Owner: Republican Renaissance URL:http://republicanrenaissance.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:18:38 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This is about changing the direction of the Republican Party. This is a call to true conservatives who feel their party has been led astray, steered by ambitious big-government politicians fundamentally indistinguishable from their counterparts on the lef Site statistics:Click here
"Not Just Another Politically Correct Panderer" 2007-12-24 03:23:00 The Vanishing American has some thoughtful observations on Ron Paul's appearance on Meet the Press and his position on immigration. Read more:Correct
Russert Phones it In 2007-12-23 12:48:00 I've watched and re-watched Tim Russert
's interview with Ron Paul this morning on Meet the Press (video here). Mine is a mixed reaction. On the one hand, I've seen Paul do better. Although his responses during the first part of the interview were very good, later on he seemed a bit rushed and defensive at times. Moments like the earmark exchange came off somewhat muddled. But overall I think he handled himself reasonably well.Russert's performance, on the other hand, was pretty consistently atrocious. The majority of the quotes he picked were from Paul's 1988 Libertarian campaign, which was odd. There are a lot of Republicans who, when quizzed about their vision of an ideal world, would talk about ending just about everything the federal government presently does. But these are philosophic positions, not part of Paul's current and quite pragmatic political platform. While it is important to provide background and get across a sense of where Paul is coming from, by relying so hea Read more:Phones
Mea Culpa 2008-02-24 21:56:55 Around the time the Super Tuesday primary results started rolling in it became clear to me that I needed a break. I'd dedicated myself pretty completely to the campaign for so many months, and finally ordinary, everyday life crashed the gates. Without going into detail, my priorities were forcibly shifted for a time. I apologize for my abrupt disappearance.I'm proud of the work I did during those months, and even prouder of all those whose hard work and commitment exceeded my own by orders of magnitude. There are too many people to name, but they know who they are. And everyone who helped just a little bit here and there formed the backbone of a heroic effort that has sent ripples through the waters of American political life.This is just the beginning...for the movement - and it is a mov
Clinton Conservatives, Go Home. 2008-01-15 01:20:13 Writes Vox Day: Now, it is true that some individuals are very liberal in their youth and become more conservative as they get older. But if one examines the "conservative" media, one notices a surprising number of individuals who were liberals and claim to be conservatives now, but still continue to advocate the same powerful and intrusive central government that they advocated in their liberal youth. And like young cuckoos and cowbirds, these parasites attempt to push the genuine intellectual heirs out of the nest, hence National Review founder William F. Buckley's attacks on Murray Rothbard and Joe Sobran, FrontPage's Ben Johnson's call for "modern conservatives" to repudiate Paul Craig Roberts, National Review's David Frum's call for "a conservatism of the future" to turn its back on P Read more:Clinton
, Conservatives
Fascist Mitt 2008-01-15 00:02:45 Think it's hyperbole?Marc Ambinder quotes Romney:"First, we have to tackle the problems head on. If I am your President, in my first 100 days, I will roll up my sleeves, and I will personally bring together industry, labor, Congressional and state leaders to develop a plan to rebuild America's automotive leadership. It will be one that works for Michigan and that works for the American taxpayers." [emphasis added]Uh...can anybody say, Corporativismo? Jonah, can we get a ruling on this?(Hat tip: Laura Ebke)
No title 2008-01-14 23:13:44 More resented, more distrusted, more despised.A reasonable barometer of sympathy for terrorism among moderate Arabs? Yes, I think so.
What's Wrong with the GOP 2008-01-14 22:25:51 Mark Shea says it: "[C]onservatism as prostitution to the power of Leviathan."My frustration with many rank-and-file conservatives stems from what I see as their affection for power...not that they wish to wield it themselves necessarily, as liberals do, but they are warm to its existence and ready to compromise themselves in defense of its exertion by those with whom they identify.It's why "strength" is the magic word of nearly every Republican campaign.(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan) Read more:Wrong
Apocalypse Soon 2008-01-12 01:41:25 Not NOW, but very soon. We are in deep trouble and only one candidate has the guts to talk about it. Glenn Beck reveals who that candidate is during the course of his conversation with the Comptroller General:What's funny about all this, in a most tragic, ironic way, is that the old goals of the communists are finally coming close to fruition. In 1938 J.B. Matthews wrote an autobiography he called Odyssey of a Fellow Traveler, in which he reported on his comrades' new strategy after their grandiose dreams of proletarian revolution in America had dissolved. The capitalist system of production, they perceived, might be sabotaged indirectly by method ofplacing upon that system burdens of restrictive legislation and enervating taxation. These ends would, it is hoped, be achieved by the slogans Read more:Apocalypse
"I Want This Man For President." 2008-01-11 21:33:21 Over at NRO Derb responds to Andrew Sullivan's remarks about Ron Paul yesterday.Just so. Furthermore, I doubt Paul has ever been any different. I had a most interesting email yesterday from a friend in Texas. My friend's father was a slightly-cranky far-rightist who'd corresponded with Paul in the early 1980s. He'd send Paul one of his letters (my friend has preserved them) ranting about something or other. Paul would send a polite letter back, calmly agreeing with the bits he agreed with (limited government, Constitution) and pointedly ignoring the nuttier bits. Letters that were all nuttiness got no response from Paul.That's our man. He's a rock. And if you're crazy, he's fine with it.You can b-s in the sound bites, but you can't b-s for a full 65 minutes of questioning. Sit through this Read more:President
Ron Paul's Best Debate Performance Yet? 2008-01-11 04:40:26 I think it was, far and away. Giuliani's vulturine giggle and McCain's frozen shield of a smirk could not have been more repulsive, nor more revealing of an ignorance determined to find a consensus.Paul's intelligent answers shone through all the rubbish.Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8Part 7 was probably his most outstanding moment. Read more:Debate
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Sticking It Out 2008-01-11 03:15:55 Immediately following the disappointing result in New Hampshire, I had begun a post lamenting the fact that Ron Paul didn't get the 3rd place finish that I felt was the minimum he needed in order to generate the buzz of a major upset and go on to be a factor in this year's Republican primaries. My mood was dark.Then I saw this:Be change. It doesn't start anywhere else.
Republican vs. Conservative 2008-01-11 01:04:07 It seems as if both parties—Republican
s and Democrats—are now squarely located in the center. The welfare-warfare state is simply accepted, unquestioningly, by the leadership of both parties. At this stage the question must be asked: are Republicans conservatives anymore? David Hill has doubts:Republicans, as a whole, are not as conservative as they once were. Research results I am seeing suggest to me that this is key to why the rules are changing. Conservatives no longer benefit from the domination they once enjoyed.So does Bruce Ramsey of the Seattle Times, who observes:Recently I met a general who had served over there, and I asked him why we had started a war with Iraq. He paused, dropped his voice, and made me promise not to quote him. Then he only hinted at an answer, which see
The Paleo-Neo Divide 2008-01-07 21:53:05 American Conservative Magazine with a good article on the rift.On one side: John Derbyshire, Pat Buchanan, Andrew Sullivan, Joseph Sobran, George Will, and Tucker Carlson.On the other: William Kristol, Norman/John Podhoretz, Michael Medved, David Frum, Michael Ledeen, and Michelle Malkin.Is that a difficult choice? Read more:Divide
McCain's 100-Year War 2008-01-07 16:03:04 This may be old news already, but McCain
's blithe answer to the question of how long we should stay in Iraq is so outrageously absurd that it defies belief:"Make it a 100 years," he says. And here's the kicker: according to McCain, our presence will diminish al-Qaeda's influence and recruitment!What planet is he living on? He doesn't seem able to understand that you cannot solve a political problem with military force, and that is frightening. He even invokes Korea in his answer, just as I knew he would. He really believes that the U.S. military is a stabilizing force in the Middle East. McCain may deserve respect for some things, but his foreign policy views are not among them.
One Candidate Gets It. Not McCain. 2008-01-07 16:01:37 Ron Paul:"John McCain
's statement in favor of keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years or longer puts him out of sync with the majority of Americans, who want our troops to come home. Further, his comments recklessly put America at risk as such a statement will likely serve as a recruiting tool for Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, who appeal to radicals and incite violence against Americans by claiming that the US desires to occupy the Middle East indefinitely."McCain is an old Cold-Warrior who seems to think that we're facing down something akin to the Soviet empire, and all we have to do is stand firm at the front and not blink. He is in la-la land. What will happen is exactly what Paul describes above. With Pakistan teetering on the brink and Saudi Arabia at risk of an Islamic revolution sometime in Read more:Candidate
Oh What a Tangled Web Some Weave 2008-01-06 22:52:46 The New York Times does a nice job of exposing a few (just a few) of the lies and half-truths that so many of the candidates routinely drop. "In Debate Clashes, Accuracy Takes a Hit".I've said it before...the number one political issue must always be honesty. If you can't trust the person to be straight with you, none of the rest matters. Read more:Tangled
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Radical Ignorance on Radical Islam 2008-01-06 16:42:47 The ABC News GOP debate in New Hampsire produced a serious exchange on foreign policy (transcript). The candidates were asked whether they would continue the Bush policy of nation-building and attempting to spread democracy throughout the world.REP. PAUL: Well, I certainly agreed with his foreign policy that he ran on and that we as Republicans won in the year 2000 -- you know, the humble foreign policy, no nation-building, don't be the policeman of the world. And we were strongly critical of the policy of the Clinton administration, that did the opposite. And we fell short. Of course, the excuse is that 9/11 changed everything, but the Bush doctrine of preemptive war is not a minor change. This is huge. This is the first time we as a nation accept as our policy that we start the wars. I d Read more:Radical
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Will Bushism March On? 2008-01-05 23:13:28 McCain is the equivalent of Bush the First. Huckabee and Romney are Bush the Second. Read more:March
Last Iowa Ruminations 2008-01-05 04:03:42 The more I think about it the more heartened I am by Ron Paul's 10% in the land of corn and mammoth super churches. Iowans tend to care most about two things: religiosity and handshaking. The candidates that fare best in Iowa are those who publicly converse with God and exercise "retail politics". Ron Paul had the fewest visits to Iowa (27) of any candidate except Duncan Hunter (data here). I wish it weren't the case, as more palm pressing might have yielded better caucus results, but then again, maybe not. I trust the campaign knows where his scarce time is best allocated. Perhaps they sensed diminishing returns in the breadbasket. New Hampshire, on the other hand, is a no-brainer. A straight primary vote in a state with a penchant for liberty and contrarians.If this is indeed a change e
Thoughts on Iowa 2008-01-04 14:04:03 My prediction that Ron Paul would come in third was not born out, but he didn't miss by much. He garnered a respectable 10%, which, for that kind of candidate to accomplish in a state like Iowa isn't bad and is a good deal better than the mainstream media have ever given him credit for. It was a strong finish within an unfavorable framework and I have to believe that he will break upward by a substantial margin in New Hampshire.And of course, beating Giuliani so soundly does make one smile.Thompson and McCain supporters surprised me tonight, I'll admit it. I do not, however, believe for a moment that Fred can go the distance. For one thing, he's out of money and not likely to get much more. Whether he hangs on by his fingernails or throws in the towel tomorrow is of no real import. McCain,
Ron Paul Wins Independents 2008-01-04 01:08:23 Andrew Sullivan points out that these are the people you need on your side to win a national election. The Christian evangelical base can make you shine in Iowa as it did for Pat Robertson in 1988, but it cannot deliver a general election. A much, MUCH broader coalition is needed for that, and (forgive the pun) Huckabee hasn't got a prayer. Read more:Ron Paul
Reason and Ron Paul 2008-01-03 23:30:09 Reason magazine's Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie acquits Dr. Paul very well in this short interview.Nobody has been able to explain to me just how, precisely, Iran—or Pakistan—is a threat to the continental United States. Vague accusations are all I ever hear.We've had over fifty years now of incessant global interventionism and it has blown up in our faces time and time again. If you believe it makes us safer, read Another Century of War? by Gabriel Kolko for the whole sordid history of our Middle East meddling. The rise of al Qaeda and other militant Islamists was an inevitable outcome, and not just because we supported them in the Afghan-Soviet war. How Bill O'Reilly can convince himself that more of the same will bring a different result is senselessness personified. Read more:Ron Paul
, Reason
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