C: I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue…What’s,uh…What’s wrong with it?
C: I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad. ‘E’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it!
O: No, no, ‘e’s uh,...he’s resting.
C: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now.
O: No no he’s not dead, he’s, he’s restin’! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn’it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
C: The plumage don’t enter into it. It’s stone dead.
[...]
C: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.
(pause)
O: Well, o’course it was nailed there! If I hadn’t nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent ‘em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee!
C: “VOOM”?!? Mate, this bird wouldn’t “voom” if you put four million volts through it! ‘E’s bleedin’ demised!
O: No no! ‘E’s pining! [For the Fjords. Ed.]
C: ‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker!
‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisibile!!
THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!
Pardon the lengthy introduction, but The Dead Parrot Sketch is one of Monty Python’s most important contributions to the humor of western civilization. Or not. I suppose it depends on whether you like Monty Python.
Be that as it may, the sketch is also instructive regarding the imminent demise of what we used to call “The Grand Old Party” which became the nickname of Republicans back in the day when “The Grand Army of the Republic” – Union veterans of the Civil War – pretty much ran the party. Those 400,000 or so veterans elected every Republican president from Grant to McKinley. Their endorsement carried huge weight with a grateful electorate who recognized the veteran’s sacrifices and honored them even beyond the effective life of the GAR.
Now the party is run by cynical hacks and jackanapes who, despite all evidence to the contrary, insist that the parrot isn’t dead, it’s just resting. The plumage may still be pretty. But maggots have already begun to eat away at the insides.
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. They are not resisting, fighting and thereby setting down a historical marker—”At this point the break became final.” That’s not what’s happening. What conservatives and Republicans must recognize is that the White House has broken with them. What President Bush is doing, and has been doing for some time, is sundering a great political coalition. 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. Leading Democrats often think their base is slightly mad but at least their heart is in the right place. This White House thinks its base is stupid and that its heart is in the wrong place.
Peggy Noonan is not some turncoat, traitorous, weak kneed Republican pantywaist. She helped put Ronald Reagan’s ideas and thoughts to some of the most beautiful rhetorical music of 20th century politics. But she, along with many of us, are tired and dispirited. We have seen the Republican party run into the ground and then stepped on by an Administration and a President who have gone beyond taking most of us for granted and instead have declared war upon those who have sustained his presidency in the face of the most vicious and determined opposition to his policies. We have been slapped in the face, kicked in the teeth, stabbed in the back. And the smug, self-righteous mountebanks who are taking the party with them to oblivion could care less.
In fact, given all that has transpired since the 2004 election (which coincided with the last time the Bushies even paid lip service to the base) one could say that this President has seemed most determined to destroy the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Reagan leaving behind only a charred husk for the rest of us to live with. They have decided that Götterdämmerung is in order; if they can’t prevail, then they will destroy what is left of the grand coalition that changed the face of America and the world in the 1980’s and in a fit of either pique or ignorance, leave it for the next crew to cobble together something else.
I will say that it didn’t take much to destroy what was left of that coalition. Since the end of the cold war – the single uniting expedient of the Republican party for more than 30 years – the GOP has been adrift. Uniting against Clinton was fairly easy although that unity was a mile wide and an inch deep. It was based on the absolute worst of political bargains; the cold, calculus of how to get power and keep it. So for ten years Republicans played the special interest game, feeding the lobbyists a steady diet of earmarks and favors, reaping huge amounts of campaign contributions in return, while selling out their basic principles of smaller, less intrusive government and fiscal discipline.
And now, there’s precious little left. No ideology. Little loyalty. Less desire to help this gang of cynical galoots maintain what power and position they have remaining. Witness the news from the Republican National Committee:
The Republican National Committee, hit by a grass-roots donors’ rebellion over President Bush’s immigration policy, has fired all 65 of its telephone solicitors, Ralph Z. Hallow will report Friday in The Washington Times.Faced with an estimated 40 percent fall-off in small-donor contributions and aging phone-bank equipment that the RNC said would cost too much to update, Anne Hathaway, the committee’s chief of staff, summoned the solicitations staff last week and told them they were out of work, effective immediately, the fired staffers told The Times.
The national committee yesterday confirmed the firings that took place more than a week ago, but denied that the move was motivated by declining donor response to phone solicitations.
“The phone-bank employees were terminated,” RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt wrote by e-mail in response to questions sent by The Times. “This was not an easy decision. The first and primary motivating factor was the state of the phone bank technology, which was outdated and difficult to maintain. The RNC was advised that we would soon need an entire new system to remain viable.”
Fired employees acknowledged that the committee’s phone equipment was outdated, but said a sharp drop-off in donations “probably” hastened the end of the RNC’s in-house phone-bank operation.
“Last year, my solicitations totaled $164,000, and this year the way they were running for the first four months, they would total $100,000 by the end of 2007,” said one fired phone bank solicitor who asked not to be identified.
Not dead. Just resting.
The real danger, of course, is that come November next year GOP candidates simply won’t be able to compete in the 70 or so seats in the House that the Democrats are licking their chops to see change hands. With little available help from the national party and a base that will not only sit on their wallets but probably sit on their hands come election day, the chances are growing that a truly remarkable collapse will occur, an historic implosion that, like a tidal wave, will change the political contours of the country once it recedes. The stars are not quite aligned yet for such a disaster. But the tumblers are beginning to click into place and it remains to be seen whether anyone or any group in the GOP can alter history’s course.
Meanwhile, the Bushies continue to employ their scorched earth policy toward critics:
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—one that is literally bigger than the Bible, though as someone noted last week, at least we actually had a few years to read the Bible. The White House and its supporters seem to be marshalling not facts but only sentiments, and self-aggrandizing ones at that. They make a call to emotions—this is, always and on every issue, the administration’s default position—but not, I think, to seriously influence the debate.They are trying to lay down markers for history. Having lost the support of most of the country, they are looking to another horizon. The story they would like written in the future is this: Faced with the gathering forces of ethnocentric darkness, a hardy and heroic crew stood firm and held high a candle in the wind. It will make a good chapter. Would that it were true!
Indeed. The President’s famous stubbornness – a quality that held him in good stead early in his Administration – has now morphed into a pathological, ego-centric belief that since he is always right, his critics are not only wrong but evil to boot. I guess six years of enduring the unhinged, BDS paranoia and conspiracy theories of the lickspittle left can do that to a man.
The fact that this self righteousness has permeated his entire Administration as well as most supporters of his Let’s-Not-Call-It-Amnesty-Even-Though-It-Is bill only makes many of his erstwhile supporters wonder is there anything left to expend the time and energy defending. Some would say the Administration’s policies in Iraq are worth going to bat for. But given recent news that the President is about to undercut even his Iraq War supporters by withdrawing a substantial number of troops for no more reason than the Democrats have given, it would appear the betrayal of even these, his most loyal and true acolytes, will eventually be complete.
Meanwhile, world events rush forward. Iran continues to thumb its nose at everyone. Pakistan becomes more unstable by the day – with its 60 nuclear weapons poised to possibly fall into the hands of Taliban lovers. Afghanistan still bleeds despite small successes. Lebanon is in danger from a desperate Syria who seeks to undermine its government to prevent an International Tribunal from declaring President Assad a common, murderous gangster. Chavez is taking Venezuela to hell. And the terrorists continue to plan murder on a cosmic scale.
A lame duck President without much of a base, a rabid dog opposition, and a party coming apart at the seams means a time of maximum danger for the United States. I wish it weren’t so. But the palpable feeling of impending disaster that I feel to the marrow of my bones requires me to cry out in anger and despair at those who have taken us down this road and who will now reap the whirlwind for what they have sown these past few years.
UPDATE
Allah channels the parrot:
The RNC spokesman denied that there has been a falloff at all. Yup, there’s nothing wrong in the GOP family these days. Nothing at all. Nothing to see here, move along.
UPDATE II: FROM THE “HOLY CHRIST!” FILES
Michelle links to a Mary Katherine Ham post on a verbatim transcript with an RNC solicitor:
Caller: “Well, that’s not Republicans. Just the President loves that immigration bill.”
Emily: “The President is head of the Republican Party.”
Caller: “Not for long.”
Emily: “And, Republican senators are supporting the bill. Why would I give you guys money to get them re-elected?”
Caller: “That’s ridiculous.”
Indeed. You lost me at “hello”...
8:16 am
All of this Gloom and Doom over the border issue? Sheesh.
I wish we would have seen people up in arms over the prescription drug benefit, or No Child Left Behind.
In contrast, the socialcons have gotten everything their from abortion to gays to judges to stem cell research to faith-based government handouts. Now they are crying like spoiled children because they can’t deport 12,000,000 people.
Cry me a river. What a bunch of jackasses.
Bush has done a respectable job on defense, and his economic performance has been decent, given what he is not doing (raising taxes, government takeover of healthcare and energy, Kyoto) is just as important as what he could be doing (liberalizing social security, abolishing the department of education, reforming medicaid along the lines of welfare, et cetera.)
And the irony is that if the social cons had the muscle they once had, Allen and Talent would be in the Senate today. If their platitudes about conservativism working every time it is tried were true, then Arnold would have lost in California, and people like Ehrlich and Hayworth would have won. Some conservatives think it is their birthright to hold office, and feel it is beneath them to make the case to the people to secure unimportant things like, let us say, Congressional majorities.
8:16 am
Damn, I wish blogs had an edit function!
8:30 am
1. I am far from being a “socialcon.”
2. A 40% drop off in contributions? 40 fricking percent?
Keep your head underground, kid. That way you don’t have to deal with reality. If you think it’s only “socialcons” who have abandoned the party, then you haven’t been paying attention to either the numbers or what dyed in the wool, main street Republicans have been saying – and not just about this bill. The Immigration bill is only a catalyst for a rebellion against everything this Administration has done wrong for 6 years – and you mentioned a couple of them.
The fact that you think this “Doom and Gloom” is over the border issue tags you as not very observant as well as blissfully unaware of the seismic shift that is going on out in the country. Something very, very, bad is going to happen in 2008 unless somebody does something dramatic. Deal with it.
8:40 am
[...] Tammy Bruce, Right Wing Nut House, MyDD, Wonkette, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Flopping Aces, My Left Wing, Six Meat Buffet, Moonbattery, CorrenteWire, Outside The Beltway, Hot Air, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Right Wing News, Bring it On!, Senate 2008 Guru, Blue Crab Boulevard, Greatscat!, DownWithTyranny!, Bluey Blog, Wizbang New Pairodimes , The Strata-Sphere, DownWithTyranny!, The Gun Toting Liberal™, BizzyBlog, La Shawn Barber’s Corner, Rising Hegemon, Vox Popoli, TBogg, Cliff Schecter, Sadly, No! and Hot Air Last 10 posts by BitheadThe story of the barn door and the missing horse – June 1st, 2007Nightly Ramble: Warm Thursday – May 31st, 2007Warming from the Sun – May 31st, 2007Nightly Ramble: A short album and some short quips – May 30th, 2007Democrats claim again Plame was covert. In other news, large light scheduled to appear in east. – May 30th, 2007Thompson to annouce over 4th of July – May 30th, 2007Pardon me while I throw up. – May 29th, 2007Nightly Ramble: The Banannas, Split – May 28th, 2007Charles Nelson Reilly, RIP, age 76 – May 28th, 2007Bithead’s greatest hits: July 28th 2001: Gary Condit – May 28th, 2007Extend the reach of this postRelated links [...]
10:04 am
Mr. Bush doesn’t even understand current law – he appeared just up the road from me at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia. He brought along Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Senator Mel Martinez, pointed out they weren’t born in this country,and then claimed they are examples of what he wants from his amnesty bill.
He doesn’t understand that Secretary Gutierrez and Senator Martinez have nothing to do with immigration law – they are Cubans and Cubans are considered refugees under the Cuban Adjustment Act (signed by Lyndon Johnson in the 60s). They came to the US under the law and sought asylum – they did not sneak in contrary to law and seek amnesty.
The bill is a nest of idiocy.
12:26 pm
“The President’s famous stubbornness – a quality that held him in good stead early in his Administration – has now morphed into a pathological, ego-centric belief that since he is always right, his critics are not only wrong but evil to boot. I guess six years of enduring the unhinged, BDS paranoia and conspiracy theories of the lickspittle left can do that to a man.”
I offer a better view of this. Bush has always been “pathological, ego-centric” but it is only now, that he is doing things you don’t like, that you can see it finally.
1:31 pm
[...] Rick Moran on ex-parrots, and the choir invisible. [...]
1:52 pm
“Meanwhile, world events rush forward. Iran continues to thumb its nose at everyone. Pakistan becomes more unstable by the day – with its 60 nuclear weapons poised to possibly fall into the hands of Taliban lovers. Afghanistan still bleeds despite small successes. Lebanon is in danger from a desperate Syria who seeks to undermine its government to prevent an International Tribunal from declaring President Assad a common, murderous gangster. Chavez is taking Venezuela to hell. And the terrorists continue to plan murder on a cosmic scale.”
SOUNDS AS IF YOU WANT TO GO TO WAR WAR WAR. But are you man enough to stick with it when the going gets rough. I think not by evidence of how you turned on this president when things are not going well( one man’s stubborness is another man’s courage) .
Your a weak-kneed conservative.There is something suspicious about you but i can’t put my finger on it.
2:13 pm
Tim:
It has been a slow process – something you would have noticed if you weren’t so irrational.
Moosehead:
Grow. Up.
3:21 pm
“I guess six years of enduring the unhinged, BDS paranoia and conspiracy theories of the lickspittle left can do that to a man.”
Rick, while I like your site and view you as honest (in that you call your side on things as well as the other side), this statement is far off. The Bush Admin. wasn’t driven to this; they had the traits of demonizing the opposition early on – look back on contrary comments on Iraq and WMDs back in the day and see the attacks made.
Brian
3:23 pm
Moose: “Your a weak-kneed conservative.There is something suspicious about you but i can’t put my finger on it.”
It’s called clear thinking – a trait often held in suspicion by cult members against the ‘outsiders’.
Brian
4:20 pm
Well, let’s see now. The President is planning on pulling half troops out of Iraq in time for the 2008 election. The Middle East is in turmoil. Terrorists threaten our nation. The White House does not wish to deal with people sneaking across our border, except to make them legal. What happened to securing ourselves against terrorists, who can easily slip in with the coyotes bringing in aliens. How much longer before >$3.00 gas brings about a recession? Government spending is at an all time high. You fear a Democratic administration? Why? What the hell could be worse than this mess?
The President has “morphed into a pathological, ego-centric belief that since he is always right, his critics are not only wrong but evil to boot.” Friend, this has been true since day one of his administration. No liberal lickspittles can take credit for Bush’s pathologies. If you chose to ignore this part of his person until now, that is on you.
And lastly, I would like to nominate Bowden’s remark, “Bush has done a respectable job on defense” as the best laugh of the day. A four year bitch slapping by rag tag Middle Easterners in Toyota trucks falls a bit short of respectable on defense.
4:32 pm
I believe it more than probable that the unhinged, irrational, paranoid opposition to Bush over these past 6 years has changed him. The fact that you don’t see it only means you contributed to it.
And WTF are you saying about the insurgents and al-Qaeda? It has been an absolute slaughter. The only thing they’ve got is roadside bombs (80% of all casualties in Iraq) and hit and run snipers. They show their faces and they are annhilated. If they even HAD a Toyota truck to attack us with, it would be blown to smithereens before it could become a threat.
Get your head out of your ass, Ed. The performance of our troops has nothing to do with Bush. And that performance has been spectacularly professional and successful – at least in killing the enemy. Your statement “A four year bitch slapping by rag tag Middle Easterners in Toyota trucks” has to be the most ignorant comment you’ve ever left here – and that’s saying something. If you can come up with one engagement between insurgents and American forces where we were defeated, I’ll eat my monitor.
4:48 pm
Friday Cocktail Hour Links…
Tulsa. Packed with illegals.Big Brother is watching. The UK observation bunker. This is sick.Men are antidepressants. Of course we are. I am going to try this line next chance I get down at Rudy’s Bar and Grill.George Will makes clear the differences…
5:02 pm
I quit giving the RNC money sometime back, yet the kept calling and mailing me beg-o-grams almost weekly. I used to defend Bush here against the liberals I work with at University, not anymore, I have a sick feeling they were right all along.
Like someone said :
Here follows a brief list of Bush’s many lies, in no particular order:
1} “The Palestinians are a partner in the peace process;”
2} “The Saudis are our friends and allies in the war on terror;”
3} “Harriet Meirs is the best qualified candidate for the high court;”
4} “Islam is a religion of peace;”
5} “The terrorists have hijacked a great and peaceful religion;”
6} “Brownie, you’re doing a great job;”
7} “Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin are doing a great job.”
Feel free to add your own fond remembrance of this President to the list!
5:26 pm
Sorry Rick, but I’ve got to agree with some of the posters above that this administration has followed a ‘take it or leave it’ policy since day 1. Particularly galling to me was the inference that some of us who had justifiable concerns about warrantless wiretaps ‘don’t want us to listen in on Al Qaeda’s phone calls’.
6:56 pm
“The RNC is deluded if they think that immigration policy is the only reason they are losing support…”
Please re-read my quote Rick Moran (and you might want to check the links)...
I have documented many of the reasons the GOP base is in a shambles. You are obviously well aware of them youself.
Xenophobes are just one faction of the GOP base that is cracking. I am not sure if you are familiar with snark? I would have assumed you were considering this Blog.
There are also the regular, normal conservatives that hate what the GOP has turned into, or are against the war, not to mention the “more normal christians” that are choosing green over abortion issues, and never forget the GOP’s recent very public snubs of the whack-job evangelicals.
The RNC says it is all immigration. I say that is BS and they know it.
“Reformed moonbat indeed.” I am sorry if the mirror being held up to the GOP offends you personally. Perhaps you need to reconsider how you need to reform yourself? heh
7:33 pm
So the republicans are finally figuring out that Bush is a moron, what was your first clue Sherlock?Read the book “State of Denial” by Bob Woodward, no one could have been more out of touch with conditions on the ground in Iraq than Bush. He freaking ignored the fact that a full blown insurgency was breaking out? Last throes mister dick? Bush and deadeye dick, two clowns.
7:58 pm
You wing-nuts won’t get your party or your issues back, or have any credibility on the “charachter” thing, until you turn on Bush the way the liberals turned on LBJ for his lies.
Remember the good old days, when Iran and Syria offered to dismantle Hamas and Hezbollah and help us defeat the Taliban? Oh, yeah. That was before the mother-of-all-lies about African yellowcake.
You got more than you ever dreamed of. So own it, swallow your phony loyalty, and eat it up. The party and the parroting are as dead as the stench in Iraqi morgues.
9:04 pm
“I guess six years of enduring the unhinged, BDS paranoia and conspiracy theories of the lickspittle left can do that to a man.â€
Thank God you can still blame the left, I thought you might actually go off the deep end and take a good hard look at the right. Yes, of course, it’s the lefts fault alone; it always will be.
10:01 pm
While you trolls try to tell us that Bush has been an egomaniac ever since taking office, I would like to remind you that the scum you have on the left side of the aisle would be singing Kumbaya with OBL if it was up to them. They have never met a terrorist they didn’t think they could sell Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” to.
As to our losing to a “bunch of rag tag Middle Easterners in Toyota trucks” perhaps if the damn left side of the aisle was not so worried about “collateral” damage and took the gloves off and untied the hands of our military, we would have had Iraq under control long ago. Pretty damn hard to win a war when the rules of engagement have to be checked by the JAG officer assigned to every unit.
Bush is one of the few pols in Washington that understand the threat. 9-11 made an impact on him as it should have everyone of those elected dimwits, but instead we hear about moving troops to Okinawa and leaving Iraq, and it’s oil fields, to the terrorists in a “let’s just cut and run and see what happens” moment of total insanity.
I walked the sidewalk for Bush, twice. I spend days on the phone getting out the vote. I was a delegate to my state GOP convention. But I’ll be damned if I give one dime to a bill that only promises more of the same. Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. What Congress gives (which is damn little to the American citizen in the Shamesty bill and a whole lot to criminals) Congress can take away.
Case in point: Fence Act of 2006 giving over 700 miles of fencing. New Bill: less than 400 miles of fencing.
The fact that Bush gave his “you are not doing what is best for America” speech in front of first liners like the Border Patrol is the height of arrogance and I for one, will not make another call, walk another step or donate one more dollar to a party of politicians that were elected to represent me, not some foreign nation. Never mind that his handlers were too stupid to realize that the Border Patrol on the whole, has come out against the Shamnesty bill. What an insult to those that walk the walk and talk the talk every damn day of their lives knowing that if they do their jobs, chances are they could wind up in prison.
To those who are cheering because the GOP is on it’s death bed and the bells are tolling I say “be careful what you wish for, you just may get it”.
And grab your wallet.
11:22 pm
ed—
Last month America lost over 100 people in one month, but we killed over 3,000 enemy combatants. That is indeed a bitchslapping. For us. Only your liberal friends in the media can turn that into a defeat. The same thing happened back with the Tet Massacre—1,500 Americans dead versus 50,000 communist combatants dead, and Kronkite spun it as a victory for the communists.
I’m not certain why the media feels the need to help our enemies. My best guess is they feel they should try to minimize American successes since if we report the facts as they are, and they favor us, that is now seen as “yellow journalism.” One could also try to argue that blood and death sells, which won’t do, because victory and stories of America kicking ass would sell just as well.
11:41 pm
rick—
The reports of the GOP’s death have been greatly exaggerated. The current baby-fit over immigration will pass.
And here is some news from the real world. No one is going to be deporting 12,000,000 souls anytime soon. Again, this is categorically not going to happen. Deal with it.
2:18 am
Republican….Democrat….so what? Agendas…so what? Stubbron…so what? All the above don’t mean anything if you surround yourself with morons that don’t do their homework. Where does George come up with these supposed experts? Go figure? No matter, George screwed up again and he has to go home and face his Mother as one of the worst persidents ever (I’m sure Barbara is thrilled with his continuing sucess at winning hearts and minds, let alone his standings in the polls. Kinda like Clinton…name recognition bad for Florida Bush son for president) Time will solve the mystery of his leadership..but I don’t envy him…bet he would rather go to Iraq instead of back to Texas where Mom is waiting.
3:06 am
“If you can come up with one engagement between insurgents and American forces where we were defeated, I’ll eat my monitor.”
The one where they downed a chopper and then took out two rescue vehicles in one operation?
The one where they captured (and probably killed) your soldiers recently?
The one where they wandered into a US base dressed as US soldiers a few months ago and kidnapped and killed US troops?
Sure, they would lose big battles, but they’ve got an OK record for small guerrila actions.
If you regard the timescale for these battles as, broadly “The time between the first shot and when swarms of air support turn up” it’ll make more sense.
Unless your case is that they don’t hold ground against assult, in which case you’re mistaking insurgents for the panzercorps.
As for Bush and his support, well, this is what it feels like to be on the other side of his ill conceived policies. You can see why they are a bad idea, but you don’t have a hope of changing them and if you try he calls you a traitor. Get used to it.
1:55 pm
Wellcome aboard! I have been saying much the same for 16 months. Like Peggy I think the entire Bush family does not like conservatives and by extension does not care if the GOP dies. GWB has been doiing a bang up job of killing the GOP te last 2.4 years!
I am sure that 08 will be a big win for the Dems in all political battle fields – winning President and both houses by big margins.
Bush seems to me to need the help of a shrink, I agree with Fred he has suicidal wishes for Amrica#%@?! I refuse to believe he is this dumb! McC has a good excuse – - he was a POW for years; GWB in my mind has no excuse. In any case it is already too late for 08 – and if significant changes are not made int the GOP “leadership” soon 10 may be a lost as well.
6:00 pm
Sounds like a bunch of sour grapes to me. My Senator is Tom Coburn. I like him just fine. Who did you idiots elect?
9:48 pm
Rick…I went back and read all the posts….most of them don’t even have anything to to with the “topic of the day” mine included. But if half of the posts are what they are.. they sound like they have been betrayed..how sad. But it appears that your site is a place to vent. It’s like Mau Mauing the Flack catcher…you…hang in there and keep stirring the s…t. It’s good for everybody that cares.
12:47 pm
I’m relatively new to this site, but I assume Rick was a McCain supporter as I was in 2000, and hardly a prison bitch to the socialcons that derailed McCain’s campaign. Sometimes I wonder how much better this country would be if we had gone with McCain eight years ago – imagine it, a President that could acually communicate our values and aspirations to people, instead of putting nitwits like Scott McClellan [Flounder from Animal House] out to tell our side of the story.
The only light I see at the end of this tunnel is maybe Fred Thompson will be able to pick up McCain’s mantle and present a more human face.
2:34 pm
Well, thank you Rick for the personal insults, something you claim to never do.
The United States military has been unable to control the insurgency; it continues to disrupt life in Iraq severely. The Toyota truck reference is an acknowledgement that we are NOT fighting an organized army, but guerillas who use minimal weaponry, including transportation, to keep American forces off guard and unable to quell their activities over these many years. (The news footage of these folks driving around in little pickups is not hard to find, by the way.) As to our massive victories in Iraq, if an elephant destroys many gnats, but the gnats keep the elephant from going where it wants to go and exercises other considerable control over the elephant’s behavior, would you say the gnats or the elephant has the upper hand?
If you do not see a connection between Bush’s poor conceptualization, planning and execution of American activities in Iraq and the current mess we face there, then you are absolutely blind to reality. Yes, the American military performs marvelously, as it always has. But the solution to Iraq is ultimately political, not military. The warring Iraqi factions must settle their own battles, then join together to stop Al Queda’s activities in their country.
Insurgents do not need to win battles to win a war, just needle and nip and drain the superior forces until they give up. Perhaps you remember Vietnam and the French, or Vietnam and the Americans? Even the American Revolution and the superior British forces-the Revolutionaries refused to fight with standard tactics of the day, more resembling guerilla tactics of the 18th Century.
The politics of America in Iraq have been atrocious, as even you have acknowledged, Mr. Moran. You call my comments ignorant, but you know we have not won the Iraq war and you know why. Do all the right wing posturing you want, but the facts expose you as the fool whenever you try to put lipstick on the Iraq War pig.
2:40 pm
You’ve been reading this site long enough to know what I think of the way Bush and the Administration have “conceptualized” the war. You also know that I have been saying exactly what you mentioned about a political solution being the answer for many, many months.
I was reacting to what any rational person would take as a ridiculous assertion about the insurgents matching up in any realistic way with the American military – in fact your exact words were “A four year bitch slapping by rag tag Middle Easterners in Toyota trucks” – is an unbelievably ignorant comment.
As for the rest, I agree as you well know so stop preaching to the choir.
1:12 am
A Conservative Revolt?...
The more I talk to conservatives and read articles posted by conservatives, it seems to me that there is a revolt brewing within the Republican Party. Conservatives feel that the Administration and the Congress have abandoned them and their concerns….
1:03 pm
I am unaware of ever saying the terrorists and insurgents match up in any way with the U.S. military. I would be glad to explain the elephant/gnats analogy if you do not understand it. The inability to control these folks is the bitch slapping I was referring to, and it is not the fault of the U.S. military, it is the fault of George Bush.
Tell you what. I’ll accept the ignorant label for the trucks comment if you will do the same for this gem, “The performance of our troops has nothing to do with Bush.” If civilian leadership does not impact troop performance, then perhaps the whole concept of Commander-in-Chief was a stupid idea by our Founding Fathers.
Since you know about me, you also know I admire your writing and thinking. Your only flaw is that you cannot deal with arguments that do not derive from the premises you use. When a different premise arises, you resort to name calling. The conservative world view is not the only legitimate one.
11:34 pm
The conservative world view is not the only legitimate one.
Really? I’ve always thought it was.
11:21 pm
Submitted for Your Approval…
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher’s Council for this week’s vote. Council li…
1:56 am
Submitted 06/06/2007…
The Watcher’s Council has a new member, Okie on the Lam. Welcome. And with no further ado, here’s a review of this week’s submissions to the Watcher’s Council. Let’s start with the new guy, Okie on the Lam who treats us to LA Times Jumps the Shark…
9:20 am
[...] Right Wing Nut House, “It’s Not Dead, It’s Resting†[...]
3:50 am
One six year term?...
Thinking about President Bush’s recent travails, I’ve started to wonder if maybe the constitution needs to be changed and allow presidents to be elected for only a single six year term. The Chicago Tribune recently laid out the difficulties recent pr…
12:16 am
The Council Has Spoken!...
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are 3 Spies and Six Days by Soccer Dad…
11:25 am
Watcher’s Council results…
And now… the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are 3 Spies and Six Days by Soccer Dad, and Four Modest Proposals for Getting Out of Iraq by Dan Simmons. Right Wing Nut House was the…...
1:26 pm
Watcher’s Council Results…
The winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are 3 Spies and Six Days by Soccer Dad, and Four Modest Proposals for Getting Out of Iraq by Dan Simmons. Here is a link to the full results…...