seven prominent conservatives hope Dems win in Nov 2006

[Hamlette]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0610.forum.html

From Joe Scarborough:
When The Washington Monthly reached me at my office recently, a voice on the other side of the line meekly asked if I would ever consider writing an article supporting the radical proposition that Republicans should get their brains beaten in this fall.

“Count me in!” was my chipper response. I also seem to remember muttering something about preferring an assortment of Bourbon Street hookers running the Southern Baptist Convention to having this lot of Republicans controlling America’s checkbook for the next two years.

Maybe that’s because right-wing, knuckle-dragging Republicans like myself took over Congress in 1994 promising to balance the budget and limit Washington’s power. We were a nasty breed and had no problem blaming Bill and Hillary Clinton for everything from the exploding federal deficit to male pattern baldness. I suspected then, as I do now, that Hillary Clinton herself had something to do with “Love, American Style” and “Joanie Loves Chachi.” And why not blame her? Back then, Newt Gingrich felt comfortable blaming the drowning of two little children on Democratic values. Hell. It was 1994. It just seemed like the thing to do.

From Christopher Buckley
Who knew, in 2000, that “compassionate conservatism” meant bigger government, unrestricted government spending, government intrusion in personal matters, government ineptitude, and cronyism in disaster relief? Who knew, in 2000, that the only bill the president would veto, six years later, would be one on funding stem-cell research?

A more accurate term for Mr. Bush’s political philosophy might be incontinent conservatism.

On Capitol Hill, a Republican Senate and House are now distinguished by—or perhaps even synonymous with—earmarks, the K Street Project, Randy Cunningham (bandit, 12 o’clock high!), Sen. Ted Stevens’s $250-million Bridge to Nowhere, Jack Abramoff (Who? Never heard of him), and a Senate Majority Leader who declared, after conducting his own medical evaluation via videotape, that he knew every bit as much about the medical condition of Terry Schiavo as her own doctors and husband. Who knew that conservatism means barging into someone’s hospital room like Dr. Frankenstein with defibrillator paddles? In what chapter of Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom or Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind is that principle enunciated?
Despite the failures, one had the sense that the party at least knew in its heart of hearts that these were failures, either of principle or execution. Today one has no sense, aside from a slight lowering of the swagger-mometer, that the president or the Republican Congress is in the least bit chastened by their debacles.

George Tenet’s WMD “slam-dunk,” Vice President Cheney’s “we will be greeted as liberators,” Don Rumsfeld’s avidity to promulgate a minimalist military doctrine, together with the tidy theories of a group who call themselves “neo-conservative” (not one of whom, to my knowledge, has ever worn a military uniform), have thus far: de-stabilized the Middle East; alienated the world community from the United States; empowered North Korea, Iran, and Syria; unleashed sectarian carnage in Iraq among tribes who have been cutting each others’ throats for over a thousand years; cost the lives of 2,600 Americans, and the limbs, eyes, organs, spinal cords of another 15,000—with no end in sight. But not to worry: Democracy is on the march in the Middle East. Just ask Hamas. And the neocons—bright people, all—are now clamoring, “On to Tehran!”


and five more at link....

[warrens]

1. Wow

Confessions of a Hillary Hater? Too little, way too late, but gratifying.

I would add 2008 to that question. Until we take the White House, just controlling the house will never be enough. Of course, Smirk has fucked up this country beyond belief, and the only way to save it is to end those tax cuts, and then let's see what Joe has to say.

[eccles12]

14. Only because the shit is so bad they don't want to be held accountable

for it in anyway. They all know that it will only get worse and they want a chance to jump all over the Dems when they are in charge.

[struggle4progress]

29. !

[Rosemary2205]

33. Amen

[tblue37]

18. I want a Dem in the WH so bad.

First, to protect us against more fascist SC appointments and federal bench appointments, but second, because I want Repubs to tremble in their boots at the thought that a Dem could use the powers they grabbed for dimson.

[electropop]

2. Holy crap, they're eating their own.

It's going to be a GOP funeral this fall.

[Synnical]

3. That's some interesting reading

They seem to be mostly annoyed at the big spending and big government. Thanks for posting this.

K&R

[TwentyFive]

31. But also "intrude on their private lives" style government.

I guess letting the fundies into the party gave them more than they bargained for.

Let the repugs suffer come November...

[Sherman A1]

4. Interesting?

But one wonders just how much is smoke and mirrors?

[Disturbed]

9. Most "real" Conservatives do not believe that the Busholini

Regime are "real" Conservatives. Certainly, Libertarians are opposed to the Busholini Regime. Liberarians consider themselves to be "the real" Conservatives. When one reads the tenets of Conservatives, they indeed do not line up with the Busholini Regime.

[stevebreeze]

27. when conservatism fails they somehow find out it's liberalism in disguise

because in their shallow little minds it could not be their failed policy.

[Telly Savalas]

28. But "real" conservatives that want Somalia-style small government

are just as dangerous.

[liberaldemocrat7]

32. Libertarians do not appear too good to me.

The fundies will throw the poor under the bus and so would the libertarians.

[JHB]

5. What a bunch of sad sacks

"What happened to my party?" "Big Government Republicans"? "long for the days when Marxists ran the White House"? Richard F***ing Viguerie?! Whine, whine, whine.

This is YOUR BABY, chumps. YOU blended its gene pool, YOU birthed and raised it, YOU'RE the ones who taught it its values. If it's too damn ugly for you, then how's about you take a good hard look in a mirror!

[B Calm]

6. Republicans are finally waking up & realizing the GOP is not conservative

What the hell took them so long?

[Skittles]

36. here is a bit tip

REAL CONSERVATIVES SUCK TOO

[renate]

7. people with conservative friends on their e-mail list

...should send this link to every single one they know.

I worry sometimes that many Republican voters, the ones who are so busy working to pay the bills or driving the kids to soccer that they don't have time to watch the news, read Op-Ed articles, etc, haven't gotten the memo that ... psst... it's okay for real, hard-core, lifelong Republicans to not vote along party lines any more.

[Tigress DEM]

8. Yes, Conservatives prefer the light of day ...

to the brown-dreary "head-up-the-rethughlican-ass-machine" too.

Welcome to the light, boys!

[liberal N proud]

10. They know that 2 more years of Republican rule will destroy their party

Completely

[rodeodance]

11. big talkers, but WILL they actually vote Dem?--I doubt it.

[DinahMoeHum]

12. Be sure you read between the lines in these vignettes. . .

some of these folks are hedging their bets, hoping that if/when the Dems take the House and/or Senate, they'll push so hard for impeachment hearings that things will backfire on them, and the 'Pukes will win again in 2008:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0610.bartlett.html

(snip)
...I believe that loss of one or both houses will strengthen the Republican Party going into 2008... , Democrats may well be placed under so much pressure from their left-wing fringe that they’ll be forced into politically self-destructive acts such as trying to impeach President Bush. Every Republican I know thinks Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are the best things they have going for them. Giving these inept leaders higher profiles would be a gift to conservatives everywhere.
(snip)

Just beware, these Republican snakes still have a few fangs left.

:kick:

[Cameron27]

13. Might have more than conservatism on their minds

I'd love to listen to these guys talking with their friends in private. The goofy lunacy of GWB must be tossed around almost as much as it gets posted here.

[ElboRuum]

15. Not Impressed With Their Missives...

Not one whit.

Every one of them echoes the same sentiment:

We like the asylum we created, our mistake was letting the inmates run it.

Are these not the same shitheads that looked at a Republican controlled government as though manna was falling from heaven? Oh, what, Rethugnican Booster Squad? All of a sudden you figured out why the FFs made it so hard for one party to control everything? Now you need our help to stop the bleeding and help the GOP realize its true "Promised Lane"? Oh. Poor baby.

I detect nothing but a will to power. Still partisan. Still consumed with politics, not policy. And absolutely NO INTEREST IN PUBLIC SERVICE.

Republicans, even those so-called moderate Republicans we're looking at (like there IS such a thing anymore, if there ever was), don't see anything wrong with being anti-progressive or anti-liberal. How are they effectively any different than Bush? How can you have "come to your senses" when you still embrace untenable political, social, foreign policy, and economic philosophies shown through empirical evidence to be morally and intellectually bankrupt or bereft of any palpable benefit? How can you now have "seen the light" when your only real complaint is the behavior, not the politics?

Look, if it helps progressives get elected, fine, use it. But with these jackoffs, come 2008, you're going to find them turning on us. They practically said they would.

The scorpions need a ride across the lake on our political backs. Do we count on them this time to not sting us halfway across? Or do we wise up and realize that a scorpion cannot be anything but a scorpion?

[JHB]

20. Bingo! You have it exactly, ElboRuum...

...with one exception: these aren't "so-called moderate Republicans", they're hard-core "New Deal=Communism" nut-job activists.

Case in point: Richard Viguerie was a pioneer in using computerized direct-mailing lists for fundraising (political and religious), and can be considered the father of the hyperbolic, "push their hot buttons" scare-em fundraising letter, and helped set up a number of organizations that built the conservative coalition, including convincing Jerry Falwell to start the Moral Majority.

No "moderate" there: he's one of the architects of what we have now. But now that Chim-Chim has fouled the nest, he's willing to let Democrats catch the flack for making the hard decisions to clean things up, and then slither back in.

[Iowa]

22. Well said ElboRuum!

They are working to distance themselves from the bumbling Busholinis so that their beloved and failed ideology can live to see another day. When they come out and repudiate the idiotic ideology they have championed all these years (instead of trying to blame its miserable failure on the manner of implementation)... that'll get my attention. Until then, they can STFU. This is just one more attempt to resuscitate the dying beast.

Their view of the world is diametrically opposed to ours. They aren't coming around to our way of thinking.

[BrklynLiberal]

25. Brilliant!!!!!!! Absolutely brilliant!!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[tech3149]

16. I've only read the first article but here's my response to it.

To whoever reads this,

I enjoyed reading Mr Buckley's article because it exposed the level of "buyers remorse" being experienced by those that consider themselves conservatives. I know how painful it is to believe in someone and find out you've been punked. I am not writing to gloat, but rather to point out one irritating error. The Eisenhower administration had military "advisor's" in Indo-China well before the end of his administration. As a child in the 50's, I remember seeing it presented in graphic novels and if it reached those outlets for the juvenile mind, I'm sure it reached a significant percentage of those more mature through the corporate media. There are a few of us that still have a memory that exceeds the 24hr news cycle. I hope you will consider noting this error in Mr. Buckley's article to remind those with a less functional memory.


It may be an insignificant error to point out, but I think it points out our militaristic foreign policy. I probably should have gone further and compared the experiences of France in Algeria and Britain and the Ottoman empire.

[UTUSN]

17. They know what a mess they've made & don't want to clean it up n/t

[NastyDiaper]

19. I think they want Dems to change Bush's poopy diaper for 2 years.

I recall Billy Krystal saying something along those linms a few mos back.

Otherwise, i can't figure it out.

[AntiFascist]

21. It's about time this is happening....

I'm all for two (or more) party government, but Republicans have to realize that the Bush people are allied with the most corrupt, criminal, and mafia-like elements throughout the world, and the fact that they are using radical right-wing Christianity in their promotion of War should only make their cause all the more condemnable. Props to those Republicans who are beginning to understand this.

[Marie26]

23. The conservatives & fascists part ways. nt

[illinoisprogressive]

24. These are conservatives one can sit and have a discussion with

I don't gloat over the fact that these guys have a heavy heart. It is sad to belong to a party that has veered dangerously off course and the country are the ones who have to pay for it.
I respect people who have a view different from my own if they are thoughtful, not name calling or using wornout 70s expressions or come off in a full blown rage.
I would like to talk with a reasonable conservative like these guys and ask some questions.
Like the spending. The dems do better with the checkbook. Why do they use 70s discriptions of democrats. Why do they think Pelosi is so evil. Why are they so angry and foaming at the mouth. Where did the idea of the Democrats as "the enemy" come from. Why have an enemy? Why can't they see we are all human beings who have a different view on the best way of governement and policy.
I'd like to know why, if the democrats outnumber the republicans 3 to 1 in vets, do they posture, strut and accuse us of being cowards? That we hate this country and are "hippies" (do those even exist anymore?), ect.
I'm just curious why they seem to believe the Rush talking points and don't sit and think about stuff and have an open dialoge. Why they rage at the left.

[Straight Shooter]

34. Those are good questions.

But to answer them would require honesty. You won't find that in a Repub. They always have a hidden agenda lurking behind their ostensible spoken agenda.

[civildisoBDence]

26. YeeeeeeeeeeeeeeHAW!

Add Bill Buckley, Pat Buchanan, and George Will, all of whom are increasingly willing to condemn the compassionless conservatism of DUHbya.

Add Senators Snowe, Hagel, Graham, and Chafee, though we can't expect them to speak too loudly.

Add Merkel, Putin, and most of the world's leaders outside of Great Britain.

Impeach, impeach, impeach!

Newsprism

[VP505]

30. "seven prominent conservatives hope Dem's win in Nov 2006"

Sure they do, they can't wait for the Dem's to take all the heat for everything that they have screwed up in all the years they have had control.

[Skittles]

35. oh gawd

"Who knew, in 2000, that “compassionate conservatism” meant bigger government, unrestricted government spending, government intrusion in personal matters, government ineptitude, and cronyism in disaster relief? Who knew, in 2000, that the only bill the president would veto, six years later, would be one on funding stem-cell research?"

I DID....WE DID.....A LOT OF US F***ING KNEW IT.

[Amonester]

44. Yes we did. But they all refused to listen to us (still do) because...

...they love to name-call us the "left fringe" or other untrue insults. They always refuse to listen to our views because they're scared sh*tless they would be benifiting all people instead of just a few of their "Treasury-Looting Personages"...

[samsingh]

37. just imagine how bad it really is underneath the covers

[Warren DeMontague]

38. That's why I say the way to WIN is to take strong socially libertarian

positions:

Try to split the Libertarian wing of the GOP off from the Far Right God Goons who have taken over the party. Stand up strong for choice, the right of gays to marry, the right of the terminally ill to a dignified exit of their own choosing, the right of pain patients to compassionate pain management. Take strong, bold stands. Call for an end to the drug war, or at least a scaling back of the $40 billion a year we spend aimed mostly at keeping people from smoking pot. Call for an end to an Iraq quagmire that, we can remind the fiscal conservatives, has cost us $300 Billion already.

Learn the lesson of Terri Schiavo that the GOP wouldn't, or couldn't: There is a strong small-l libertarian streak in the voting populace. In "independents" and folks who don't normally vote, and in part of the Republican Party as well.

The way to LOSE? Pander to the "left behind" creationist Fundy gang-- people who won't vote for us anyway. Alienate the base by soft-pedaling our commitment to choice, gay rights, the separation of church and state. Try, lamely, to out neo-con the neo-cons, when most Americans are opposed to the war in Iraq.

[cyclezealot]

39. The country is just beyond hope.

The Repugs have ruined the country for years to come. The problem is American elections do not reflect the countries' will. Gerrymandering of districts will skew elections, no matter how strong the rejection of the Repugs are. Democratic votes for all congressional seats might significantly be greater, but at best Democrats will hold tenous majorities in Congress.
Should a Democrat win the presidency next time, COnservative Democrats and Repugs will stop tax increases.
The country will find it immpossible to balance it's books and only economic ruin will cause it's people to demand change. Only then will the lessons of Reagonomics be learned.

[Norrin Radd]

40. Whatever the cons want to call themselves this week, or

splinter or differentiate themselves from, they are still all scum.

[cyclezealot]

41. what the cons are doing

they know they have become so corrupted, they want a chance to mudsling at Democrats in charge and do to newly empowerd Democrats , what they did to Bill Clinton. Don't worry Scaife will be gearing up to slander the next batch of Democrats; and Democrats are so clueless, Scaife will get away with his slander.

[Norrin Radd]

42. That's the one thing I worry about, that they'll amp up their raving

and lies, the sort that started in Clinton's era, such as Limbaugh and his ilk, to the nth degree, and no one will be mentally prepared to fight it. Though we do have higher speed web, now, to counter all of their nonsensical blather and smears.

[cyclezealot]

43. heck. they are at it before Dem's are in power.

Posted here at DU two days ago. Repugs are amping up their dirt diggers for a fall smear campaign against likely Democratic Senatorial winners. The RNC has been sending out places like Ohio against the likes of Sherrod Brown. They are said to be loaded with lies against Brown and others. The attack ads are to start in October.
The story was posted here originating from the Washington Post, two days ago. They know they can't win on the isses( except fear mongering) so here comes the dirt.
Scumbags, thinking Americans will overlook Abrahomof and buy their line of horse crap. Will they?

[VP505]

45. We know at least

thirty some percent will, the core Bu$h supporters and apologists that believe anything and everything that shrub and his cronies tell them. I just hope the Democratic leadership realizes how few people the reich wing has to convince to get control back. It would be a disaster if they allow themselves to become as sleazy and crass as the repukes. Accountability, high standards and a clear agenda with the kind of results that will shatter the stereotypes and negative way the repukes have defined liberals and Democrats for so long will be an absolute necessity, let's hope they are up for it cause it's gonna be tough.

[sendero]

46. Heretical views follow...

... I've been thinking more and more about the coming election, and 2008. I'm at peace with whatever happens. Why? Because things are so far gone at this point, if we had Dem control of the senate, house and executive - we could not fix them in any reasonable timeframe, say 4-8 years (election cycles).

I'm becoming more and more of the opinion that we'd be better off letting the Republicans have it long enough that by the time they're really done, in say 2012, they will be out of power for decades the damage will be so apparent and there being nobody to blame.

If we get control now, there is nothing we can really do to quickly undo the damage and the Republicans will successfully blame us for most of it because, well, Americans are just not that tuned in to reality.

It's possible that the economy will already be sucking so much wind in 2008 that Americans will have turned around, but the timing is iffy. It might take another year or two for the full disaster of Republican policies to be evident.


So - I'm happy if Dems win, but if they don't it's merely political capital in the bank. We WILL get to spend it someday, and it is earning interest every month.

[libertarianseeker]

47. Deja Vu

Oddly Sendero,
I remember feeling the same way after the Herbert Bush administration. Clinton must be nuts, I thought, to want to take over this mess. I remember that after he won, the Repuke flacks like Rush started blaming him for problems before he even took office! Then during Gore v Bush,the lesser, they were arguing about how to spend Clinton's budget surplus.

A similar feeling of mine is about Iraq. Just like after Vietnam, when the US inevitably pulls out in defeat, the defeat will be blamed on the war's critics. Sometimes it's enough to bring you down.

[VP505]

48. I agree with the concept,

but I am not too sure that this country could take another 6 years of Repuke control. One of the MOST important issues is the Supreme Court, if Bu$h or a Repuke successor and the NEOCON's can appoint 2 more Judges for those lifetime seats, well let your imagination run wild as to where they will take this country. It won't be something I would want to have to live through, that is probably the biggest reason to fight so hard to put an end to their control of everything.

[Tiggeroshii]

49. If they really want to change they need to start supporting Dems all over

..By, at least, officially announcing their ndorsement fo them and-at most, appearing with them at rallies, bringing thousands of conservatives with them...and millions of conservatives to the polls voting for Democratic candidates. So far, they are still sort of whispering this. My hopes involve their whispers turning to cries.