The Other McCain

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

QOTD: “A party that stands for nothing, a party that becomes synonymous with weakness, will not attract support.”

Posted on | February 26, 2013 | 37 Comments

by Smitty

It looks as though, like it or not, Sequestration could evolve into political Armageddon. After four years of Democrats blocking budget legislation in the Senate, of Quantitative Easing, of the same SOTU speech and behavior over and over, we have an artificial crisis upon us. The merest hint of an attempt to control spending (knowing that the government would just spend more anyway) is going to be used by President Obama to cause suffering on the people, so that he can blame it on Republicans.

The whole situation is as decadent as it is predictable.

What this means is that it will take courage for the Republicans to stand their ground. They and everyone who supports their stand must speak up or much will be lost. The common thread should be simple: “The sequester cuts nothing from last year’s budget. It cuts very little from the projected budget for 2013. The President has it in his power to keep things running smoothly, and the misery being inflicted on our fellow citizens is entirely his doing.”
If the Republicans can weather the crisis that Barack Obama has manufactured, if they can stand their ground, Barack Obama’s second term will be like most Presidents’ second terms — dreary. Step by step, the malfeasance of his first term will become visible, and he will twist slowly, slowly in the wind.
If, on the other hand, the Republicans cave, conservatives may well lose heart and sit on their hands or vote Libertarian in November, 2014; and our side may even lose the House of Representatives.

After every other defeat, humiliation, and disaster the Republicans have seen, this is close to it.

Show some pluck,
2014 may not suck.
Try to duck,
Be named a useless. . .puck.

via Insty

Category: Uncategorized

Comments

37 Responses to “QOTD: “A party that stands for nothing, a party that becomes synonymous with weakness, will not attract support.””

  1. t1m3w4v3z3r0
    February 26th, 2013 @ 12:37 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: QOTD: “A party that stands for nothing, a party that becomes synonymous with weakness…” http://t.co/x30sLI97kI #TCOT

  2. Finrod Felagund
    February 26th, 2013 @ 12:40 pm

    Indeed. As the saying goes, “if you stand for nothing you’ll fall for anything.”

  3. zaijian
    February 26th, 2013 @ 12:42 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: QOTD: “A party that stands for nothing, a party that becomes synonymous with weakness…” http://t.co/x30sLI97kI #TCOT

  4. Quartermaster
    February 26th, 2013 @ 12:44 pm

    Your headline is not a question, but a statement of fact.

  5. crosspatch
    February 26th, 2013 @ 12:58 pm

    Oddly, I don’t see this as a defeat. It is the Senate Democrats and the President who have failed to act here. The House has produced budgets, proposals, compromises, etc.

    This is not a defeat at all for the Republicans. What we have seen so far is simply a failure of the Republicans to cave in and the Democrats who have no strategy other than to try to wait out the Republicans and try to make them cave in.

    And it doesn’t matter what any Republican leader has to say, the people will never hear it anyway. It will get exactly 0 airtime on the top of the hour radio station news.

  6. Jaynie59
    February 26th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm

    It’s true. I’m so fed up and demoralized. Nobody fights back. Worse, they attack those who try to fight back. Everybody caves. Chick-Fil-A got a tremendous outpouring of support and what did they do? Issued a spineless statement about not wanting to be political. The Koman foundation got money and moral support over their decision to defund Planned Parenthood and what did they do? They caved. Even the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts, for crying out loud, are going to cave over gays in the Scouts.

    It’s just too much to take. It’s bad enough Obama got re-elected. But to see how low Republicans are sinking is just too much to take. It’s just too much. If it weren’t for Rush and Mark Levin I’d just curl up into the fetal postion and give up entirely.
    Rest in peace Andrew Breitbart. You are so missed.

  7. McGehee
    February 26th, 2013 @ 1:22 pm

    We need more people like this guy’s dad.

  8. McGehee
    February 26th, 2013 @ 1:23 pm

    I think the Q stands for “quote.”

  9. rmnixondeceased
    February 26th, 2013 @ 2:34 pm

    The whole reason I created the Dead Republican Party was to bring attention to the real death of the GOP as a conservative group. They are just an extension of the progressive/socialist agenda …

  10. JeffS
    February 26th, 2013 @ 2:47 pm

    It’s a defeat if the GOP surrenders to the will of Obama. I don’t know that it’s in the “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” category, but it’s close.

  11. Adobe_Walls
    February 26th, 2013 @ 3:08 pm

    Any mitigation of the Sequester will be a defeat for the country as it’s the only reduction to growth of spending plan we have. Sequester or no this will be a defeat for Republicans, it’s what they do. Whether that’s a bad thing or not is a matter of perspective.

  12. elaine
    February 26th, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

    The GOP is dead; they’re simply an arm of the Democrat party, now. Their caving in on everything the dems want is proof of that. Their desire to embrace “immigration reform,” gay marriage, etc is proof of that. Why be different when you can be exactly the same?

    Why, indeed…

    The sooner we accept that the GOP establishment is indistinguishable from the DNC, the sooner we can have a party which WILL stand for our values.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/02/20/as-country-club-republicans-link-up-with-the-democratic-ruling-class-millions-of-voters-are-orphaned/

    This is a must-read for everyone feeling disenfranchised. You want a party that represents you? We can’t MAKE the GOP into that party. But we can build something better.

  13. jsn2
    February 26th, 2013 @ 5:25 pm

    If Ted Cruz, or someone like him, can wrangle his way into a position as spokesman for the repubs there’s hope. If Boehner leads on this we’re probably screwed.

  14. K-Bob
    February 26th, 2013 @ 5:48 pm

    Democrats
    In
    Conservative
    Clothing

    It’s just that the Republican party is infested with DICCs.

  15. t-dahlgren
    February 26th, 2013 @ 6:16 pm

    Being correct is no guarantee of victory, adversity only reveals character, and we are known by our acts.

    The Boy Scouts are more concerned with existing than with the reasons for their existence and that is the one thing that rings through in their actions.

    Not to sound negative about Rush or Levin, but you don’t need them, they need you. Time was it was easy to be a ‘Republican’ maybe to even be a ‘conservative’ but now that the gravy train is running on fumes nothing will be easy again for anyone unwilling to toe the statist line.

    Hollywood is not lining up with DC because they truly love big government, there just are not that many ideologues. Most are just lazy hucksters chasing the easiest and fastest buck.

    Successful performers are people adept at figuring out what the audience wants, then delivering it. So Hollywood (and the media, which has been transformed into entertainment for middle brows) is simply delivering what they think will sell best.

    Now is not the time to be demoralized, it is time to take stock of who you are. what really matters, and what you are prepared to suffer in order to live life on your own terms.

  16. smitty
    February 26th, 2013 @ 6:17 pm

    “Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1979” #LyricalTweet

  17. rmnixondeceased
    February 26th, 2013 @ 6:23 pm

    Yep. That’s why THIS Dick is back!

  18. Adjoran
    February 26th, 2013 @ 6:26 pm

    Explain the good options in specific terms.

    For example, Obama is releasing waves of illegal immigrants from custody due to “impending cuts.” He is signalling he will make all the cuts in public safety and convenience – how else does a 1.4% reduction add two hours to airport wait time? – and none to liberal programs.

    What, precisely, should be done? Even impeaching the SOB does no good, the Senate is all Harry Reid’s.

  19. Steve T
    February 26th, 2013 @ 6:28 pm

    Video: Countdown to the Sequester and Blaming Bush. As seen on Hannity…;

    http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/02/video-countdown-to-sequester-and.html

  20. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 26th, 2013 @ 6:31 pm

    There are such good arguments to be made. I would run myself but cows do not qualify and I did some bad things at Pamplona in my youth that might haunt me.

  21. McGehee
    February 26th, 2013 @ 6:59 pm

    The good option: Damn the torpedoes and just do what you know is right.

    Whatever the price is for doing right, paying it is an honor and a privilege.

  22. CPAguy
    February 26th, 2013 @ 7:04 pm

    LOL…

  23. Adobe_Walls
    February 26th, 2013 @ 7:39 pm

    Too late for that; “Damn the torpeoes” is what should have been done in 2011. This current defeat was suffered then now is just the current wave of negative consequences. It would appear that the sequester is the best the GOP could accomplish in the 112th congress. They couldn’t even accomplish that in the 113th.

  24. McGehee
    February 26th, 2013 @ 8:28 pm

    It’s never too late to take the blame (however undeserved it may or may not be), tell the blamers FU, and get back on track.

  25. rmnixondeceased
    February 26th, 2013 @ 9:08 pm

    Heh! I would prefer that we partied like it was 1899! (Perhaps I wouldn’t be in Twitter Gulag then …)

  26. Bob Belvedere
    February 26th, 2013 @ 9:12 pm

    Hey…send me an e-mail and let me know how you’re doing.

  27. Beeblebrocs
    February 26th, 2013 @ 9:38 pm

    OAAAAOTOM (Opaque and abstruse acronyms abound on The Other McCain).

    One of the rare things that bug me about this site. But I’ll live.

  28. Beeblebrocs
    February 26th, 2013 @ 9:51 pm

    It’s a defeat for us because Boehner can’t string two sentences together when he gets in front of a mic without sounding like a whiny coward. The rare opportunities that the GOP has to articulate the FUBAR that is the Obama administration are usually those when the Speaker has a national press briefing. He ALWAYS screws the pooch when in that situation.

    When he last got up in front of a crowd and talked about the sequestration he actually said it was going to be a disaster if It happens (and it would be Obama’s fault).

    This is moronic. How hard is it to say that “the sequestration cuts nothing from the ’12 budget and if any reductions in government services to Americans taKes place it will be because Obama hates Americans and wants them to suffer.”

    But Boehner never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

  29. richard mcenroe
    February 26th, 2013 @ 9:51 pm

    Lost
    Integrity
    Missing
    Principles

    LIMP DICCS

  30. Beeblebrocs
    February 26th, 2013 @ 10:00 pm

    The good option is to do the right thing and as a result, get the support of the producer class which forms the base of the party.

    They think doing the right thing loses them the votes of the independents which they need to get elected. So they do the wrong thing (and pick up next to no votes from outside their base).

    The reason the GOP is called the “stupid party” is because they think that their constituency MIGHT include independents and Low info voters if they only moderated, but they fail the basic math quiz that says for every one of those low info votes they pick up, they lose around 100 votes of their base.

    The consultant class says “don’t worry about losing the votes of the base, they have nowhere to go”. How much of an imbecile do you have to be to take that advice?

  31. crosspatch
    February 26th, 2013 @ 10:41 pm

    I disagree. Boehnor has played this about as well as anyone who has basically no power can play it. The House Republicans can’t really do a lot. Boehnor got the Bush tax cuts permanently reinstated for 98% of Americans in the last round of “fiscal cliff” negotiations and managed to separate what was a three-pronged major issue into their separate component parts. Boehnor pushed Obama back considerably from his campaign rhetoric of increasing taxes on everyone making over $250,000 and he got the taxes for everyone making under $400,000 reduced permanently.

    What folks are doing here is fabricating a straw failure that hasn’t happened and then criticizing him for it. It’s rather ridiculous. Sound to me like the best friends the Democrats have right now politically are a bunch of so-called “conservatives” who undercut Boehnor.

    Lets see how things play out and THEN criticize him if it is warranted. We still have the debt ceiling limit and the end of the budget continuing resolution to deal with yet so Boehnor still has some leverage.

  32. McGehee
    February 26th, 2013 @ 10:52 pm

    IUTAFTGG.

  33. crosspatch
    February 26th, 2013 @ 11:06 pm

    This is exactly it. The House has already addressed this issue TWICE and the Senate has done nothing. As Boehnor says today it is time for the Senate to get off their ass and do something.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh3xa9qy3iE&feature=player_embedded

  34. Beeblebrocs
    February 27th, 2013 @ 12:01 am

    I see Karl Rove is posting here under a pseudonym.

    But this kind of apologist excuse for the most pathetic politician since Jimmy Carter is just sad.

    Boehner is in no different position than Gingrich was back in the day. Did Newt ever go out and cry in front of the cameras or did he use those opportunities to make his case? Did Newt ever make excuses for himself by saying he had “no power” or did he wield the tremendous power of the Speakership to get things accomplished? Now Newt had his human frailties but even with those he still knew that he was one of the most powerful men in the country.

    Boehner has had COMPLETE power for several years to put an end to this madness. He occupies an office that could ground Air Force One if he wanted to. When the CR comes up, he can do what he has had the power to do since the first CR on his watch. He can send his caucus home to their districts and watch Obama twist in the wind while the CR sits on Boehner’s tear and tobacco saturated desk.

    No CR, no Obamaphones, no food stamps, no EPA, no more presidential trysts with Tiger on Floridian golf courses. Basically, the nanny state comes to a screeching halt until one side says uncle. Our side will survive for months without Daddy Obama but the president’s constituents will eventually blame him. Because Obama has overplayed the blame-the -GOP for everything hand, the low info masses will need to find a fresh villain.

    So Mr. Speaker. Just go home. You at least have that much power.

  35. rmnixondeceased
    February 27th, 2013 @ 12:02 am

    Thankfully, THIS dead Dick is hard as bone!

  36. Bob Belvedere
    February 27th, 2013 @ 7:59 am

    Aren’t you all bones by now?

  37. rmnixondeceased
    February 27th, 2013 @ 12:16 pm

    Mostly just leathery skin over “dem ole bones”. Hair and nails with a bit of fungi behind my right ear. My make-up sessions are quite long …