Redstate

Posted at 9:20am on May 17, 2008 MI Morning Update: MI House Dems Wrong on PBA - McCain, GOP Heavyweights Make Splash at NRA

By saul anuzis

171 Days until Election Day

May 17, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

WHY TAXPAYERS ARE LOSING…the Democrats' strategy is very simple…if you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can usually count on Paul’s support.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS…ENDORSED BY RTL… The rights of the unborn were blatantly ignored by House Democrats again today as they allowed the heinous and unethical partial birth abortion procedure to continue in Michigan. Speaker Pro-Tem Mike Sak gaveled down and refused to hear arguments on seven amendments to ban partial birth abortion.

Posted in huckabee | McCain | Michigan Republican Party | NRA | Partial-Birth Abortion | Republicans | Romney | Saul Anuzis — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:00pm on May 16, 2008 Stop The Funeral

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Not to be catatonically sanguine about the fate of the GOP, but however much I agree with the general tenor of this piece by Peggy Noonan, there is something unsettling about its "we're all gonna die!" tone. If I had a nickel for every time a political party had been pronounced as having shuffled off its mortal coil . . . well . . . let's just say that I might finally be in a position to turn my beloved Bears into serious Super Bowl contenders. In the meantime, let's remember that political tides shift and change rather rapidly and today's near-extinct party has an interesting tendency to become tomorrow's sociopolitical dynamo.

Again, this is not to say that the GOP does not have very real problems. It does. The brand needs serious reworking, morale on the Hill and throughout the party in general needs a boost of major proportions and the leadership needs to be changed. But even at their weakest, major political parties have vast amounts of reserve strength and energy that allows them to wait out the bad times. Sure, there are parties that go the way of the dinosaur, but these are rather rare events. More often than not, remarkable comebacks are the story of the day.

And yes, Republicans will actually have to work for that comeback. The good news for the GOP, however, is that contra what might be gleaned from some pundits, that work--if done right and diligently--will likely not be in vain.

Posted in Republicans | The Future Of The GOP — Comments (48)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:56am on May 16, 2008 Colbert, rednecks, and gun control

By iconoclast

I read a lot of content here, but I don't post much because, frankly, I'm not as savvy about political issues as most of you folks here are.

However, after watching Colbert's recent satire on anti-gun control activism, I feel the need to make a comment.

I'm tired of hearing weak arguments against gun control that portray the Republican party as a bunch of hicks constantly wanting to relive the days of the Wild West. I think that, on most issues, Republicans make very good arguments to support their claims. Which is why I am a Republican. As far as gun control goes, though, I have long been very disappointed.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:26am on May 16, 2008 Peggy Noonan's Pity Party

By Steve Foley

In her latest column, out today at the WSJ , Peggy dives into the problems currently coursing their way through the Republican Party and although it reads in true Noonan fashion of doom and gloom, she is once again right on the money.

The Democrats aren't the ones falling apart, the Republicans are. The Democrats can see daylight ahead. For all their fractious fighting, they're finally resolving their central drama. Hillary Clinton will leave, and Barack Obama will deliver a stirring acceptance speech. Then hand-to-hand in the general, where they see their guy triumphing. You see it when you talk to them: They're busy being born.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (46) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:56am on May 16, 2008 MI Morning Update: MI GOP Convention Date Set - New Russian Amb. a Michigan Native - Show Support for Cuba Pol. Prisoners

By saul anuzis

MORNING UPDATE:

A TAXPAYER…WHO VOTES FOR A DEMOCRAT…is like a chicken that votes for Colonel Saunders. Which part don’t they get?

STATE CONVENTION…ONE DAY ONLY…AUGUST 23…we will hold our state convention all on one day, Saturday August 23rd. We nominate state board, U of M, MSU, WSU board seats and re-nominate Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor.

NEW AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA…MICHIGAN NATIVE…Muskegon native John Beyrle (BY'-er-lee), who has been the U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria since 2005, has been nominated by President Bush to become the next U.S. ambassador to Russia.

Posted in Convention | Cuba | Michigan Republican Party | Republicans | Russian Ambassador | Saul Anuzis — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:31pm on May 15, 2008 Fred Is Back!

By patriotroom

Photo from Arkansas Journal

Townhall signed him up and he's going to be writing regular posts. If we are going to have to suffer the indignities of a McCain presidency, or worse . . . , Fred's crisp, clear, conservative message may inspire the faithful just when we need it most. His inaugural post.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (46) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:27pm on May 15, 2008 Specifically WHICH "hyper-partisan" Elected Republicans Was McCain Referring To?

By Tim Schieferecke

I want someone to tell me exactly which elected Republicans Senator McCain referred to as being hyper-partisan? Maybe I was the only one who noticed this glaring little inaccuracy in his Columbus speech, but I want to know.

Like others here, I am a political junky. As such, I am unaware of any "hyper-partisan" elected Republican. Whereas there are a precious few Republicans that stand up and do what's right, most of what I see are a bunch of scared little elephants that are much too meek to tell the donkeys stepping on their trunks to please move their hyper-partisan leftist hooves. What I see are a plethora of cowards too afraid to shoot a single duck that the left provides on a daily basis. We should, and still could be killing these libs politically for what they are doing to America.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (78) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:13pm on May 15, 2008 Fawlty Cons & McCain - Just Don't Mention The War

By streetwise

Some conservatives are simply - Fawlty

We need a simple rule of thumb to analyze dysfunction on RS and other like-minded sites. IMO, when the conversation turns to a dissection of the various strands of conservatism, in enough detail to put a Russian novel to shame, dysfunction is at hand. When advocates of certain strands insist on their way or the highway in a critical national election, we have moved from dysfunction to lunacy.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:52am on May 15, 2008 Tom Davis: Bush Too Conservative On Spending. Yeah, That's The Problem.

Why Congressional Republicans May Soon Be Added To The Endangered Species List

By Dan McLaughlin

With the latest setback in a House special election, Virginia's Tom Davis - who formerly headed the NRCC - has the long knives out for current head Tom Cole. But his diagnosis of the problem seems more a symptom than a cure:

Rep. Tom Davis stomped on the concrete floor of the Capitol basement when asked by reporters about Republican fortunes at the moment.

"This is the floor," he said, by way of explanation. "We're below the floor."

Inside the meeting, Davis had just presented his colleagues with what he said was a 20-page memo outlining his prescription for a way out of this mess. He did not offer details to the press, yet did not spare the party and the president scathing criticism in his public comments.

"The president swallows the microphone every time he opens his mouth," Davis said.

He believes Bush's staunch opposition to the Democratic housing bill and the SCHIP bill, for example, is hurting rank and file. Look at yesterday's vote on [stopping the purchase of oil for] the SPRO [the federal oil reserve], where Republicans defied the president in droves. Lo and behold, the White House says today that it will not veto the bill.

Today is also the day when the House takes up the farm bill, which the president has promised to veto. It's expected that this will become the second veto of Bush's administration to be overridden -- though the farm bill has more of a parochial dynamic than the national political one.

H/T.

Now, as it turns out, when you go to Davis' actual memo, a copy of which is available through the Weekly Standard, he has a mixed bag of suggestions, some good and some not so good. But the long-time moderate Davis will have a hard time selling skeptical conservatives on his suggestions if the first thing out of his mouth is that the GOP shouldn't be fighting the few battles where it has truly stuck its neck out for fiscal responsibility.

Read On...

Posted in Cleaning House | Republicans | tom davis — Comments (14)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:46am on May 15, 2008 RedState Endorses Barack Obama As President!

By BigGator5

Not really, but it seems that this site has turned a sharp anti-McCain and this kind of rhetoric can only help Barack Obama become President.

Currently, the line of thought is the blame moderates for the corruption and out of control spending in congress within the Republican Party.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (33) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:12pm on May 14, 2008 Are there any winners here?

By Hooah Mac

I've had enough. I can listen to the nonsense no longer. We are on the brink of disaster. This is a plea for us all to step away from the ledge.

We are on the brink of disaster, but we have not yet fallen into the yawning chasm of socialism before us. I am tired of hearing the whining, complaining and finger pointing. What I'd like to see is some problem solving and maybe even a little common sense and intelligence applied to the problem.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (10) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:09pm on May 14, 2008 Observing the Death of our Party

By Marcus Traianus

In 1858 Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in Springfield Illinois with words that rang immortal. His famous “House Divided” speech was of course about the important issue of slavery which threatened our precious union. It was out of this chaos and the need for a new beginning which the Republican Party was born; think about that for a few moments and humor me with your patience.

One of the most fitting "House Divided" sentences providing apt metaphorical representation of our party’s present day conundrum is the following; “I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." On reflection, that is perhaps a fitting party epitaph? Nevertheless, let’s move on.

Cogitate or philosophize on the aforementioned in its entirety if you will for a few seconds to gain some additional perspective. Please include in your intellectual review the loss of our majority, a failure to fight increased spending, increased federalism, judicial activism, immigration, potential entitlement disaster and abuse of power. That’s certainly a “big tent” isn’t it?

Please read on

Posted in Republicans — Comments (92) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:52am on May 14, 2008 Why you lost/why you are losing

By jonb

To the Republican leadership:

Why are you losing?

You have no core. You have no conviction for conservative principles. You have no backbone to stand up for proper governance.

When in the majority, you governed like Democrats – thoroughly irresponsible spending and opportunistic voting gimmicks rather than having real conviction about those “hot topic” issues raised every election year. You were exposed as the utter hypocrites many of you are. Your central theme in 2006 was: VOTE AGAINST THE DEMS – THEY’RE WORSE THAN US!!! Thoroughly uninspiring. Maddening.

Posted in Republicans — Comments (8) / Email this page » / Read More »