Romney is what happens when a party outFoxes itself
This is a portion of George Will’s column to be published Sunday, and I confess I find it pretty damn funny, if unintentionally so:
“Romney, supposedly the Republican most electable next November, is a recidivist reviser of his principles who is not only becoming less electable, he might damage GOP chances of capturing the Senate: Republican successes down the ticket will depend on the energies of the tea party and other conservatives, who will be deflated by a nominee whose blurry profile in caution communicates only calculated trimming. Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis, a technocratic Massachusetts governor who takes his bearings from ‘data’ … Has conservatism come so far, surmounting so many obstacles, to settle, at a moment of economic crisis, for THIS?”
Yes, George, it has. Because, well … who else ya got?
Herman Cain? Rick Perry? Michele Bachmann? Newt Gingrich? Really? Would you be comfortable sticking the title “President” in front of any of those names? Nah, didn’t think so.
I can’t disagree with anything that Will writes about Romney because, well, it’s all so true. (See example below, on climate change*). The man would straddle anything, up to and including a barbed wire fence, and he’d do it with that same forced grin on his face. As Will notes elsewhere in his column, “A straddle is not a political philosophy; it is what you do when you do not have one.”
The question is, how did the Republican Party get to a point in which it has no feasible alternative to this “recidivist reviser”?
I think Andrew Sullivan hit on part of the answer while musing about how a candidate with Cain’s obvious lack of qualifications remains such a force in the GOP primary.
“But Cain is a function, I think, of a deeper Republican reality. It has become a wing of the entertainment industry, and in that media-industrial complex, the money to be made is immense. You do not make that money or become a star in conservative circles by actually governing, by the process of compromise and negotiation with one’s opponents, or by detailed policy knowledge. In the universe where conservatism is defined by Levin and Malkin and Limbaugh and Hannity, you have to be a great polemicist, you have to be partisan above all, you need to be outrageous at times, and you have to appeal to the gut, rather than the brain.
This is an entertainment company based around a religious identity politics and masquerading as a political party. Once you grasp that, you can see why a Mitch Daniels or a Richard Lugar or a Jon Huntsman are asterisks. They know things; they want to govern, not perform; and they are not in a permanent mode of marginalized and angry opposition.
I’m beginning to wonder if the GOP is heading for a defeat they don’t see coming – even in an economic environment which should make the presidency theirs’ for the taking. I hope it is. Something needs to wake them up from their increasing detachment from the reality of governance.”
Put a little more succinctly, the party has outFoxed itself.
* A case in point:
Romney in June:
“I don’t speak for the scientific community, of course, but I believe the world’s getting warmer. I can’t prove that, but I believe based on what I read that the world is getting warmer. And number two, I believe that humans contribute to that. I don’t know how much our contribution is to that, because I know that there have been periods of greater heat and warmth in the past but I believe we contribute to that. And so I think it’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may well be significant contributors to the climate change and the global warming that you’re seeing.”
And Romney now:
“My view is that we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet. And the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us…. I think the EPA, acting in concert with the president, really doesn’t like oil, gas, coal, and nuclear. I really do believe that the EPA wants to get its hands on all of energy and be able to crush it to cause prices to go through the roof.”
– Jay Bookman
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282 comments Add your comment
godless heathen
October 28th, 2011
2:55 pm
Midori, Guess you’ll have to revoke my wingnut card, but I am glad that justice was served. I have no doubt that black farmers were given the shaft by Fed bureaucrats.
1811/0311
October 28th, 2011
2:57 pm
HEADLINE: “Beware Arab Spring”
“Analysts say the recent events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya validate the fear that radical Islamists might rise up and try to hijack the so-called Arab Spring revolutions that began nine months ago.”
Granny Godzilla
October 28th, 2011
2:59 pm
Speaking of the howl….
The feds say there’s “ample circumstantial evidence” that the redistricting maps signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry had the effect and intent of limiting the voting power of Hispanic voters. But what’s the evidence exactly? Let’s take a look.
Intentially and deliberately attacking folks right to vote.
Stevie Ray
October 28th, 2011
2:59 pm
Will and that big brained dude Krauthammer are my favorite rightie columnists. I agree with his assessment regarding Romney but you got to admit, Obama was probably the least qualified candidate in the last 80 years and those of us who were scared by that fact, feel like those who loved him
Will has a terrific take on global warming that is worth checking out…
liberalefty
October 28th, 2011
2:59 pm
1811@ 2:57
yawn,,,,zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
godless heathen
October 28th, 2011
2:59 pm
Sexist joke of the day.
What do you get when you cross PMS with a GPS?
A moody bitch that will find you.
Uniboob
October 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
Scout is afraid of his shadow.
godless heathen
October 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
“Intentially and deliberately attacking folks right to vote.”
So that’s how you describe gerrymandering to gain political advantage? I remember that to be used in future discussions.
That Black guy
October 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
liberalefty, YOU didn’t misspell the word, OBL did.
OSAMA BIN LADEN
October 28th, 2011
2:12 pm
libertarian
the difference is that it was used as a demeaning term toward black men, but u know this dont you? instead of calling black men “MR.” the white christian racists tried to emaculate black men by calling them “boys” .
1811/0311
October 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
“As the Occupy (aka “Occut*rd) Wall Street protests have spread and grown, many critics have pointed to the visible scarcity of blacks and other minorities in the protesters’ ranks.”
Granny Godzilla
October 28th, 2011
3:04 pm
Analysts say! OMG!
Granny Godzilla
October 28th, 2011
3:05 pm
Critics! OMG!!
Midori
October 28th, 2011
3:07 pm
Good to hear that Godless.
Very good.
AmVet
October 28th, 2011
3:08 pm
Poor Gomer, obsessed to the point where all he can do is parrot lies about the make up of the protesters.
Must make him feel like a real man…
Some men’s world is only hate and money
Afraid of everything and they laugh at nothing
And they only live to criticize
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbsW-vooxdU
Libertarian
October 28th, 2011
3:13 pm
Turd Burglestein
October 28th, 2011
2:45 pm
Actually Turd…your comment was wrongly directed at me. I simply quoted another person and then I called him a hypocrite. I believe it was OSAMA BIN LADEN at 2:12 pm. Hence my use of quotes.
Rich
October 28th, 2011
3:20 pm
Joe the Plumber. I don’t believe you are African-American. You are a fake. You claim to not know how offensive it is to call a black man “boy.” If you are black, that is painfully and indelibly embedded in your pain cells. You wouldn’t even broach the subject. Hey, Joe Plumber, are you sensitive to being call a N——-? Don’t know why this is offensive to black folks, either? Ah nuts, why waste any more time on you… And Granny, nice clip.
Midori
October 28th, 2011
3:28 pm
REPORT: House GOP’s ‘Job Creating’ Spending Cuts Destroyed 370,000 Jobs
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/10/27/355181/report-house-gops-budget-cuts-370k-jobs/
Ayn Rand's Medicare
October 28th, 2011
3:32 pm
“This is an entertainment company based around a religious identity politics and masquerading as a political party”
Be proud cons. This is what you’ve become.
The World laughs at you
Yall could f* up an anvil.
Your Daily Ayn Rand Horoscope
October 28th, 2011
3:33 pm
Today’s Horoscope:
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, whiner.
Adam
October 28th, 2011
3:34 pm
Midori: Did you see the Politifact “ruling” on Republicans sponsoring zero jobs bills?
kayaker 71
October 28th, 2011
3:35 pm
Wonder how many of the stalwart, law abiding, clean cut Wall Street protestors were complaining about those evil Wall Street bankers when their stocks were making them thousands of dollars per year and their 401K plans were doubling in value. Didn’t see too much liberal protesting then. Rush had an interesting observation today. Every wondered what the salary of the lowest grossing person in the top 10% of the population totals? Seems that it is just over 50K/yr. At that rate, most every poster on this blog probably makes enough to qualify for being one of the “evil” rich. I’m sure Bookman would qualify.
Mighty Righty
October 28th, 2011
3:36 pm
There is no conflict between the two statements made by Romney. In the June statement he says he’s not an expert but believe the earth is getting warmer. He says he thinks people contribute to the warmer but doesn’t know how much. He says he thinks we should reduce emissions of green house gasses. In the second statement he says we don’t know what is causing climaate change. Then he says we souldn’t spend trillions of dollars controlling C02. Then he says EPA and Obama are anti fossil fuels and wants to increases the price to run them out of business. I would like to know what in those two paragraphs disaree with each other or for that matter conflict with the general view of most people.
Adam
October 28th, 2011
3:37 pm
kayaker: Rush had an interesting observation today.
Suuuuuuuure he did.
10% is not 1%, dude. And if that’s true then 90% of people are making less than 50K, and you’re STILL acting like poor people should pay MORE in taxes?
Adam
October 28th, 2011
3:39 pm
Mighty Righty: So because Romney is pretending not to understand that we classify CO2 as a greenhouse gas, he didn’t make a conflicting statement?
AmVet
October 28th, 2011
3:39 pm
Leave it to the freeloading HeadRush to come up with an “explanation” like that…
RON PAUL 2012
October 28th, 2011
3:39 pm
Enter your comments here
Midori
October 28th, 2011
3:40 pm
no Adam — do you have a link please?
kayaker 71
October 28th, 2011
3:42 pm
Just looked it up and found out that Rush is wrong. The top 10% averaged $113,000/yr, not a little over 50K. And the top 10% paid about 70% of all federal income taxes in 2010. Sorry ’bout that.
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
3:48 pm
1811 — “As the Occupy (aka “Occut*rd) Wall Street protests have spread and grown, many critics have pointed to the visible scarcity of blacks and other minorities in the protesters’ ranks.”
I guess you must have missed the interview with the African-American USMC veteran and Occupier last night on Keith Olbermann’s show.
You might have also missed the news that the Marine vet who received a skull fracture there was an IT networking professional, well-liked by his co-workers and considered a polite and quiet man. Guess that torpedoes the notion of the protestors as being jobless, unwashed hippies, huh?
BTW, I have not forgotten you and our discussion last week. I am locating additional reading material and giving the items you posted a complete and fair reading and *re* reading.
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
3:51 pm
K71 — “Wonder how many of the stalwart, law abiding, clean cut Wall Street protestors were complaining about those evil Wall Street bankers when their stocks were making them thousands of dollars per year and their 401K plans were doubling in value. Didn’t see too much liberal protesting then.”
You also didn’t see many people griping about Bernie Madoff’s business practices until AFTER his act blew up. did you?
Doesn’t mean he was operating ethically, legally or properly when everyone was cheering him on, though.
Joe The Plumber too.
October 28th, 2011
4:04 pm
hey rich, I don’t much care what you think little fellow, Yes, I take offense to the N word, stupid question but considering the source. As far as african american, sorry little guy, I’m American. If you have to put a hyphen in there, then I am East Point-American. I don’t spend my days trying to keep up the black/white BS that has gone on too long. I’ll tell you what is embedded in my pain cells, it is kooks like you running around trying to keep racism fired up over stupid words and phrases. I’m sure you are all for reperations also, seeing how you’ve been held down so bad because of your color. Quit crying and make something of yourself, it ain’t up to anybody but you and it’s nobodys fault but your own if you let generations old garbage dictate your life.
TGT
October 28th, 2011
4:07 pm
Herman Cain? Rick Perry? Michele Bachmann? Newt Gingrich? Really? Would you be comfortable sticking the title “President” in front of any of those names? Nah, didn’t think so.
This from the party that elected the man with the thinnest resume in presidential history, and has completely lived up to his “community organizer” status, becoming one of the most inept men to ever occupy 1600 Penn. Av.
I can just about guarantee that more Americans will be more “comfortable” with President Cain, Perry, etc. than with four more years of the Occupier/Organizer-in-Chief.
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
4:19 pm
TGT — “I can just about guarantee that more Americans will be more “comfortable” with President Cain, Perry, etc. than with four more years of the Occupier/Organizer-in-Chief.”
It makes me smile when I see that Republicans can’t get it together behind any of their candidates.
TGT
October 28th, 2011
4:22 pm
Joe: Yeah, we did so poorly the last time out.
TGT
October 28th, 2011
4:22 pm
Were you smiling then?
Adam
October 28th, 2011
4:23 pm
Midori: I’d rather not. People here might think they can actually use it to make a legitimate argument.
Basically the ruling was “Pants on Fire” because somehow what constitutes a “jobs creation bill” is up for “significant debate.” After reading it I came away realizing what had happened was basically:
A) Democrats think government can create jobs by spending money and creating jobs directly
B) Republicans think government cannot create jobs by spending money directly and the only way to create jobs is through reducing taxes and regulations
C) We have decided arbitrarily and with no factual basis that B is correct, THEREFORE
D) Anyone who thinks A gets “Pants on Fire.”
Adam
October 28th, 2011
4:24 pm
Ok kayaker, if you have the data for 2010 taxes, tell me how many paid zero or less net liability in 2010. In 2009 it was 47%, what about in 2010?
AmVet
October 28th, 2011
4:26 pm
Joe: Yeah, we did so poorly the last time out.
But pay no attention to the dual horrific slaughters, including a still jawdropping 36 – 0 whitewashing, immediately preceding that, right?
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
4:31 pm
TGT — “Joe: Yeah, we did so poorly the last time out. Were you smiling then?”
I sure was. Sarah Palin looked like someone forced her to suck on a lemon that night in 2008.
Tom Middleton
October 28th, 2011
4:31 pm
Well, when a party purges itself of all its moderates and libs, it loses its balance; and when that happens, of course, it becomes very easy for the back-ward inmates to take over and fail.
All that the Dems have to do now is stay centered and keep going to win the future, for theirs is the only party left that can govern in the real world and for us all.
Republicans lost that ability well back in the Bush years when they ceased to even try, and now they have none to blame for it but themselves.
Poor Romney. How must it feel to be smarter than your rhetoric, yet can’t tell the truth or be purged yourself. Maybe like Governor Christie, he should have decided to wait, for at what point are we to trust him to mean what he says!
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
4:32 pm
…but you got to admit…
No, I really don’t “got to”.
TGT
October 28th, 2011
4:36 pm
Actually “immediately preceding that” were gubernatorial victories in Virginia and that bastion of conservatism New Jersey; along with the GOP win in the race for the seat of the “Lion of the Senate.” So, what was that about “whitewashing?”
AmVet
October 28th, 2011
4:46 pm
Hello?
Is anyone home?
Your selective memory aside, Google the 2006 AND 2008 elections.
In both cases the GOP got decimated, destroyed, humiliated and annihilated, pretty much from coast to coast.
(But I can understand why you don’t want to remember!)
bman
October 28th, 2011
4:54 pm
George Will …smart guy. He’s also a bit more in-tune with the candidates, politicans, policies etc….the average voter doesn’t dig quite as deep into the details. of candidates, or their views. If they did, Obama would be sitting in Chicago.
Obama is polling really low. Depending on the economy, that MIGHT change.
Of course, we did have that explosive (and “fair” comparison to Bush) 2.5% growth report.
Obama Supporter to the end
October 28th, 2011
5:06 pm
Mitt flips again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again on everything!
Today he said global warming was man made. Yesterday he said we don’t know.
Makes my head daeh spin!
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
5:21 pm
George Will …smart guy.
This is the same George Will that prepped Reagan with a stolen copy of President Carter’s debate briefing book.
This is the same George Will that came home one day to find all his belongings thrown outside of his Chevy Chase Md. home along with a sign that said. “Take it somewhere else, buster.” Seems his wife would rather raise their down syndrome child on her own, rather than dealing with a cheater.
A real
peachdouchebag of a guy.Tom Middleton
October 28th, 2011
5:27 pm
Didn’t hear bout that one, Kam. He was a cheater?
bman
October 28th, 2011
5:27 pm
Kamchak …. without knowing it, you just proved my point.
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
5:34 pm
Kamchak …. without knowing it, you just proved my point.
Not real surprised that in your world smart=douchebag.
But I can act shocked and awed if it will make you feel any better.
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
5:36 pm
Kamchak, can you post a cite on the G. Will = cheater thing? I had never heard that.
Rich
October 28th, 2011
5:40 pm
Joe the Plumber: What color is the sky in your world?
bman
October 28th, 2011
5:40 pm
Kamchak … No need to get nasty. George Will is smart. Newt Gingrich is smart. Bill Clinton is smart.
Success in popularity and $$ seems to do something to people…not sure how/why. Intelligent people CAN make bad decisions.
For example …you’re probably an intelligent guy, but you’ll still vote for Obama.
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
5:49 pm
For example …you’re probably an intelligent guy, but you’ll still vote for Obama.
I didn’t support him last time.
What makes you think I will do so now?
bman
October 28th, 2011
5:52 pm
Kamchak …ok, I’ll play. Will you support Obama? If so, why?
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
5:52 pm
bman — “Newt Gingrich is smart.”
Smart perhaps, but venal and dishonest IMO.
I’ve voted for Newt in the past (when I was living in his district), but I regret having done so. OTOH, I didn’t vote for President Clinton either time, but in retrospect, I wish I had.
Nicole Stone
October 28th, 2011
6:00 pm
Cain is the one topping most of the polls, not Romney..
Cain’s already proven the old rules don’t apply, and he’s won the people of South Carolina as well. Everyone who won the people of South Carolina, won the GOP candidacy.
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
6:01 pm
Joe Mama
From the scorn with which he attacks the “vulgarian” Clintons and their “pantomime of domesticity,” one might assume that Will’s personal life has been entirely dignified and free from scandal. One might be surprised to read, in other words, that in the 1980s, while still married to his first wife, Will was romantically linked to Lally Weymouth, daughter of Washington Post owner Katharine Graham, according to Washingtonian magazine (1/87). When Will moved out on his wife and children, he found his office furniture dumped on his front lawn with a note reading, “Take it somewhere else, buster” (Salon, 2/12/98). Though the lamentable lack of shame in U.S. society is a common theme in Will’s writing, shame, like other principles he touts, seems to be for other people.
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
6:05 pm
Will you support Obama?
I honestly do not know.
bman
October 28th, 2011
6:06 pm
Joe .. I voted for Clinton in ‘96. My choice was Hillary in 2008.
Nicole … Cain is doing well right now. He’s a radio talk show host, and he’s pretty good at mixing it up. Bachman has been the flavor of the month, Rick Perry, Donald Trump etc….Romney is the one who has stayed steady.
If Jim Carville were to announce a challenge to Obama as a democrat, I would wager he would be popular, too. At least for a little while…
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
6:12 pm
Romney is the one who has stayed steady.
A steady 23%.
But that will not win the nomination.
Evangelicals will not support Romney.
I look for a surge in the polls by Perry.
He is the only one that will pass their purity test.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 28th, 2011
6:17 pm
Especially if Perry does not debate and only speaks his stump speeches, glad hands and does ad in which he gets to look perty…
bman
October 28th, 2011
6:21 pm
Kamchak …i hope not lol….I don’t know one person who likes Perry. Oh, lots of people liked him when he announced his run. But now? I think he is done.
The religious right and the looney left. But, I really believe the moderates will decide the outcome of this election.
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
6:25 pm
Thanks very much for that, Kamchak. I hope that reading it during supper doesn’t make me woof up my meatloaf and taters.
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
6:32 pm
bman — “Joe .. I voted for Clinton in ‘96. My choice was Hillary in 2008. ”
I’m a source of frustration for the conservatives on this blog, as I’m a white, Southern-raised gun-owning disabled veteran who votes Democratic. But more to their dismay, I’ve been voting Republican since *Reagan* but switched in 2004 and haven’t looked back.
bman
October 28th, 2011
6:39 pm
Joe lol
if Obama does win another term, I’m okay with that as long as republicans and moderate democrats control the senate and house. I prefer that balance of power…
-
-
Joe Hussein Mama
October 28th, 2011
6:43 pm
bman — I don’t know if I could handle that kind of Congressional setup. We need some bold action, and I’m not sure if the jokers we have in Congress are up to it (without putting a lot of political frosting on whatever legislation they propose).
Kamchak — Ew. This Lally Weymouth woman must have had a cardboard fetish if she was trying to pry George Effing Will away from his wife. I’m not a chick, but I can’t imagine what sleeping with that man must have been like. Maybe like trying to get it on with one of those mannequins from the Old Navy commercials.
Kamchak
October 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
But, I really believe the moderates will decide the outcome of this election.
Possibly so, but the moderates will not decide who wins the Republican primary.
Adam
October 28th, 2011
8:57 pm
I’ll bite:
If you nominate Huntsman, I will consider voting for the GOP candidate. Otherwise you can forget it. The rest of them are either insane or opportunist. Voting for GOP right now is voting for the crazies, and I, like Chris Christie, am tired of dealing with the crazies.
TGT
October 28th, 2011
11:50 pm
This is the same George Will that prepped Reagan with a stolen copy of President Carter’s debate briefing book.
Another favorite liberal myth. Carter accused Will of stealing the book. Will denied it in an op-ed. Carter then retracted his accusations and apologized to Will.
Is anyone home?
You’re the one who used the “immediately preceding” language. Just helping you get your sequence of events straight.
Google the 2006 AND 2008 elections…
Yeah, and it took the Occupier in Chief less than two years to, not only lose those gains, but to do so and then some–in historic fashion. And the Dems are still reeling. Flock on lemmings!
Paddy O
October 29th, 2011
12:06 am
Jay – the two quotes you reference are mutually exclusive. Romney is starting to sound a lot like John Kerry. However, regarding the word President in front of his name – Cain, Gingrich & Romney, plus Perry, already have MORE executive experience than the guy currently sitting in the Oval Office. Obama knew very little about foreign policy, yet I don’t remember the liberal leaning press being too worried about it. I’d be more comfortable with any of those 4 than another 4 years of Obama.
Paddy O
October 29th, 2011
12:08 am
How does the Secretary of Homeland Security, upon learning that a gun released by fast & furious NEVER contact the attorney general? Apathy about one of her minions getting slain? Or just typical Obama administration ineptitude?
Paddy O
October 29th, 2011
12:08 am
I am starting to suspect the Gingrich will mount a come back.
Adam
October 29th, 2011
9:36 am
Looks like I need to be kind and charitable and order some plush Reagan dolls for a few people. And tissues. Lots of tissues.
captguitarman
October 29th, 2011
12:50 pm
To get this out of the way first, had there not been a lead in that Sullivan’s thoughts were about Cain (and had Cain’s name not appeared in Sullivan’s piece), I would have immediately concluded that it was about Obama. Replace “conservative” with “liberal” and “Limbaugh, Hannity et al.” with “Maher Krugman, et al.” and there you have it. It is interesting (and sad) that if you really clear your mind and think about it, Sullivan’s observations could accurately apply to both of them — which leads to the unfortunate and sad conclusion that what Obama did in his political sphere, and now what Cain is doing in his, is what it really takes to be elected Presdient in America these days.
And yes, here we are with Romney — not even close to the ideal of the traditional conservative base, which has been both energized and poisoned both at once by the tea party-libertarian elelements. And, clearly intellectually “flexible.” That, however, is not unique, but getting caught in flip after flip and flop after flop is. Clinton was smart enough to run as a liberal and then govern from the center right (with the nudging of a Republican Congress. Obama ran as the next coming of a New Deal liberal, but he has been in over his head since the day he was elected, and without a core intellectual conviction and governing strategy, just basically decided to emulate Bush in more ways than the Dem/Libs like to think about. But, Romney just keeps on stepping on his own tail — leaving us traditional Pub/Cons with with this traveling circus of unelectable clowns.
But bacause Romney is actually an electable Pub, if not traditional Con, and is not a polarizing tea party loving libertarian with a good chance of beating Obama, it is no accident that you, and every other Dem/Lib pundit and commentator, and media type are working over time to denigrate Romney as much as possible. If Perry or Cain or Newt or someone like that is nominated, Obama and the Dem/Libs can breathe a big sigh of relief and move on into the second term, having missed a bullet that I once personally thought was impossible to avoid (until this ridiculous – let’s eat as many of our own as possible before the primairies – Republican debate circus began).
liberalefty
October 29th, 2011
2:40 pm
PADDY 12:08
dont worry OBAMA’s administration will never be as inept as BUSH’S was. his ineptness led us to 9/11!
Barbara
October 29th, 2011
10:55 pm
Just read about your blog in a column by Cynthia Tucker. She’s right. You are good!!!
Paddy O
October 29th, 2011
11:19 pm
liberallefty – you need to be taken to the wood shed, particularly with your man Obama, 3 years in, still harping about the impact Bush made (even Bush had a democratic Congress his last 2 years). 9/11 can be squarely laid ON BILL CLINTONS lap. Bush had been in office 9 months. Clinton’s pathetic response to the 93 bombing of the WTC, the bombing of 2 embassies (remember Tomahawk into the terrorist training ground Clinton?), emboldened the terrorists to try the jet liner thing. Sadly, what was inept then is STILL inept – our immigration/visa tracking system. Homeland Security has gotten lucky twice already – with guys who got bombs ONTO the plane, but the bomb failed to blow. We need to severely curtail VISA to those nations who support terrorism, or who we are at war with. We also need to establish an Ellis Island for Latinos in El Paso. Try looking up job generation. Obama, who may be suffering from two other actions by Clinton – signing NAFTA & giving China permanent MFN status – has steered the economy out of the ditch & into the grand canyon. Bush did a lot of un-American stuff – Patriot Act, pushing pre-emptive war; but, compared to Obama he comes across as Eisenhower. Obama likes the perks of being President. He does NOT like the work it requires.
Mr. Right
October 30th, 2011
5:06 pm
Herman Cain? Rick Perry? Michele Bachmann? Newt Gingrich? Really? Would you be comfortable sticking the title “President” in front of any of those names? Nah, didn’t think so.
I was never comfortable sticking the title ‘President” in front of Obama and boy, was I ever so right!
Joe
October 30th, 2011
5:44 pm
Mr. Right
You are wrong. President Obama has been spot on as Commander in Chief, nothing short of extremely effective on the “War on Terrorism”, started by Republicans. We also have a strong auto industry because of him. He saved our banks, and he is not yet done with his work. If you didn’t care for the passage of the health care bill, well, 99% of the plan doesn’t kick in until 2014. But really understand his, that health care bill fixed a lot of ills, none of which the Republicans give a damn about. Your party is filled with a bunch of hypocrites. There is nothing they wouldn’t do to interfere with Terry Schivo’s final days of health care, for political purposes, but they will let roughly 50,000 people die each year because they were denied access to health care insurance (AT ANY PRICE). Your party either believes in right to life, or it doesn’t.
Laffer
October 30th, 2011
7:36 pm
attracted to moderates? What a joke. You are a far left loon. Write about the OWS crowd lately?
independent thinker
October 31st, 2011
7:17 am
Herman Cain as the spokesperson for the Clarence Thomas wing of the GOP will be the front runner and he will end all rights of employees to claim sexual harrassment- It is a new day in America!
Corey
October 31st, 2011
8:44 am
F. Sinkwich’s retort is a glaring example of what Mr. Sullivan meant.
“If becoming a black woman would mean getting elected Romney would get a sex cahnge and name himself Latisha”, Bill Mauer