Noonan: President Tearing Conservative Coalition
I don't always agree with Peggy Noonan, and indeed, I don't even agree with everything she says in this column. But I agree with her larger points, which are very well stated:
"What political conservatives and on-the-ground Republicans must understand at this point is that they are not breaking with the White House on immigration... What conservatives and Republicans must recognize is that the White House has broken with them... This is sad, and it holds implications not only for one political party but for the American future.
"The White House doesn't need its traditional supporters anymore, because its problems are way beyond being solved by the base. And the people in the administration don't even much like the base. Desperate straits have left them liberated, and they are acting out their disdain... This White House thinks its base is stupid and that its heart is in the wrong place."
Continuing: "The president has taken to suggesting that opponents of his immigration bill are unpatriotic--they 'don't want to do what's right for America.' His ally Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, 'We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up.' On Fox last weekend he vowed to 'push back.' Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal immigrants be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose the bill want 'mass deportation.' Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill are 'anti-immigrant' and suggested they suffer from 'rage' and 'national chauvinism.'"
Noonan: "I suspect the White House and its allies have turned to name calling because they're defensive, and they're defensive because they know they have produced a big and indecipherable mess of a bill."
She concludes: "Now conservatives and Republicans are going to have to win back their party."
The big question is: how will we do it?
A related note of interest: the Republican National Committee has fired all of its telemarketers...it seems there's just not enough money coming in to justify keeping them on, due to "a grass-roots donors' rebellion over President Bush's immigration policy."
posted by Laura @ 10:31 PM
6 Comments:
Interesting that Miscellaneous Laura has deleted many of my posts over the past few weeks because she was appalled at my "ranting" and "name-calling" and "rolling in the mud" concerning the Bush Administration; now we see that YOURS TRULY was a mere PIKER compared to those dignified baboons in the White House who are squatting shamelessly--legs akimbo--and dropping one huge turd on the Republican faithful. I've been deleted by bloggers for years in my truth-telling mission against George Bush, trying to pull those GOP ostrich heads out of the sand. The incredible contempt Bush has for his clueless base has been well-known to intelligent political observers for many years. I have information that Bushites regularly mock the Party faithful in ways too crude for a family-type Internet site. I'm no knee-jerk Bush-hater. In 2000, I muscled my way to the front of the crowd at a rally in Little Saigon in Westmister, Calif., and stood 20 feet from Bush--waving my sign high in the air. I certainly wasn't impressed by what I saw. Bush had the manner of a guy recovering from a motorcycle accident, with some kind of speech impairment and learning disability. He looked like a guy who, tops, should be a vice-principal of a middle school in Yorba Linda or perhaps on the state Board of Equalization. His performance at the rally was appalling, but I figured he would recognize his limitations, be a caretaker President who didn't get in the way. And remember, it was a far different world in 2000. Little did I know this nitwit, low-IQ, besotted fool had grandiose delusions of a "legacy" and would deep-six his own country. I was bamboozled big-time, but I'm MAN ENOUGH to admit my mistake. Who else is going to step up to the plate? HOW ABOUT YOU, LAURA??
You know, Bag of Bones, we probably have some things in common, but we simply approach life and discussion differently. I'm leaving your comment up, as it's among the mildest-worded of those you've posted; trust me, you haven't been deleted from blogs because of your "truth-telling mission," it's because of the way you choose to tell the truth as you see it. No matter what the Administration may or may not call us, I don't see any need to stoop to such a low level in return. Baboons? Turd-dropping? Come on. And you know that that is relatively mild language coming from you. It's hard to engage on the issues due to the way you choose to express yourself. I have attempted to dialogue with you recently out of courtesy. I'm not here to be a finger-waving traffic cop, but at the same time, I have certain standards for this blog which I will continue to maintain, and if your posts disappear in future, you'll know why with nothing more said. I think that topic is now exhausted.
As for the President, I call 'em as I see 'em. I have been happy to support the President in the past and don't feel a need to admit any "mistake." (Would you have preferred Al Gore? John McCain, whose contempt for the "base" knows no bounds?) The President has done several things for which I'm deeply appreciative. And when I don't appreciate something, whether it's Harriet Miers or the immigration bill, I say so. I have certainly not pulled any punches on the latter in recent days, and am doing my small part, via editorializing on this blog and writing my Senators (not that it does much good in CA!), to stop the immigration bill.
I would add that I deeply, deeply disagree with the President and believe he owes "the base" an apology for recent comments (not only by himself, but by members of his administration), but I also don't think he is of the low character or intellect you describe. And I'll leave it at that.
Best wishes,
Laura
Laura,
The entire post by Noonan is so depressing because....it is so true. The pathetic desperation is beginning to show and instead of Bush & Co. acknowledging the mess they've made with this Immigration bill, they instead show their desperation in name calling, firing the committee members, etc. Is it pride or stupidity? I have no clue but am completely discouraged.
Oh, and by the way, one thing I really appreciate about your blog -and you - are the standards of decorum you reflect and the expectation of it in return from commenters. It eliminates a lot of the superfluous to wade through or step over.
Standards of decorum? La-di-da. This is why Republicans lose elections and will become extinct in the near future. They don't fight dirty. Politics is dirty pool, always has been. Look back at the Founding Fathers and forget the marble statues. They were absolute masters at name-calling and mud-rolling. They weren't pansies showing off their good manners on the golf course.
The great success stories in politics have always been roughnecks. Our own Dick Nixon, for exmpale. In his Senate race in 1950, the Trickster got out the proctoscope and said Helen Douglas was pink, right down to her underwear. Lyndon Johnson used to unzip his pants and take a leak on Hubert Humphrey, just to show him who was boss.
Goody-two-shoes don't make it to the top, or steer the course of events. That's for the ruffians, the name-callers, the back-stabbers, the boys willing to slug it out. This has always been true in history. It's only in retirement when the "statesmen" erect their columned edifices. Maybe the next world will be a better one. Meanwhile, Dana, keep yourself ever-so-refined and your checkered pants well pressed.
Bag of Bones, you might want to take a fresh look at some of our nation's history. Our greatest Presidents, starting with George Washington (since you mention Founding Fathers), Abraham Lincoln, and more recently Ronald Reagan, have proven it's possible to have both class and political success. President Washington was hardly a name-calling mud roller. Indeed, "Washington's Rules of Civility" sits on my bookshelf alongside his biographies. It's a book which is still relevant today. (Just one quote: "Let your conversation be without malice...and in all cases of passion permit reason to govern.")
Dana, thank you for your thoughts (I read a commentary suggesting last week was the President's "malaise moment," which rang true for me) and for your kind words.
Best wishes, Laura
"Meanwhile, Dana, keep yourself ever-so-refined and your checkered pants well pressed. "
Thank you. I will!
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