Bliss It is to Be Alive
Peter Robinson ·
Sep 7, 2010 at 9:56pm
After a stutter in the polls earlier today--in its latest generic survey, Gallup showed Republicans and Democrats tied--that led me to peer, if not to slide, into the Slough of Despond, I find myself elated all over again: Carly's leading Boxer!
- Comment (13)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments :
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
How anyone so wishy-washy will survive teenage boys is beyond me. ;)
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
I'm sure they wonder that themselves. Well, good night, Aaron. It's time to tell my boys, for the third time, to go to bed.
Jun '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
While poll watching might be entertaining, like watching the home team deliver a solid thrashing to an arch-rival on the home court, I'm thinking ahead to November 3rd. Professor Rahe has indicated that the outcome of the next election, if not exactly unprecedented, has the potential to create a generational shift in our politics. So, what are we going to do with it? If grassroots conservatives fail to follow up a victory with a tangible program for a restoration of our national values, the effort might very well be all for naught.
We have on the one hand a network of highly motivated citizens. On the other hand we have no leader. How are we going to make our demands known to the new Republican majority and force them to do our bidding? Trent Lott and others of his ilk think they can co-opt the movement for business as usual. We need to convince them otherwise. We need a plan and a program. I'm open to suggestions from the membership here at Ricochet.
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
Right you are ~Paules, but don't be a buzzkill. Let's not begrudge Peter his joy - the man is from California and needs this good cheer.
Jun '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
I'm not trying to kill anyone's buzz, Matthew. My post was written to offer Peter a way to focus his manic joy into something useful. You see, energy without focus tends to burn itself out like a Roman candle. It's useless.
Allow me to take the next step. Who would be up for creating a Ricochet Manifesto? What is it we want, and how do we intend to get it? I can predict a rather lengthy discussion, but that's how dialectic works. And we have plenty of time before the new congress is inaugurated. Matthew, you are invited to participate in a game I just invented. I call it Founding Fathers: The Second Generation. I'll play Tom Paine. Any other takers?
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
Peter - Politics is like baseball. In a 162-game season you don't get too-high after wins and you don't get too-low after losses. The last six weeks of the season does concentrate one's mind, though.
But whether you are rooting for the Giants or Carly and Meg, the game is out your hands. It is squarely in theirs.
I say this as a mind who has lived through many summers (and Novembers) of disappointment. Right now the GOP is kinda like my Cincinnati Reds. After nine losing seasons they enter play on the 8th of September with a 6-game lead. Could they blow it? Sure. But the Cardinals have been playing like the Democrats, losing to bottom dwellers of the National League. Sometimes you benefit from the other guy's failure. But I can't pitch, can't hit and can't field (The Triple Crown!) and all I can do is watch and hope for the best.
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
Now this Cardinal fan is completely and utterly depressed.
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
1. I like the spirit, but the word "Manifesto" creeps me out.
2. I guess we can assign roles to ourselves, but I'm not sure Tom Paine is the guy you want to be if a dialectic process is what you're after.
Jun '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
Matthew Gilley
1. I like the spirit, but the word "Manifesto" creeps me out.
2. I guess we can assign roles to ourselves, but I'm not sure Tom Paine is the guy you want to be if a dialectic process is what you're after. · Sep 8 at 7:46am
1. Okay, we can delete manifesto.
2. I'm not interested in moderating the dialectic. Someone else can have that job. I'm a fire-breather by nature. I will demonstrate when the time comes.
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
I am concerned, as are others who have memories, that we are not finding the right balance between ideological purity and political viability. If Harry Reid, of all people, the least attractive, and essentially corrupt, little lizard has a good shot at re-election in Nevada over a marginal candidate like Angle because Lowden was called a RINO by the purists,
I see a good chance to repeat the glorious triumphs of the 1998 off-year election. We'll know better if this is all a mirage after the Delaware primary.
Our problem is not "moderates" such as Castle or Kirk running in blue states- it is government by the perpetual political class (e.g., Murkowski).
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
You're right, but don't let the perfect be the enemy of the very good. Yes, Angle is a flawed candidate and some folks in Delaware are being ridiculously hard-headed. Still, we are seeing a fresh crop of very attractive candidates who are enjoying success in what should be hostile territory. For example, after telling us Fiorina is ahead of Boxer, Rasmussen just released numbers showing Meg Whitman up 48-45 on Jerry Brown.
If the Nevada and Delaware examples teach us anything, it's that Republicans need to have their party house in order. Remember the Ron Paul supporters who basically hijacked the Nevada caucus in '08? A well-run party will find beneficial roles for people like Angle and O'Donnell that don't involve them carrying the party's flag in the general election.
May '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
Don't let the idiots highjack a perfectly good word. Our brethren in the UK still call their party platforms "manifestos." If it did not and does not bother Lady Thatcher, it doesn't bother me.
Jun '10
Re: Bliss It is to Be Alive
Duane Oyen
"I am concerned, as are others who have memories, that we are not finding the right balance between ideological purity and political viability."
I'm not concerned with either. As per Codevilla the fight is between the citizenry and a ruling elite. Therefore, the 2010 election should be viewed as a first step. Expect the entrenched powers on Capital Hill to mount a counter-revolution. They will attempt to return politics to business as usual. We the People should anticipate this and prepare a response. That's the basis for my suggestions above. The ruling elites must be put on notice that power resides in We the People. They serve at our pleasure. I'm suggesting the tea parties should rally in Washington on the day the new Congress is sworn in. Our elected officials need to know in explicit terms what we expect. And they need to know what sort of behaviours will get them targeted for a challenge in 2012. It might take three election cycles before the professional political class gets the message. In time there will be room for liberals, too, in this movement. Key words: We the People. Remember that.