nuke
vimto1
no2liberals
Robert D
Murder of Ravens
Beto Ochoa
swampie
thea
jseedubya
cesarzambrano
epicsurvivor
I know this post isn’t going to be popular here, but it needs to be said. And before you mail me the letter bomb, try to bear in mind that I’m writing these words as a Conservative who is keenly and profoundly disappointed in the result of the 2008 elections.
I saw this coming two years ago. Don’t believe me? Then read this post I wrote almost exactly two years ago.
At the time, I honestly believed the Republicans would answer the wake up call. That they would learn a bitter lesson from the pasting they suffered in 2006. Obviously, I was wrong.
The farcical administration of George W. Bush has given the Democrats their most resounding victory in decades. In what can only be seen as an excoriating indictment not only of the Bush administration, but of the Republican party in general, America has elected an ultra-liberal Democrat with less than four years experience at the federal level. The Democrats have also achieved a stranglehold on both houses of Congress.
In the meantime, Sarah Palin can go back to honing her foreign policy skills by looking across the Bering Strait.
Republicans had their chance and blew it, big time. From January of 2001 until November of 2006, they controlled both houses, while also enjoying the luxury of a Republican president. They had the perfect opportunity to show the Democrats and Liberals alike how it was done. Instead, the Bush years will be remembered as a colossal failure, the arrogance of this administration exceeded only by its incompetence.
The Republican party is supposed to be the party of small(er) government, low taxes, and a thriving economy. The idea was that if you gave corporate America free rein, it would result in prosperity and a robust economy, which in turn would result in a better life for the Americans who worked for these companies. This is an idea I have supported since I’ve been old enough to vote. I believe in the capitalist ideal.
But what we got instead was corporate CEO’s earning 7 and 8 figure salaries while simultaneously cutting employee benefits or eliminating their jobs altogether. Under eight years of George W. Bush, corporate America was given free rein, but it seems as though the only ones who benefited were the CEO’s and the stockholders. And now, even the stockholders are sucking wind.
We got two wars which will not end any time soon, due in part to this administration’s insistence on waging them on the cheap. Now we have an economy in shambles. All George Bush’s fault? Of course not. But these things happened under his watch, and the American people have laid the blame at his doorstep, while showing the Republicans the door.
Americans finally had enough, and gave corporate America and its Republican enablers a collective “Up Yours!”.
While I honestly don’t think we will become a Socialist state, as many alarmists have already predicted, we are no doubt entering an era in which the government, at the explicit request of the American people, will now play a greater role in our lives, for better or for worse. Big Brother Obama wants to “spread the wealth”, which is a nice way of saying he’s going to stick his hand deeper into our pockets. Under an Obama administration, I can certainly see us moving more toward the European model of quasi-socialism, with higher taxes and (perhaps) greater social services. National health insurance may not be that far off. Whether or not that can be accomplished without further decimating the economy remains to be seen. I’m not necessarily saying I welcome this development, but it’s coming just the same. And Republicans have no one to blame but themselves.
But in any event, at least I can say I was a witness to history. And it must be noted that Obama was not only elected by black America, but by white America. Surely that, at least, is something that might give one hope for the future. And I remain ever grateful that I live in a country where, when the election is over, the two candidates practically fall all over themselves trying to say nice things about each other, and the two parties at least try to work together. In many countries, the losers get taken out behind a wall and shot. Most importantly, I am grateful that I live in a country where the will of the people–even when I don’t agree with it–really does count for something.
America needs a breath of fresh air. Now that his election is a fait accompli, a part of me desperately wants to believe that Obama will be that breath of fresh air. I didn’t vote for him, but I do want him to succeed. We simply can’t afford four more years of Presidential failure. But as I watched him deliver his acceptance speech, I was struck, as I have always been, by his youth, and I remain profoundly afraid that he’s just not ready for the job.
I hope I’m wrong. I say: God bless Barak Obama. He’s going to need all the help he can get.
-Smith
“taking up a glowing cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a disputatious rather than a meditative mood”–Dr. John H. Watson
Please visit my blog at murderofravens.org
Filed under: News and politics, obama
Sorry, don’t have time for a proper fisking of this negativity.
God Bless Super Sarah, at least she helped get conservatives energized in a lackluster RINO campaign.
And no, I will not share in asking God to bless this soulless cretin, this radical Marxist. A pox on his visage.
At least we still have a Senate that isn’t filibuster proof, and hope they have the strength to stand against the bizarre nominations he will ask for, and the worst legislative agenda since Carter.
America had a brain fart, mostly young voters who don’t remember how bad it can be, until RWR came along.
I, for one, will extend even less courtesy and respect for our new President, than the left and their media extended to President Bush.
I will give thanks to God for having President Bush in command during these past eight years, and wish he and his family well, in the coming years. I also welcome him as a resident in my city, just fifteen minutes from where I live.
“But what we got instead was corporate CEO’s earning 7 and 8 figure salaries while simultaneously cutting employee benefits or eliminating their jobs altogether. Under eight years of George W. Bush, corporate America was given free rein, but it seems as though the only ones who benefited were the CEO’s and the stockholders. And now, even the stockholders are sucking wind.”
An interesting take. I wonder…. Coming into office in the midst of the collapse of the nasdaq, leading to a general recession, exacerbated further by the 9/11 attacks, revelations of wrongdoings at Enron and WorldComm (which actually occurred in the late 90′s), I wonder how you conclude that this “free reign” of robber-barron capitalism originated and grew unter Republican tutelage.
There will be time to reflect on the past eight years, hopefully, before the next phase of politics-by-crisis, which in my opinion, is the greater reason for the squandering of Republican good will. Decisions made in haste, as a reaction to a not fully understood problem, always seems to cause more problems than the original problem the solutions were intended to solve.
Anyway, you’re right Smith. There are several points you have made that I take issue with. I’ve got a long day on the road today, perhaps this evening I’ll get an opportunity to address them further.
regards,
NG
Well, I DID start off by saying I knew this wouldn’t be popular.
You have to understand that I’m not any happier about this than you are. I was really hoping McCain would drop kick him back to Chicago. But really, if you look at the past eight years, last night’s result was inevitable. I don’t believe in this “my party right or wrong” crap. Republicans and Conservatives should be PISSED OFF! Their party has betrayed them, and the clearest proof of that lies in the fact that America has elected an ultra-liberal socialist with less than four years experience! Given the precarious state of the world, shouldn’t McCain have been a no-brainer?
As I said, I’m no happier about this than you are, but let’s put some of the blame where it belongs.
Now, I’m going to smoke my pipe (while I still can) and try to calm down. ;>)
Heh
Blame where it belongs?
Absolutely, with W at the very bottom of the list.
A Refresher Course. Everyone Read Up!
A Brief History of Bush’s Time
I read both pieces, and sure, they both bring up some valid points. But this has nothing to do with why the Republicans were trounced in this election.
You can blame the media, the Democrats, and the electorate all you want, and to some degree, that blame is appropriate. But at the end of the day, the “Party of Personal Responsibility” has to start taking some personal responsibility for this debacle. The Republican Party has to take a good long look at itself, and decide who it really is and where it’s really going before it can lead the country anywhere. If it can’t do that, it will be in the wilderness, as Jeff Flake put it, for years to come. (Did anyone even bother to read Flake’s piece, btw?)
So you can call me negative if you want to, but I’m just being honest. The results of last night’s election cannot be disputed. It may be a message none of us wants to hear, but the American people spoke loud and clear last night.
Believe me, I want the Republicans to succeed. I want a more Conservative ideal at the heart of this country. But something has to change, and change radically, in the Republican party, or this is never going to happen. The Republican Party handed this election to the Democrats, and we should all be angry about that.
-Smith
I just wanted to point out that it wasn’t Bush that deserted the party, the party deserted him. Shortly after the ’04 elections it seemed every senator and congressperson was more worried about reelection than what was right for the party. Just my opinion. Thanks for taking the time to read the links.
McCain would not have come close if it were not for Sarah. Just because she isn’t a Washington insider doesn’t mean she wasn’t qualified for the job. It’s not as if the President and VP go it alone, thank God. The Executive administration is huge and hopefully full of experts in various fields.
However, I’m doubting the expertise of an Obama administration.
So, Mr. Small Government, what the hell business is it of government what businesses chose to pay their employees as long as everybody is happy? Employees (and CEOs) negotiate their own salaries.
Yep, lots of sour grapes out there from people that couldn’t wait to stab the President in the back, and then are crying about how big daddy didn’t drag them along on his coattails.
I’m with N2l. I don’t wish the new President anything but ill, and I’m eager to begin preparing calls for his impeachment. I am sick and tired of the way the President has been treated for the past 8 years, and payback is a mofo.
Careful of that impeachment talk swampie. I don’t like or trust B-HO, but Biden is next in line then Pelosi. In this case, I’ll take the unknown over a couple of proven retards.
I do want to see him treated like they treated Bush though. I just don’t like the options behind him.
it’s my birthday.
Impeach Obama NOW. Somebody make a blog.
tune in here, shunha.
We’re going to show the highest form of patriotism, which is DISSENT.
Every step of the way.
This unity BS is not for me.
Some may think that is being a sore loser.
I say, show me a sore loser, and I’ll show you a loser.
I don’t plan to be either.
No, I call it your negative honest opinion.
And I do blame this on the corrupt media, the leftists, and the electorate.
They poisoned the well when algore tried to steal the election in 2000, and pounced on every stumble and bumble the President made. Clinton fires 98 U.S. Attorneys, crickets. W fires eight, and there is a huge media storm, manufactured for political opportunists on the left. Fake ANG documents are waved at the cameras by some tired old lefty journalist, and it’s a gotcha moment on W, yet the same media and electorate never bothered to demand a birth certificate, college transcripts, or other material documents from B-HO.
W made mistakes, as does anyone, but his were magnified out of all proportion, while real malfeasance was being committed by leftard politicians, and given a pat on the back.
The GOP itself is to blame, as it didn’t promote conservatism, it promoted a tired old party hack, because his internals showed he had great appeal with moderates, a voting segment that cannot be relied on to think clearly.
As for the two wars you seem to indicate were misguided or unnecessary, I don’t think you could be further from the truth, and may be the first step you took which sent you off in the wrong direction.
In case you haven’t read the synopsis of G.W.’s war, here it is.
Happy Birthday nuke!!! (from the old fart)
Damn that’s good n2l, really good!
Happy BDAY, Nuke! I’m sure that in the future it will be a national holiday and you’ll get a day off.
thanks y’all.
Yep. McCain wasn’t my first choice, or second, or even third. I think he would have been better than Obama, but both IMO were poor choices.
Happy Birthday, nuke.
Hope nukette has whipped up something special for you.
Yeah, Swampie, we’ve had that discussion, and the primaries were acrimonious, to say the least.
I should say, I really don’t like to get into assigning blame, not so quickly, anyway. I like to process things for awhile. I’d rather have a rational plan for the midterm elections, and attacking our own because of the flaws we see, reminds me of the lab rats I used to do brain surgery on. If they detected the slightest difference in one of their bin mates, they attacked and destroyed it without hesitation.
While the rat brain is remarkably similar to the human brain, it doesn’t have the cortical layers that we have. Those lovely folds of gray matter are our friends, if used wisely.
I just stumbled across your blog because it was automatically generated as a post in my WordPress blog. And after reading it, I just want to add that I find absolutely nothing wrong with being honest. What’s the point of a blog, after all, if you can’t speak your mind?
They way I see it may be a bit different than most, but try this on for size: You can substitute the “Bush Administration” with any subject you want and the answer will always be the same: As long as there are two differing opinions there are at least three sides to the story: Their side, Your Side and the Truth somewhere in between.
With respect to the Iraq war, I don’t think the war would have been so controversial but for its unfortunate timing. You have one group saying it was a major detraction from what the troops in Afghanistan needed to get the job done (one reason Osama bin Laden and the Taliban will survive yet another presidential administration intact). You have another group pointing out that the intelligence between Iraq and 911 was milked to favor a pre-existing agenda (President Bush stated in his first inaugural speech that he was committed to going after WMDs and that was before 911 took place to give him an angry and scared public who would support that idea all the more). You’ve got another group of people claiming it was about oil (the contracts are being drafted now, or so I’ve read). You’ve got another group saying that the only thing that mattered is that Saddam Hussein had to go (yes, he was an evil despot but by that criteria why aren’t we in Darfur or the Congo?). And lastly you have people saying that both wars were really one and the same (taking the War on Terror to the enemy so that the battle is there instead of here).
Hypothetically speaking, what if the multiple choice/one-correct-answer stuff we were taught to expect repeatedly in school is wrong? What if the reality is that real life is more like answer D): All of the above? That’s what I mean by three sides to every story — and even at that it’s an oversimplification.
[...] Thanks a lot, George! [...]
I see my post-election post generated some responses! I haven’t had the chance to answer the more pointed comments, due to an insane work issue as well as some health problems. But I did want to address one comment specifically, in which N2L wrote:
I never said that. What I actually said was:
In truth, I supported the invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush’s actions in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 are, in my mind, the high point of his presidency, and clearly many folks agree with me, since his approval rating at that time was over 90%, and well deserved.
Afghanistan was an unqualified success. We went in, accomplished the mission, and achieved victory. In fact I have no doubt that it was the success of the Afghan mission that made it easier for Bush to convince the country and Congress to invade Iraq.
Iraq, on the other hand, is a mess. But even so, I have never jumped onto the “we never should have invaded Iraq” bandwagon. What many (particularly on the Left) forget is that, at the time, EVERYONE thought Saddam Hussein had something to hide, for the simple reason he was acting like someone with something to hide. He was in direct violation of something like 15 United Nations resolutions. He was thumbing his nose at both American and the U. N.
And this is where I give Bush credit. If nothing else, the man has backbone. If he says he’s going to do something, he does it. Hussein was warned repeatedly that there would be severe consequences to his continued defiance. So as I said, the actual invasion was not a problem for me. My only quibble on that point is I think it would have been advisable to cobble together an alliance much like his father had done in the first Gulf War, but that’s water under the bridge at this point.
My problem with the Iraq war lies not with the actual invasion, but rather with how the war was carried out. Consider this, we have lost over 4200 troops in Iraq, and all but 140 died AFTER Iraq surrendered. I have spoken with many Iraq veterans (including my son), and they all say the same thing: we didn’t commit enough resources to the mission. I remember reading a quote in the paper from a Four Star who said, “When you go into Rumsfeld’s office, you may as well leave your stars on the secretary’s desk.” They tried telling him repeatedly that they needed more of everything, leading to his infamous quote, “You fight a war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had.” Believe me, as the father of a young man who was risking his life for his country, I saw RED when I read that!
As if we needed any further proof of my point, consider also that since the “surge”, we have only lost 75 troops. And then Bush announced that the surge was working. No kidding, George! That’s what we should have done in the first place.
So please do not put words in my mouth. I never said the wars were “misguided” or “unnecessary”. But the Iraq war was poorly executed, resulting in the unnecessary deaths of many of our servicemen and women.
-smith
If I altered the content or context of your comment, I apologize.
I have encountered so many comments across the innernut, along this vane, I have lost count.
As for Iraq being a mess, no it isn’t, the war in Iraq is won. Afghanistan, on the other hand, is a huge mess, and became so after NATO took command. So much for a coalition of forces, which we did have in Iraq, over thirty nations.
I have a son in law who did two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. A wonderful young man, a wonderful husband to my daughter, and loving father of his two daughters, my grandbabies. While my emotional attachment may not be as strong as that of a father, it was strong, nonetheless. I remember the uproar when Rumsfeld made that statement, and I had to admit he was right, brutally honest, but right. It’s easy to forget how large a force we were able to send into Iraq during Desert Storm, only to see our military decimated by President Clintoon. He squandered the Peace Dividend from the Reagan/Bush years, and W inherited a military that was incapable of massing 450,000 men and women, like we did in ’91.
The surge, which added about thirty thousand soldiers, was brilliantly executed by Gen. Petraeus. It wasn’t the number which made the difference, it was how they were deployed as force multipliers.
Reviewing the Brookings Iraq War index, we have lost 283 soldiers to hostile action, since the surge began, and that is not counting any of the deaths in Jan ’07. Including non-hostile and hostile deaths, we have lost 471. Each and every one a loving son or daughter.
The additional troops in the surge didn’t make all of the difference, it was also due to the fact that Iraqis began to see the difference in how they were treated by us, Al Qaida, and the shiia militias, and began to cooperate with us, initiated the Concerned Citizens and Sons of Iraq forces, and the general population, who felt secure enough to rat out the bad guys, and trusted the improved Operational Readiness of the Iraqi Police and Army. In number of weapons caches discovered, in ’04 it was 1,711; in ’05 2,862; in ’06 2,660; in ’07 6.969; in ’08 to date 7,492. That wouldn’t be possible without well trained troops, but most especially without the local population providing intel.
I have bones to pick with W, mostly for not vetoing the outrageous spending coming from Congress, but not with how he has conducted these conflicts.
great comments, gentlemen