Tag Archives: GOP

unpolished rant: debt crisis edition

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(unpolished rant. which means the facts are probably shaky, even though the emotions are running high. be warned).

guess who called my house RIGHT after Obama finished his speech? the RNC. no lie. asking for money :D we gave them an earful instead. get to work already, congress. and can someone please get those freshmen republicans to see reason? good grief. what’s the whip doing anyway? the way i see it, the compromise that’s needed is ideological. but congress, dear people in both parties in both houses, you are going to have to do it. you’re going to have give in on some things. a lot of things, probably. yes, the debt ceiling will have to be raised. yes, cuts will have to be made. and not just to the wealthiest 2% of americans.  if you don’t find a way to give a little, the repercussions will be huge, terrible, and you’ll be blamed (make no mistake about that). do i need to find you a therapist?

i also have a message for the pain-in-my-party’s-butt freshmen republicans: hi, welcome to america which is a republic. you’re a republican, for crying out loud. stop acting like you think this is a direct democracy. just because your constituents tell you they don’t want compromise doesn’t mean you have to be stupid enough to think lawmaking is possible without it. this is what will happen if you don’t compromise: someone else will. and you’ll get voted out anyway. because, let’s face it, standing your ground is only good when it’s not the ground sinking beneath you. if this was a moral issue, i would feel differently, but this is economic. and people’s livelihoods are at stake. stop being such show-horse politicians. learn to play nice. or seriously, you will get voted out. not by the tea party perhaps — but by moderate republicans like me who would rather you not sink the whole ship with all that (self-)righteous indignation.

david brooks (my favorite republican :)–and someone who, unlike me, understands the issues and probably has his facts straight–makes the interesting observation that congress IS working, that the white house is now on the side-lines, and that last night’s speech was basically too little too late. i mention that in a (weak) effort to be fair, and to sort of maybe give congress the benefit of the doubt. that being said, i don’t know if i can believe brooks 100% — until i see some kind of deal, nobody is off the hook…

boehner

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you might as well know, i’m a john boehner fan. (it’s pronounced BAY-ner)

i’m still doing some research on him, but so far, all signs are good. i don’t find a lot of controversies or scandals (except that he might be a bit overly-enthusiastic about golf. but if that’s the worst there is…). anyway, i’m super thrilled he’s the next speaker of the House; i like listening to him; i like his post-victory attitude (see the quote below); and i like the fact that he speaks of compromise and also of not giving in on the big points.

(i personally think compromise is a lost art in america. the fact of the matter is, we are going to have to compromise. and compromise means giving in on some things. somewhere along the way, we became a people so convinced of our own “rightness” that we can’t bend a little to the other half. but the fact is, 1/2 of americans dont agree with the other 1/2 on almost every single issue. so compromises have to come in. and boehner seems to realize that. but he isn’t a fool — he stands behind his GOP principles and acknowledges that there are some things he doesn’t plan on giving in to.)

“Listen, I’ll be brief, because we have real work to do – and this is not a time for celebration, not when one in 10 of our fellow citizens are out of work, not when we have buried our children under a mountain of debt, not when our Congress is held in such low esteem.This is a time to roll up our sleeves. To look forward with determination. And to take the first steps toward building a better future for our kids and grandkids.”

anyway, the wall street journal has this article (“The Boehner Evolution”) about the boehner win, and what the republicans face ahead.

red in this blue, blue town

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 so apparently, a reporter in NYC decided to “be republican” for a day, and gauge how that went. it’s only a brief report, but a fascinating idea: 

http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2008/10/23/04/0751-72/index.xml

i am, of course, a little distressed by the way she feels she has to “dress republican.” it’s that age-old trend (not without cause, i know) of equating social and moral conservatism with republicanism. and since i’m all of those, i don’t have a lot of room to argue this one. but it still irks me. i think that even if i were socially liberal, i’d be republican. but anyway…

 

i feel like i need to also take this time to note that i’m not as thrilled with palin as i first was. since i am not running for office (though, if you need someone to write in…), i retain the right to change my mind as often as i want to — and this is me doing it. at first i was quite thrilled with palin, particularly because of the energy she brought back into the GOP. but one of the things i most admired about her was her stance against unethical behavior, and now appears that she’s in the thick of “unethics” herself. so, while still retaining the right to change my mind again, i have to say that at present i’m not so happy with her as the veep choice.

actually, who i am really not happy with are the McCain campaign advisors. Vet often, guys?!?!?!? I mean, really!

(note to all my liberal friends — don’t get too excited out there. i’m still republican. i’m still against most of the things obama supports. ain’t gonna change that easy).

that grand ol’ party

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in the interest of full disclosure, i want to offer this information before i begin: ideologically speaking, insofar as the federal government is concerned, i am a republican. on the state level, i am sometimes inclined to be more democratic (a bigger state government is okay with me). i don’t necessarily agree with everything the GOP comes up with, but fundamentally, i align myself with them: i believe in small government - i don’t agree with the sense of entitlement that i feel a big government fosters; i believe in the people themselves – in their ability to do good and support their society through private means and funds, and not just because the government makes them do it. one day when i am at a loss for things to rant about, perhaps i will offer a blog on what being republican means to me. suffice it to say that since this is a presidential election year, i call myself a republican.

that being said, strictly speaking, i’m a moderate. im not against ANY government spending, and i definitely think there is something to be said for contributing (i.e., paying taxes) towards a greater good; but when possible, i like to keep the federal government small.

ok so that’s my full disclosure. now you know where i stand. the tricky thing is, this election i haven’t been all that excited to be republican. obama is a great speaker, and a great leader – for all his lack of experience – and mccain just doesn’t have that appeal. i agree with mccain on some issues, but he hasn’t been able to get me as fired up about them as obama’s “change” and “hope” speeches. if obama had had more substance to his speeches (“it’s soooo shiny…but what is it?”), i might have been more ready to support him. so anyway: i’ve been fairly certain that i will vote for mccain (although “officially” i still claim to be on the fence), but i haven’t been able to get all that jazzed about it.

until last night, when, at midnight, i finally settled down and watched the RNC speeches. i started with palin’s. i had read the transcript the day before and thought it was a masterful speech. brilliant. an absolute piece of genius. to be fair, no one is claiming otherwise – even the Dems have admitted as much. it’s hard not to. she brought back to the stage what we most love about american politics – the fight itself. obama’s been fighting, but mccain’s side had seemed a little “safer” – up till now.

but watching the speech was an amazing experience; she’s a great speaker – genuine, approachable, and admirable all at once. palin came out “throwing punches” as cnn.com put it. and with good reason. she slammed obama for his plans to increase taxes; for never using the word “victory” when discussing american history – unless he was talking about his campaign; for talking to people one way in one town and another way in another town; for his lack of experience with actually making the changes he keeps promising; for using the presidential election as a journey of personal discovery (daaaaaang); and so on.

it was great. mighty. well-written, well-articulated, and well-worth watching. the speech made me excited to be voting, excited to be a republican, and excited to be an american all over again. she’s my girl, i tell you. in another life, i’d be writing her chief of staff right now, asking to be a part of her staff – licking envelopes if that’s all they need – until its time to lauch the Palin for President campaign.

then i took my enthusiasm a little further and read the transcripts of mccain’s speech last night. another stroke of genius. the fight is back, the passion is there – and the whole campaign is energized. it was a strong testimony to his character, his love and service for country, and his hope for america. it was an obama speech, if you will – short on substance, but big on heart. and seeing as those have been working for obama, i don’t see any reason why the GOP shouldn’t have a few on hand, too.

don’t get me wrong – i know these are all just speeches, just rhetoric, and a lot of PR and hooey at that — but that doesn’t make it any less effective. don’t forget, this is a country forged on rhetoric in many ways. it wasn’t until Paine’s Common Sense was published that the founders had any real hope of winning public support for their idea. we’re a people living under the auspice of a dream – there’s a real place for rhetoric and inspiration in this nation; how else do you drive people to pursue the intangible if not by stirring up their hearts and imaginations and “the better angels” of their nature?

which is why we have conventions – an adult version of a pep rally. rah rah rah. and i’m rahhing away with the best of them now.