First, you need to have a bit of sympathy for John Feehery. He’s attacking Rush Limbaugh because he needs the money.
Feehery sold his soul to the MPAA and they fired him after the Democrats took over Congress. He needs to feed his family. For some people, political prostitution is no great leap — particularly when its a two client lobbyist who fancies himself a political strategist
But Feehery has a history of throwing his own under the bus to make a name for himself. He’s like Nicolle Wallace.
On October 25, 2008, he credited Bob Michel and Bob Dole with the Gingrich Revolution of 1994. I guess he is the only man in America who refers to 1994 as the Michel Revolution.
In the Washington Post he wrote:
Michel was a gracious leader, but to revolutionaries such as Gingrich and DeLay, he wasn’t ruthless enough to seize the majority.
History has proven Gingrich and DeLay absolutely right.
He also, in throwing Tom DeLay under the bus a while back, admitted to being a Republican apologist over Clinton’s impeachment.
Bill Clinton was impeached for three reasons: DeLay, Rudy and Scanlon. . . . My stomach wasn’t in this effort. I couldn’t match the energy of Rudy and Scanlon.
So what can we take from all of this? Well, he’s calling himself a “strategist” when in actuality he is a lobbyist — one with only two clients (NewsCorp and the Interactive Gaming Council).
Given all his handwringing about the icky Republicans and his current state of business affairs, we can more easily conclude he’s trying to build up his image as a bipartisan type of lobbyist to get business in Barack Obama’s post-partisan Washington than that he’s actually any sort of great strategic mind.
It’s just sad that one can get so low in their professional life that they must throw others in their party under the bus to get ahead. Attempting to speak for the GOP as a lobbyist with only two clients really is the height of hubris. It’s also a priceless reminder that the GOP establishment Bob Michel created — the one that embraces the permanent minority in exchange for scrap at the table — lives on.
I read his politico article
indym Monday, February 9th at 1:45PM EST (link)I agree that he and other republicans are trying to put food on the table during the Obama years. What they do not realize is that they will still need to put food on the table when the republicans come back.
There are two items on his post that I do agrre with though or at least is does deserve comment. I know there are a lot of Limbaugh fans on this site. And I believe that every person is entitled to his or her opinion, however I think that Limbaughs comments about race do not help the republican party or the conservative movement. Second, if we refer to every person that does not tow the conservative line as a RINO, then how do we win elections in California, Maine, Massachusetts and other states where conservative ideology may not be strong?
"California, Maine, Massachusetts and other states where conservative ideology may not be strong?"
Tbone Monday, February 9th at 2:23PM EST (link)Perhaps if conservative ideology was ever presented by the GOP in those states the GOP could win. Remember, California just rejected gay marriage. As long as RINOs are running those state GOPs the people will never have a chance to choose a GOP conservative.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
Well... we have
Neil Stevens Monday, February 9th at 2:45PM EST (link)Lungren… Simon… McClintock…
Until Roe is repealed, conservatives won’t win statewide here.
Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep making the effort, because to give up our principles at the top of the ticket will have ripple effects downticket where we can and do win seats.
Want to run for conservatives? Give.
There Is No Crisis
Burning Witches In Massachusetts
kowalski Monday, February 9th at 3:30PM EST (link)Both houses of the State Legislature are controlled by Democratic supermajorities. The State House has the largest (D) supermajority in the country. In terms of demographics, only about 15% of the population in MA are registered (R). So we’re outnumbered 7:1 on that score, and the ratio in the State House are even worse than that:
160 (D) :17(R) :2 (Empty) or 9.4:1
I’m not saying it’s impossible: people have fought longer odds than that and won. But it’s a heck of a challenge. It’s like Escape *into* Alcatraz. There are people who would make good candidates, but without some support, they won’t think about trying. Why? Because it could destroy their lives.
Remember, Massachusetts has a long and shameful history of burning witches. The vernacular of the phrase “wicked cool” is still a modern allusion to that practice. In this state right now, just being a Republican is enough to get people starting the fires.
I say: “Conservative ideology may not be strong” when applied to Massachusetts is probably the biggest weasel statement one could make.
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
But I do agree
kowalski Monday, February 9th at 3:37PM EST (link)But I do agree that the GOP should do more to support Republicans even here in MA. In fact, it is probably the only way Republican candidates can succeed here. If the GOP wants to see that happen in anyone’s lifetime, they have to help Republican candidates in this hostile territory. Otherwise it will just continue to be a sad story and a laughingstock.
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
Not the GOP, the state of MA
kowalski Monday, February 9th at 4:03PM EST (link)You know what I mean.
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
We need to change this thinking
tankertodd Monday, February 9th at 5:09PM EST (link)We need to recraft the party to become competitive in MA, ME, and CA by returning to principles. Even liberals want dollars spent wisely - just spent on their things. Even Democrats have socially conservative views. Even Democrats voted for Reagan. I think that’s why we keep citing Reagan - he won in 49 states! But recrafting the message is hard, and playing moderate is easy.
We tried the moderate route with McCain and failed. Moderates like Arlen Specter and the Maine Bobsy Twins failed us when we needed them most. Now is not the time for moderating our views (how can you be moderately for fiscal responsibility? Waste money on just some projects?!?). It is also time for a 50-state strategy. We can’t win with the South and West anymore.
Sounds hard but we can do it!
———————————
The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race - Chief Justice Roberts
They expect a permanent Democratic majority
civil_truth Monday, February 9th at 3:31PM EST (link)So they figure if they switch early - and especially help pile up the dirt over the Republican coffin - they will have their sinecures locked up. They don’t plan for the Republicans to come back. Course if they read their history, they know that fellow-travellers get sent first to the gulags.
And Rightly So!
More efficient use of money
Kyle-MI Monday, February 9th at 3:54PM EST (link)While I hate giving up on Republicans anywhere, Maine and Massachusetts are not efficient uses of campaign money. California is a bit of a close call. It is worth campaigning there for House seats. There is a lot more fertile ground in a lot of red states such as Montana, North and South Dakota, and Arkansas just to name a few that voted for McCain and yet have Democratic Senators. Yes, we still need some Republican Senators from blue states but there are states with much closer votes than MA and ME.
RINOs are purging themselves
Finrod Monday, February 9th at 2:23PM EST (link)What we have to do is purge them completely and make sure the message gets out that numbnuts like this fool Do Not Speak For The Republican Party, No Matter How Much They Say Otherwise.
If I had a chance to talk to Feehery in person, that’s what I’d ask him: who died and made you the Voice of the Republican Party, because you sure as h3|| don’t speak for me.
—
Finrod’s First Law of Bandwidth:
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it takes the bandwidth of ten thousand.
And we're getting their products of their purging all over our clothes
civil_truth Monday, February 9th at 3:53PM EST (link)And Rightly So!
In my opinion...
mikefisk Monday, February 9th at 3:40PM EST (link)…the problem with the GOP today doesn’t have as much to do with ideology or RINOs (I cringe when I hear that, thinking somebody will eventually tar me with that brush… then realize I’m not a Republican even in name, then go along with my day) as it does with something else exemplified in Feehery’s article…
…capitulation.
The Republican Party has a set of principles, and, if you listen to the Democrats, they supposedly stick steadfastly to them. Unless “surrender” is a principle, though, I’m not seeing it.
The GOP is supposed to be the party that stands for steadfast resolve against terror… yet can’t stand up to an obese, lisping Bostonian, leading the public to wonder how they are against al-Qaida.
The GOP is supposed to stand for resolute fiscal discipline… until the Democrats start whining and the leadership of the party says “you know, that’s not a bad idea”. The public clutches their wallets tightly.
The GOP is supposed to be the ally of small business… until the Democrats want to crowd out entrepreneurship and private enterprise with their latest statist snake oil, and then the opposition gets quiet. The business-owning public locks the doors and looks nervously out the peephole.
There’s a reason Democrats demonize what they do… they know what has worked against them in the past, and are insulating themselves accordingly. As a result, we’re left with two parties where their only real difference to the average person is the amount of zeal they show in dismantling the private sphere.
…and the public takes genuine zeal over forced zeal every time.
“Once within the maw of Leviathan, degree of digestion is irrelevant.” - Michael Fisk
7.88, -1.97
We are the RINOs.
Read Chesterton in New Improved Jersey Monday, February 9th at 4:02PM EST (link)That reveals the writer as commenting on show content not actually being a Limbaugh listener. These days, Limbaugh admits that, given GOP performance in the 2008 POTUS race, the actual “RINOs” may turn out to be the apparent conservative minority inside the beltway.
“Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister. We can be proud of her beauty, since we have the same father; but she has no authority over us; we have to admire, but not to imitate.” - G. K. Chesterton, “Orthodoxy,” Chapter VIII.
The Feehery Group...
Darvin_Dowdy Monday, February 9th at 7:18PM EST (link)…is a top DC lobbying firm. Don’t think he’s having any trouble feeding his family, Erick, but I do see where you’re going w/that. Because it is an act of desperation. You see one of the Feehery Group’s top clients is the U.S. Chamber. And Tom Donohue and the US Chamber, I’m sure, have never forgotten how Rush Limbaugh drove the long nails into the coffin of their pride/joy legislation McCain/Kennedy. This is all about getting their licks in. They’d like nothing better than to make silent the voices like Limbaugh, Ingraham, Hannity, Gallagher, etc who oppose them on keeping the border wide open and the flow of cheap labor uninterrupted.
As I’ve said in some posts on my little blog, for people like Feehery winning is “not” a priority. They can get along very nicely (and even prosper) in a democrat controlled administration. That is why it is so important to get a spotlight on these cock roaches and purge them from any (inside/outside) influential GOP position . Feehery gave us a little help by letting us know where the spotlight needed to shine. But there are many more like him who are more shrewd than to expose themselves like this. OPERATION LEPER! Darvin Dowdy
What is the plan
indym Monday, February 9th at 9:09PM EST (link)I responded earlier on this post because of a concern I have for the immediate future of the party. If we have no plan in place or do not make the effort to win in the northeast or west, then how do we become a majority party again or even win the white house? I am concerned that we are on the road to being irrelevant in national politics. We could only muster 36 votes today on the clousre vote. Congressional elections in 2010 do not look promising at this point. And the idea of purging the party just does not seem wise. Thats why I ask what is the plan? What is the plan to build the republican party for the 2010s and 2020s. How do we convince voters in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michiigan to vote for us when we do not support a stimulus plan that you know and I know won’t help in the long term but people believe is needed now. How do we convince younger voters who voted democratic two to one to turn to the republican party. How do we convince latinos, blacks, and other non-white groups to look to the republican party rather than the dems. How do we convince more women, yes even white women, who gave McCain a small edge in the last election to vote for our party.