The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

McDonnell & Patrick On Press The Meat

Posted on | October 4, 2011 | 2 Comments

by Smitty (via SWAC Girl)

I’m a fairly huge Bob McDonnell fan, but Deval Patrick affords some amusement:

01:06 Patrick:

“Do we want a government that is on the side of helping people help themselves?”

01:18 Patrick:

“The American people are going to choose a partnership with leadership, in the form of President Obama, which is about helping people help themselves, and the jobs bill is the most recent, and I think, very important. . .”

06:08 Patrick:

“. . .we understand that people look to us to help–not to solve every problem in everybody’s life–but to help people help themselves, and we are all looking to the federal government that way. I think the President has shown over and over and over again, sometimes to the dismay of his supporters, that he is willing to reach across the aisle.”

On RomneyCare:

09:22 Patrick:

“. . .98% of [Massachusetts] residents have health insurance. It’s added 1% to state spending. It’s been a wild success.”

On Governor Christie:

11:54 McDonnell:

“I’d be surprised at this point if [Christie] got in [the Presidential race].”
Gregory: “You would be surprised?”
McDonnell: “I would.”
Gregory: “Just because of the calendar?”
McDonnell: “Because of the calendar, and because he has said for a year he’s not.”

Now, I’m a fan of Governor McDonnell, but he’s trying way too hard to be the nice guy here. The Massachusetts readers can offer cheers or jeers for Governor Patrick. I expect that he is speaking politically (i.e., at variance from empirical facts) with the coverage/budget claims above.

The 2012 election is not a choice between the openly Socialist Democrat party and the Ruling Class GOP that arrives at Socialist results in passing. It’s fine if McDonnell declines to scare the horses by talking about whacking the federal government back within Constitutional limits. But I really want confidence that the GOP is going to go after Leviathan with pliers and a blow torch.

One understands that the century-long buildup of debt will not be retired right away. Americans have been trained by decades of entitlements to be liberty-averse, fearing the occasional pain that comes from living like an adult. The trick is to avoid letting patience become complacency, and eventually acceptance. That is precisely what the Progressive Left is counting on Americans to do.

A bit of Patton-ism may not be completely inappropriate in a few cases, going down the road:

Disclaimer: I support the Constitutional right of people to be abject cowards. Just not in leadership positions. Get you and your effing dirty diaper self off to the sidelines, while the adults take care of business, say I. Cowards are a navigation hazard.

Category: Massachusetts, Virginia

Comments

2 Responses to “McDonnell & Patrick On Press The Meat”

  1. Finrod Felagund
    October 4th, 2011 @ 6:17 pm

    Disclaimer: I support the Constitutional right of people to be abject cowards. Just not in leadership positions. Get you and your effing dirty diaper self off to the sidelines, while the adults take care of business, say I. Cowards are a navigation hazard.

    Amen, brother.  Lead, follow, or get the *bleep* out of the way.

  2. Adjoran
    October 4th, 2011 @ 6:58 pm

    My optimism that the new Republican Administration and Congress will seriously tackle the fiscal mess isn’t based on hope or faith in the individuals elected to office in any  federal position.  Republicans have been just as ready as Democrats to kick the can down the road over the years.

    What is different today is that the road is a dead end.  There is nowhere to kick the dang can!  If the deficit and debt problem isn’t addressed RIGHT NOW, our credit WILL be further downgraded, our interest costs WILL increase and compound the situation into an even deeper hole, one from which it may not be possible to climb.

    Given the worldwide financial crisis, there is no cheap or easy way to restore economic growth without serious overhaul of our budget and spending, our regulatory burdens, and the sheer bloated size of our federal government.  It MUST be done, or the country just sinks.

    So my confidence in Republicans is only that when they are presented with only one way out of the burning building, they will duck, cover, and take it.

    Democrats, OTOH, would be more inclined to argue that the building is NOT in fact burning if they find the only exit unpalatable, which they do.  The only bad part is they would take the rest of us with them as they perish before admitting they have been wrong for 80 years.