RoR: Forum

In light of this and other organization failures, Glenn Beck's informal campaign now is: "Defund the GOP".

I remember a debate between Mike Lee and Karl Rove (I think it was on Hannity several weeks ago) about whether the GOP should stick to its guns and keep its main campaign promise to the 2010 voters (who voted as a kind of a referendum against any nationalization/socialization of U.S. health care) -- even if it is not politically expedient to be fully keeping to that promise to those people who elected you. Rove argued that we should be doing what is expedient, because nothing can ever be accomplished -- if you cannot get yourself re-elected (so that "The Party" stays in power). Mike Lee argued the opposite point (and he did so, beautifully). That debate exemplified everything that is wrong with politics today in this country.

Ed

p.s., Just today, Hannity asked the question again (paraphrased): What does it mean to win elections, if you lose the country and our very future in the process?

(Edited by Ed Thompson on 11/06, 7:08pm)

Post 1

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - 8:56pm

There are some good people in Washington now. Mike Lee is one of my favorites. Smart, honest, hard-working, say what they mean, live up to their promises kind of people... the problem is that there are only a couple of dozen or so and it would take about 3 times that number to shift the balance.

We really don't even need a majority. Not if the media wasn't in the tank. If the media didn't slant, spin and hide the real news, the people would be seeing both sides of the argument and the good ideas would strike home, waking people up, and then the majority would follow like baby ducks.

Post 2

Thursday, November 7, 2013 - 12:37am

Politicians only scare me when they're doing stuff. The "Just do something!" crowd absolutely terrifies me. I'm not so concerned when they're just sitting with their thumbs up their asses. (I never thought I would ever use that expression).

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"If the media didn't slant, spin and hide the real news, the people would be seeing both sides of the argument and the good ideas would strike home, waking people up, and then the majority would follow like baby ducks."
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That's rather optimistic.

Am I the only one who thinks people in general only listen to certain news stations in order to reinforce their preconceived world views?

I can't be the only one...

Post 3

Thursday, November 7, 2013 - 3:43am

Kyle... "hope" was Obama's brainwash that you just described: Hope: "Actions to cause change, even if you don't try to predict the consequences." Federal Reserve financial interest in only having the media do their agenda... some are manipulated. Some are just have low ambition and are lazy and would rather steal than work.

Post 4

Monday, November 11, 2013 - 3:41am

Kyle, good points. See here on RoR:
Why Evidence is Not Enough:
"People accept or reject expert opinions based on their own prior assumptions. We know that "you cannot rationally argue a person out of a position they were not rationally argued into in the first place." ...
Generally, people rated authors as experts when the views coincided with their own.

Post 5

Monday, November 11, 2013 - 6:41am

Kyle:

Politicians only scare me when they're doing stuff.

For years after the '94 spanking, Congress was safely perseverating on the stains on Chubber's blue dress. That is, 'not doing stuff.'

The previous alternative had been Clinton's failed attempt to lurch the nation to the left with Nationalized Health Care (and his Stimuls Plan, and his/Gore's BTU Tax-- all of which he ran on in '92 as 'must haves' and all of which failed to pass.)

The immense relief exeperienced by American economies after the '94 spanking is what is known as 'The Miracle Clinton Economies' -- the last time American economies roared.

So, lots of folks must think like you(and I)do; politicians don't scare us when they aren't doing stuff, and we get on with the business of running the economies...

Bush/Obama have done the opposite after 9/11, have given us an activist, aggressive, largely inward facing federal government...and have achieved the opposite results.

Poliicians are 'doing stuff' these days...and the sad results show it.

regards,
Fred

Post 6

Monday, November 11, 2013 - 7:23am

Marotta wrote: "...you cannot rationally argue a person out of a position they were not rationally argued into in the first place." It was in quotes in his post and I'm not sure where it came from (hope it wasn't something I said). It is one of those things that has a clever ring of truth to it, but actually turns out to not be so. Think back to all of the positions we held, usually from an early age, formed out of something other than reason (Santa Claus, God, anarchy), and that we were 'argued' out of by appreciating someone else's reason. When you think on it, you'll see that that statement is really a veiled attack on choice... (as if reason could work without volition).

Post 7

Monday, November 11, 2013 - 7:34pm