Cheer Up, Republicans (Slate) - The Orange Mane

Blart · 11-07-2012, 06:26 AM

A good article from Slate. Perhaps the GOP became extreme to differentiate from today's "left."

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...h_the_gop.html

-------------------------

Dear Republicans,

Sorry about the election. I know how much it hurts when your presidential candidate loses. I’ve been there many times. You’re crestfallen. You can’t believe the public voted for that idiot. You fear for your country.

Cheer up. The guy we just re-elected is a moderate Republican.

I know how stupid that sounds. Barack Obama is the head of the Democratic Party. For five years, conservative politicians and media told you he was a raving socialist. In the heat of the campaign, when you’re trying to beat the guy, it’s hard to let go of that image of him, just as it’s hard for Democrats to see past the caricatures of Mitt Romney. But now that the campaign is over and you’re staring at a second Obama term, the falsity of the propaganda may come as a relief. By and large, Obama’s instincts are the instincts of a moderate Republican. His policies are the policies of a moderate Republican. He stands where the GOP used to stand and will someday stand again.

Yes, Obama began his presidency with bailouts, stimulus, and borrowing. You know who started the bailouts? George W. Bush. Bush knew that under these exceptionally dire circumstances, bailouts had to be done. Stimulus had to be done, too, since the economy had frozen up. A third of the stimulus was tax cuts. Once the economy began to revive, Obama offered a $4-trillion debt reduction framework that would have cut $3 to $6 of spending for every $1 in tax hikes. That’s a higher ratio of cuts to hikes than Republican voters, in a Gallup poll, said they preferred. It’s way more conservative than the ratio George H. W. Bush accepted in 1990. In last year’s debt-ceiling talks, Obama offered cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in exchange for revenue that didn’t even come from higher tax rates. Now he’s proposing to lower corporate tax rates, and Republicans are whining that he hacked $716 billion out of Medicare. Some socialist.

Yes, Obama imposed an individual mandate to buy health insurance. You know who else did that? Romney. You know where the idea came from? The Heritage Foundation. Personal responsibility—insisting that people carry private insurance so we don’t have to bail them out in emergency rooms and hospitals—was a Republican idea. Same with Wall Street reform: There’s nothing conservative about letting financial institutions gamble with other people’s money in ways that would force us to bail them out again. Even Obama’s cap-and-trade proposal echoed the market-based emissions-control policies of the 1990 Bush administration and the 2008 McCain campaign. And last year, when the EPA proposed a new air-pollution limit, Obama ticked off environmentalists by killing it on the grounds that it might jeopardize the recovery.

Remember how Democrats ridiculed George W. Bush’s troop surge in Iraq? Obama copied it in Afghanistan. He escalated the drone program, killing off al-Qaida’s leaders. He sent SEAL Team 6 into Pakistan to get Osama Bin Laden. He teamed up with NATO to take down Muammar Qaddafi. He reneged on his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay. He put together a globally enforced regime of sanctions that is bringing Iran’s economy to its knees. That’s why Romney had nothing to say in last month’s foreign policy debate. No sensible Republican president would have done things differently.

Obama’s no right-winger. You might have serious issues with his Supreme Court justices or his moves on immigration or the Bush tax cuts. But you probably would have had similar issues with Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, or Gerald Ford. Obama’s in the same mold as those guys. So don’t despair. Your country didn’t vote for a socialist tonight. It voted for the candidate of traditional Republican moderation. What should gall you, haunt you, and goad you to think about the future of your party is that that candidate wasn’t yours.

TonyR · 11-07-2012, 06:52 AM

Good read, thanks Blart. Everyone should read. Some of us have been saying many of these things for months. Hopefully now more people will listen and understand.

Garcia Bronco · 11-07-2012, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyR

Good read, thanks Blart. Everyone should read. Some of us have been saying many of these things for months. Hopefully now more people will listen and understand.

The two candidates, were not all that distinguishable to me. We think we're all politcally different, and we're not. We have differences to be sure, but on the grand poltical scale, we're about the same.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 11-07-2012, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Obama’s no right-winger. You might have serious issues with his Supreme Court justices or his moves on immigration or the Bush tax cuts. But you probably would have had similar issues with Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, or Gerald Ford.

Gee, where have I heard this before?

NUB · 11-07-2012, 10:17 AM

Economically, the two parties are never that different. Republicans can't be true free market cavaliers and Democrats will never edge anything closer to what is seen in the rest of the first world -- they're all "invested" in by the same outsiders (lobbyists). Foreign policy, civil and social issues, though, are a different story. Obama is likely to end the conservative death grip on the Judicial branch in the next four years, for example. That's a big deal. And in his first term he ended DADT, something that simply wouldn't happen with a conservative Presidency.

~Crash~ · 11-07-2012, 10:45 AM

get ready for lay offs.

~Crash~ · 11-07-2012, 10:47 AM

my last employ is now toast this morning good bye...

Garcia Bronco · 11-07-2012, 11:42 AM

DJ has dropped 300 points today with a small rally. ****ing cockbags.

ZONA · 11-07-2012, 12:15 PM

Honestly, I felt in this election that there has never been 2 candidates running at the same time that were both more central then these guys. They both had to go left and right to rally base but as far as their personal beliefs, and if they didn't have to get a base happy, both would have stayed middle for the duration of the campaign. That's why I think the popular vote was basically dead even. If Romney had won, I don't think he would have reversed Rove v Wade, I don't think he would have increased the military spending by 2 billion (probably some but not to that amount). If he would have wanted a 2nd term himself, there are just some things he could not have done that he said he would have (but really had to say to keep his base happy but personally didn't really want to do).

Now that the election is over - finally, maybe we can all get back to being a little more civil towards one another. Political differences during election times can really over enhance our feelings. Time to calm down, work together and move on.

Garcia Bronco · 11-07-2012, 12:17 PM

Romney can't "reverse" Roe v Wade. Roe v Wade reversal would require a Constitutional Amendment...which are extremely hard to pass. It's not even a campaign issue and it amuses me every time it comes up.

TonyR · 11-07-2012, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

It's not even a campaign issue and it amuses me every time it comes up.

Well, it "comes up" because Supreme Court Justice retirements are expected. Both sides want "their type" of Justice added to the court. It also "comes up" because it's by far the single largest issue pushed by many Christian churches in this country.

ZONA · 11-07-2012, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Romney can't "reverse" Roe v Wade. Roe v Wade reversal would require a Constitutional Amendment...which are extremely hard to pass. It's not even a campaign issue and it amuses me every time it comes up.

Yeah it comes up because Romney had to support the idea of reversing it to satisfy the huge evangelicals on his base.

Mitt Romney believes "the supreme court should overturn Roe vs. Wade." And that isn't an interpretation of Romney's ideas by the biased "mainstream media" out to smear a decent man's reputation. Those words in quotes are straight off his website.

Garcia Bronco · 11-07-2012, 01:53 PM

Christian groups can push all they want, but even many Catholics who identify themselves as religious wouldn't vote for it.

Jetmeck · 11-07-2012, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Crash~

get ready for lay offs.

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO SLAP YOU SIDEWAYS.......a mental reset would do you some good..................I mean it see a doctor. You got some issues..................

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 11-08-2012, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetmeck

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO SLAP YOU SIDEWAYS.......a mental reset would do you some good..................I mean it see a doctor. You got some issues..................

His "issue" is the same as that of every other GOP lemming on this board...

11-07-2012, 06:26 AM	#1
Blart I'm gay for the Broncos! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,588 Adopt-a-Bronco: All @ same time	Cheer Up, Republicans (Slate) A good article from Slate. Perhaps the GOP became extreme to differentiate from today's "left." http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...h_the_gop.html ------------------------- Dear Republicans, Sorry about the election. I know how much it hurts when your presidential candidate loses. I’ve been there many times. You’re crestfallen. You can’t believe the public voted for that idiot. You fear for your country. Cheer up. The guy we just re-elected is a moderate Republican. I know how stupid that sounds. Barack Obama is the head of the Democratic Party. For five years, conservative politicians and media told you he was a raving socialist. In the heat of the campaign, when you’re trying to beat the guy, it’s hard to let go of that image of him, just as it’s hard for Democrats to see past the caricatures of Mitt Romney. But now that the campaign is over and you’re staring at a second Obama term, the falsity of the propaganda may come as a relief. By and large, Obama’s instincts are the instincts of a moderate Republican. His policies are the policies of a moderate Republican. He stands where the GOP used to stand and will someday stand again. Yes, Obama began his presidency with bailouts, stimulus, and borrowing. You know who started the bailouts? George W. Bush. Bush knew that under these exceptionally dire circumstances, bailouts had to be done. Stimulus had to be done, too, since the economy had frozen up. A third of the stimulus was tax cuts. Once the economy began to revive, Obama offered a $4-trillion debt reduction framework that would have cut $3 to $6 of spending for every $1 in tax hikes. That’s a higher ratio of cuts to hikes than Republican voters, in a Gallup poll, said they preferred. It’s way more conservative than the ratio George H. W. Bush accepted in 1990. In last year’s debt-ceiling talks, Obama offered cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in exchange for revenue that didn’t even come from higher tax rates. Now he’s proposing to lower corporate tax rates, and Republicans are whining that he hacked $716 billion out of Medicare. Some socialist. Yes, Obama imposed an individual mandate to buy health insurance. You know who else did that? Romney. You know where the idea came from? The Heritage Foundation. Personal responsibility—insisting that people carry private insurance so we don’t have to bail them out in emergency rooms and hospitals—was a Republican idea. Same with Wall Street reform: There’s nothing conservative about letting financial institutions gamble with other people’s money in ways that would force us to bail them out again. Even Obama’s cap-and-trade proposal echoed the market-based emissions-control policies of the 1990 Bush administration and the 2008 McCain campaign. And last year, when the EPA proposed a new air-pollution limit, Obama ticked off environmentalists by killing it on the grounds that it might jeopardize the recovery. Remember how Democrats ridiculed George W. Bush’s troop surge in Iraq? Obama copied it in Afghanistan. He escalated the drone program, killing off al-Qaida’s leaders. He sent SEAL Team 6 into Pakistan to get Osama Bin Laden. He teamed up with NATO to take down Muammar Qaddafi. He reneged on his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay. He put together a globally enforced regime of sanctions that is bringing Iran’s economy to its knees. That’s why Romney had nothing to say in last month’s foreign policy debate. No sensible Republican president would have done things differently. Obama’s no right-winger. You might have serious issues with his Supreme Court justices or his moves on immigration or the Bush tax cuts. But you probably would have had similar issues with Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, or Gerald Ford. Obama’s in the same mold as those guys. So don’t despair. Your country didn’t vote for a socialist tonight. It voted for the candidate of traditional Republican moderation. What should gall you, haunt you, and goad you to think about the future of your party is that that candidate wasn’t yours. Last edited by Blart; 11-07-2012 at 06:35 AM..

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

11-07-2012, 06:52 AM	#2
TonyR Franchise Poster Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Mid-Atlantic Posts: 15,581	Good read, thanks Blart. Everyone should read. Some of us have been saying many of these things for months. Hopefully now more people will listen and understand.

11-07-2012, 10:17 AM	#5
NUB Just Crafted New to the Forum Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,448 Adopt-a-Bronco: None	Economically, the two parties are never that different. Republicans can't be true free market cavaliers and Democrats will never edge anything closer to what is seen in the rest of the first world -- they're all "invested" in by the same outsiders (lobbyists). Foreign policy, civil and social issues, though, are a different story. Obama is likely to end the conservative death grip on the Judicial branch in the next four years, for example. That's a big deal. And in his first term he ended DADT, something that simply wouldn't happen with a conservative Presidency.

11-07-2012, 10:45 AM	#6
~Crash~ My new dog Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,600 Adopt-a-Bronco: Kuper	get ready for lay offs.

11-07-2012, 10:47 AM	#7
~Crash~ My new dog Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,600 Adopt-a-Bronco: Kuper	my last employ is now toast this morning good bye...

11-07-2012, 11:42 AM	#8
Garcia Bronco Hokie since 1993 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 45,991 Adopt-a-Bronco: Tom Jackson	DJ has dropped 300 points today with a small rally. ****ing cockbags.

11-07-2012, 12:15 PM	#9
ZONA Ring of Famer Liquid greatness in every packet Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 7,393 Adopt-a-Bronco: Chris Harris	Honestly, I felt in this election that there has never been 2 candidates running at the same time that were both more central then these guys. They both had to go left and right to rally base but as far as their personal beliefs, and if they didn't have to get a base happy, both would have stayed middle for the duration of the campaign. That's why I think the popular vote was basically dead even. If Romney had won, I don't think he would have reversed Rove v Wade, I don't think he would have increased the military spending by 2 billion (probably some but not to that amount). If he would have wanted a 2nd term himself, there are just some things he could not have done that he said he would have (but really had to say to keep his base happy but personally didn't really want to do). Now that the election is over - finally, maybe we can all get back to being a little more civil towards one another. Political differences during election times can really over enhance our feelings. Time to calm down, work together and move on.

11-07-2012, 12:17 PM	#10
Garcia Bronco Hokie since 1993 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 45,991 Adopt-a-Bronco: Tom Jackson	Romney can't "reverse" Roe v Wade. Roe v Wade reversal would require a Constitutional Amendment...which are extremely hard to pass. It's not even a campaign issue and it amuses me every time it comes up.

11-07-2012, 01:53 PM	#13
Garcia Bronco Hokie since 1993 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 45,991 Adopt-a-Bronco: Tom Jackson	Christian groups can push all they want, but even many Catholics who identify themselves as religious wouldn't vote for it.