"Old School" Republicans Are "Scared Shitless"
Good speech but in my opinion a waste of time. The GOP seems adrift and about to ground itself on those jagged rocks of irrelevancy.
The party represents only One Political Thought: Failure they embrace it!
The No Nothing, Do Nothing Party!
April 18, 2009 09:46 PM
Speaking to an affectionate crowd of Log Cabin Republicans on Saturday evening, Meghan McCain ridiculed the party her father headed this past election, declaring that "old school Republicans" were "scared shitless" of the changing landscape.
The Senator's daughter, who has quickly become something of an iconic figure in the gay conservative community since the end of the election, took repeated shots at the GOP for its antiquated mores.
"I feel too many Republicans want to cling to past successes," said McCain. "There are those who think we can win the White House and Congress back by being 'more' conservative. Worse, there are those who think we can win by changing nothing at all about what our party has become. They just want to wait for the other side to be perceived as worse than us. I think we're seeing a war brewing in the Republican Party. But it is not between us and Democrats. It is not between us and liberals. It is between the future and the past."
Later, she called out those officials in the Republican tent who insist that tactical improvements, technology and brass-knuckle politicking are the path back to relevance.
"Simply embracing technology isn't going to fix our problem," she said. "Republicans using Twitter and Facebook isn't going to miraculously make people think we're cool again. Breaking free from obsolete positions and providing real solutions that don't divide our nation further will. That's why some in our party are scared. They sense the world around them is changing and they are unable to take the risk to jump free of what's keeping our party down."
The remarks, delivered at the Log Cabin Republican's national convention in Washington D.C., drew healthy applause and the occasional high-pitched whistling. McCain, at one point, declared herself a proud member of the GOP. But her pot shots at the Republican Party and its flashier figures were not thinly veiled. Describing her public tiff with Ann Coulter as non-delicate, she went on to refer to the brash conservative talker as "overly partisan and divisive." Later in the speech she insisted that "most of our nation wants our nation to succeed" - a pretty clear dig at the now-infamous remarks of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.
As for the GOP establishment, McCain described it as a "party that was thriving at one point on a few singular issues" but could no longer "see long-term success."
"We've seen how it has contributed to some serious problems in our nation and world," McCain said, in an apparent reference to the government under GOP control. "Let me blunt, you can't assume you're electing the right leaders to handle all the problems facing our nation when you make your choice based on one issue. More and more people are finally getting that."
You said, “The No Nothing, Do Nothing Party!”
ReplyDeleteDid you mean The Know Nothing, referring to the Know Nothing political movement of the 1840s and 50s?
A very factious time that led to the civil war. If history repeats our modern warfare technology might cause the end of the world.
I think we should hope the Republican Party doesn’t disintegrate. We need them to reach a consensus that can result in a revitalized party. Maybe even one that could convert me! Who knows, stranger things have happened.
Ernie--
ReplyDeleteThe Know Nothings a very disturbing bunch of thugs who victimized Roman Catholics in the 1800's. They looted and burned a few Catholic churches in New York in their day.
Let the Republican Party disintegrate. Why? For what purpose? That party placed Lincoln who suspended the right of Habeus Corpus during the Civil War--the US Supreme Court finally ruled that the Executive Branch had no such authority to do so. More recently, the Republicans tried to secretly read your emails, blogs, intercept your phone calls, read your mail, spy on you and yours.
I will take the New Deal, the New Frontier, President Clinton and President Obama any day over that Monumental Boob from Texas who has left this Nation nearly bankrupt and with an unnecessary war.
The Log Cabin Republicans are effectively a single issue lobbying group. They try to educate republican leadership on GLBT issues. Beyond that they are a good resource for GLBT issues and they try to do good work. They are not a conservative (or gay) think tank. In Texas, they are not even organized in the more conservative cities of Houston and San Antonio. They are organized in more liberal Austin and Dallas with it’s relatively large gay community for the great plains.
ReplyDeleteConservative values are not the priority with log Cabin Republicans. Gay causes are. I disagree with most of Meghan’s points but that is not my point this time.
Please note that she is speaking to a single issue group with a single target audience. She concludes, “"Let me blunt, you can't assume you're electing the right leaders to handle all the problems facing our nation when you make your choice based on one issue. More and more people are finally getting that."
Even a stopped clock is correct twice a day.
Well here I see nothing that could engender spirited debate so far. Not that my opinion matters but I can’t find anything of substance to disagree with in either Rob’s or Albert’s comments so far. But I must say that if the Republican Party disintegrates there might be negative repercussions as the people on the fringe who might be swayed to cool their heels and see what happens next could be encouraged to go for it. By that I mean terrorist acts. Maybe I am seeing more danger here than there really is but I worry that the neo-nazis and the like could gain strength if the mollifying influence of a major political party ceased to exist. I’m not explaining this very well but I am thinking that there are people who if they don’t have the Republican Party flag to look up to might go to others who are less beneficial to the body politic. The disruption of our financial institutions and the overwhelming fear that many feel can lead them to latch on to ideas that will result in terrible conflict.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I think is that the name “Log Cabin Republicans” is a really stupid name. They take an improvable and more than likely wrong idea that A. Lincoln was homosexual for the essence of this name. This is the twenty first century not the nineteenth. They should change their name.
Another thing I have thought of while reading your comments Rob is the phrase “monumental boob”. I can’t stop thinking of a Mt. Rushmore type thing with big bulging titties and his face carved into the big stone nipple areas.
The last thing I am thinking of is that though most things are not happy regarding the planet we live on; I wish all a happy earth day.
Meghan Who?
ReplyDelete