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There IS a ray of hope (that is not Hopey-Changey!): McStain may balance his ticket with a Conservative....... and he IS Ancient.  On the other hand, he may appoint a Libtard, and we will be in for at least 4 years under Obammunism......

jimbob86 | 5/13/2008 09:36 AM CDT | #119524


What have we done to deserve the candidates that we have to choose from?  BHO and HRC are so extremely left wing, old timey democrats like Roosevelt, Truman and hell even JFK wouldn’t recognize them.  As for McCain, if this is the best the GOP can come up with, they can kiss my ass.  I’ll vote for him - not that it matters, I live in CT - but I won’t give the GOP a thin dime until they pull their heads out of their collective ass.

El Duderino | 5/13/2008 09:36 AM CDT | #119525


What do you mean, “What have we done to deserve [them]”?  We’ve forgotten what federalism means, we look to government like our mommy, and we hope our rights aren’t taken away rather than remembering that rights are even more fundamental than government (which itself isn’t some foreign entity ruling over us but an expression of our society’s collective will regarding defense, infrastructure, foreign relations, and currency).

We pretty much get the politicians we deserve.  We don’t deserve anything better than McCain, and we probably deserve the Obamessiah.

That said, I will say that I think the Vietnam veterans deserve to have (an honorable) one of their own as President after the way they’ve been treated all these years.  You want a group that’s suffered from society in recent memory?  There you go.  I have many, many disagreements and frustrations with McCain but not for one second do I doubt that he’s an honorable man.

HokiePundit | 5/13/2008 09:58 AM CDT | #119530


Well, Kim, who exactly should have gotten our primary votes?  There were exactly zero viable conservative candidates.  That’s why Fred got my money (though not my vote, by the time the Texas primary came around I voted for HRC as the most conservative non-McCain). 

This election was planned by the Republican establishment for a long time to put us conservatives in place.  They want us to shut up and vote.  If the Democrats hadn’t cooperated by nominating someone so significantly worse, they might have succeeded in destroying the GOP coalition.  As it is, I think they’ve only put it off for a few years.

I’ve read somewhere that in today’s GOP, conservatives are the new RINOs.  Well, I refuse to be that.  I won’t be one in name, at all.

Skip | 5/13/2008 09:58 AM CDT | #119531


First, I admit I didn’t watch the presentation.  But there’s no bullet point on that screen that I couldn’t do something reasonable with.  I think he’s blowing smoke up everyone’s trousers, and I don’t think we can conclude anything from that page.

“Climate Policy Should Be Built On Scientifically-Sound, Mandatory Emission Reduction Targets And Timetables.”

I don’t have a problem with emission reductions.  Ever been to Lost Angeles?  Scientifically-sound?  I’m all about that.  Targets?  How else will you know you’ve reached something?  Timetables?  So long as they’re reasonable and non economically damaging.

The whole page says nothing.  What else do you expect from a politician?  I still hate him, but this doesn’t increase it.

Weetabix | 5/13/2008 10:30 AM CDT | #119532


Worry not, Weetabix, the actual things he said during the presentation could have come out of an Al Gore speech.  Lots of “doubt removal” (we *know* manmade greenhouse gases are a primary contributor..), ill defined goals with no measurable positive outcome defined (reduce 2012 emissions to 2005 levels), vague references to signing Kyoto… The usual liberal talking points.

I really, really disliked him before, but I just vomited a little in my mouth after watching that performance.  My desire for Clarence Thomas and Scalia clones on the USSC is the only thing making me even consider voting for this sh1tbag

LSU Nonleg | 5/13/2008 10:36 AM CDT | #119533


for wasting primary votes on nutcases like Ron Paul, RINOs like Mitt Romney, or no-hopers like Fred Thompson.

So, if you had it to do all over again, who, exactly would you have recommended we give our primary votes too?  Primaries are where we are supposed to vote our consciences, isn’t it?  Other that FDT, who was “good” in the primary race?

princewally | 5/13/2008 10:42 AM CDT | #119537


daily disappointments, frequent betrayals, and constant regret for having voted for him.

So, how’s that different from the last 8 years?

SayUncle | 5/13/2008 10:49 AM CDT | #119539


“So, if you had it to do all over again, who, exactly would you have recommended we give our primary votes too?”

That’s precisely the problem. There was no one to vote for.

Which is why the Republican Party can FOAD if they ever expect a red cent from me in campaign donations.

Kim du Toit | 5/13/2008 10:51 AM CDT | #119540


It’s so painful I have to simply disconnect and laugh at you.

Intelligent people aren’t supposed to be able to do this to themselves, although we see the socialists (G*D D^MN!T STOP USING THE WORD LIBERAL) twist logic to justify their insanity, we’re not supposed to see it in conservatives.  Perhaps there’s a theme to start from, in trying to find the solution.

What’s so funny is “McCain is the most socialist sumbeech in the world” and “but he’s worlds better than x” in the same breath.

He is NOT better.  You are pulling yourself apart because you KNOW he’s not better but you have to think he is, and that doesn’t work.

You’re all going to vote for the damnedest socialist ever.  And he’s going to claim your support when he guts what’s left of the Constitution.

Yes we deserve it, and that’s why it hurts.  Take it like a man, dammit.  There’s no changing it now.  HAH!!!! A ‘conservative’ Veep?!!! HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

I’ve been trying to tell you for years, I’d rather lose than have this M F ing ‘Maverick’ (Jeez, do you not hear the irony when I say that?! He’s A SOCIALIST) doing the SAME G D THING as the others, only DOING IT WITH MY BLESSING.  We will NEVER IN OUR LIFETIMES recover if this M F wins the WH.

I gotta quit coming here.  I was doing so good for a while.

Idahoser | 5/13/2008 11:04 AM CDT | #119542


SayUncle’s got it right. There hasn’t been a conservative in the White House since Reagan, and even he could only slow the rate of increase of spending by the federal government, not stop it. Bush I and Bush II have no guiding political philosophy other than the desire to hold power. In that sense they’re very much like the Clintons, for whom expediency trumps their underlying left wing leanings.

tsj55 | 5/13/2008 11:08 AM CDT | #119543


1. Sent this to the GOP Chairman (like he will actually read it… or even the little college intern who deletes the trash from his inbox that is...)

“If given a choice between a “Democrat” and a Democrat, the people will chose a Democrat every time.”—Harry Truman

I would write with some snide comments having derisive content, and get it trashed almost immediately, however I actually want someone with functioning gray matter to read this message.

For the love God in heaven and this nation.

There is NO HUMAN INDUCED GLOBAL WARMING, period.  It is a fraud, perpetrated by advocates of socialist government to stampede the American public into ceding more rights and power to the Federal Government.  It is nothing more.

You are losing voters.  You are endangering this nation by presenting no choice between the Democrat Party and the Republican Party.  You are petrified that Bob Barr’s puny Libertarian run will shave off enough votes because Bob Barr has a point.  The GOP is rapidly becoming the Democrat Lite Party (AGAIN) after Ronald Reagan saved it from oblivion in 1980.

Stop!  I would add “Please” but I am not feeling particularly polite, anymore.  I am a nobody, with no power and no real money (the key to being heard… when given in massive amounts).  So I am probably to be ignored… the Hoi Polloi is tired of being ignored, and will walk away.  Don’t you understand that?

The “Cap and Trade” thing is a CON JOB.  It is just a massive TAX INCREASE by blind regulation to force corporations (that do not pay taxes - just pass the costs on to the consumer) to pay the government for the privilege of operating.  John McCain is losing the tepid support that he had on the Right.  Most people that I know are calling this the Clothes-Pin election, and have threatened to stay home if McCain continues to push his openly Democrat agenda.

Frankly, he might want to sign up as Obama’s Running Mate… or maybe save Hillary’s campaign from disaster.  This has gotten serious.  You have fallen for the global warming propaganda hook line and sinker.  It will cause you to fail, and for a political lightweight, whose entire foreign policy solution is weakness in the face of an enemy to win the election in November.  John McCain is not presenting a choice.  The Right will take a choice, however.  It will stay home and allow the punishment of an Obama presidency to be inflicted upon the US.  They will hope for another phoenix to be born from the ashes.  This time it is unlikely to happen in enough time to avert a disaster that will make the Iran Hostage Crisis like a walk in the park. 

The GOP is courting electoral disaster across the spectrum because it is flying away from its voters… obviously on a balloon filled with Global Warmed Hot Air.

I will not give a dime, nor spend an ounce of sneaker rubber… or precious time off from work on the run up for the election.  Virginia is about to lose a GOP Congressman, another GOP Senator (not that John Warner was ever really a Republican), and might just find itself in a mad scramble to elect a Republican Governor next year. 

This is a self-inflicted wound that will not heal.

Quit being Democrats.

With almost no respect remaining,

***************

2. HOKIE PUNDIT?  History - Class of 1981, here… bringing my eldest to Blacksburg for a 6 year stint as an Architecture student… Legacy, nostalgia trip…

Nice to know there are still conservative Hokies out there… I thought we were starting to fade into the nightmares of the Carter Administration…

r/TMF

The Mighty Fahvaag | 5/13/2008 11:11 AM CDT | #119545


I’m a single issue voter in this election.

Hillary and Barack will sacrifice our brothers in uniform the way Bill did.  Many of them will die as a result.

McCain won’t purposely let soldiers die.

That’s the only difference among them all.  I hate that fact, but there it stands not caring whether I hate it or not.  I’m not trying to twist him into something he’s not.

I’m gonna hold my nose, vote for McCain, then go take a bleach bath, and comfort myself with the thought that I did the best I could for our armed forces who have done so much for me.  I’m only ashamed I can’t do more.

Weetabix | 5/13/2008 11:17 AM CDT | #119547


[Comment deleted. --TS]

The Mad Yank | 5/13/2008 11:25 AM CDT | #119551


I’m with Weetabix… But I am not gonna slink off and be quiet about it… either…

I will be voting for McCain because Carter2 or Clintoon3 is a foreign policy disaster (which means lots of innocent Americans could very well lose their lives)… the stakes are for keeps.

2012 there will be an opportunity to pick a better horse.

Like I said… Clothes-Pin Election…

r/TMF

The Mighty Fahvaag | 5/13/2008 11:35 AM CDT | #119554


What a bunch of cry babies. Wwwwaaaa Wwaaaa. Instead of f*ing getting off you fat asses you spend time writing comments on blogs. Check out the thousands of comments made on inane posts here and elsewhere on the brain draining web. What a collective waste of time. There is a real world out there with fresh air and PEOPLE. You will get Obamarama as President because no one is going to oppose him. No one will do the hard work of knocking on doors, stuffing envelopes, driving old folks to the polls. You don’t need money to be a valuable political player in your community. You’ll all be blogging about the results coming in from the election. Woopie !!!

1776 Rebel | 5/13/2008 12:08 PM CDT | #119560


Judges and GWOT: Strategic implications of this election.

Life and death stuff and world of difference between (hack, spit) McCain and the Socialist/Marxist BHO.

blackeagle603 | 5/13/2008 12:10 PM CDT | #119561


How did we end up with McCain.  Democrats crossing over and voting in Republican primaries. 
Which is why it has been so sweet watching “Operation Chaos.”
In 2012 there is the likely hood of there being some decent candidates on the Republican side, Bobby Jindal will have a track record by then and may be a viable candidate. 

1776 Rebel, you talk big but your making assumptions about what we do when we are not blogging.

toad | 5/13/2008 12:20 PM CDT | #119563


LOL 1776.

Idahoser: the political process sucks, but it’s the one we have. Just walking away from it hands the game over to the people who want most desperately to control it: the socialists.

We’ve had this discussion before on this site, umpteen times, and we know all the pitfalls and problems.

Fact is, our choices are going to be Maverick Johnny McCain (Self-TV) or Messiah Obama (Soc-IL). That’s the hand we’ve been dealt, and that’s the one we’re going to have to play.

Remember, this is not like a poker game, where if you’re losing, or don’t like the stakes, you can walk away from the game with your money.

If you walk away from this game, the others continue to play your hands, with your money.

Kim du Toit | 5/13/2008 12:31 PM CDT | #119566


It isn’t even McCain’s fault really.  The Republican party has seen the light that the vote of the people is up for sale to the highest bidder.  Bush was no conservative either and his “compassionate conservatism” was just code for socialism lite.  The Republicans are just in a bidding war with the Democrats and the Democrats seem to be winning because the bribes they’re giving the American public are 100% in line with their ideology.

The shift leftward was inevitable from the moment Social Security was signed into law.  Everything in politics since has been just to see who could give more away.  It used to be that the Democrats waved bags full of free money at voters and it attracted some.  The Republicans in turn waved freedoms and an appeal to patriotism and personal independence and attracted others.  What the Republicans never counted on was the people’s desire for security to overcome their desire for liberty. 

People today are happy to trade liberty for security.  They know next to nothing about the real suffering that went on in Eastern Europe during the cold war.  They think we can have socialism without totalitarianism.  More importantly, they believe that government can solve their problems.  Belief is nearly impossible to refute and wholly explains Obama’s popularity.

When I keep my sights on my family, I can see that I’m truly blessed.  However, when I look out over the barren wasteland that is our future, I see little reason to hope.  I see no hope in the European “utopia” so many around me seem to idolize and is the direction our country seems to be inexorably headed.

Jon | 5/13/2008 12:54 PM CDT | #119570


I find that when I eat meat I fart less; those emissions being GHGs, didn’t ya know? So, I plan to eat more meat, thus advancing the market for meat products, and trading my “market based” carbon credits to some veggie/vegan hippy. That’s what we call a two-fur.

Felix Estrella | 5/13/2008 01:44 PM CDT | #119579


I gotta quit coming here.  I was doing so good for a while.

You were banned, but the restore picked up the member file before that happened.

Banned again.

Connie du Toit | 5/13/2008 01:51 PM CDT | #119580


How about a Boris Johnson / Bobby Jindal ticket in 2012?  True Conservatives, both.

1776Rebel - Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.  Just a smidgen of hypocrisy in your post, don’t you think?  You berate Kim’s readers for responding to his blog posts - by responding to one of his blog posts?  Very “interesting” logic (are you a liberal by any chance?)

Idahoser - Let me guess?  You’re voting for Ron Paul, right?

Mad Yank - it seems, is reduced to screeching like a witch at a Code Pink rally.  The lesser of two evils is still evil and voting in that manner is precisely what got us to the sad state of affairs we find ourselves in now - reduced to the option of voting for another lesser evil instead of for someone who represents the greater good.

Bart | 5/13/2008 01:54 PM CDT | #119582


It might be helpful to remember a couple of basic truths: 1) Conservatives are a MINORITY!  2) Politics is the art of compromise; negotiation is the name of the game. If conservatives insist on having everything their own way, they will be left with nothing. Simply because the great middle American majority will quit playing ball with them.

At this point, it looks like the left wing of the Democratic party is in the process of making this mistake. Hillary, not seriously believing that she would not be a shoo-in, postured herself to win the general election. Only trouble is, she has to win the Democratic nomination first.

Obama, a more sincere leftist, comes along and starts winning primaries by attracting the more politically active left wing. He’s taking the lead in the nomination battle. In order to win the American middle in the general election he will have to do some major flip-flopping. Paradoxically, that flip-flopping is likely to cost him the election because it will alienate people who want clear and honest leadership rather than glib posturing.

It doesn’t bother me that McCain is likely to be our next president. He appears to me to be the only candidate in the field who appreciates the magnitude of the cultural war that will be our greatest problem of the twenty-first century.

thales | 5/13/2008 01:56 PM CDT | #119583


Sorry, Bart, Idahoser snuck back through when we restored the member database from December. He’s banned again.

Mad Yank’s screeching/personal attack comments will be deleted from now on, without hesitation.

Connie du Toit | 5/13/2008 01:57 PM CDT | #119584


What Thales said.

Conservatives are a minority so why should the minority get the candidate they want?  It doesn’t work that way.  We have to convert more people to conservatism and then the problem will fix itself.

Connie du Toit | 5/13/2008 01:59 PM CDT | #119585


The problem with making a case for conservatism is that it never gets put to the test to show how well it can work. The U.S. was a “conservative” country prior to the Depression, or perhaps up to Johnson’s “Great Society”, but few remember or study history.

tsj55 | 5/13/2008 02:12 PM CDT | #119586


A minority, yes, but I’d bet that the irreducible minimum of core conservative values: lower taxes and fiscal responsibility (some sort of spending restraint, if we can’t actually shrink the government), if nothing else, would attract a sizable plurality. We have failed in our outreach; we have allowed the enemies of conservatism to define (caricature, really) conservatism such that someone like Huckabee can be made out a Conservative Poster Child and most folks just nod along, yup yup yup.

Saint Augustine reminds us: In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity (read that as civility, in the context of political discourse). What are the essentials? I say that the American essentials are the Lockean Trinity: life, liberty, and property (I further argue that these operationalize as guns, taxes, and property rights).

We have failed in our outreach, but that can be remedied.

The larger issue looming is the increasing irrelevance of the electorate in electoral politics, at least at the federal level. With the exception of McCain on the war, all three candidates are arguing at right angles to reality, and gerrymandering plus McQueeg-Feingold make Congressional elections largely an academic exercise in the use of voting equipment.

What’s next? I think of the old Soviet bromide, “They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work,” and I wonder whether the next step won’t look something like: “They pretend to govern us, and we pretend to obey.” That could work for a while, but at some point some bright spark in Mordor-on-the-Potomac is going to insist, or try to.

MiddleAgedKen | 5/13/2008 02:44 PM CDT | #119591


The only vote that is ever wasted is the one cast against the better suggestions of your conscience.

Rifleman14 | 5/13/2008 02:55 PM CDT | #119596


This topic reminds me of the Leno segments in which he asks uninformed people on the street questions like “who is the vice president” and they don’t know the answer. Each of their votes cancels out that of someone who actually examines the issues.

tsj55 | 5/13/2008 03:09 PM CDT | #119600


If you walk away from this game, the others continue to play your hands, with your money.

I’m stealing that one Kim. Quote of the day.

blackeagle603 | 5/13/2008 03:28 PM CDT | #119604


Something like 50% of the populace doesn’t pay any taxes now.  They don’t care about lowering taxes.  They just want more tax credits so we pay them something akin to a salary every year.  They don’t care about taxes unless they pay have to pay them.  Now they’re shooting for free healthcare, too ("free" to them, that is).  As long as those filthy rich people or the Eveeel Corporations are paying, they couldn’t care less.

Connie du Toit | 5/13/2008 03:39 PM CDT | #119606


They don’t care about taxes unless they pay have to pay them.  Now they’re shooting for free healthcare, too ("free" to them, that is).  As long as those filthy rich people or the Eveeel Corporations are paying, they couldn’t care less.

What happens when we run out of filthy rich people or Eveeel Corporations?

Weetabix | 5/13/2008 03:42 PM CDT | #119607


What happens when we run out of filthy rich people or Eveeel Corporations?

They start storming the castle.

Connie du Toit | 5/13/2008 04:07 PM CDT | #119613


We do not have a conservative to vote for because we did not get off our arses.

Dean ordered his supporters to buy and read Heinlein’s political howto book ... which is why the price for a used paperback copy climbed to over $100 during the 2004 campaign. Dean lost the nomination ... but his nutroots supporters ended up owning the Democratic Party.

If we want to see conservative nominees, we need to perform a similar takeover. Once conservatives take over the party, stupidity like Dem-Cong crossover voters can be fixed by not participating in state-run primary elections. Take them private ... if you don’t pay party dues, you don’t get a vote.

We can fix this. This is the only party that IS fixable. The rest are either hopelessly socialist, or run by pamphleteer nutcases with no social skills.

We only have our own apathy to blame here.

kbarrett | 5/13/2008 05:45 PM CDT | #119628


Something like 50% of the populace doesn’t pay any taxes now

Exactly. And these same people also have the right to vote and they damn sure aren’t about to vote for somebody that would dare to to stop their gravy train. (both parties know this)

They don’t care about lowering taxes.

Exactly again. Why should they care about lowering taxes...they aren’t paying them anyway. In fact, they may be completely against lowering taxes if the possibility exists that it might cut into their government handouts.

They just want more tax credits so we pay them something akin to a salary every year.

I actually know people that got back every penny they paid in over the year AND then some...and they think it is FAIR! They don’t understand that it is one thing to get back all that you paid in over the year, but in order for them to get back more it means someone else (me and you) has to PAY MORE. Graduates of our public schooling system...again, paid for by you and me!

Now they’re shooting for free healthcare, too ("free" to them, that is).

Because the school system, teachers, the media, popular culture and ELECTED leaders tell them that it is their right! You read that correctly...it is a RIGHT to have healthcare and not to worry about paying for it. Everytime I hear someone say that on the TV or radio I want to publically flog them.

What happens when we run out of filthy rich people or Eveeel Corporations?

They start storming the castle.

Film at 11.

The Quiet Man | 5/13/2008 06:31 PM CDT | #119633


Yes, we are truly screwed in ‘08. A demoncrat is going to occupy the big chair no matter how you slice it. Obama is a distinct possiblity. Can he beat McAmnesty? Sure, why not. He has as good or better a chance than Bill Clinton had in 1992 against a weak republicrat candidate. Am I saying that McAmnesty is a weak republicrat candidate? You damn betcha! I’ll even go further by stating that Juan McAmnesty is nothing more than a demoncrat with republican backing.

Yeah, I know there are a lot of folks who believe that he will do the right thing when it comes to judges. I’m not one of them. I don’t trust this evil little man with picking a constructionist jurist any more than I would any other demoncrat. Want proof? Try GANG OF FOURTEEN on for size. Instead of backing his fellow republicans in the senate (while they still had a majority) and pushing through Bush’s judicial nominations he culled off 6 other weak republicrats and got in bed with the demoncrats to scuttle the majority’s so-called nuclear option. This is a long running theme with the “maverick”. He might pick a constructionist judge IF it suits his immediate agenda...if not, you can count on another Sandra Day O’Connor...or worse.

Well, he will not disgrace our troops in the GWOT like the other guys right? Again, I think that too many people are projecting what they hope for rather than what it real. I’m gonna piss off a lot of people with this next statement but it needs to be said. I keep hearing that John McCain is a man is honorable. I say bullshit. He may have conducted himself honorably 40 years ago when he was captured by the enemy, but that was 40 years ago. His more recent track record is less than sterling. In fact, his political career has been borderline DIShonorable. And ever since he lost to Bush in 2000 he has been insufferable. If the republican party had the brains OR balls they would have thrown him out of the party back in 2004 when he was flirting with the idea of joining forces with John Kerry. That’s right...joining forces with the other side. Tell me again of his honorable nature. Go ahead. But before you do keep this in mind. John McCain is indeed a maverick...only not how everybody thinks. He is out exclusively for himself and what will make him look good. He will gladly throw conservatives under the bus because the media will love him for it. He will gladly crawl into bed with the worst examples the demoncrat party can provide if it will 1) piss off the conservative base or 2) the media will love him for it. Don’t think for a second that if he wins in November and he sees an opprotunity to bail out of Iraq he will take it. All he has to do is say that he was kept from the “real” intelligence regarding the situation by the evil and feckless Bush administration. Trust him if you must but I absolutely will not. Juan McAmnesty is a liar and only a fool trusts a liar.

And what about 2012? What then? If McAmnesty wins this year does anybody actually think the republicans will vote him out in 2012? Not a freakin’ chance. And if Obama wins (a VERY likely scenario) who do we have in the wings to step into a viable candidates shoes? Sadly, more of the same crop that brought us to where we are now. Actual conservatives have been marginalized by the MSM and popular culture and most of all by the REPUBLICAN PARTY. We keep talking about taking over the local republican parties in order to reform the national party, but it NEVER happens. We keep getting the same old crap...we lose congressional seats, we lose governorships, and we will likely lose the white house. As a conservative I am very discouraged bacause we ARE NOT making progress...in fact we are LOSING ground. and I don’t know how we can turn the tide or IF we can.

The Quiet Man | 5/13/2008 07:20 PM CDT | #119637


The only chance we have for not totally screwing ourselves this time is to seize both houses of Congress.  The White House is a lost cause ANY way you slice it - we have three TERRIBLE choices this time around, all of them Democrat (one with a different letter next to his name).

It’s a mess, no doubt about it. If we don’t win control of Congress, then the next best thing we can hope for is gridlock to keep it from getting any worse until the next PRESIDENTIAL elections.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

308Mike | 5/13/2008 09:18 PM CDT | #119645


The most succinct way I’ve heard it put is that “McCain is the best Democratic candidate out there.”

Sigh.

As a Minnesotan, the fact that Tim Pawlenty is the current top choice for VP fills me with a mixture of elation (because he’ll be out of our hair for a while) and dread (because he might be back in our hair).

Dave Polaschek | 5/14/2008 07:37 AM CDT | #119656


I’m NOT here to screech, I’m just frustrated.
APOLOGIES tendered to anyone whom I have insulted, and I mean that, sincerely.
It just FREAKS me out that a group that has as much BRAIN-POWER as this one can be blind-sided by that bunch of DemCong LibTards that Howard Dean drives like Sheep!

Sorry, folks.
OTOH, maybe I SHOULD stay away from serious commentary until after November; it might improve my blood pressure.

The Mad Yank | 5/14/2008 07:48 AM CDT | #119657


Sorry folks, but you’re all fighting the last war.  Obama, Clinton, McCain--there isn’t enough difference between them to make it worth my time deciding who to vote for (or against).  No matter which one is elected, the result will be the same.  That’s because I believe that McCain is lying about is position on killing terrorists, just like he has lied about everything else.  (I know he’s lying--his lips keep moving.) As many have acknowledged, that’s the only reason they’re willing to hold their noses and pull the lever for him.  I say don’t waste your time.  You’ll be less disappointed.

Unless a conservative/Federalist sort of third party magically appears and gets their candidate elected, we are well and truly humped.  No amount of bleach baths or tar and feather decoration is going to change that.  It is what it is.  It’s time now to prepare to survive the next four/eight/whatever years.  Buy guns and ammo now, while you can.  Ditto food--if current trends don’t reverse, the next administration will simply exacerbate them, and we’ll all learn what it’s like to do without.  Position your life so that you can handle unbelievably high energy prices coupled with spot shortages.  Figure out how you’ll deal with a government that believes it has the right to tell you how to live.

The next war is going to be fought in your front yard…

The Freeholder | 5/14/2008 08:01 AM CDT | #119660


Some things to note:

The choices are: McCain or Obama/Clinton. That’s the choice. No other. Live with it.

The Republican nominee is the product of the nominating caucus/primary process not the action of the RNC, so there’s no “we’ll show them” rationale that holds water.

To win a presidential election you face a nation that is divided in roughly thirds--Republican, Democrat and Unaffiliated (AKA Independents/moderates). You must carry the majority of your party and a large chunk of the middle. Without the middle you don’t win.

As a former candidate for city council (Colorado Springs) and the Colorado House, I was taught a lesson which I didn’t embrace and therefore lost the elections. That lesson was that “you never leave votes on the table”. Translated that means offer something to everyone and don’t give anyone a reason to not vote for you. Avoid establishing hard rock positions that are going to convince people you are unsupportable. Not everyone will like all of your positions, but none should be a deal breaker. Reach out to every constituency.

Whether or not global warming exists (I don’t think it does), McCain can’t ignore the constituency. He makes a speech on the issue, proposes a relatively benign policy option and then moves on. QED, no reason for the whackos not to vote for him.

If we don’t start focussing on what is right with McCain, we are going to be in for a disaster--a very liberal president with a very liberal congress will screw up the nation for a very long time--time we may not have.

Fast Eddie | 5/14/2008 08:04 AM CDT | #119661


The Quiet Man has me thinking (dangerous for me).  I’ve heard the talk about how McCain is an honorable man.  I was never sure what to make of that given his abominable teaming with the various bad guys.  Now I begin to wonder if he hasn’t just decided that America owes him for his service and in a big way.  I begin to think he believes he deserves the Presidency.  And then I begin to wonder what really differentiates him from Hillary.

Will he stick up for the US abroad and our service men as President?  What evidence do we have of that?

If there is no difference, would a tactical defeat by accepting Obama get us back on course in four years since Obama would either show himself as a loonie and not be re-elected or do nothing and thus do no harm?

I’m so confused.

Weetabix | 5/14/2008 08:30 AM CDT | #119662


Something like 50% of the populace doesn’t pay any taxes now.  They don’t care about lowering taxes.

Connie - You’re talking about income tax here.  But if you believe Social Security and Medicare are going to go broke and not pay the benefits promised to current wage earners, then FICA is just a (regressive) income tax by another name.  And everyone pays that.  If someone working full time isn’t paying regular federal income tax, it’s because his wages are less than the standard exemption and deductions plus any deductions for dependents.  Do the math on that and you’ll see that trying to tax this person would be like trying to get blood from a stone.

sig

sigp225 | 5/14/2008 08:46 AM CDT | #119665


6,208,847 are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance
50,234,294 are retired workers and dependents receiving Social Security
3,116,728 are receiving veteran’s compensation
523,824 are receiving veteran’s pensions
3,880,321 are receiving welfare

82,334,583 are under age 19

26,945,864 are over age 70

Roughly 1/3 of the population is under 19 and over 70 (109,280,447).

Number of Americans Paying Zero Federal Income Tax Grows to 43.4 Million


During 2006, Tax Foundation economists estimate that roughly 43.4 million tax returns, representing 91 million individuals, will face a zero or negative tax liability. That’s out of a total of 136 million federal tax returns that will be filed. Adding to this figure the 15 million households and individuals who file no tax return at all, roughly 121 million Americans—or 41 percent of the U.S. population—will be completely outside the federal income tax system in 2006. This total includes those who pay no tax, and those who pay some tax upfront and are later refunded the full amount of the tax paid or more.

The U.S. Retirement System and the Baby-Boom Generation


As the baby-boom generation grows older, the number of people in the United States ages 65 and over is expected to roughly double by 2030. Moreover, that age group is forecast to grow from about 13 percent of the total population in 2000 to 20 percent in 2030 and to remain above 20 percent for at least several decades thereafter. With life expectancies continuing to rise, typical boomers are projected to live about two years longer than their parents did and thus could spend more time in retirement. Meanwhile, the labor force is expected to grow much more slowly than the population of retirees, resulting in many fewer workers per retiree. Whereas there were 4.8 people ages 20 to 64 in 2000 for each person age 65 or older, that number is expected to decline to around 2.9 by 2030.

[My emphasis]

I’d be the first to agree that social security is a tax, but the majority of the people above are not (or will not be) paying that either, but they are voting for candidates that will increase their bennies on the backs of other people.  I agree, people can’t afford the tax, but no one should support these things if they can’t pay for them themselves.  If you can’t pay it, then you should not support it.  It’s WRONG to vote for benefits you cannot support.

Connie du Toit | 5/14/2008 11:18 AM CDT | #119697


I’d think that to get an accurate estimate, you’d also have to remove from the count wives who earn no income and file jointly with their husbands.

I’ve always wondered just how many people out of the total population do all the work.  Seems to me there has to be a limit to how low that number can go.

Weetabix | 5/14/2008 11:38 AM CDT | #119701


Remarks in reply to some of the comments:

I’m concerned if the younger moron is elected instead, we’ll have 1994 all over again. Except no serious person can imagine Republican pols having the gonads to stand up to the effeminate affirmative action candidate’s slanders and entreaties. We’re screwed. That’s all there is to it. It’s time to leave and start a new country.

The U.S. hasn’t been conservative since the late 19th century. By the time the nut Teddy Roosevelt, who was more interested in himself than the well being of the Americans, came along, it was socialism from then on. And his despicable splitting of the vote in 1912 caused every other catastrophe in the century. That some dolt put his face on a rock in SD shows how far this country had already fallen, where worshipping men is thought acceptable. All the left has any more is the cult of personality, and McCain likes that idea.

Conservatives a minority? Who is a larger group? Some claim moderates, but some of those are simply non-political conservatives. The so-called moderates make most of the rest, and then the collectivists. Conservatives only need to pick up a tiny fraction of the moderates and it’s won.

One thing that definitely needs to change soon is the size of Congress. When you get a scumbag like John Murtha elected surrounded by Republicans who can’t do anything to stop him, you know 700000 people is too many for a district. I’d like to get to 30000 like it used to be 200 years ago, but I’d accept a compromise of 60000 for now. As Congress gets less involved in things, then opposition to enlarging it won’t be so strong. And the concern over organization won’t bother people as they see they don’t need help from Uncle Scam.

What happens when we run out of filthy rich people or Eveeel Corporations?

We feed the bastards to our dogs?

For those who think party primaries can be taken private, I have news for you: Carter and Clinton judges ended that. They took Republican primaries, fully closed, and FORCED them to allow Democrats to vote in them. That happened quite a long time ago. The judges should have been arrested and burned at the stake for that, but nobody seemed as pissed off as I was about it at the time, and I didn’t even find out about all of them when they happened.

P.S. Idahoser banned? WTF?!

TraitorHater | 5/14/2008 05:25 PM CDT | #119758

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Cognitive Dissonance

Kim du Toit
May 13, 2008
9:28 AM CDT

After reading through this little atrocity, Friend & Reader Scott S. writes to me:

I’m trying really hard to be patient with McCain.  He’s doing his absolute best to piss me off.

I swear, if he goes much farther than this, he’s going to lose me.  As it stands, I’m going to vote for him, and then go home to tar and feather myself.

My dear friend: Welcome to McCain Country.

We should probably consider ourselves lucky, because McCain is giving us a taste of what’s going to happen when he gets to the White House. This, in other words, is what is in store for us conservatives: daily disappointments, frequent betrayals, and constant regret for having voted for him.

This is what we get for letting the perfect be the enemy of the good; for wasting primary votes on nutcases like Ron Paul, RINOs like Mitt Romney, or no-hopers like Fred Thompson.

McCain is going to screw us, every single chance he gets, as long as what he does makes him popular with the Press, or with “centrist” Democrats like Joe Lieberman, or with “moderate” Republicans like Olympia Snowe, or with “popular” figures like Ted Kennedy and Arianna Huffington, or with international bodies like the United Nations.

And occasionally, he’s going to screw us just because he hates conservatives, and because he can, and because he knows that as bad as he is, Obama would be orders of magnitude worse.

Leave space for me in the tar barrel. It’s going to look like a Japanese bath house by the time the election’s over.