All Posts Tagged With: "conservatives"
Get Out of My House
The conservative New York Post published the above cartoon depicting police officers shooting a monkey dead and then implying that the monkey authored the stimulus bill. It is not a large logical leap to assume that the cartoon’s author used the monkey as a symbol of President Obama. The best we can say for the cartoon’s author is that he has revealed racial insensitivity and ignorance of American history. All of this reminds me of the Danish Muslim cartoon fiasco a few years ago. Brian Pierce and I wrestled each other in the Daily Illini on this issue. Why do cartoons have the ability provoke more ire than words?
This cartoon troubles me. I debated whether to post it on Urbanagora for fear of promoting it rather than deriding it. However, in all but a few instances I support free speech with vigor and rage, even when the speech offends millions of people. What we learn about the ignorance of the author can only be learned by allowing him to speak. The full breadth of an idiot’s idiocy can only be known if we allow him to speak. The cartoon’s audience also learns what offends people and why it offends them. We learn how to better distinguish between idiotic speech and valuable speech. Read more…
The Uninspiring Republican Field
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything and Billy has just simply begged me to (and offered me all manner of favors) so I’ve decided to post once again. Today’s topic of interest in the field of 2008 Republican presidential hopefuls. All I can say is: Really? IS THAT REALLY THE BEST THEY’VE GOT!? Let’s do a rundown, shall we?
Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani is a “new brand” of Republican. Pro-life, pro gun control and pretty pro government in general. He’s very socially liberal, but appears willing to compromise his beliefs for votes. Some people call him a pseud0-Democrat, but ever since I heard him in a debate I’ve been singularly unimpressed. My favorite Giuliani moment was when Ron Paul humbly suggested that perhaps the United States is reviled and hated because we interfere in other countries’ politics and kill their people, Giuliani retorted with something along the lines of “No, it’s because they hate freedom!” to a roar of applause. I knew then that the Republican party was irrevocably doomed for the ‘08 election cycle. Oh and a large minority of Americans would not vote for a guy who’s been married three times. Dressing up like a pretty lady probably doesn’t help him either.
Mitt Romney
Romney’s an interesting cat. He, like Giuliani is sort of a “new brand” of Republican. He’s socially liberal (although rapidly trying to backpedal on just about all of his former positions), economically conservative, and he’s got the presidential look. His major liability is that a good number of Americans wouldn’t vote for a Mormon. So if the base can swallow Mormonism and a less than perfect record on social issues, Romney would be a good pick. If the base wants pretty, he’s also their Ken.
John McCain
What can be said about the Arizona senator? He’s managed to piss off so many people that his campaign is sinking faster than the Titanic. He was once the presumed presidential nominee for 2008. Republicans always pick the guy who waits his turn like a good boy, but McCain is getting the shaft. His strong pushes for government accountability and to limit the influence of big money on elections as well as his less than perfect conservative track record have raised the ire of just about every segment of the Republican base except the Billy Joe Mills types. Add to this the fact that Americans don’t like old people, it’s pretty safe to write his candidacy off.
Fred Thompson
A lot of moderate conservatives love Fred Thompson. I mean c’mon, he played a lawyer on TV! What good Republican doesn’t love lawyers and TV (read Hollywood). He’s also been a lobbyist (we love the beltway culture) and apparently a lackluster senator. Many tell me that he’s John McCain without the baggage, but I think he’s going to run into trouble for his lobbying career and late entry into the field. But at least he’s conservative.
Newt Gingrich
The leader of the so-called Republican Revolution of 1994. Newt Gingrich curiously sat on the sidelines during the impeachment proceedings of then president Bill Clinton. Well, it’s not so curious, he’s also been married three times and was doing the no no bad thing with a staffer at the time. Gingrich is a hardcore conservative on most issues though. Unfortunately he’s not the most deft politician as evidenced by his taking the blame for the government shutdown of 1996 when Clinton made him look like a petulant child who was throwing a tantrum over not getting his spending cuts (despite the fact that it was Clinton who shut the government down). He’s still a force to be reckoned with, but hasn’t taken any serious steps toward a presidential bid as of yet.
Ron Paul
Ron Paul’s a funny guy. People I know on the hill call him “Dr. No” because they say he votes no on almost every single piece of legislation and the Republicans don’t count on him in anything really. That, and the fact that he has little appeal outside of the hardcore libertarian wing of the party, means that his candidacy is not exactly soaring on the updrafts. I have to give him credit for being honest and more realistic than the other candidates especially on national security matters.
There are several other candidates that are to the right of all of these gentlemen, but the right seems to be somewhat dormant in this year’s selection process and this post is getting too long, so I’ll just stop the list here. The only hope Republicans have in 08 is that their relatively moderate candidate field will attract centrist voters, but the primaries will likely get really ugly because each of the major candidates has a good deal of baggage that people aren’t going to want to have on their candidate. It looks like 2008 will be a good year for Democrats…