Republican RenaissanceRepublican RenaissanceThis 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 th Articles
Mea Culpa
2008-02-25 04:27:00 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 movement - as well as for me personally. I will continue to explore outlets to express my point of view and even have some larger-scale things in mind. In the meantime, I'm thrilled to bear witness...
Clinton Conservatives, Go Home.
2008-01-15 08:16:00 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 Patrick Buchanan, Robert Novak, Llewellyn Rockwell, Samuel Francis, Thomas Fleming, Scott McConnell, Justin Raimondo, Joe Sobran, Charley Reese, Jude Wanniski, Eric Margolis and Taki Theodoraco... More About: Home , Conservatives , Clinton , Linton
Fascist Mitt
2008-01-15 06:34:00 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) More About: Mitt
More
2008-01-15 05:58:00 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
2008-01-13 20:58:00 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 possess or apply 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) More About: Wrong
"I Want This Man For President."
2008-01-12 04:21:00 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 (noting, in passing, that the mean IQ of the audience is around 140), then tell me if you can that Ron Paul wasn't the straightest arrow on the stage last night. I want this man for pres... More About: President
Ron Paul's Best Debate Performance Yet?
2008-01-11 11:02:00 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. More About: Performance , Debate
Sticking It Out
2008-01-11 10:02:00 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.
Apocalypse Soon
2008-01-11 08:05:00 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 of social security, unprecedented sums for relief of every sort, until the collapse of the currency and the drain upon production induced a major crisis in the working of the economy. Meanwhile ... More About: Apocalypse
Republican vs. Conservative
2008-01-11 07:51:00 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. Conservative s 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 seemed to be that we invaded Iraq because George W. Bush wanted to.What is the matter with Republicans that they get us into wars like this? Rarely does war achieve conservative ends. It pokes holes in th...
The Paleo-Neo Divide
2008-01-08 03:15:00 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? More About: Paleo
One Candidate Gets It. Not McCain.
2008-01-07 22:32:00 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 the near future, an arrogant comment like McCain's is just about the stupidest and most reckless thing a presidential candidate could say. He might as well get himself a poking stick and dare t... More About: Candidate
Oh What a Tangled Web Some Weave
2008-01-07 05:44:00 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. More About: Tangled , Weave
McCain's 100-Year War
2008-01-07 00:14:00 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 militarily, 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. More About: Year
Radical Ignorance on Radical Islam
2008-01-06 09:15:00 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 don't understand this. And that all options are on the table to go after Iran? This -- this is not -- this is not necessary. These are third-world nations. They're not capable. But I think it's ... More About: Islam , Radical Islam , Ignorance , Radical
Will Bushism March On?
2008-01-06 03:44:00 McCain is the equivalent of Bush the First. Huckabee and Romney are Bush the Second. More About: March
Last Iowa Ruminations
2008-01-05 07:25:00 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. Iowa ns 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 election, as the pundits keep crowing, those looking for real change have a giant clue staring them in the face. There is only one candidate the establishment fears. If Fox News is deliberately tr...
Thoughts on Iowa
2008-01-04 07:23:00 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, also broke, will have his ability to go on determined soon in New Hampshire.All in all, the Iowa caucus doesn't seem particularly meaningful. The Hucka-Romney duo strikes me as just so much R... More About: Thoughts
Jonah Goldberg States the Obvious
2008-01-04 06:32:00 "It's ultimately kind of sad that the controversial person in the race is Ron Paul rather than Huckabee."(Interview) More About: Goldberg , Obvious , States , Berg
Ron Paul Wins Independents
2008-01-04 06:20:00 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. More About: Ron Paul , Independents , Paul , Wins
Reason and Ron Paul
2008-01-04 05:18:00 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. More About: Ron Paul , Reason
The Real Ron Paul Youth
2008-01-02 21:36:00 The New Republic gives the most truthful report of Ron Paul 's youth following. More About: Youth , Real
The Fox Campaign of Sabotage
2008-01-02 05:24:00 Yep, it's an outrage, says Josh Marshall of TPM. The fact that the excluded (and $20-million rich) Ron Paul is polling twice as high as the invited (and bankrupt) Fred Thompson highlights the lengths to which Fox News Opinion is willing to go to destroy any serious challenge to the status quo. It's a disgusting display of venality and degeneracy.The ABC News criteria for inclusion makes much more sense, as Andrew Sullivan has already pointed out, and Ron Paul easily meets that threshold.For my part, I will never in my life watch another Fox program. I also intend to boycott their sponsors unless the network reconsiders, and will be spending the next day or two telling them so. More About: Campaign , Sabotage
Ron Paul Will Finish Third or Higher
2008-01-02 04:20:00 Paul should easily capture third place in Iowa.Look at the results of the Iowa Republican straw poll in August:(1) Romney(2) Huckabee(3) Brownback(4) Tancredo(5) Paul(6) Tommy Thompson(7) Fred Thompson(8) Giuliani(9) Hunter(10) McCainPaul placed fifth at a time when his official campaign had virtually no prior presence in the state. Since that day in August the Paul campaign has been in high gear in Iowa (under the organizational stewardship of Dr. Drew Ivers, a veteran of Iowa GOP politics), and his profile has risen dramatically.Two of the candidates who finished ahead of him at the straw poll have since dropped out. Many former Brownback supporters are evangelicals who have likely found a home with Huckabee. Tancredo voters will have dispersed more evenly, though they will surely stay away from Giuliani and McCain. Fred Thompson's campaign has dropped like a cartoon anvil, while the Giuliani and McCain campaigns are very obviously DOA. Most eligible voters do not caucus, which m... More About: Ron Paul , Paul , Higher , Finish , Nish
"Nothing to See Here"
2007-12-31 23:35:00 Thomas Woods writes:Making my way through the Mises Institute's Bastiat collection, I came across this: the state, according to Bastiat, "applies itself to loading everybody's brain with prejudices, and everybody's heart with sentiments favorable to the spirit of disorder, war, and hatred; so that, when a doctrine of order, peace, and comity presents itself, it is in vain that it has clearness and truth on its side; it cannot gain admittance."Ah, Bastiat. Were he alive today he would no doubt shake his head in amazement at the extent of collusion between the state's political establishment and partisan corporate media outlets like Fox News Opinion, which thrive on disorder and prejudice. When the usual tools of indoctrination begin to break down, more direct measures are taken by the court ministers.It's not enough that they put the despicable and fact-challenged John Kasich on TV to scoff at any mention of Ron Paul's name (Memo: "Oh come on," is not an argument). Now the gat...
No to Celebrity, Yes to Authenticity
2007-12-31 09:09:00 Another gem from Raimondo, who explains it so well. We don't need another telegenic Republican: I'd settle for an intelligent Republican, and in this I sense I'm not alone. ... It's precisely because he isn't in the least bit telegenic that Paul has motivated many thousands to get active in his campaign at some level?because of the power of Paul's ideas. More than that, the Ron Paul Revolutionaries are taking a clear position against the politics of celebrity, with its over-coiffed over-coached candidates and complete absence of authenticity. More About: Celebrity , Authenticity , Then
Crisis and Leviathan
2007-12-31 08:12:00 Justin Raimondo describes the next great folly which looms?aka, "Doing Something About Pakistan":The reality is that the panicked atmosphere surrounding this issue is completely bogus: the Pakistanis are getting their act together, and the country is not falling into chaos. The hopped-up hysterics of our media during a very slow news cycle is closely tied up with their inherent bias in favor of yet another manufactured "crisis," which puts pressure on political candidates to respond with what is thought to be appropriate assertiveness."Well, then," David Shuster demanded of Ron Paul, during a television interview shortly after the assassination, "what would you do, what action would you take?" Action without thought of the consequences: that's the problem with the formulation of foreign policy in Western democracies ? too much action and too little thought, when "doing something" is only apt to turn a crisis into a catastrophe. That, unfortunately, is how a politically driven forei... More About: Leviathan , Crisis
President of the World?
2007-12-28 21:52:00 Ross Douthat at The Atlantic gets it:Yesterday's tragedy, which leaves the Bush Administration's delicate plans for stabilizing to Pakistan in fragments, will prompt at least some voters to view America's attempts at managing the affairs of complex, chaotic, and far-off nations - places about which even the McCains and Bidens of the D.C. community presumably know relatively little - not as a hard duty that requires toughness and experience, but as a folly to be avoided."How candidates respond" to Bhutto's assassination, JPod suggests, should determine their fitness for the Oval Office. Well, all the leading contenders have responded, and all of them have dodged, in one fashion or another, any strategic question about where U.S. policy should go from here, beyond platitudinous references to supporting democracy and opposing terror. Not that I blame them: Our Pakistan problem is a vexatious question, ill-suited to being addressed in sound bites and press releases. But it's precis... More About: World , President , The World
Bhutto Predicted U.S. Foreign Policy Blowback
More articles from this author:2007-12-28 05:56:00 As other candidates rush to make political hay from Benazir Bhutto 's assassination, and hyper-sensitive Jingoists pound out doltish and unreflective headlines like "Ron Paul Blames America Again!", an all too familiar story is unfolding in Pakistan. Chaos and unintended consequences.Ron Paul saw it coming, and so did the former Prime Minister. Bhutto herself has said almost exactly what Ron Paul said today (and has been saying for a very long time). From her recent interview:What would you like to tell President Bush? I ask this riddle of a woman.She would tell him, she replies, that propping up Musharraf?s government, which is infested with radical Islamists, is only hastening disaster. "I would say, 'Your policy of supporting dictatorship is breaking up my country.' I now think al-Qaeda can be marching on Islamabad in two to four years."And in a speech given this August before the Council on Foreign Relations, she addressed the blowback from a decades-old policy of support exte... More About: Policy , Foreign Policy , Hutto 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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