“One day he is a conservative, the next a moderate, and another day he is the great compromiser. He has no core on economic issues.”
Lloyd Morton commenting on John McCain The Wall Street Journal
I don’t much like the Republican Party. Rather, I dislike the Republicans less than I dislike the Democrats, but not by much. I believe I’ve said before that the Republicans are really just “discount Democrats.” The only idea they seem to have is to do what the Democrats are proposing, but claiming they can do it for less money.
In many ways, the Republicans are worse than the Democrats. At least the Democrats want to raise taxes to pay for some of their crazy schemes. The Republicans, having no leadership and no way to out-vote the Democrats, agree to go along with them as long as the money comes from borrowing rather than raising taxes. This way, the Republicans can claim to be ‘fiscal conservatives’ when what they’ve really done is pass the cost of the latest congressional spending spree off on our children and grandchildren.
The country is at a critical juncture. The voters who put Obama into office are disgusted and disillusioned. Democratic presidential hopefuls already are salivating at the prospect of the 2012 Iowa caucus and the early primaries. Not since Lyndon Johnson has a sitting president been staring at humiliation and repudiation by his own party in the way Mr. Obama is right now. Johnson saw, as they say, the handwriting on the wall and chose not even to run for re-election. Obama isn’t that smart, but he’s in for a hell of a battle just to win his own party’s endorsement, much less get re-elected.
But, isn’t this story about John McCain?
Well, yes it is. McCain is the de facto leader of a leaderless party. He’s 73 years old, uninspired and uninspiring. For the first time since the Reagan era, the Republicans have a chance to offer meaningful alternatives to the usual Democratic palaver. But, to do so, they’re going to have to clean house. Get rid of the old guys and bring in some young blood—men and women who have embraced the Constitution and have viable ideas. And I’m not talking about vacuous beauty pageant winners.
McCain is already embroiled in what could be a tough primary, running against J.D. Hayworth, a much younger Republican who is articulate and opposed to big government. Hayworth also is taking a strong stand on illegal immigration. Like it or not, both of these issues are very much on the minds of voters in both parties. And voters in both parties are fed up with politicians who are “in favor of this or that” but on the other hand “are concerned about underlying issues” and “can’t overlook the contributions of this or that constituency” and “the importance of the safety net” and on and on. Politicians don’t even speak in rhetoric any more—just meaningless slogans.
John McCain can save the Republican Party from permanent irrelevance by calling all congressional Republicans over the age of 50 together and saying,
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am retiring from politics and I suggest you do the same. It is time for us to save the Republican Party, as well as our Republic, by turning the reigns of government over a younger generation. Our youth face increasingly bleak prospects and it is our fault—both Republicans and Democrats.
“Through our ineptitude and well-meaning but untutored intervention we have destroyed one of the best public education systems in the world. We have exported our children’s jobs to other countries, not so much because labor is cheaper overseas but because employers in much of the world don’t have to contend with the onerous requirements of OSHA, EPA, EEOC and the rest of the regulators we have empowered to watch over our dwindling production base.
“We are watching Europe decline because of inept immigration policies, low domestic birth rates, expensive social programs, excessive regulation, and government violations of basic rights of privacy. And what are we doing? We’re doing the same thing and somehow think we won’t wind up with the same problems.
Scott Brown and John McCain - To his credit, Senator McCain was one of the few Republicans to voice support for Brown and campaign for him.
“Our children are not fools, although we increasingly force them to live as if they were. Married, a house, a job, children by the time you’re 25? If any of you think those basic expectations of our generation are available for your children or grandchildren, you are woefully out of touch.
“Not only do we have 10% unemployment in this country; we have an additional 17% underemployment—mostly among those of our children who managed to survive our schools and still can’t find meaningful work.
“Our children are sick of watching us kowtow to senior citizens. Our children are sick of watching us spend their money. Our children are sick of living in their parents’ basements. That’s why they voted for Obama and his Hope and Change gang. As you can well imagine, they are now depressed, disillusioned, and disgusted beyond comprehension.
“It is time for the Republican party to repudiate the status quo. And we can best do so by stepping aside and handing a still-viable Republican Party over to a new generation with new ideas. We must do this soon. As did Ross Perot in the 90’s, the Tea Party is going to draw its support from the conservatives who should be part of our base. They are not part of our base right now because we have betrayed them at every turn in order to get re-elected and selfishly put the security of our jobs and our personal comforts ahead of our duties to the Republic.
“A few unemployed septuagenarian Republican politicians won’t make a blip in this country’s jobless numbers but it could do wonders for re-energizing the United States and particularly our young, who are going to spend a lot more time suffering or benefiting from our mistakes or strokes of brilliance than will we.
“It is time for us to step aside.”
“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans…”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 5:17 PM and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
It’s Time to Retire, John
“One day he is a conservative, the next a moderate, and another day he is the great compromiser. He has no core on economic issues.”
Lloyd Morton commenting on John McCain
The Wall Street Journal
I don’t much like the Republican Party. Rather, I dislike the Republicans less than I dislike the Democrats, but not by much. I believe I’ve said before that the Republicans are really just “discount Democrats.” The only idea they seem to have is to do what the Democrats are proposing, but claiming they can do it for less money.
In many ways, the Republicans are worse than the Democrats. At least the Democrats want to raise taxes to pay for some of their crazy schemes. The Republicans, having no leadership and no way to out-vote the Democrats, agree to go along with them as long as the money comes from borrowing rather than raising taxes. This way, the Republicans can claim to be ‘fiscal conservatives’ when what they’ve really done is pass the cost of the latest congressional spending spree off on our children and grandchildren.
But, isn’t this story about John McCain?
Well, yes it is. McCain is the de facto leader of a leaderless party. He’s 73 years old, uninspired and uninspiring. For the first time since the Reagan era, the Republicans have a chance to offer meaningful alternatives to the usual Democratic palaver. But, to do so, they’re going to have to clean house. Get rid of the old guys and bring in some young blood—men and women who have embraced the Constitution and have viable ideas. And I’m not talking about vacuous beauty pageant winners.
McCain is already embroiled in what could be a tough primary, running against J.D. Hayworth, a much younger Republican who is articulate and opposed to big government. Hayworth also is taking a strong stand on illegal immigration. Like it or not, both of these issues are very much on the minds of voters in both parties. And voters in both parties are fed up with politicians who are “in favor of this or that” but on the other hand “are concerned about underlying issues” and “can’t overlook the contributions of this or that constituency” and “the importance of the safety net” and on and on. Politicians don’t even speak in rhetoric any more—just meaningless slogans.
John McCain can save the Republican Party from permanent irrelevance by calling all congressional Republicans over the age of 50 together and saying,
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am retiring from politics and I suggest you do the same. It is time for us to save the Republican Party, as well as our Republic, by turning the reigns of government over a younger generation. Our youth face increasingly bleak prospects and it is our fault—both Republicans and Democrats.
“Through our ineptitude and well-meaning but untutored intervention we have destroyed one of the best public education systems in the world. We have exported our children’s jobs to other countries, not so much because labor is cheaper overseas but because employers in much of the world don’t have to contend with the onerous requirements of OSHA, EPA, EEOC and the rest of the regulators we have empowered to watch over our dwindling production base.
“We are watching Europe decline because of inept immigration policies, low domestic birth rates, expensive social programs, excessive regulation, and government violations of basic rights of privacy. And what are we doing? We’re doing the same thing and somehow think we won’t wind up with the same problems.
Scott Brown and John McCain - To his credit, Senator McCain was one of the few Republicans to voice support for Brown and campaign for him.
“Our children are not fools, although we increasingly force them to live as if they were. Married, a house, a job, children by the time you’re 25? If any of you think those basic expectations of our generation are available for your children or grandchildren, you are woefully out of touch.
“Not only do we have 10% unemployment in this country; we have an additional 17% underemployment—mostly among those of our children who managed to survive our schools and still can’t find meaningful work.
“Our children are sick of watching us kowtow to senior citizens. Our children are sick of watching us spend their money. Our children are sick of living in their parents’ basements. That’s why they voted for Obama and his Hope and Change gang. As you can well imagine, they are now depressed, disillusioned, and disgusted beyond comprehension.
“It is time for the Republican party to repudiate the status quo. And we can best do so by stepping aside and handing a still-viable Republican Party over to a new generation with new ideas. We must do this soon. As did Ross Perot in the 90’s, the Tea Party is going to draw its support from the conservatives who should be part of our base. They are not part of our base right now because we have betrayed them at every turn in order to get re-elected and selfishly put the security of our jobs and our personal comforts ahead of our duties to the Republic.
“A few unemployed septuagenarian Republican politicians won’t make a blip in this country’s jobless numbers but it could do wonders for re-energizing the United States and particularly our young, who are going to spend a lot more time suffering or benefiting from our mistakes or strokes of brilliance than will we.
“It is time for us to step aside.”
John F. Kennedy
Inaugural Speech
January 20, 1961
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 5:17 PM and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.