Year: 2008

Lew Rockwell jumps the shark

I am generally not a critic of those who agree with me on politics, much less conservatism. But every once and while something gets posted somewhere, and me being the opinionated person that I am, I just cannot let it get past me.

I happened to be looking at my RSS feeds and I happened to see a posting by Lew himself, and alarm bells starting going off. Yes, it was that bad.

Before I get into this, let me just say that I harbor no malice towards Lew and his friends at his Blog and website, in fact, there is a good deal of stuff that he and his crew, write over on his blog and website, that I agree with, but this one here just jumped the shark, badly.

From Lew’s Blog:

bush-obama-s

Okay, here’s what is wrong with that up there. To infer that George W. Bush’s Administration and the Administration of President-Elect Barack Obama will be exactly the same, as much as I hate to say this about Mr. Rockwell; is just beyond crazy.  Because we are talking about two totally different people; politically, ideologically and personally. I regret to say this, but for all of George W. Bush’s faults; the war, the scandals, everything —  I have a real hard time sitting here and believing that he was an Imperialist, yes, he did have a very flawed vision of what he wished to accomplish in the middle east. Yes, he did take some advice from the likes of John and Neil Podhoretz. Yes, it was advice that ended up doing the President more harm that it did good in the end, politically.  But to infer that he was a blind imperialist, is borderline Alex Jones sounding.

Believe me when I say this, I am about as a non-Bush fan as it comes, but I just cannot buy into the whole idea that Bush is some sort of Imperialist, being driven by some evil machine. Nor can I, with my normal functioning brain, sit here and believe that Barack Obama will do the exact same things as Bush. I just cannot do that. Because Barack Obama and the Democrats follow a totally different Political ideology than the Republicans. Now before anyone screams about the bailouts, I am fully aware of how Bush basically tossed fiscal Conservatism under the bus. I was not very happy about that. I also noticed that the bailout plan that he signed unto, has failed. But the truth is, he was forced into that, because he was told by the “so-called” experts, that it would work. Now it seems that the “experts” were wrong.

What I am basically trying to get at here is this. If the old school Conservatives or Paleo-Conservatives, and the Libertarians want to be taken serious by the rest of the Conservative movement and the Republican Party as a whole, they need to seriously look into stopping with the Alex Jones material and stick with policy and reality. Because not everyone buys into some of the sillier nonsense that I have seen within them circles. Not only this, but they need to really get away from the abject racism that I have, in fact, seen posted on some of their Blogs.

Update April 1, 2011: Boy was I ever wrong here! 😯 My apologies to Lew Rockwell. My feelings on race remain unabated. Please, See here. Thanks.

Wanna see some real Liberal Stupidity?

Go here to read.

Anyone who says that Abortion is NOT murder, has got a severe mental problem.

Then again, we are talking about Liberals. 🙄

For the record, it is the opinion of this Libertarian Conservative writer that Abortion IS murder; however, I do NOT believe this moral issue should corrected by legislation.  Like I do not believe ANY moral issue should be corrected by legislation.

Quotes of the Day

The U.S. dollar, tied to gold, was to become the world’s reserve currency. The pound, the franc and other currencies were to be tied to the dollar at fixed rates of exchange. An International Monetary Fund was established to lend to nations with balance of payments problems. An International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) was created to provide loans for rebuilding war-torn Europe.

America provided most of the financing for the new institutions and assumed the lion’s share of control. Though the most famous economist of the age, J.M. Keynes, led the British delegation, his ideas — for a new world central bank and new world currency — were brushed aside by Harry White and the Americans.

The Bretton Woods system endured until Richard Nixon. With his country hemorrhaging gold in 1971, Nixon slammed the gold window shut, cut the dollar loose and let it float against other currencies.

Nixon’s was an act of necessity. The Europeans, with more dollars than they needed or wanted, were coming to cash them in and clean out Fort Knox.

To suggest that Europeans possess anything like the hegemonic power of America in 1944 is delusion.

……

I now officially pronounce the Rockefeller wing of the Republican Party as dead as its namesake, the late Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York, who assumed room temperature nearly 30 years ago.

This is a good thing – a very hopeful, even promising, eventuality for a potential rebirth of the Republican Party as a party of ideas.

It had to happen. As the first Republican president told us, “A house divided cannot stand.” Neither can a party – at least not when it is divided the way the Rockefeller Republicans divided the GOP.

But, why do I proclaim the Rockefeller wing of the Republican Party dead?

Because, John McCain was the personification of that wing – at least in the last 10 years.

He got the nomination. He did it his way, as Frank Sinatra would say. And he got beat by a guy three years out of the Illinois Legislature, a radical with tempestuous associations, no executive experience, little experience with elective office of any kind and little professional experience of any kind.

McCain got his butt kicked. He not only lost his bid for the White House, but he also lost many Republican seats once thought safe in Congress.

McCain may still be the titular head of his party as the presidential nominee, but his influence on its future will be considerably diminished as a result of his utter failure. McCain is not considered even a remote possibility for another bid at the big prize.

He’s done, finished, over, completed.


Memo to the G.O.P….. Please, Please, Please…. elect this man as your party chairman!

If the G.O.P. passes this man up, it will be the BIGGEST mistake that they will have ever made!

Via TownHall.com:

Promising this would be “the first of a series of conversations” with bloggers, former Maryland LG Michael Steele held a blogger conference call today regarding his bid for RNC Chairman.

Regarding bloggers, Steele said, “we have under-utilized a tremendously valuable resource.”  He also added that he’s usually up at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, online.

Steele promised a full-fledged communications operation that includes many forms of contact, including mail, the internet, and text-messaging.  He promised a “full-blown internet strategy which will raise money but also raise interest.”  He also noted:  “That’s going to mean tackling some of the old taboos in politics…what we saw with the Obama campaign was a phenomenal operation.”

In response to one of my questions, Steele also promised to sign-on to RebuildtheParty.com.

On his reason for running, Steele said he opposed the GOP becoming Democratic Lite:  “If I wanted to be a Democrat — having grown up in Washington, DC…then I would have joined the Democratic Party.”

He also went out of his way to stress his pro-Life credentials.  He also said he wanted to attract new members to join the Republican Party, and that he believes in a “government that is efficient.”

Steele also warned that Republicans shouldn’t “soft-pedal” our attacks on Barack Obama, “just because the President of the United States happens to be a Black man.” This, of course, presents the argument that Steele — an African-American — could be a more effective critic of Obama than could his white Republican colleagues.

Regarding a follow-up question I asked him, Steele responded that “the Obama campaign played the race card beautifully.” He said it hurt Bill Clinton and that it also hurt John McCain because he wouldn’t mention Reverend Wright.  Steele argued that in taking Rev. Wright off the table, McCain surrendered the one issue that might have helped him win.

This man is exactly what the G.O.P. needs right now, like yesterday! He would be able to steer that party in the proper direction and also be able to counter much of what Obama has thrown at the G.O.P.

I think that this would be a MAJOR step in the right direction. (no pun intended…)

Update: Irk! Judging from some of the comments, I guess some within the G.O.P. don’t like this guy… It figures. 🙄

Ron Paul for 2012?

Possibly says Campaign for Liberty press guy and Ron Paul grandson-in-law Jesse Benton.

Via Reason Magazine:

Last week, Campaign for Liberty press guy and Ron Paul grandson-in-law Jesse Benton was driving to a constituent event with his boss and the subject of 2012 came up.

“He hasn’t closed out the idea of another run,” said Benton today. “We have some time to decide whether he runs again, or whether he gets behind somebody else. But we don’t have tons of time. By the middle of 2009, the decision needs to be made.”

Benton isn’t pushing Paul one way or the other. “I could get behind either decision, but it needs to be made in the next six months or so,” he said. “One thing we learned is that those voters in New Hampshire and Iowa expect, to see their candidates early and often.” Paul entered the 2008 primaries in January 2007, about 11 months and two weeks before the Iowa caucuses.

I asked about the rumor that former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson might jump into the race (unclear in which party yet). “If he were to decide that he wanted to do that, he’d be a great guy to take the reins. But I don’t think that what Dr. Paul captured was 100 percent transferable to anyone else. I think the Bob Barr campaign assumed that and it didn’t pan out.”

Would Paul run as a Republican again or as a Libertarian? “We try not to ever deal in absolutes in politics,” Benton said carefully. “But he would be very likely to be running as a Republican again.” It’s not just that “working within the system” gets more exposure for a candidate. It’s that several Republican primary states include the caveat that candidates cannot run in their primaries and go third party if they lose. “To be frank, I got tired of the ‘third party’ question getting asked time after time, and I know that Ron did too.”

Paul is almost exactly a year older than John McCain, and turned 73 in August.

Now personally, I would like to see Ron Paul or someone of his kind to run in 2012. Because I personally believe that by 2012, the American people are going to be quite disgusted by the tax and spend polices of Obama. This will be fueled by all of the broken promises of the Obama administration. Quite possibly by then the Economy will be in a full-tilt state of ruin and Obama just will not be able to fix it; this will open the door for a Ron Paul type of Conservatism, which will allow that person to come in, get rid of the Federal Reserve and get America back on the gold standard.

Of course, that person will have a uphill battle, he would have to battle the establishment Republican AND Democrats who want to keep America on the collision course that it is on now. It will not be an easy battle. But it is one that can be fought and won with the right kind of campaign staff and message.

Say what? Michelle Malkin defends……Rep. Dennis Kucinich?!?!?!?!?!

I do believe that politics just entered a another level of nutty crazy.  Silly

Michelle Malkin is defending, supporting, agreeing with, of all people, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Senator Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the UFO chaser!  Raised Eyebrow

Quote:

Believe it or not, I am going to say something nice about Democrat Rep. Dennis Kucinich. He voted against the bailout every time. In a ready-for-YouTube exchange, he snorted when Kashkari said, (paraphrasing here) “taxpayer money shouldn’t be poured into businesses that are going to fail.” Kucinich retorted that Kashkari would be hearing that line played back to him for the rest of his career.

Now I agree with what Michelle said, but Michelle  Malkin saying nice stuff about Dennis Kucinich?!?! DENNIS FREAKIN’ KUCINICH?!?!?!  Surprise

Hey Jesse! Could you kindly check Michelle’s Coffee mug please? I think she might have gotten slipped a mickey! 😉

….Come to think of it, I might just check my coffee mug…. 😛

Another Young Conservative Wakes Up and Smells the Coffee!

Finally, another young Conservative has awakened and smelled the coffee brewing.

Go read

Quote:

Mr. D — As a ‘young intellectual conservative’ mulling over factions in the coming Big Conservative Brouhaha, I’m thinking of jumping the USS GOP in favor of the Libertarian party. 3 quick reasons

  • It’s ideologically coherent. Or, at least, built on a strong foundation of promoting individual liberty and, y’know, actually deferring to the Constitution.
  • It’s ‘cool’. Libertarians are generally viewed as either uncompromising personal freedoms/open market zealots, or in the case of those just looking for a political party that justifies their bad behavior, party animals. Both are preferable to the ‘sexually repressed bigoted fundamentalist freakshow’ image the Republican party now engenders, thanks largely to the media and, well, Republicans in general lately.
  • Compassionate conservatism sucks. I don’t want a holy-roller welfare state any more than I want a degenerate welfare state.

I’m not under the illusion that we’re somehow going to see the end of the two-party system, and of course I take pause with some of the nuttier Libertarian policies, but what on earth is nuttier than Republicans nationalizing swaths of the economy hither and thither?

Right now, the Republican brand is in shambles, mainly having ignored its own principles. The party that most unabashedly protects those principles I hold paramount — individual liberties, respect for the Constitution, and free markets — is the Libertarian party. Either way, I suspect conservatives will be out in the wilderness for a while, and if you’re going to be a bear, you might as well be a grizzly.

Of course, I disagree with some of Derbyshire’s responses, but I think it is a very positive thing to see, that finally some of the young people within the Republican Party are waking up to the fact that G.O.P. No longer represents them any longer. That, in itself, it is a step in the right direction.

Even more on Bill Ayers

I am about sick and tired of blogging about this subject. But it appears that the Republicans were basically correct about Bill Ayers.

Go on over and read about it. I’m not quoting it here, because at this point, it is a non-issue.

Others yammering on about it: Jules Crittenden, Macsmind, Gateway Pundit, Whiskey Fire, www.redstate.com, Flopping Aces, Atlas Shrugs, Tim Blair, protein wisdom, Hot Air, Patterico’s Pontifications, Stop The ACLU, Doug Ross, Pajamas Media and Fausta’s Blog, Wake up America, Commentary, Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs