I've been blogging at Townhall since August of 2006.  At the beginning it was a lot of fun and we had a community that exchanged ideas and the discussions were productive and interesting. 

When I began, I considered myself a conservative.  I realize now that I am not a conservative as defined by many on Townhall, who claim to be "Conservative not Republican."

I believe that the Republican Party is the only hope that America has in a two party system.  I believe that in order to accomplish our goals we have to win elections.  Letting Democrats win is not the way to advance our principles. 

I've left a few of my favorite blogs up, which exemplify the ongoing fight that I had with "Conservatives not Republicans." 

Blogging now about the Democrat Party and Obama is a pretty useless exercise.  It won't change our current situation.  Everyone knew what the Democrats would be like when they gained control of everything...yet we let it happen. 

I wish that I could say that I have hope that things can change, but I can't.  The rift between conservatives and the GOP is only getting wider. 

For now, there is nothing left to say.

SLW    

Something has gone very wrong with our culture. We no longer accept the fact that accidents and tragedies happen, that people die everyday. The reaction to everything now is: How do we fix this? What did the government do wrong? Who can we sue? Who is to blame?

Our culture used to be one that looked to God in times of trouble. Now we look to government. If there is a shooting somewhere, guns must be the problem and they must be banned. If there is a reckless driver, it’s the SUV’s fault and they must be outlawed. If people are fat, it’s the food industry’s fault, and it must be regulated. A bridge collapses and government must raise taxes. A mine caves in and the mining industry must be re-examined. A few people entered into risky mortgages, so the government must step in and bail them out.

 

Has Government become the modern day "Tower of Babble?" Has man become so powerful that he can control everything, including the climate? One wonders when God will say, enough is enough. One wonders what it will take to bring this nation back to her knees to once again become the nation of "In God We Trust."

SLW

 

Liberals and conservatives are at war with our President.  The Democrats are trying to dismantle everything that the President has put in place to fight terrorism and keep this country safe.  Senator Leahy on “Meet the Press” this morning said that he will continue to issue subpoenas to the White House concerning the firings of several Attorney’s General and Bush’s terrorist surveillance program.  The Democrat controlled Congress is doing everything in it's power to discredit our Commander in Chief and his administration.     

Talk radio began it’s war on the President prior to the 2006 elections, and now is declaring  victory in the stunning defeat of the President’s immigration reform bill, which the White House claims was needed to enhance it’s fight against terrorism.

America is slowly returning to the pre 9/11 mentality.  It is ironic that the very President that both conservatives and liberals are constantly deriding, has kept the country safe since the surprise attacks that killed close to 3,000 Americans nearly 6 years ago.  As Charles Krauthammer has said, the Bush Administration is the victim of it's own success.    

The people fighting the President don’t trust the administration even though it has performed heroically to protect it’s citizens from another attack.  The events in London over the last two days should be a wake up call.  Unfortunately, after watching the Sunday Talk Shows today, America is too comfortable to realize the dangers ahead.   Michael Chertoff, the director of Homeland Security, made brief appearances on a couple of the shows, but that was about it.  

Meanwhile, our enemies are watching.  They see us losing our will.  They see us fighting each other.  They see us letting our guard down.  They see us turning against our own President.  And they prepare...  

SLW

 

 

I watched this great movie made in 1935 a couple of nights ago. I had never seen it all the way through.

It is the story of a young idealistic man (played by Jimmy Stewart) who is the President of a local Young Boys Association and hometown hero, who gets selected by a group of corrupt politicians to go to Washington as a Senator to fill the seat of one of " their own" who had died. The town supports him wholeheartedly and they give him a hero’s send off.

Once in Washington, Mr. Smith is overwhelmed by the history of the place, and after visiting the Lincoln monument, he decides that he is going to make a difference. When he goes to the Senate floor for the first time he can barely walk or speak because he is so nervous and in awe. The other Senators make fun of him due to his lack of sophistication.

Undaunted, he convinces his secretary to help him author a Senate Bill. It is to build a Boy’s Club for young boys to attend and learn the values of their country and the need to serve her. Little does he know that his bill conflicts with the plans of the corrupt leaders who are planning to build a dam at the same location, on land that they own, and thus profit from the deal.

They try to dissuade Mr. Smith from his Bill but when they realize they can’t, they accuse him of doing exactly what they are doing and pronounce him unfit to serve in the Senate. They have the entire media on their side which puts articles in the newspapers with lies about him.

When Mr. Smith goes before the Committee, false evidence is produced along with expert witnesses claiming that he owns the land and has introduced the Bill for his own profit. He has no defense against the lies, except that the people in his hometown know the truth. So he decides to filibuster long enough to get the word out through a local paper that the kids from his Boy’s Association operate.

The thugs from Washington send in their intimidators, the newspapers with the truth are confiscated, the young boys are beaten up, and the word never gets out. After hours of filibustering Mr. Smith is about to collapse when hundreds of letters arrive from his hometown. He opens one after another and they are all against him.  His body gives out as he drops to the floor.

The story has a happy ending because one of the corrupt Senators finally has a conscience and tells the truth.

While watching this movie I couldn’t help but think of the situation in Washington today and how there is no happy ending.

I see Mr. Smith as the Republican Party.  After 40 years of corruption and control by the Democrats, they finally win control of the House and the Senate. The newly elected Congressmen and Senators arrive in Washington with the idealism that Mr. Smith had along with his naivety and trust.   They begin attempting to make changes to the entrenched system.

The Democrats have their own corrupt President in power who is breaking the law and lying, but they accuse the Republican leaders of lying and cheating. The corrupt minority party has the entire media on their side and the people "back home" the base, turn against their own party and one by one their leaders drop. 

With only a slim majority a newly elected Republican President arrives in town full of idealism and hope.  He's considered a hick from Texas and is not a smooth talker.  Washington makes fun of him because he thinks he can get something done by establishing a "new tone" there.   

It doesn’t take long for the Democrats and the entire media to begin accusing him of lying and corruption. The very people that had defended the corruption of the Democrat President now accuse him of doing the exact same things.  He can't seem to get his message out and finally after the beating from the entire media the people "back home," upset that he can't get anything done, turn on him too. 

The result is that the corrupt party that had controlled Washington for forty years is returned to power by the voters.  Now they can continue to attack and impede Mr. Bush for the next two years and claim that "this man who came to Washington" has accomplished nothing.  I somehow don't think that one of them will develop a consciense.

The End.

SLW

On Laura Ingraham's show today, she referenced Joseph Bottum's article in the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page, "The Conservative Case Against Bush" in which he argues that social conservatism has suffered under President Bush.  He says:  "Bush’s heart is in the right place, but he can’t seem to do anything right."

Buttom argues: "By the end of the day the media mostly won and the Republicans mostly lost. Social conservatism is in little better shape now than it was when Bush was first elected. In many ways, it is much worse."

Mr. Bottum concludes: "Again and again, he has done the right thing in the wrong way, until at last his wrongness has overwhelmed his rightness."  

He then asks:  "How can conservatives continue to support this man in much of anything he tries to do?  Iraq is not America's failure and it's not conservatism's failure.  We are where we are because of George W. Bush's failure."

I would like to propose to Mr. Bottum that the reason the "media" won and Republicans mostly lost is that people like him have been telling the country for years that Bush is a failure.  

Mr. Bottum, Laura Ingraham and many others in the conservative media, in their desire to destroy President Bush, are destroying the Republican Party.  Their hearts are in the wrong place because they can't see anything right in our President.   

SLW

Bottum’s thesis can be found at: http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature?id=110009778

He had waited many years for his dream home. Finally, after saving and searching, he was moving in. His excitement was such that in his mind his life would be perfect from now on.

Several years passed and even though there were problems with the house at times, he remained content living there.  Then one day he decided to build a wall around his property. That would finally make everything perfect. 

He became obsessed with the idea of the wall. After finding the perfect design he began building it. Day and night he worked. When a section was finished, he would decide that it needed to be taller or wider, and would set out to correct the problem. The wall needed to be absolutely perfect.

He spent years at the task. He thought of nothing else, and except for sleeping a few hours each night, the remainder of his time was consumed with the wall.

One day it was finally finished. He stood admiring it for hours. He walked every inch of it making sure that it had no weak spots. Now he could go back in his house and be happy.

Just as he was about to turn to go in, there was a loud sound behind him. To his utter dismay his house was crumbling to the ground.

In his preoccupation with the wall he hadn’t realized that termites had gotten into the foundation of his beautiful home and were slowly eating it away.

SLW

 

Yesterday when I was watching the funeral services for President Ford at the Cathedral in Washington, I couldn’t help but think "where was all this praise while Ford was alive?" 

Anyone hearing the eulogies would ask the question, "Why was this beloved President never elected to the Office? Why was he so abused by the media?  Answer: He was a Republican.

The job of an American Republican President is thankless. While he is in office he is ridiculed mercilessly by the Media and the caricature created by the media follows him until death.

President Ford was an athlete and in great physical shape, yet he had the misfortune of being caught by the cameras, falling down on several occasions. Chevy Chase became a star playing this clumsy, stumbling President, and that is what most people remember about Ford. 

President Reagan was portrayed as a lightweight mentally and an old man who kept falling asleep during cabinet meetings. When he courageously told the nation about his Alzheimer’s disease after leaving office, the Media claimed that he had been afflicted during his presidency.  Not until his death was he given any respect by the Press for the very intelligent man that he was. 

President Bush I, is the man that didn’t get Saddam and his son "W," is the man who did get Saddam. Both things are bad, according to the Media. And of course there is the "bungling of the English language" by both of them.  The father, born with a "silver foot in his mouth" and the son, portrayed more than dumb.  He only got into Yale because of the "silver foot."    

Yet, sitting there at the Funeral were the two most respected living American Presidents, Carter and Clinton, the darlings of the Media. They are praised and admired by the entire world! They won’t have to die before receiving their accolades.

SLW

 

 

A couple of years ago Rush was talking about how Bush was in the process of beating the Democrats at their own game and that they would be in the minority for a long time. El Rushbo would jokingly say, "we can’t get rid of all of them, we need a few to remind us of who they are."

So, what went wrong?

When Bush became Governor of Texas by beating a popular Democrat incumbent, Ann Richards, he worked with the Democrats to get his agenda accomplished. Then when he was re- elected he brought in Republican majorities in the House and Senate. In the election in Texas last week we held the Governorship, the House and the Senate. Texas is still solidly red, thanks to Bush.

Why didn’t this happen in Washington? I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that the conservative media, Fox News, talk radio, conservative pundits and many conservative blogs were partially responsible for the losses that the Republican Party incurred.

Let me explain. We now know that the MSM is an arm of the Democrat party. They don’t even try to hide it anymore. The assault that they undertook on this president via books, movies, news reports and so on., never stopped. There was a brief intermission on and after 9/11, but of course that didn’t last.

On our side, the media tries to be " fair and balanced." The Conservative spokesmen feel that they need to criticize the President and Republicans in order to prove that they are not biased. Another problem is that the conservative media has to play to it's audience, the conservative base. The country at large is right of center, but not right of right.

During the last year leading up to the election, the only topics of conversation on the radio, the blogs, by conservative writers and talking heads, was everything that they thought Bush was doing wrong.  It started with the Harriet Miers nomination, then the Ports issue and finally immigration. There was no willingness on the part of the conservative media to compromise. It was their way or the highway. (They finally realized what was happening and changed course for the last couple of months before the election, but it was too late.)

 

When Bush’s poll numbers started tanking, the "cowardly" congressmen and senators pulled away from Bush’s agenda and began distancing themselves from him. I believe that if they had followed Bush’s lead and pushed for social security reform, immigration reform, led the way to more tax cuts, supported the war and Donald Rumsfeld, that they could not have been beaten.

I am currently reading many blogs and commentaries that opine that we did not get our message out. I think we did. The message was that we will not support our President and the Republicans if they do not do everything exactly the way we want it done.  No compromise any time, any place. 

The voters got the message.
 
SLW

Some Republicans are touting the non importance of the upcoming elections. They claim that it won’t matter if Republicans stay home and don’t vote, in fact it might be a good thing.

The argument goes something like this. If the Democrats regain control in November, it will teach the Republicans a lesson and our Party will then become stronger. The loss of majorities for our party will force the Republicans to be more conservative. The Democrats won’t have much power because their majorities will be small and Bush will be there with his veto pen and will finally have a chance to use it.

Many analogies are being used to support this position or to debunk it. Football analogies seem to be among the favorites. Therefore let me try my own. I apologize if it has already been used by someone.

Let’s say that my football team has won every game of the season, but they have made mistakes and haven’t played up to my expectations. We are down to the final game and I decide that they don’t deserve to win, so I don’t care if the game ends in a tie or if they lose. I will even go so far as to sit with the other team’s fans and root for them. I think that everyone would agree that this would be ridiculous.

I pray that my fellow Republicans who are thinking this way might reconsider the folly of such an approach. Losing is never winning. Loss of momentum can be crucial. This could be the most important election in our history.

If the Democrats gain control and begin investigations of the Bush administration we will lose focus on the war on terror and the Democrats, with the MSM or their side, will have momentum in the 2008 elections.  Then we could get another Jimmy Carter. If we don't stay on offense against the terrorists, they might well deploy a WMD on our soil.

Could we survive that?

SLW