Podcast: NY 23 With Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser And Valour IT With Marine Steve Schippert
Thursday, October 29th, 2009An inside look at NY 23 and conservatives versus the Republican establishment. Also, we talk about identity politics and Republicanism.
Steve Schippert joins me to discuss what it means to servicemen and women to be connected during their times of rehabilitation. Remember, you can donate at this site.
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When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
Health Care Big Lies & More Big Lies & For A Refresher, Reagan
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009What they said would happen:
What actually happened:
Why we love Reagan:
Ronald Reagan speech on role of government and citizens:
I think we’re for an international organization, where the nations of the world can seek peace. But I think we’re against subordinating American interests to an organization that has become so structurally unsound that today you can muster a two-thirds vote on the floor of the General Assembly among nations that represent less than 10 percent of the world’s population. I think we’re against the hypocrisy of assailing our allies because here and there they cling to a colony, while we engage in a conspiracy of silence and never open our mouths about the millions of people enslaved in the Soviet colonies in the satellite nations.
I think we’re for aiding our allies by sharing of our material blessings with those nations which share in our fundamental beliefs, but we’re against doling out money government to government, creating bureaucracy, if not socialism, all over the world. We set out to help 19 countries. We’re helping 107. We’ve spent 146 billion dollars. With that money, we bought a 2 million dollar yacht for Haile Selassie. We bought dress suits for Greek undertakers, extra wives for Kenya[n] government officials. We bought a thousand TV sets for a place where they have no electricity. In the last six years, 52 nations have bought 7 billion dollars worth of our gold, and all 52 are receiving foreign aid from this country.
No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So governments’ programs, once launched, never disappear.
Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.
There is more at the link.
Podcast: Matt Lewis Discusses Intellectualism In The Conservative Movement
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009Matt Lewis of Townhall and AOL’s Politics Daily talks with me about intellectualism in the conservative movement. We discuss the legacy of William F. Buckley and modern thinkers. We talk about Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and more of the minds and no-minds on the right. Is intellectualism dead on the right? Listen and find out.
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When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
What Is Sarah Palin Up To?
Friday, October 23rd, 2009In my editorial at Pajamas Media today, I talk about Sarah Palin’s decision to endorse the conservative, rather than the Republican candidate and what it all means:
With her decision to endorse Doug Hoffman, the conservative (not Republican) candidate, Sarah
Palin sends the Republican Party a very clear message. She will be using her considerable fundraising ability to fund candidates who ideologically match what it used to mean to be a Republican. Since the Republican Party, from its toes to its nose, has difficulty identifying candidates with those credentials, she’ll help them do it.
The Republican Party has a choice. They can continue to antagonize those who vote them into office or they can start paying attention. They mistakenly buy the D.C. bubble philosophy that moderation is the way to find good candidates. What they’re seeing is a base willing to lose if the Republican Party doesn’t change its ways.
I also talk about identity politics and how it is blowing up for the Republican party. The love the party has for Sarah Palin has less to do with her beauty or gender than her beliefs and ideology. So the Republican party, while looking for women candidates needs to remember what’s most important: the beliefs. The base is sick of people who pay lip service to ideas like small government and fiscal responsibility and then turn around and govern like drunk liberals spending other peoples’ money.
Podcast: Andrew Breitbart Talks New Media, Activism & How To Break A Big Story
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009Andrew Breitbart, the man who owns New Media on the Right, gives a 17 minute interview. Andrew is Big Time. Find him at Breitbart.com. I also give a behind the scenes perspective on different bloggers, including Jim Hoft aka GatewayPundit.com, Ed Morissey of Hotair.com, Ed Driscoll of PajamasMedia.com, Rachel Alexander of IntellectualConservative.com, Caleb Heimlich of ExposeObama.com, Stephen Kruiser, John Schulenburg of InfidelsAreCool.com, and John Sexton and Morgen Richmond of VerumSerum.com.
Other posts on Western CPAC & interviews:
New Leaders Steve Poizner and Chuck DeVore
Interview With Dana Rohrabacher
Conservatives Must Stop Impeach Obama Talk
Ralph Reed On Getting Conservatives Elected
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When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
Representative Dana Rohrabacher Repudiates Talk Of Impeaching Obama
Saturday, October 17th, 2009Some thoughts from Representative Dana Rohrabacher about President Obama,
“I think Barack Obama’s vision comes from a Marxist background. I think he’s trying to do what he thinks is right, but we need to recognize that his world view will lead us to a place that is totally contrary to what America is all about.”
Ed Morissey of Hot Air: What about the call to Impeach Obama, “It’s total nonsense. I think people who take that position are trying to make money from the conservative movement. He is an elected President of the United States. He has not, at this time, committed crimes and misdemeanors. I would suggest that we have to watch him very carefully…he joined the Mayor Daley machine. But right now it’s a ridiculous discussion. We should talk about the issues.”
John Schulenburg of Infidels are Cool: What about Rangel being removed as Chair of the Ways and Means committee. Rohrabacher brought up the treatment of Tom DeLay. “I don’t think we should treat anybody, Rangal or anyone else as guilty until proven innocent. When he is indicted and convicted and punished. We can deal with it then.”
Stephen Kruiser: But isn’t there a double standard in place that leaves the Republicans open? “We should set a different standard and we should make it clear that’s what we’re doing. As far as I know Charlie Rangel is probably guilty. If and when, in a heart beat I’ll vote to remove him from his positions.”
“Look what is happening to Tom DeLay now. It’s a travesty, an utter travesty what has happened to him. If the Republicans won’t stand up for what is right, who is. He was knocked out by an accusation. The vision of him there rather than the leadership of the House, just shows you that something is really wrong. And if Republicans aren’t going for a higher standard, who is?”
Me: When Republicans are being accused unjustly we need to stand up and defend him. I stood up for Jack Abramoff. I pride myself in being a truth-sayer even when it sets me up for attack.
Me: It seems that the opposition is setting the rules: “You don’t need to jump into a cess pool in order to prove that you can lead us to the top of the mountain. I think just the opposite. Ronald Reagan didn’t spend his time acting like liberal Democrats and playing political games. He set out his philosophy and he had his specific policy suggestions and he had maintained a very high level of integrity personally and that’s what’s going to save the country in the long run.”
“Most of our Republican friends are worried about the next couple of days of headlines. We have got to have high standards. It’s you standards and your ability to speak the truth, that in the end will give the American people the impression that we are worth trusting. Unfortunately, I see a lot of Republicans who are only interested in playing political games.”
Ed: What is coming out of the house with health care bill: “We’ve had set-backs with the insurance and pharmaceutical industries who have made their compromise and sell outs. You can’t rely on big business to do the bidding of the American people. We can mobilize the seniors as well as doctors throughout our country. About 70% of the doctors don’t like this. You have a huge power base there both seniors and doctors to put pressure on Congress. Am I optimistic we can succeed? I think we can win if we play it right. We should not be talking about impeaching Obama. Paul Ryan has an excellent alternative.
What do you think about the Tea Party movement? “I think it’s great. Citizens getting active is vital. You have these totally out of touch members of Congres and Senate and our party who don’t seem to get power comes from the bottom up. There is a rift between some very powerful forces within the Republican party who are very wealthy interests and powerful in the economic and business community and regular Americans. Either we side with patriots, with Americans.
Give the American people that we are worth trusting. The leadership of the House is constantly trying to play a political game.
There was more and I’ll add more later. But just for your information. It was a good interview. More to come.
Good Grief! Conservatives Must Stop The Impeach Obama Talk
Saturday, October 17th, 2009So, I’m sitting here at Western CPAC listening to Floyd Brown compare President Obama to Hitler and Ed Morrissey meets my bulging eyes. Here’s what Ed says:
If that wasn’t bad enough, Brown then drew parallels between Obama and Adolf Hitler and the Nazi seizure of power in the 1930s. I have no love of Barack Obama as President, but one would have to have never studied the Nazis in order to claim that the Democratic majority is following in their footsteps. They have a radical agenda that is a disaster for America in both the short and long terms. There are plenty of grounds to argue for their defeat in the next election, and fortunately for us, the Democrats are making most of them for us, which is why they’re crashing in the polls. However, the Democrats are not rounding up opposition and throwing them in camps, shooting them on the streets, or passing bills granting Obama dictatorial power. Those arguments do nothing but make a certain portion of the grassroots look ill-educated and hysterical.
If we want to “remove” Obama from office, we have an election in 2012 that will do the trick nicely, if we can remain focused on it. If we want to cut into his power, the midterms in 2010 give us the same opportunity we seized in 1994. Calls for impeachment only make us less credible for both efforts.
Barack Obama got elected through no nefarious plot. He won because he won the majority of Americans over with his Hope-n-Change message. Is Obama delivering on his promises? No. Do I believe he’s a horrible president with destructive policies? Yes. Do I believe that we should hire new management in 2012? Absolutely. But this whole notion of impeachment with no impeachable offenses is just crazy talk. It undermines the message. Ultimately, it undermines Republicans.
Ralph Reed Speaks At Western CPAC
Saturday, October 17th, 2009There are some characters we’ve all watched from a distance for years, if we’ve paid attention to politics. Ralph Reed, the leader of the Christian Coalition, is one of those people. Anyone so ideological and pure gives me a little shiver. [Side bar: Also partly why Barack Obama freaks me out.] I was a little shocked, then, to find him standing next to me while I listened to Meg Whitman and Tim Pawlenty give their speeches last night. He spoke to me and whispered about Pawlenty,”That was a good line.” I thought to myself,”I think Ralph Reed just spoke to me.”
Turns out that Ralph Reed delivers kick ass speeches. I can imagine him being the general rousing the activist troops to action. I can imagine not wanting him working for the other side.
Reed came impeccably dressed: snappy, perfectly pressed suit cut to fit his small, tight frame, blue tie, slicked down hair. He could easily be a preacher or televangelist. He exudes the aura of someone utterly convinced of his own rightness. He was not smug or condescending. Rather, he was self-possessed and driven. Wound tight. Still springing into action after all these years.
He gave a rousing speech which I’ll include in the podcast this coming week. He also gave a quick interview after the event. He’s started the Faith and Freedom Coalition a new organization that will have “volunteers calling, knocking and going door to door” to increase voting for conservatives.
“You can’t just run in 18 states, we have to be in all 50 states. I think Barack Obama demonstrated that. I think he went to places Democrats hadn’t gone in a long time. What it showed is you could spread the field. So yeah, we’ll be in all 50 states.”
His organization will be reaching out to all minority communities. He delivered the abysmal statistics from rote. He stated that his organization would go everywhere to find voters.
“We need candidates and campaign strategists who get that you don’t win elections by raising money and running on TV, you win by knocking on doors, meeting people.”
Reed praised Barack Obama’s organizing skills. He also was encouraged by the Tea Party movement–and that it was grassroots and from the bottom up. He urged direct action:
“After you leave the protest, go home, log in to our website and call 50 voters, go knock on 50 doors.”
He says that he’s not worried about the grassroots going against the GOP establishment. He pointed out the MoveOn.org types and how they pushed the Democrat party and changed the party.
The CPAC attendees loved Reed’s speech. The people seem to be hungering for conservative perspectives. Both Reed and Chuck DeVore received significant positive feedback. And though Tim Pawlenty gave a great speech, he didn’t seem to rouse and inspire like the more conservative gentlemen. But, it should be noted, that Pawlenty did talk about God and is tacking right. It seems the 2012 election has already begun.
Conservatives Causing Problems: Clashing With GOP Establishment
Friday, October 16th, 2009The Grand Old Party rests on a false premise: Conservative ideas won’t sell anywhere but in conservative places. This premise is wrong, as Pat Toomey is proving in Pennsylvania. The national Republicans spurned Pat Toomey in favor of Arlen Specter. Look what happened there. And now, wonder of wonders, Toomey would beat Specter head-to-head. What changed?
Nothing.
The Republican party simply does not have faith in certain core ideals anymore because they believe that the American people don’t believe them anymore. They are wrong. I’ll get to that in a minute.
First, the Wall Street Journal’s Naftali Bendavid has a provocative piece about how Tea Party activists are tangling with GOP leadership:
But these newly energized conservatives present GOP leaders with a potential problem: The party’s strategy for attracting moderate voters risks alienating activists who are demanding ideological purity, who may then gravitate to other candidates or stay at home. It’s a classic dilemma faced by parties in the minority — tension between those who want a return to the party’s ideological roots and those who want candidates most likely to win in their districts.
Here is another false premise: Activists are demanding ideological purity. No, they are demanding
that the Republican party stand for something, anything.
How can a socialist call oneself a Republican? And what good does a Republican socialist do once in office? If the ideas of a candidate would have him or her voting Democrat 90% of the time, what good is it to have him? The Democrats are demonstrating this problem right now. Blue Dogs don’t want the health care plan and rightly so. They will be trounced back home should they vote to expand the government. But therein lies the dilemma: Democrats are for expanding government. They believe, fundamentally, that the government is the solution. Why be a Democrat if you don’t believe that? Progressive Democrats are rightly furious. It has been their goal for ages to socialize medicine. Now, with huge majorities, they’re still being thwarted–by their own.
Winning at all costs usually means not winning at all. Arlen Specter is self-serving loathsome creature. He swung back and forth making decisions that suited him. He had no ideological center. He has no core beliefs. Well, he has one: What is good for me?
The Republican party needs to stand for something. Isn’t a small-government bent, the least people should expect from the party? It seems that the Republicans still don’t know why they were voted out of office. It was not because they were “too conservative”. That argument would apply had they attempted to stick to any conservative policy. No, they lost because they strayed from their core beliefs.
So, until the Republican party gets clear, the Tea Party folks will be pushing back. And if that means losing some local elections until the Republican party gets religion, so be it. The American people do not want some softer version of Democrats. Obama won because he sounded like Ronald Reagan–all personal responsibility and low taxes.
The Republican party is putting up candidates who believe in big government because they believe that’s what the people want. They are wrong. The American people want an alternative to the soft socialism coming from the Left. The American people want jobs–that comes from smaller, not bigger government. The American people want spending cuts–that comes from fiscal responsibility on the part of Congressional members. These are all (or used to be) Republican ideals.
In the midterm elections, Republicans are going to sweep. People are sick to death of the Democrats already. Republicans should be scouring the landscape for solid conservatives who will deliver responsible legislation once elected. Right now, they’re treating the electoral ills wrong because they’ve misdiagnosed the cause.
Tea Partiers have it right. The Republicans need to pay attention or risk staying a minority party for a very long time.
P.S. And to those folks believing that there is going to be some magical Third Party to save the day, I say that the cure is to remake the Republican party, not go outside it.
via Memeorandum
The Limbaugh Lesson: [Conservative] White Guys Finish Last–UPDATED
Thursday, October 15th, 2009If Rush Limbaugh can be black balled because his political views are not in line with politically correct orthodoxy no one is safe. If Rush Limbaugh can be thwarted economically because he’s maligned by racist words he doesn’t believe and he never uttered, no one’s economic dreams are safe–anyone can say that a person said anything and if that person believes something unpopular to the ruling class, they’re done.
Here is the hierarchy of economic safety in a politically correct charged world:
Least safe: White, middle aged, alpha-male, person of color who votes Republican, female who votes Republican
Less safe: Anybody who is white
Moderately safe: Anybody who is white and voted for Barack Obama
More safe: Anyone who is of color and voted for Barack Obama
Safer still: Anyone who is female and of color
Safest of all: Black, lesbian Obama voter (If she voted for Hillary in the primaries, she’s suspect.)
We are no longer a merit-based economy, we are a skin color and political ideology-based economy. We are exactly what Dr. Martin Luther King didn’t want: a place where people are judged not by their accomplishments, not by the content of their character, but by their color and political perspective.
And why is conservative put in brackets in the headline? Because white guys are suspect until they’re clear about their voting record. Once a white man admits that he made the “right” decision and voted for Barack Obama, people can relax…but only a little. White people are racists. They can’t help it. You just never know about white people, so it’s best to not get too comfortable.
UPDATED:
For an alternative view, Sean Hackbarth.
