High Road to Hell

 

shutterstock_116560858We frequently tell those who fail to recognize the importance of defending ourselves against radical Islam that “you may not be at war with radical Islam, but radical Islam is at war with you.” Yet many of us refuse to acknowledge a truth just as important but perhaps even more urgent: You may not be in a political war with the radical Left, but the radical Left is in a political war with you.

I openly concede that we have opponents who merely disagree with us on policy and fight us with ethical restraint, but almost none of them are in charge. Instead, the Democratic Party’s leadership and its supporting leftist organizations fall almost entirely under the direction of those who see us not as mere political opponents, but enemies. Whether or not you support gay marriage, if you pose any effective resistance to their overall agenda, you will be vilified. They care less about you being an actual racist than if you can be portrayed as one. It doesn’t matter if the GOP nominates Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Kasich, or drafts Jon Huntsman to run for president: the nominee will be torn apart and have his character assassinated with every underhanded tactic and rhetorical smear the media can possibly get away with. And yet, our response is much like the Left’s pathetic hopes to defeat Islamism by demonstrating how virtuous we are in comparison.

I understand the desire to not “go down to their level.” I also feel the pangs of conscience and dedication to truth and principle that constrain us. I’m aware of the danger of becoming too much like our enemies in our attempts to defeat them.

Nevertheless, among the truths and principles we should adhere to is the idea that no matter how “principled” you may be, your “principles” are rendered irrelevant if they stop you from effectively defending yourself, your loved ones, and ideals from those who reject the very notions of truth and principle. Moreover, if you refuse to acknowledge that you are at war with an enemy who has declared war on you, you will lose.

After Harry Reid lied on the Senate floor about Mitt Romney never having paid taxes, every GOP partisan should have should have dedicated themselves to destroying Reid, calling attention to his shady land deals and whatever else might have tarnished his reputation without being dishonest. That fact that only the most dedicated conservative newshounds know about his ethical violations proves that we failed.

When “Bush lied, people died” became a repeated mantra on the Left, the GOP released an excellent web ad pointing out how many Democrats had also believed Iraq had WMD’s. This ad should have been re-cut for television and aired repeatedly to ensure that millions of Americans actually saw it so often that Democrats were put on the defensive and forced to drop the accusation.

Instead, the accusation was countered only on talk radio and other forums for conservative audiences already inclined to support Bush. Whether Bush and Rove’s “strategy” stemmed from passive idiocy or some skewed nobility, the meme caught on, Iraq became political poison. My brothers in arms (I was in the Army at the time) were being killed by barbarians encouraged by a Senate Majority Leader who proclaimed that the war was already lost, and we elected a president who squandered their victory. The military gains and sacrifices abroad were rendered moot because we lost the public relations war here at home. The burgeoning democracy of Iraq is now home to the endless horrors of sex slavery and mass decapitations, but at least Bush “maintained the dignity of the office” and didn’t “get dragged down to the level” of his opponents.

While the Democrats’ court nominees routinely sail through confirmation, ours have been rejected or withdrawn multiple times. Republicans hope to sneak through conservatives, knowing full well that — if there’s too much indication that the nominee will rule the way we’d like — that Democrats will fight the nomination as hard as they can. Democrats nominate true progressives who consistently rule that way on the court because they know the GOP will cling to its high-minded ideals and confirm them regardless of their track record. Republicans therefore find themselves often nominating either unreliable squishes like O’Connor, Kennedy, and Roberts, or even leftists like Souter. Democrats harbor no such concerns about Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor, or any of their other nominees.

Those who run America’s worst neighborhoods as their private, one-party fiefdoms repeatedly accuse us of holding African Americans down. In response, we give every indication we’re more afraid of being called racist than attacking Democrats and calling them out for the terrible damage they do to urban America. They burden our children and grandchildren with unfathomable levels of debt; we respond with wonkish proposals to cut taxes. We fail to make the Planned Parent videos the subject of more than a few Congressional hearings and then pat ourselves on the back for not being so “irresponsible” as to risk a government shutdown like the utter “disaster” that cost us two House seats in 1996 (not to mention the massive electoral gains after the last shutdown).

When Candy Crowley violated the rules of the debate she moderated to make Romney look like a fool, the GOP failed to inflict any penalties of consequence on either CNN or Crowley herself. She quietly apologized and kept her job. The GOP didn’t insist on any firings or boycotts, instead collectively shrugging its shoulders with a collective “Hope it never happens again.”

But it will. It will because when the Left hits below the belt, however loudly the talk radio hosts may scream about it, the response of our political leaders will be measured and dignified. We’ll whine about them being divisive and poisoning the tone of debate, but we’ll never make it hurt in such a way that whoever hit us feels as much pressure reigning down on them as the baker who refuses to provide a gay wedding cake.

I recognize that some of you may disagree with the tactics I mention above, and I’ll concede that there’s no guarantee that any specific tactic will succeed. Furthermore, I’ll grant that there are innumerable obstacles standing in our way. When we attack, they’ll respond, and sometimes they’ll win.

Nevertheless, whatever the merits of any specific technique or tactic, what matters is that we lack a sufficiently aggressive mindset. With the exceptions of Newt Gingrich (for a short time), George W. Bush immediately after 9/11, and Sarah Palin, since Reagan we’ve not had a single national party chairman, president, vice president, nominee, speaker of the house, or senate leader candidate who has demonstrated to his followers that he is determined to win. Instead, we’re perpetually told to be patient as our national debt reaches $19 trillion, traditional values disintegrate, and our border remains unsecured. We take Jeremiah Wright and Obama’s college transcripts off the table before campaigns even begin while complaining about unfair attacks on our character instead of attacking their character more virulently in return.

In international conflicts, we recognize the value of deterrence and that it’s ludicrous to tell to the enemy what you won’t do. Domestically, however, we rush to the microphone to assure Speaker Pelosi that we won’t threaten a government shutdown no matter what, somehow reaching the absurd conclusion that if we’re reasonable with Democrats that they’ll be reasonable with us.

We’re correct when we criticize the divisiveness of Obama’s rhetoric. However, when we fail to acknowledge that it actually works we’re rendering ourselves impotent against it. Indeed, we should live in a world in which people patiently and soberly reflect on the views of various candidates as they rationally determine who to vote for. Unfortunately, we don’t. Instead, people fall for idiocies like the Life of Julia and believe Romney was a “vulture capitalist” because they heard a lot of people say he was. We run campaigns geared for the American people as they should be, they run campaigns aimed at how they are. Thus, it’s no surprise who runs the real Washington.

Not unlike the Leftist who thinks the Iranian mullahs will respond to reason because the leaders of Denmark and Spain all seem so reasonable, we find it difficult to believe that vast swaths of the country are actually swayed by “The eighties called: They want their foreign policy back” because we’re so reasonable ourselves. For the simple reason that we’re not as interested in power as Democrats, we fail to see both how power-hungry and ruthless they really are and how effective ruthlessness can actually be. We may be fine with boring, but the American public isn’t. Yes, our talk show hosts and some of the commentariat gets it. Does Paul Ryan?

Like most conservatives, I’d rather stick to the issues and not get personal. I’d prefer to reason with people to vote Republican because they understand why they should, instead of whether or not our guy wins the “beer test” or has better one-liners. I wish that people wrote off all those commercials about how heartlessly Mitt Romney treated his employees, that we could treat our opponents as nice-but-misguided and still consistently win, that they’d cringe like I do at the thought of a president violating the Constitution.

But they don’t. Not only is far too much of the American public ignorant of the beauty of our constitutional checks and balances or the importance of Western civilization and values, our opponents vigorously and effectively use such ignorance to their advantage. We’re fighting opponents who may presently fail to deprive us of our livelihoods, throw us in prison, and overturn every liberty protected by the Bill of Rights (including ban Ricochet), but they’ll do all of this and more without a moment’s hesitation the moment they can get away with it.

For the Left are the true warriors in this cultural Civil War, we’re George McClellan, always waiting for that perfect future day that never comes. They’re the guerillas, battling on every front, pressing every advantage in the media, schools and universities, pop culture, and Senate rules; we’re the redcoats marching in perfect formation, sneering at the barbarians who consistently violate the “rules of war” as they overrun our cities, take over our culture, and not only violate specific standards of decency, violate the very notion of decency itself.

We may think that allowing this to happen somehow preserves morality and justice, but it doesn’t. You can’t “poison political discourse” that’s already saturated with cyanide. Instead, you’ve got to make those who pour the poison drink from the wells they’ve polluted. Yes, we’re correct to dislike these techniques, but the best way to stop such tactics from becoming our predominant mode of political discourse is to use them with precision against those who use them indiscriminately. The very fact that we’re hesitant to use them proves we are in fact better than our opponents who use them with glee.

Because we have actual ethical standards that transcend political agendas, there are — and will be — ways in which we’re constrained that the Left is not. Nevertheless, there’s room for us to become more aggressive without surrendering all our values. Is it really immoral to assassinate the character of character assassins, to launch spurious John Doe investigations against people who launch them against us, or pressure a company to fire a leftist who pressured another company to fire a gay marriage opponent?

I recognize the importance of ideals, but to everything there is a season, and this season is getting desperate. Our national debt alone should be cause for alarm on the part of our political leaders, yet they seem as cautious, passive, and risk-averse as they were a decade ago. We understand the intransigence of our international enemies, yet assume we can reason away Black Lives Matter activists who shut down interstate highways. Instead, Black Lives Matter sees us as being every bit as unreasonable as Black Lives Matter actually is.

Enough with the high road. Enough with remaining reserved and reasonable like Mitch McConnell, and Paul Ryan. Enough with run good clean campaigns like Romney’s, McCain’s, and Dole’s. Enough with patting ourselves on the back for how honest and noble we are and not “lowering ourself to their level.”

Enough with ignoring our $19 trillion national debt and porous borders. Enough with paying for Planned Parenthood with our money. Enough with the rape and pillage sweeping across the Middle East. Enough with the IRS and other government agencies being used as weapons against ordinary Americans. Enough with the strangulation of small business, the American Dream, and the bakers and photographers having their livelihoods destroyed for not participating in ceremonies they oppose. Enough with being so scared of getting called on a foul that we never make a play.

Just like George McClellan only needed a little more time to defeat the South, we just need a few more Senate seats and then we’ll start changing things, right? On the other hand, McClellan ran for President on a platform of a “negotiated peace” with the South, indicating that perhaps he didn’t really want to win, either.

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  1. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    You didn’t know that opposing ‘gay marriage’ is a more serious offense than ‘honor killings’, ‘adultery stonings’, and ‘apostasy executions’? Maybe the ‘war with radical Islam’ is viewed as a useful diversion by the ‘radical left’, you know, like we won’t notice what they are up to.

    Hey, maybe it’s working!

    • #1
  2. Mark Camp Member
    Mark Camp
    @MarkCamp

    Progressivists are indeed at war with us.  And I agree that we must recognize that we are a people defending ourselves against an aggressor who intends to exterminate us, whether we wish to be at war or not.

    But I don’t think that we are losing because of the barbarous tactics of those who are intent on annihilating liberal society, nor because of the tactics we ourselves are or are not using to destroy them back.

    We are losing because before they unleashed these attacks, they made our people too weak to resist them.  They’ve worked on this patiently and quietly for over a century.

    There have always been would-be tyrants.  Our country thrived in spite of this because its institutions–education and religion, especially–were strong.  It requires a people who are educated to resist the deceitful tactics of despots.

    It’s comforting to think that there is a quick fix, that we just need to use more aggressive tactics on the society which they have so painstakingly deformed.

    But a populace which has been conditioned to respond mindlessly to their manipulations, as long as the poison is delivered in slowly increasing doses, and to reject without thinking anything we say in behalf of human dignity and equal justice, will not suddenly and magically act in the opposite way.

    • #2
  3. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Excellent post!

    • #3
  4. raycon and lindacon Inactive
    raycon and lindacon
    @rayconandlindacon

    Thus, we have no political opposition worthy of the name.  Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the only voices that oppose the left.  The GOP has proven themselves to be quislings, and give every appearance of pigs who are content to wait their turn at the trough.

    Is there in fact, an opposition?

    • #4
  5. Craig Inactive
    Craig
    @Craig

    I second it, excellent post.

    The left is not being Politically Correct, they are enacting the art of ‘Opinion Suppression’.  They won’t be content unless all opposition is gagged, exiled, eliminated, or worse.

    • #5
  6. Robert McReynolds Member
    Robert McReynolds
    @

    The burgeoning democracy of Iraq is now home to the endless horrors of sex slavery and mass decapitations, but at least Bush “maintained the dignity of the office” and didn’t “get dragged down to the level” of his opponents.

    My God man that is a powerful sentence. You are absolutely correct and this “dignity of the office” crap still haunts the GOP today. Frankly I think it is the reason for so much aversion from Cruz as the candidate. We are simply afraid to fight and anyone willing to fight is looked as a known loser. But if we don’t fight, what we get is exactly what you stated in your piece.

    • #6
  7. Robert McReynolds Member
    Robert McReynolds
    @

    This needs to be promoted to the front page, ASAP.

    • #7
  8. Martel Inactive
    Martel
    @Martel

    Mark Camp:

    But I don’t think that we are losing because of the barbarous tactics of those who are intent on annihilating liberal society, nor because of the tactics we ourselves are or are not using to destroy them back.

    We are losing because before they unleashed these attacks, they made our people too weak to resist them. They’ve worked on this patiently and quietly for over a century.

    The phenomenon you describe is intrinsically interrelated to what I’ve written.

    Much of the reason we’re “too weak to resist them” is in fact their vicious attacks and our relative impotence against them.  Whether it’s on the Senate floor or a backyard barbecue, we’re afraid of being called insensitive or mean, they’re not afraid of how we’ll respond to them in the slightest.

    At least since the 1960’s, they’ve demonstrated the willingness to purge and insult conservatives with a vitriol we’re not willing to mirror (see Shelby Steele’s White Guilt for some great examples).  Before that, conservatives were willing to work with leftists at universities in the name of “academic freedom,” while they were angling to purge us out from the beginning.  We tolerated their points of view, but they took our reasonableness for weakness.

    I can’t say with certainty that what I describe preceded their patient plans, but today our weakness and their boldness are intrinsically intertwined.

    • #8
  9. Martel Inactive
    Martel
    @Martel

    Mark Camp:

    It’s comforting to think that there is a quick fix, that we just need to use more aggressive tactics on the society which they have so painstakingly deformed.

    But a populace which has been conditioned to respond mindlessly to their manipulations, as long as the poison is delivered in slowly increasing doses, and to reject without thinking anything we say in behalf of human dignity and equal justice, will not suddenly and magically act in the opposite way.

    I don’t believe that getting a little more mean is any sort of “quick fix,” it’s an urgent self-defensive measure that may well be our only hope of delaying their power grabs long enough for us to start reinstituting some sanity back into our culture and political process.

    I don’t guarantee that if we act with more urgency we’ll win, but  if we don’t start acting like there’s actually something important at stake, we’re guaranteed to lose.

    • #9
  10. Martel Inactive
    Martel
    @Martel

    anonymous:This is excellent; I completely concur. Here is a rant, Enemies, I penned in 2011 which comes to much the same conclusion and makes some additional suggestions for how to respond once you realise what you’re confronting.

    I also recommend Vox Day’s SJWs Always Lie for practical advice on how to deal with enemies, particularly when they try to infiltrate an organisation or mount a campaign of personal destruction against an individual.

    Thank you, and I concur with your article as well.  I also recommend this by John C. Wright (linked in the post but easily missed).

    I haven’t read the Day book, but I’m familiar with many of the concepts.  I disagree with Day on lots of stuff (primarily race), but he goes straight for the leftist jugular and takes no quarter.  I find being an anaemic wimp to be far more distasteful.

    • #10
  11. Lidens Cheng Member
    Lidens Cheng
    @LidensCheng

    This is wonderful. We on the right are nice people. We think the left are wrong, they think we are evil. Under attack, we just roll over and fold.

    • #11
  12. OldDan Member
    OldDan
    @OldDanRhody

    As stated above by many, excellent post.

    Suggest you exchange your avatar for a war hammer instead of a carpenter’s hammer, as would have Charles himself.

    • #12
  13. Luke Thatcher
    Luke
    @Luke

    Excellent post ! This is great.

    • #13
  14. Luke Thatcher
    Luke
    @Luke

    The subject of your post, BTW, is the reason I’m obsessed with Greg Gutfeld’s latest book, How To Be Right. I am of the opinion that on this subject matter he is clearly out in front of all the rest. I’ve been reading and tree reading and practicing out of it for a while now. I’m not the handiest humorist, but I’m working on it for just these reasons. Because, Alinsky spoke truth when he remarked that ridicule is your best weapon. I take cues on that from lady Thatcher. Recordings of her voice that I find are oft paired with withering attacks on her opponents character, and motives. And, those were oft followed by laughter and cheers.

    • #14
  15. Liz Member
    Liz
    @Liz

    For a horrifying look at just successful how the Left has been, and for just how long, read “American Betrayal” by Diana West (if you can stomach it). Devastating.

    • #15
  16. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    Martel: Nevertheless, whatever the merits of any specific technique or tactic, what matters is that we lack a sufficiently aggressive mindset. With the exceptions of Newt Gingrich (for a short time), George W. Bush immediately after 9/11, and Sarah Palin, since Reagan we’ve not had a single national Party Chairman, President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority or Minority leader, or Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate who has demonstrated to his followers that he is determined to win.

    Stipulating that I’m not contradicting your argument, I think it’s also worth noting that Newt hasn’t won an election since 1996, W is still judged (both fairly and unfairly) to have been a poor president, and Palin has been a loose cannon at best.

    Fight and resolve are necessary ingredients to victory of any kind, but they’re hardly sufficient.

    • #16
  17. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    Martel:They understand the importance and effectiveness of fear, vigorous retaliation, and character assassination, we don’t. Yes, we’re correct to dislike these techniques, but the best way to stop such tactics from becoming our predominant mode of political discourse is to use them with precision against those who use them indiscriminately. The very fact that we’re hesitant to use them proves we are in fact better than our opponents who use them with glee.

    Wholly agreed. To cite Thomas Jefferson (admittedly, acting rather horribly under circumstances I do not endorse):

    A few prosecutions of the most eminent offenders would have a wholesome effect in restoring the integrity of the [whole].

    • #17
  18. Derek Simmons Member
    Derek Simmons
    @

    Martel: We’re correct when we criticize the divisiveness of Obama’s rhetoric. However, when we fail to acknowledge that it actually works we’re rendering ourselves impotent against it. Indeed, we should live in a world in which people patiently and soberly reflect on the views of various candidates as they rationally determine who to vote for, but we don’t. Instead, people fall for idiocies like the Life of Julia and believe Romney was a “vulture capitalist” because they heard a lot of people say he was. We run campaigns geared for the American people as they should be, they run campaigns aimed at how they are. Thus, it’s no surprise who runs the real Washington.

    We live in age where WTF Cage Fights are popular entertainment. It explains BOTH the popularity of Trump AND the visceral GOPe opposition. YEP: we’re likely to lose again. But like gentlemen. And ladies.

    • #18
  19. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    raycon and lindacon:Thus, we have no political opposition worthy of the name. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the only voices that oppose the left. The GOP has proven themselves to be quislings, and give every appearance of pigs who are content to wait their turn at the trough.

    Is there in fact, an opposition?

    There is no organized or committed opposition I am aware of. Only subtle shades of gray who may be complicit in the treason.

    • #19
  20. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Derek Simmons:

    Martel: We’re correct when we criticize the divisiveness of Obama’s rhetoric. However, when we fail to acknowledge that it actually works we’re rendering ourselves impotent against it. Indeed, we should live in a world in which people patiently and soberly reflect on the views of various candidates as they rationally determine who to vote for, but we don’t. Instead, people fall for idiocies like the Life of Julia and believe Romney was a “vulture capitalist” because they heard a lot of people say he was. We run campaigns geared for the American people as they should be, they run campaigns aimed at how they are. Thus, it’s no surprise who runs the real Washington.

    We live in age where WTF Cage Fights are popular entertainment. It explains BOTH the popularity of Trump AND the visceral GOPe opposition. YEP: we’re likely to lose again. But like gentlemen. And ladies.

    And we know what they call gentleman and ladies when they lose with manners, sophistication, and etiquette? Losers.

    • #20
  21. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Once again I feel the need to go out back and blow my own head off.  (sarcasm)

    I don’t like all this doom and gloom.  It doesn’t do us any good.  That isn’t to say that I don’t agree with you.  I’m frustrated as well with the GOPs inability to go heels.

    Some of this is our fault.  I mean, look at the way we tear in to each other over the nominee.  “My guy is the Second Coming, and your guy is a RINO!”  If I went over to the Member Feed right now and penned a few short paragraphs on what it means to be a Conservative, it’d turn in to a fist fight.

    And as far as traditional values, that is 100% our own fault.  It is not up to the leader of the Republican party to instill traditional values in our kids.  It’s ours.  And once the public opinion has turned on something like gay marriage, you can’t expect members of congress to turn it back for you.  We, by and large, have failed to train our kids up to deal with culture war.

    So I say this:  yes, recognize we are in a war.  The Truth has always been at war with The Lie.  Fight the war where you can.  But stop relying on failed leadership to do it for you.

    Now, I’m going back to my Xbox.  (more sarcasm)

    • #21
  22. Owen Findy Inactive
    Owen Findy
    @OwenFindy

    “They’re the guerillas, battling on every front, pressing every advantage in the media, schools and universities, pop culture, and Senate rules; we’re the redcoats marching in perfect formation, sneering at the barbarians who consistently violate the “rules of war” as they overrun our cities, take over our culture, and not only violate specific standards of decency, violate the very notion of decency itself.”

    Excellent metaphor.  I agree with everything you wrote, and couldn’t’ve put it better.

    • #22
  23. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Dead on. Excellent.  But it isn’t getting down and dirty to speak the truth.  We’re afraid of the truth, that’s why they attack it, to keep us afraid and it works because our leadership is in sympathy with the lies or are cowards.

    • #23
  24. Robert McReynolds Member
    Robert McReynolds
    @

    I Walton:Dead on. Excellent. But it isn’t getting down and dirty to speak the truth. We’re afraid of the truth, that’s why they attack it, to keep us afraid and it works because our leadership is in sympathy with the lies or are cowards.

    Or a spattering of both. It appears to me that the GOP Leadership would rather forgo any bad press and face the heat from us, The People, than they would face the bad press and receive our enthusiastic support.

    • #24
  25. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    The problem is not that honor is getting in the way. The problem is their understanding of honor is confused, emasculated, and buried by timidity (or that they were only pretending to begin with). Rather than fight political correctness, politicians confuse it for civility.

    To call a liar a liar is not rude and small; the lie is that. To apply power over hostile and harmful Democrats, to dismiss their demands during legislation, is no more dismissive of their rights than to jail a criminal for acting viciously or destructively.

    The problem is that we need honorable soldiers, but we’re stuck with limp-wristed Orwellian actors.

    • #25
  26. Z in MT Member
    Z in MT
    @ZinMT

    Excellent post. Not sure what a site dedicated to civil conversation can do about it.

    I would like to bring something up.

    Many posters here make the claim that the conservative base is more conservative now than 20 years ago. However, this assertion is almost always made by members that support gay marriage. What these members don’t see is how far the entire electorate has moved to the left on social issues like homosexuality, fornication (premarital cohabitation is now the norm), sexual exhibitionism (porn), public decency (profanity on TV), church attendance, etc. The culture has lurched hard toward libertinism, we have stayed where we are and we are accused of moving to the right.

    • #26
  27. Tom Riehl Member
    Tom Riehl
    @

    Great post!

    Can’t say it any better than Deborah C. Tyler on American Thinker this morning.  Very relevant.

    “Anger is the fuel of political freedom.  The misconstruction of right-wing anger by conservative elites is becoming more of a stumbling block to saving the Republic than the open hatred of conservatism by the left.”

    • #27
  28. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    But how do you really feel? (Just kidding) Everything you say is true – so well put, and many concur wholeheartedly. However, I don’t think you can argue with a stop sign and get anywhere.  I hope we never become like the Progressives – no amount of equal ranting changes anything except your blood pressure reading. After awhile, everyone tunes it all out – the good and the bad.

    What is really sad is that the more radical belief system is even brainwashing middle-of-the road Democrats – a good friend of mine who is a liberal said to me, “Capitalism isn’t working anymore.”  I gave her a couple reasons why it is better than socialism and she did not say anything. But I was surprised to hear her say that.  I read a story this morning about how the banks in Europe are on the skids, and it is precisely because we have capitalism that is keeping us more on an even keel through the turbulence in financial markets right now.

    I think the reason those in charge have rolled over is because we need a changing of the guard – establishment politicians have become lazy and too comfortable – hence the popularity of Trump who seems to be appealing to both sides.  The doers like Cruz are busy writing and introducing legislation, disputing where it matters (on the job) and don’t have time to holler and tweet.

    • #28
  29. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Tom Riehl:Great post!

    Can’t say it any better than Deborah C. Tyler on American Thinker this morning. Very relevant.

    “Anger is the fuel of political freedom. The misconstruction of right-wing anger by conservative elites is becoming more of a stumbling block to saving the Republic than the open hatred of conservatism by the left.”

    An example of this is the disdain many knowledgeable well-educated conservatives shower on working class Tea Party supporters who shout in political forums ‘don’t touch my Social Security or Medicare’ because I paid for that.  The wise conservatives who know the truth should recognize that the people who shout these things believe what they are saying is true because that is what they have been led to believe by the political class. They should not be made out by the conservative elite to be slackers on the entitlement dole. And even though they may not have the university learning of their ‘betters’, they can ultimately see when Washington and Wall Street are taking them for a ride. Don’t think that every ally must understand every detail of the big picture.

    • #29
  30. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    I think I love you. No… no… I’m sure of it. This is a perfect encapsulation of my frustration, perfectly expressed. I found myself sounding like Sally in the diner with Harry — “Yes, yes, YES!!!”

    • #30
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