en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2621434 Comments by freesmith http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/17/tea-party-v-establishment-whats-next-republicans/#IDComment736386067 Mr. Wehner' Tea party conservatives itched for a fight and rallied to Cruz because 1) they were still smarting over the 2012 Romney defeat, and 2) they doubted the sincerity of the GOP leadership and Beltway consulting class. One followed the other: Romney was painfully inauthentic and lost; the Beltway elite didn't deliver and feathered their own nests with campaign money. In such an environment the true believer like Cruz is irresistibly attractive. When I, a middle-class conservative, heard about the meeting where Obama offered the Congress' leaders the subsidy for their own and their staffs' healthcare, I didn't react with the Vitter Amendment - I wondered why the GOP had not stormed out of the meeting en masse, shrieking "Hypocrisy!" and "Self-dealing!" to the heavens. How could I feel confident in the cautious advice of the GOP elite after that? Thu, 17 Oct 2013 22:42:28 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/17/tea-party-v-establishment-whats-next-republicans/#IDComment736386067 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/can-a-deadbeat-america-stay-on-top/#IDComment736196850 The just-ended battle was a failure, but it only happened because of a vacuum at the top of the GOP leadership. It is up to them and to folks like Mr. Boot to conceive and implement a legislative and political strategy that can deliver the success that will defuse grass roots anger. Leading from behind and hoping things will simply fall the GOP's way will not suffice. Thu, 17 Oct 2013 14:05:48 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/can-a-deadbeat-america-stay-on-top/#IDComment736196850 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/can-a-deadbeat-america-stay-on-top/#IDComment736196774 Mr. Boot: What is the point of another column by a think tank Republican that lambasts the Tea Party? It is as useful as another 3-hour rant by a talk radio host which lambasts RINOs. If you want to defuse the frustration and the anger that propelled Ted Cruz and his strategy to the forefront, you'd be better off using your time and your words to craft a way forward to end the unsustainable debt and mindless spending that are the source of the present - and of the coming - crisis. The fathers of that debt and spending come from both parties; but the Democrats today have not disavowed the debt as most Republicans have. On the contrary, the Democrats favor higher levels of spending and higher taxes to pay for it, regardless of the consequences of laying a heavier burden of taxation on the strapped middle class and on a tentative business class. Thu, 17 Oct 2013 14:05:34 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/can-a-deadbeat-america-stay-on-top/#IDComment736196774 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/the-gop-chooses-surrender-over-suicide-shutdown-debt-ceiling/#IDComment735623671 No, Palefaces is much better because no actual paleface will object to the use of the sobriquet. I think Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris would be great Palefaces, don't you? Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:57:39 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/the-gop-chooses-surrender-over-suicide-shutdown-debt-ceiling/#IDComment735623671 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/the-gop-chooses-surrender-over-suicide-shutdown-debt-ceiling/#IDComment735398396 Example: The "strategy" of the GOP, if you can call it one, has been that Obamacare will collapse on its own as the American people come to see it as it is. But can that "strategy" be characterized as anything other than "leading from behind," which the Wehners and Tobins of the world correctly ridicule Obama for adopting? And isn't it a curiously convenient way for the Republican elite to avoid taking any real action or doing anything risky? Example: Paul Ryan, the next-in-line, writes an Op-Ed in the WSJ "pointing the way forward" from the present stalemate. The essay does not mention Obamacare. The Washington Palefaces - there's my suggestion for what to change the Redskins name to - such as Tobin and Wehner, like their congressional contacts, are perfectly comfortable with the ACA and the Big State. They don't want to do away with Obamacare; all it needs are the right people administering it. Smart people. People like them. If you think that sounds just like what Democrats think, you're starting to figure things out. Wed, 16 Oct 2013 02:32:56 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/the-gop-chooses-surrender-over-suicide-shutdown-debt-ceiling/#IDComment735398396 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/the-gop-chooses-surrender-over-suicide-shutdown-debt-ceiling/#IDComment735398269 The complaints by the GOP about Obama's lack of leadership are more projection than anything else. What group exhibits fewer qualities of leadership than the GOP elite? Example: The Republican leaders in Congress had no plan to attack Obamacare, or to use the Continuing Resolution and debt ceiling to extract concessions. How else could a junior senator like Cruz have seized the initiative unless there was a vacuum at the top? Example: The GOP leadership attended the meeting where the congressional staff subsidy for Obamacare was offered by the administration. There is no record that any tables were overturned in rage or that anyone walked out of that meeting in disgust at the blatant self-dealing that offer represented. Wed, 16 Oct 2013 02:32:36 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/the-gop-chooses-surrender-over-suicide-shutdown-debt-ceiling/#IDComment735398269 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/25/cruzs-grand-gesture-deserves-respect-filibuster-obamacare/#IDComment725757081 Tobin needs to study the left-wing and mainstream reactions to Wendy Davis and emulate their winning method - no criticism, only praise and hagiography. That's one reason why the liberal minority continues to hold sway in the US: they know that in unity there is strength and that you never fire on your own when your vanguard is advancing.____ If Tobin is not fulfilled by criticizing Democrats fulltime, I suggest that instead of criticizing conservatives he simply write more columns about the horrible danger that Iran poses to the United States. Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:18:20 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/25/cruzs-grand-gesture-deserves-respect-filibuster-obamacare/#IDComment725757081 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/22/wanted-a-republican-governing-agenda/#IDComment705540991 I know what to do! Let's legalize 11 million non-citizens living in this country and simultaneously double the number of legal immigrants we admit each year for the foreseeable future. That'll fix all our problems - unemployment, education, entitlements, healthcare costs and falling economic prospects among the middle and lower classes. The Democrats, the Chamber of Commerce, Mark Zuckerberg and Rubio-Ryan-McCain all agree. Don't you? Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:30:06 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/22/wanted-a-republican-governing-agenda/#IDComment705540991 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/09/are-we-still-underestimating-rick-santorum-201/#IDComment697064553 Santorum is - don't laugh - a Churchill-like figure. He glories in sounding the alarm in the night. In 2006 his Senate campaign focused on the Islamic threat even as his numbers were tanking statewide and his voters were moving to the Atlee-like cipher Junior Casey. Absent an evident failure of the regime Santorum's voice will always seem shrill and scolding, his jeremiads out-of-place. But failure does happen. Many of us on this site often look at the trends in current events and echo Han Solo - "I got a bad feeling about this." When forecasting three years down the road it is wise not to assume that things will stay as they are. They may, but it is quite possible that the sins of omission and commission of the past 5 years will bear their baleful fruit. Should that happen - think 2008 - and the powers-that-be suddenly find themselves losing credibility as they simultaneously scramble for rescue by the people, a politician who has been steadfast for the working middle class while also putting the finger of blame on the bi-coastal elites will discover his opportunities abounding. Imagine Santorum then. Fri, 9 Aug 2013 22:33:21 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/09/are-we-still-underestimating-rick-santorum-201/#IDComment697064553 http://dc-web2.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/09/mitch-mcconnells-bad-week-isnt-fatal/#IDComment697055142 Correct, blue13326. Voluntarily agreeing to change the demographic make-up of this country in order to curry favor with Big Business is the dealbreaker between conservatives and the Republican Party. If Obamacare survives, reality will destroy it. If CIR is enacted - with any mass legalization aspect whatsoever - the GOP will have committed suicide. Fri, 9 Aug 2013 22:06:54 +0000 http://dc-web2.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/09/mitch-mcconnells-bad-week-isnt-fatal/#IDComment697055142 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/05/chris-christies-red-hot-but-not-in-gop-poll/#IDComment694625338 The outlines of 2016 have yet to form, so predictions are useless. When a nation is in decline it is hostage to events. Those events are seldom propitious. We don't know where the bumps in the road are or how big they will be - all we know is that we are going to hit them as we slide down the hill. We might as well just strap ourselves in; it's going to be a bumpy ride. The optimists among us, folks who read the stirrings in the collective unconscious put to paper in the recent columns by Douthat and Hanson (and Codevilla before them), cross our fingers and hope for the man who will see through the old worn paradigms such as above. Tue, 6 Aug 2013 03:45:11 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/05/chris-christies-red-hot-but-not-in-gop-poll/#IDComment694625338 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/02/what-rush-limbaugh-hath-wrought-talk-radio/#IDComment692686027 If Rush were truly a magician and had been able to achieve his same level of popularity, influence and longevity espousing liberal arguments and Democrat positions - remember, I said "magician" - we would have seen feature films and documentaries devoted to him, he would have long had his own broadcast TV show, he would be the most popular commencement speaker in America and the Kennedy Center would find new honors to bestow upon him every few years. That's the difference having the "wrong" opinion makes in this land of achievement. But Rush can handle it. Fri, 2 Aug 2013 20:58:50 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/02/what-rush-limbaugh-hath-wrought-talk-radio/#IDComment692686027 http://dc-web2.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/29/the-lefts-evolving-blame-game-on-detroit/#IDComment689991783 O'Hehir and Rattner must have been raised in families where there were no consequences. Readers will notice that for both O'Hehir and Rattner the people of Detroit have no obligations to others. Obligation, like responsibility, is a one-way street for the guilt-ridden Democrat of any color. The solution to the Motor City's problems is simple. First, Detroiters must acknowledge their own wrong-doing. Then they must perform acts of contrition. Running local Democrat Party office-holders out of town on rails would be an excellent start. It would also be in the "Spirit of America," as anyone who has read his Hawthorne ("My Kinsman, Major Molineux") or seen the PBS series about John Adams would instantly understand. Tue, 30 Jul 2013 03:01:14 +0000 http://dc-web2.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/29/the-lefts-evolving-blame-game-on-detroit/#IDComment689991783 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/29/where-is-marco-rubio/#IDComment689943664 Rand Paul seems quite adept at handling platitudinous blowhards like Christie. When the NJ Governor waved the bloody shirt of 9/11 victims like a Democrat reparations lawyer , the Kentucky Senator slammed him for saying "Gimme, gimme, gimme all my Sandy money now!" That served Paul in two ways: 1) it reminded everyone that Christie is a pig at the federal funds trough just like a Democrat; and 2) it reminded GOP loyalists that Christie has a history of criticizing other Republicans, also just like a Democrat. Senator Paul is setting up the big boy for some interesting interactions with the Republican base in 2015. Governor Christie may end up as the candidate of the Arlen Specter wing of the GOP - which probably includes Seth Mandel. Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:20:42 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/29/where-is-marco-rubio/#IDComment689943664 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684088163 Now I know you’re chafing to tell me that what I’m saying can’t happen. Save it. No offense, but I have better voices to listen to than yours: “It is often said that politics is the art of the possible. The danger of such a phrase is that we may deem impossible things which would be possible, indeed desirable, if only we had more courage.” (Margaret Thatcher) I’ve answered your questions. I have none for you. It’s time to move on. We’re done. Sun, 21 Jul 2013 02:46:11 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684088163 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684087766 That’s why wherever conservatives gain political power I advocate using all the weapons at our command to punish the coalitions of the Left. Those weapons include taxation, regulations, law suits, funding, strict law enforcement - the whole enchilada. This infuriates my libertarian friends, but I take my lessons on war from those who have succeeded at war, not from pacifists. I don’t want to defeat the Left at the polls and then allow them to regroup in peace. That strategy hasn’t worked. I want to get those bastards on the run and keep them running. What do I expect to win? A nation ruled by the ethics of LIFT, illuminated once again by the truth that the price extracted for those freedoms is eternal vigilance because of the imperfection of man. Sun, 21 Jul 2013 02:44:54 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684087766 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684087066 Remember California? No state in the nation has had more legal immigrants enter it in the last 25 years. How’s that working out for the middle class in the Golden State, Adam? How’s that working out for the values you esteem? For the state education system? Tax rates? The business climate? Immigration is the whole ball game, to quote Ann Coulter once again. It is the re-making of the American people without their consent, for the good of special interests and Big Government. America can survive defeat in war. It can survive massive indebtedness. But if America loses the desire and will to be free and self-reliant, America ceases to exist. I advocate a forceful program for conservatives. By advocating it I help to build support for it. When the support is great enough then the “leaders” will climb on board. That’s how it works in America. Big government is a bully. You do not stop a bully by giving him your money, or by running away, or by ignoring him, or by making clever arguments for not being a bully, or by crying to Mommy. You stop a bully by knocking his teeth out. Sun, 21 Jul 2013 02:42:57 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684087066 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684086717 Look at the news, Adam. Detroit is bankrupt. The media is spinning like crazy to keep folks from putting the finger on the sole responsible entity – the Democrat Party. Every GOP leader should be in Detroit giving teach-ins, speeches, proclaiming at the top of their lungs that this is a “teachable moment” about the Democrats and their deranged liberal policies. What a great time to label the Democrats the “Party of American Bankruptcy,” which is precisely what it is. But no one is. Because the Right is p-whipped. They’re scared that they’ll offend black people and be labeled “anti-black” or anti-poor or, worst of all, “pro-white.” So they do nothing and hope the message will somehow get out. Kind of like you. They tend their little gardens and fight their little battles – and then wonder why the cultural and political ground keeps tilting under their feet. They say fighting the immigration bill is foolhardy and then wonder why the post-immigration American people no longer vote like the American people used to. Sun, 21 Jul 2013 02:41:49 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684086717 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684086097 Passivity is surrender. The Left cannot and will not allow your “little platoons” to prosper outside the grid. The Left is in its essence totalitarian: it cannot abide dissent. If there is one media organization that doesn’t spout the party line, it becomes the cynosure of censure; if there is a black conservative, he is an Uncle Tom; if anyone favors limits on abortion, they are anti-woman; if you think marriage should be defined as only happening between opposite sexes, you support “Proposition Hate.” Your rope-a-dope is an illusion, a comforting one given your admitted fatalism, but an illusion nonetheless. We on the Right need to attack the Left, guerrilla-style as well as frontally, to put them on the defensive, to highlight their weaknesses and exploit them, using every tool available – direct action, mockery, electoral politics, the law…you name it. But the first thing we’re going to have to be is bold – We’re going to have to act like men. Sun, 21 Jul 2013 02:39:59 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684086097 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684085469 Let me respond to your polite questions and your comment. My “side” is Reagan conservatism, what is also known as LIFT – Limited government, Individual rights, Free enterprise and Traditional values. I differ from Reagan’s governing approach – but not his personal philosophy - in knowing that in the 30 years since 1980 we Reaganites have been expelled from the Shining City on the Hill, as your second sentence describes so clearly. For me that mandated that the new Reaganite approach has to be more aggressive. We can no longer fight a passive, defensive strategy, confident in our majority position and our cultural entrenchments. Our enemies in the kulturkampf now hold all the high ground and are constantly on the offensive: in the universities and in the cities our forces have already been mopped up. Sun, 21 Jul 2013 02:38:12 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/18/gops-mixed-signals-on-immigration/#IDComment684085469