Life Goes On...
11/08/06 12:00 *UPDATE*
Y'know...it actually doesn't taste as bad as I thought it would this morning....although Rumsfeld's resignation is seasoning I didn't see coming. Wouldn't want to get used to this diet, though.
Congratulations to the Democrats. I may be eating crow this morning for breakfast; but after I wash it down with a nice glass of bourbon, I'm back in the fight!
Upward and onward...
~END UPDATE~
No, I did not follow the Election every step of the way, thank goodness. I know a lot of my fellow conservative voters are disappointed, as am I.
Lieberman will be an interesting Congressman to watch for. On every major issue, beyond the war on terror, Joe Lieberman's voting record is liberal. If this Election was all about President Bush and a referendum on the Iraq War, how is it that Joementum carried Lieberman through to victory? Especially since the reason given by the moveon.org Democrats is that the former vice presidential candidate for their party was tarred, feathered, and shown the door on account of his staunch support of President Bush when it came to the War on Terror. I'd be curious to know what percentage of his supporters are Democrats and what percentage Republicans.
Yesterday in the Washington Post, Michael Kinsley (who is not a conservative writer) wrote a column discussing the House Democrats 31 page manifesto, "A New Direction for America".
It's late. Getting back to the Election and in closing this post, the words of Dean Barnett echoes some of my own feelings:
Y'know...it actually doesn't taste as bad as I thought it would this morning....although Rumsfeld's resignation is seasoning I didn't see coming. Wouldn't want to get used to this diet, though.Congratulations to the Democrats. I may be eating crow this morning for breakfast; but after I wash it down with a nice glass of bourbon, I'm back in the fight!
Upward and onward...
~END UPDATE~
No, I did not follow the Election every step of the way, thank goodness. I know a lot of my fellow conservative voters are disappointed, as am I.
Lieberman will be an interesting Congressman to watch for. On every major issue, beyond the war on terror, Joe Lieberman's voting record is liberal. If this Election was all about President Bush and a referendum on the Iraq War, how is it that Joementum carried Lieberman through to victory? Especially since the reason given by the moveon.org Democrats is that the former vice presidential candidate for their party was tarred, feathered, and shown the door on account of his staunch support of President Bush when it came to the War on Terror. I'd be curious to know what percentage of his supporters are Democrats and what percentage Republicans.
Yesterday in the Washington Post, Michael Kinsley (who is not a conservative writer) wrote a column discussing the House Democrats 31 page manifesto, "A New Direction for America".
But in the entire document there is not one explicit revenue-raiser to balance the many specific and enormous new spending programs and tax credits.With Democrats controlling the House, what does this mean for America? Will President Bush and Congress be able to work together in the best interest of our country? Or will nothing get accomplished? President Bush is serious when it comes to the war on terror. Will Democrats get serious? What does it take to get America to wake up and see how crucial it is, that we succeed in Iraq? Many in our military seem to "get it". Why doesn't the liberal establishment in the media? Does the press understand war and the role they play in it? Have we learned nothing but all the wrong lessons from Vietnam? The terrorists certainly know history, and how what they cannot win militarily, they can win through the media.
Competence, of course, brings us back to Iraq. Apparently and unfortunately, President Bush is right that the Democrats have no "plan for victory." (Neither does he, of course. Nor, for that matter, do I. But I don't claim to have one. And I didn't start it.) For national security in general, the Democrats' plan is so according-to-type that you cringe with embarrassment: It's mostly about new cash benefits for veterans. Regarding Iraq specifically, the Democrats' plan has two parts. First, they want Iraqis to take on "primary responsibility for securing and governing their country." Then they want "responsible redeployment" (great euphemism) of American forces.
Older readers may recognize this formula. It's Vietnamization -- the Nixon-Kissinger plan for extracting us from a previous mistake. But Vietnamization was not a plan for victory. It was a plan for what was called "peace with honor" and is now known as "defeat."
Maybe "A New Direction for America" is just a campaign document -- although it seems to have had no effect at all on the campaign. My fear is that the House Democrats might try to use it as a basis for governing.
It's late. Getting back to the Election and in closing this post, the words of Dean Barnett echoes some of my own feelings:
Let's be sure to comport ourselves with dignity and class right now. No shrieks of foulplay, no whining. There's no crying in politics, at least not in public. Let's remember what we want to do more than anything else - better our country. Sore loser antics won't help, and neither will slagging on our countrymen for not seeing things the way we did. We didn't make the sale, and that falls on us.
Losing is part of politics. Part of the Republican Party has forgotten that the past six years. Although it might be hard to see tonight, we can be a better party and a better country because of this setback.
posted by The WordSmith from Nantucket at 11/07/2006 11:23:00 PM
17 Comments:
It seems we have a lot to digest and discover in the next couple years... has the Democratic party come back to its roots of truly having conservative members and values, and being tough on national security, or have the party liberals perfected the chameleon compaign?
"President Bush is serious when it comes to the war on terror. Will Democrats get serious?"
I'd suggest that all reasonable Americans understand there is a problem to be dealt with in terrorism. No one doesn't "get it."
It's just that a majority of voting Americans have apparently lost faith in the Republicans to effectively deal with this and other problems. We want to deal with terrorism but we wish to do so in another way, as we believe the Bush approach has failed.
Don't hate your fellow Americans for having a different opinion than you do.
I wonder if Bush et al will see this as a referendum on his approach to "the war on terror" (TM) and choose a more humble route and see what ideas the Dems have, or if there will be a combative approach.
Let's see what happens now...
I don't understand comments such as the one Dan just left, Wordsmith. President Bush tried to work with the Democrats, but they didn't want any part of it.
Excellent post and attitude, btw. Yes, I am disappointed, but I'm happy we kept the Senate. Now, like you said, we will see.
We want to deal with terrorism but we wish to do so in another way, as we believe the Bush approach has failed.
Dan...an even stronger minority would ever want to deal with terrorism your way.
I believe most people just don't understand this war. As in Vietnam, the media has a liberal anti-war bend.
Don't hate your fellow Americans for having a different opinion than you do.
Where in my post do you see hatred? My fellow citizens have spoken. I am grateful to live in a country where we can have free elections and not violent coups.
And Gayle is right. President Bush is not a divider. It's been nothing but obstructionist Democrats who have chosen to not work with the President for solutions to problems. Issues such as social security will now be kicked down the road for a future Administration, and it will be painful to deal with then, what we should have solved today.
Gayle, are you sure we kept the Senate? I've not heard the latest, as I'm just waking up.
Didn't see Rumsfeld's resignation coming....
Looks like the Senate is 50/50.
I wonder if they will be forced to play rock/paper/scissors in VA to figure out who won the Senate seat?
Watch, learn, rebuild, and retake in two years; assuming we are left alone during those two years. If not, the Capitol may end up in St. Louis.
The 'new day' in Philadelphia was greeted with rainshowers for the better part of this day. A portent of things to come for the Democrats, perhaps? Aside from the rain, Philadelphia did manage to retain its national leadership in voter fraud.
This morning, on the way to work, I tuned into Michael Smerconish's radio program and was just in time to catch a caller braying that the Democrat party is the Party most capable to root out al-queda. Hmmm...for the past six years the Dems have claimed that al-queda had nothing to do with Iraq or 9/11. At that moment I felt a sense of relief over this election cycle. I realized that the Dems have replaced unparalelled political leaders and some Republican deadwood (Chafee) with Democrats who have the leadership capabilities equalling those of schmeagle. Can you imagine replacing Ghandi with Gumby? That is exactly what happened during yesterday's election.
This election was no doubt a wake up call for the GOP and their Democrat supporters. Michelle Malkin exquisitely sums up what was lost and what has prevailed in this election cycle.
The GOP lost. Conservatism prevailed. "San Francisco values" may control the gavels in Congress, but they do not control America. Property rights initiatives limiting eminent domain won big. MCRI, the anti-racial preference measure, passed resoundingly. Congressman Tom Tancredo, the GOP's leading warrior against illegal immigration--opposed by both the open-borders Left and the open-borders White House--won a fifth term handily. Gay marriage bans won approval in 3 states. And as of this writing, the oil tax initiative, Prop. 87--backed by deep-pocketed Hollywood libs, is trailing badly in California.John Kerry's late-campaign troop smear galvanized bloggers and talk radio hosts, but it was not strong enough to overcome wider bipartisan voter doubts about Iraq.
The Dems have won, but not by a clear majority in either the House or the Senate. Coupled with the lack of leadership to act cohesively, and boxed in by the fringe left that will not hesitate to oust any Democratic politician who questions their agenda; the next two years of DNC mismanagement could well resemble a train wreck for the Dems. This new leaner and meaner GOP has the opportunity watch the Dems present their anti-war, anti-taxcut, pro-illegal immigrant agenda to the nation and make sure that it goes nowhere. One of the take-home messages from this election cycle dictates the party voted into the majority to produce tangible results or come 2008 the Party will be replaced. It almost makes it too easy for the GOP in 2008...
In 2004, my Democrat contemporaries were faced with a real Tsunami of political change. To cope with the loss, some migrated to Canada, some sought out Post Election Stress Therapy, and others lay comatose in bed for days after the election. As a conservative Democrat, I feel no strong need to cut and run as my Democrat peers did in 2004. For the GOP, this IS a New Day for the Party - bring on 2008!
BTW, Word....I posted my response to yesterday's ripple of an election on this thread.
I know your asking yourself "Uh..Skye, don't you have your own blog?"
Yes, well...I decided to upgrade the blog to Blogger Beta Edition.
Impatiently waiting on an email to notify me when the upgrade is complete.
Dean Barnett's got some good advice. I hope it sinks in with people.
And thank you Skye for reminding us that conservatism and the desire for a strong America victorious in war were not the losers.
If anything, the GOP lost because we didn't push hard enough on the war.
Anyway, time to look for fresh leadership willing to take on the Democrats with the same hardball that got us shellacked on Tuesday.
hi there word!..new direction for America with a Muzzzzzzzlim now in Congress?..heaven help us all!
Thank you for your optimism. This is going on my 'feel good' list.
Wordsmith, at the time I wrote that post, it looked like we had the Senate. Unfortunately, now you and I both know we don't!
I like the update on this post. It's good you are keeping your sense of humor; that's shows character under fire, and I hope most of our conservative blogging friends manage to keep theirs as well. We will need it now more than ever.
I enjoyed the cartoons, especially the Jon Kerry one :-).
"I believe most people just don't understand this war."
And I'd suggest that most Americans - including but not limited to the voting Americans - reject this sort of patriarchal, "there-there-we know best" sort of attitude as what is exactly wrong with this nation.
Thank you, we the people understand this invasion perfectly well. And all of its ramifications.
Now, we'll have to see if the Dems will listen to The People any better than the Republicans have.
Dan,
This article is for you.
The average citizen or last-minute voter only follows the headline blurbs and does little research beyond the NYTimes and evening tv news. You cannot underestimate the influence the MSM has upon our conscience. My next two posts will probably delve a bit deeper into this.
I do think you have a point about taking a patriarchal tone that somehow "we who lost" know better. Did you read my entire post? Your first comment in here seemed to suggest that you didn't, but maybe you did.
In addition, Dan...most of these Americans who voted to throw Republicans out of office don't share your pacifist views. And there are those who are dissatisfied with the war, because they don't want to prosecute a less violent war, but a more aggressive one.
1. Yes, the public voted for “change” in Iraq, but that doesn’t necessarily mean surrender or unconditional withdrawal. Exit polling showed 59% of voters expressing “disapproval” or the Iraq war, but many (if not most) of those voters dislike Bush’s policy because they feel it’s not aggressive enough. Tens of millions of Americans long to see a more intense, more focused approach to crushing the insurgency, even if it means more boots on the ground.
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