I can’t help but think of a few questions. Does Ron Paul want Al Qada to use cell phones to plan hits on the United States? How many rich people jobs did immigrants steal away from the wealthy? Does Huckabee understand that regardless of why, the folks who died in Benghazi won’t come back to life, which is what Hilary meant? Why was Sarah Palin the only woman conservative captured on montage? Can’t the conservatives come up with someone better than Palin? What other women were there?
What was Chris Christie talking about? Shouldn’t he be laying low until his corruption problems are solved? Why would conservatives want Donald Trump representing them. His creep factor is off the charts.
CPAC reminds me of a circus side-show of freaks. Where do they find those people?
Sarah has a voice “that shatters glass”. (My Fair Lady)
I am not sure that a discussion in a group that predominately advocates free birth control, mandated health insurance, and limitless unemployment benefits is capable of making any particularly relevant comments about CPAC. A Venn diagram would show very little overlap between the belief systems of the two groups. Suggestions for CPAC inevitably focus on selecting candidates who are not conservative or are washy-washy in advocating for conservative ideas.
I find it odd that you use the word predominately to describe those of us on this blog. I would say that the blog regulars are about 50-50 or at least looking at center, half are on one side and half on the other. The degree differs.
I don’t think you see common ground as I do.
I actually think the things you mentioned are conservative values. Do you have any idea how much health care costs this county and the individual? The cost is outrageous. Our premiums keep going up as to medical costs. Free birth control is simply a component of that. Supporting other people’s offspring is also tremendously costly.
I don’t think we have talked about limitless unemployment benefits.
I think Starry might be on to something. The most normal one I heard was Newt Gingrich. Just shoot me and put me out of my misery.
That is a very interesting point. By any measure, Hillary and Palin can both be very annoying speakers. I find Hillary to be so annoying that I can barely stand to listen to her. Palin is not nearly as hard for ME to hear, primarily I suspect, because I agree with much that she says. I suspect that you would not find Palin’s voice quite as disagreeable if you agreed with her point of view.
This same is not nearly as true for men. There are some outstanding speakers with whom I disagree mightily, but do not mind hearing them out. The tone of their voice and the qualities of their delivery do not grate on my nerves.
I suspect that the style/quality of their voices/delivery represents a huge barrier for women in politics to communicate successfully to win over or develop compromises with political opponents.
I suspect that men’s voices might have the same effect on women. Palin’s voice hits me like nails on a chalk board. Am I wild about Clinton’s voice? Not particularly. But she sounds like an Angel compared to the screecher.
You’re right there! Many women have voices that grate, no matter what they say.
Hillary has a good voice, but if she sounded like Palin, I would also say that her voice could shatter glass; wouldn’t like listening to her either. Palin’s use of satire is totally offputting.
FOX’s Megyn Kelly has a nice voice that I can listen to even when disgreeing.
I remember, with pleasure, the voice of the late congresswoman from Texas, Barbara Jordan. She was an orator, and what she said was good.
Are there any orators in Congress today? Cruz tried yesterday but failed. He comes
over as a phony IMO.
One of Cruz’s great assets is that he IS a phony, Punchak. He actually is a very smart, knowledgeable guy. What he’s doing now is locking down the low information, low analytical, Pavlovian voting bloc. They’ll stay with him and continue to salivate when he moves dramatically to the center if he’s nominated. He knows exactly what he’s doing. I would be far more concerned about Cruz if I thought he believed very much of anything he says. To his credit, I think it’s complete theatre.
@Scout
And why do you say that Cruz is a phony? Please elaborate.
What I said, CS. And I meant it as a positive. Actually, I was using Punchak’s term, but applying my own meaning to it. He’s intelligent and knowledgeable. Thus, he knows that most of what he’s saying is just feeding old horsemeat to a certain kind of tiger. If he were stupid, I’d have more concern that he believed it. But he’s not. I think he’ll be regarded by historians as one of the most adroit and opportunistic (by the way, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing) shapers of public opinion in this century.
By the way, am I the only one who is finding that Sarah Palin’s send-ups of Tina Fey just aren’t working? When one tries to parody a parody, the result often is devoid of humour. I found Palin’s skit at CPAC to be just kind of weird and not at all amusing.
Sarah Palin’s problem is she is talentless. Once you peel away that first crispy like layer of her onion, there’s nothing left. It’s empty.
Great sound bytes though…..{best Goofy laugh, slaps thigh]
@Scout
So…in other words…since you don’t agree with what he’s saying, and you think that he is intelligent, its just impossible that he might believe in the things he’s saying.
Okay then.
Absolutely impossible. He really is a very smart cookie.
Oh, my gosh, Cargo! Look at #1! It’s Timmy Tiptoes!
Wolverine, stop it. Make your political statements but leave the personal remarks out of the equation please.
Conservatives must be desperate for leadership if Palin was the top star of their show.
Des Moines Register poll in February 2014 says POTUS approval rating among Iowans is down to 36%, with 59% disapproving of the job he is doing and 68% saying the country is headed in the wrong direction.
That Iowa poll and some growing belief that the Senate might well be flipped in 2014 are certainly some acorns to chew over.
Why is it that the Conservatives have all these problems with spending and programs that were ushered in (mostly) under a Republican President and Congress? NSA, Homeland Security, TSA, etc.
Palin – Yes, she is good with the snarky remarks, but she could not even finish out one term as Governor of Alaska.
@Pat.Herve
Well now maybe we can all agree that the last thing we need is another thin skinned, unseasoned, self indulgent orator, whose only real claim to fame is a convention speech and who we really don’t know all that much about and who has a history of getting it wrong. More impotantly, the last thing we need is someone either chosen by the laimline media or rejected by the laimline media. Frankly, I don’t trust anybody who smiles too much – it means they are lying and have the personality for it.
Now just who could you be referring to?
????????
@Wolverine Obama’s not running again so I’m not sure what your point is.
@Pat.Herve
That’s an easy question to answer.
Just because they are Republicans, does not mean that they arent’ progressive.
Conservatives don’t like the spending and the new institutions ushered in under Bush. That’s why the Tea Party started forming under him…..the anger part, at least.
@Pat.Herve
Do you know why she resigned?
She couldn’t afford to stay in office. Alaskan law allows lawsuits against the governor. She kept having to defend herself with her own money. The lawsuits were all frivolous and dismissed, yet she still had to pay the lawyers.
Not buying that. She is opportunistic. Why is she different than any other elected official or governor? She isn’t.
@Cargosquid
and why did she have to use her own money? States often pay for the defense of the Governor in all kinds of frivolous law suits. Here in VA, the Commonwealth has been paying for outside lawyers to defend the Gov.
I say hog wash. I cannot think of any other Gov that has given such an excuse upon resignation.
also, she could have paid for the lawyers using PAC money and other donated funds if the State was not going to kick in – same as McDonnell is doing since leaving office.
When the going got tough, she quit. Palin is a quitter and a loser.
The soundbites and headlines that I see look like self-immolation.
Anyone who can add numbers can see that Republicans are on track to appeal to 40% of the population, and leave 55% of it alienated.
@Pat.Herve
State law.
Furthermore, she’s never made that excuse. It was obvious what was happening. She ended up $500K in debt.
Or so she said….or someone else said.
@Rick Bentley
Well…if that’s the case..then I guess that 55% get to take us over the cliff.
I see Jeb Bush coming out of the mess. And losing to someone … but I’m not so sure it’ll be Hillary. The nomination looks like Hillary’s to lose – well, that was the case in 2008 also. She supposedly had things locked and socked in 2008. But because she’s so uninspiring and not especially likeable, Obama steamed up and overtook her. The woman’s still uninspiring, and still not very likeable. I’m ready for a female President, but I don’t think it’ll be her.
@Cargosquid
Please reference the state law. Also while you are at in, view the state contract with the law firm of Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemesson & Thorsness – to defend the sitting Gov against the ethics violations. Palin chose not to use that contract. Also the RNC contributions and the SarahPAC contributions to her legal fees. Hog Wash.
@Pat.Herve
Okay… I reviewed it.
I was wrong.
@Rick Bentley
Jeb?
If he thinks that he as the slightest chance …..he’s delusional.
Of course, we said the same thing about McCain……
Palin sure did not mind spending the money when it was for the bridge to no where. And as a Gov – her job was to bring the bacon to Alaska – but if you do, you should not be able to come back and complain about the very spending that you yourself have lobbied for and accepted. It would be like Christie complaining about the Sandy money. With all the money that Alaska generates from oil reserves they give a payout to all individuals of about $900 per year – yet they are still a taker state in that they get more from the Fed’s then they give. It is east to cut taxes when Uncle Sam comes in and gives one a subsidy.
@Cargosquid
no problem. Sometimes the facts get in the way of the advertised story.
Cargo, at the end of the day GOP voters jump in lockstep behind whatever frontrunner appears most electable to them. The Tea Party screamers will vote for a Jeb Bush, for fear that America is going over a cliff as you put it and God’s wrath awaits us all if we elect a Democrat. Is Bush really more liberal than Romney?
I don’t see any other moderates. Maybe Rubio has an outside chance, but he hitched his wagon to an intractable issue, so I don’t think so. Last thing the GOP wants to do is to spend the whole general election talking about immigration. Christie is unelectable now.
Paul, Perry, Palin, Cruz … those people would be dead meat in a general election.
Could we pause for a moment and salute a rare good man, our friend Cargo, who can admit that he erred? It wasn’t on a point of major importance, but we see far too little of that. As far as I’m concerned, that marks CS to be what I have always thought him to be – an honourable fellow. Let’s try to emulate that and follow his example. We are all mistaken at one point or another. That kind of candor is rare, and it affirms believability in other points where CS is right and I am wrong.
I have always felt that Cargo was an honorable man, even though we fight like cats and dogs. Thanks for recognizing him!! Go Cargo. go Scout!!!
The midterms, Starry, the midterms.
Hmmm…And what have the liberals been up to? Jeffery E. Thompson and the cash that flowed illegally into the “shadow campaign” of D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. And the $600,000 plus change which the same prosecutors say went into Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign from the same source when our new Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia was a biggie in the Clinton camp. And, of course, all the “Who? Me?” reactions to the prosecutorial revelations. Should be interesting to watch.
Yeah, yeah, I know: “What difference does it make now!!”
You should be worried about what is going to happen to the old governor rather than what happens in DC. There is always some scandal in DC. It’s a given. Who even pays attention?
Hillary involved in scandal? Nahhhhhh.
Hah. Wonder how long it will take to find the Hillary for President records on the Thompson money? “Well, golly gee, and Miss Molly. Those Rose law firm documents were right there under our noses all this time. I declare. Whoda thunk it?!! Well, too late now, I guess, huh?”
Worried? When a liberal Dem gets caught with hand in cash register? Surely you jest, Madam. $600,000 and Hillary — most probably not directly. But someone’s name has to be on it.
One of the many things about Hillary that concern me is the way documents disappear around her. It’s not clear that she’s the perpetrator, so my complaint is one of uneasiness with her proximity to these things. But you have the Rose Law Firm docs, the Watergate docs mishandling (the allegations about which are pretty diffuse and I can’t be sure Hillary was the instigator) and the Sandy Berger theft of classified documents from the National Archives. I get a little itchy around that kind of thing.
Wow, Kelly- that quote’s not misrepresentative at all! But I’m not surprised, I’d be sensitive and grumbly too if I was in your shoes. The GOP answer to everything seems to be: build the Keystone XL pipeline and repeal Obamacare!
I would suggest that among actual humans and not political “leaders,” there is lots of overlap between conservatives and progressives- the polls back this up. Minimum wage, immigration reform, contraception, infrastructure- there’s lots of agreement in principle. The extremists prevent action through jerrymandering, primary attacks, voter suppression and propaganda blitzes.
The tea-party tail’s still waggin’ the dog, but that won’t last forever…
@Rick Bentley
“at the end of the day GOP voters jump in lockstep behind whatever frontrunner appears most electable to them.”
Riiiight….that explains Presidents McCain and Romney.
Obviously they jumped wrong.
@Scout
Why……I think that’s one of the nicest things ever said about me online.
Thank you.
I was nice about you too. 😈
I trust I have never said anything bad about you online, CS. I may have a different take than you on some (certainly not all) issues, but I’ve learned enough about you over time to respect your life experience and your investment in staying informed. In the instant case, you showed an all too rare trait. We all shoot off our e-mouths around here and it inevitably happens that we pass on information that we pick up somewhere that turns out to be inaccurate. Very few folks own up to it when it gets corrected. You are a welcome exception to that.
Standing ovation @ Cargo and Scout!!!
A slight amendment, Cargo: I trust I have never said anything bad about you online or anywhere else.