good conservatives clinging to hope that McCain's claims of conservatism are more than window-dressing he's putting up to get elected.
Got it?
Does anyone ever read my sig line before whining at me?
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
Blog: TMYN
If I go to bed with him, will I respect myself in the morning?
You'll have to answer that core question for yourself.
What I do call fantasy, though, (and I'm not certain if you hold this belief) is thinking that after four years of a Democratic President and strong Democratic majorities in Congress that conservatives will be better placed to make a comeback.
I think the opposite will be the case: first, the infighting will intensify and fewer good candidates will run for Congress.
Second the MSM and new campaign-related laws (include the return of the Fairness Doctrine with a vengence) will exclude the conservative message from reaching the American people. The internet will likely not be enough of a counterweight to the drumbeat of Democratic talking point in all the major media outlets.
Third, we will be rapidly on our way with confiscation of private business and ruinous taxation and transferring these assets to a majority interest of the country who will vote to keep their free-ride going.
Not to mention the unimaginable foreign policy shifts that will irrevocably destroy our credibility to project military force and also destroy our reputation as any kind of reliable ally.
These are matters that I take into great consideration. Divided government offers more protection than turning over full control to a single party.
But I don't denigrate the concern about respecting yourself in the morning. However, one of the lessons I've learned over the years is to take myself less seriously. (I didn't say take my values less seriously; I said take myself less seriously.)
"I believe that this man's election threatens to wreak long-term damage upon the conservatism, traditions, culture and to the character of a great nation that I have long dreamed of passing down carefully to the generations that follow mine."
I wasn't clear, was it McCain or Obama you were talking about?
Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room
The 1,254th "shut up and get in line" post. How original.
The Unofficial RedState FAQ
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. ” - Martin Luther
I think he's saying "say what you will so long as you vote for McCain in the end".
As to whether it's the 1,254th such post (give or take a thousand or so) I've not followed closely enough to comment.
They're just strongly implied. In using the phrase, I refer back to the several "olive branch" postings that occurred over the last week.
The Unofficial RedState FAQ
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. ” - Martin Luther
sad part is, they have no idea how much damage they keep inflicting on the base they need to win. I'd say at least as much as McCain does when he goes off the reservation.
Yes, this is a situation that is bad, but the simple matter is that judges matter. As long as McCain can appoint the judges, we can influence and limit the damage McCain might do. I am referring to the cap and trade global warming silliness. We were able to scream loud enough to stop immigration reform. I do believe on the big items of silliness we can scream loud enough to stop it too. If we cannot, we can undo it later - hopefully. The judges cannot be undone so easily due to life time appointments.
The second matter, I fear Syria, Iran and Hugo Chavez being regarded as better allies by Obama, than Israel and Briton.
I will gladly vote for McCain out of fear of what Obama would do. Do not confuse this with approval of what McCain will do domestically. I cringe at the prospect. It is going to be bad.
Right now McCain will be good on judges, spending and foreign policy, but that will be it for the most part in my opinion. Obama will be wrong on everything. A Marxist as president will be a disaster for all of us.
My head spins with amazement as to how we got put in this position - wow.
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(""The only reason that some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.")
Fred heads
Dead heads
Soft heads
Rudy dudes
Con mods
Civ mods
Mid mods
Snob mods
Lib mods
Neo cons
Crunchy cons
Move cons
So cons
Econ cons
Prog cons
Kiddy cons
Contemp cons
Reli cons
Move On mods...I dont care what the heck you are....
YES WE SHALL!!
Anybody can abstain who so chooses. I am not getting in line. I am a party of one.
you just don't know it.
Does anyone remember that any longer? Barack Obama recently said that if anyone is making over 250,000 a year they're going to get higher taxes, because they're doing "pretty well."
"What we're talking about is a one-half percent income tax surcharge on incomes above $1 million," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a leader of the Blue Dog group. "So someone who earns $2 million a year would pay $5,000. ... They're not going to miss it."
So let's get this straight. Because Mike Ross has decided that "someone isn't going to miss" something -- that means he has the right to take it?
Hey Dude. You never use that car you've got parked in your garage or the barbecue grill on your terrace, and you almost never open those windows on the south side of your house, and your wife never wears 3/4ths of her jewelry. You're not going to miss them. Mind if I stop in and just pick 'em up?
Unfortunately for this country if the Republicans and Conservatives don't wise up before the next few months are over, people earning anything over six figures a year (whether they get to keep any of it or not) are going to see higher tax rates. Because someone in Congress decided that "you're not going to miss it" and someone in the Oval Office signed the bill into law.
Wake up before it's too late, people. The new taxes are going to be a shotgun blast at just about anyone the Democrats think "won't miss" their money.
It should infuriate anyone in this country that some dorkweed from Arkansas has the guts to stand up and say that he knows better than anyone else what to do with other people's money, but you just heard it.
turmoil because McCain simply will not go more than 72 hours without inciting rage within conservatives.
If Hillary were the dem nominee, she would win 40 states.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
by We the People. The future may get decided in a day, and that day could be BEFORE the election, but it will have NOTHING to do with the candidates.
that day will come when
Americans see PICTURES of China and Cuba drilling in the Gulf.
We will rise up and DEMAND that the 30 year suicide end as we couple that picture with the picture we get as we hesitate to fill up our gas tanks as we calculate the price of food and whether we have enough $$ left for all the kids to have a balanced pizza.
Its coming
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
Who's going to publish the "PICTURES of China and Cuba drilling in the Gulf"? Even Fox backs away from real controversy.
And who's going to take the pictures?
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.“--Jeff Cooper. From Bill Coffey's collection of military quotations
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
You are right about that. And the "super delegates" in the democrat party know it too.
The Dem race is not over.
I'll vote for the cap and trader, er tax raiser and then I'll oppose everything he does when he crosses the aisle with the Kennedy's and Feingolds. Republican who have their principles, will tie up the lines in DC. What a candidate? The Hillocrats will pull him through without the principled ones as it is, if the superdelegates cooperate.
Republican mavericks will be The Maverick's curse.
End the corn subsidies and drill for our own +++++ oil everywhere now.
... medicine when he's in the White House.
A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
I am getting the two liberal sisters to vote for McCain. For years the straight GOP ticket Mom and the Fredhead conservative me have zeroed out the idiot sisters' votes. This year we are 4 to 0 for McCain. So please stop haranging this Fredhead about her vote.
Also, I am saving my political contribution money so I can buy some of those carbon offsets -- and pay my increasing property taxes as PWC spends 50% of our school budget educating the children of illegal aliens.
M Penny
so many illegals are moving out that school enrollment has dropped significantly. They are actually having to lay off teachers due to the decrease. Bad for teachers. Good for your wallet.
Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room
Your title of the blog explains exactly what is wrong with the republican party, and why it is now a minority party.
5 to the billionth power on:
"Your title of the blog explains exactly what is wrong with the republican party, and why it is now a minority party."
We have to hold our nose and take him just like his mother said. We need as republicans in any and all offices accross the country.It will be the only way to maintain a foothold in future elections. It is a must! Bite the bullit. We as a party need to pick our battles and gaither new troops and then let 'em have it.
Why is it that McCain can vote his principles against the party, but we can't?
When you give up principles, you begin to forget who you are and become worthless.
BUT, at the same time you have to realize that there is not now, there never were, and never will be a candidate who will match all of your principles. (Unless you run yourself...and even then...)
A vote for Obama matches, oh 0% of your principles. A vote for Hillary matches, oh 0% of your principles. A vote for McCain matches, what, 80%? 60%? Even if it is 50% or 20% the choice is clear.
When will we figure out that the vote for President is not the place for "protest votes" or getting frustrated at the Party that has left the principles that we value?
GET INVOLVED IN THE PARTY SO THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR PRINCIPLES EMBEDDED INTO THE PARTY BEFORE THE PRIMARIES!
Much of life is damage control. This includes the hard choices we make between two bad options.
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Small is beautiful.
is a principle of being active in the political process beyond voting in elections and complaining in the world of punditry.
Back in 1992 many Republicans cast protest votes for Ross Perot and Bill Clinton became President. A few years later, that action helped facilitate Newt Ginghrich's "Contract with America" and a swing back to the right for America. If GHWB had been relected, Newt wouldn't have been needed.
I'm not advocating this action and I'm still planning on voting McCain, albeit somewhat unenthusiastically.
The problem with the whole deal is that we've let things shift back left again and it has momentum. Momentum is tough to slow down, let alone stop.
It certainly cannot be said that if you're a conservative you only have the two choices though.
Only one of two people will win this year's election--McCain or whoever the Democrats settle on. A Republican vote for any third party candidate is the equivalent of a half-vote for the Democrat--just as it was in 1992.
It can be argued that Clinton begot Newt. It can be argued that Carter begot Reagan. I think both arguments are wrong. Newt and Reagan were in place before Clinton and Carter came to power. Who is in a similar position today?
I know, it's not the same. My point is that there are people that remember Clinton/Newt and Carter/Reagan and could believe that's a viable option. My take on it is, if Clinton begot Newt, it was only a short term gain and therefore not a viable option. Same with Carter and Reagan.
Long term thinking is being done by the likes of EPU and BlackRebub here at Redstate, and hopefully within the Repuplican party heads themselves.
But I think that Reagan's impact is somewhat longer than others. We are still (irrationally) looking for the next Reagan. His impact on the Conservative movement has been fairly enduring. Newt, on the other hand, really only held influence for, what, 6 years? Maybe 4? I guess we could argue more than that due to the various calls for a "New Contract with America".
You are right that there is good conservative thought going on here and other places. I think we have good conservative thinkers in Congress. But my point is that when Carter won, the heir for the Republicans was already Reagan. When Clinton won in 1992, Newt was already the minority leader, so a vote for Republican Representatives was a vote for Newt's vision. If Obama (shutter) wins the Presidency, who is the heir apparent? Beohner? Blunt?
So I agree with your point. That doesn't mean that the thoughts of a protest vote, allow a default to the Dems, and start to work up support for swinging things back to the right won't still be around, though.
Reagan's impact was indeed somewhat more long term. I wish more could have been done to leverage off that into an even bigger move to the right, but then I'm probably just a little too greedy.
Basically, political stances in our country go somewhat on a pendulum swing. You can try and hold back the pendulum, thus lessening the momentum but not attending to the "gravity" that's continually pulling at it, or you can let it go and grab it on the other side when gravity is now helping you pull it back the other direction.
If I remember the train of thought of a lot of Republicans back in 92, that was it.
That's the politics.
As for the ideology, we weren't going to get a Reagan this year. There was something wrong with each of them: one was weak on some issues, another didn't want to be President, and another was whatever he felt like being at the time.
McCain's the man. Ronald Reagan taught -- and this goes way beyond Gaylord Parkinson's "11th Commandment" -- that Republicans support Republicans in the General Election otherwise the brand is a waste of time. The single worst time to complain about our candidate is when Barack Obama is looking to sail into the White House. He could very well do that.
Sometimes you gotta put on the Beer goggles and take the little Philly home thats attached to your arm...remember, your roommate can always take her home in the morning.
Also, one thing I like about McCain is when he looks you straight in the eye/is that "do you want a piece of me?" challenge.I like him! He drives me nuts!....streetwise