Comments on: The Sad Demise of the GOP? http://sheilakennedy.net/2010/01/the-sad-demise-of-the-gop/ Thinking about Liberty Mon, 21 May 2012 15:18:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: shekenne http://sheilakennedy.net/2010/01/the-sad-demise-of-the-gop/comment-page-1/#comment-710 shekenne Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:07:34 +0000 http://sheilakennedy.net/?p=966#comment-710 Mike--I certainly don't agree with the Democrats--nor Obama--on every policy. And I must say that the current administration has failed to move as aggressively as I would like on certain issues. That said, I also understand how difficult it is to make genuine changes to entrenched institutions. And I cannot agree that there are no significant differences between the parties. You can find areas where that is true--and you've alluded to some of those--but there are also areas of significant difference, from the hot-button social issues to their approaches to economics and the need for a social safety net. Mike–I certainly don’t agree with the Democrats–nor Obama–on every policy. And I must say that the current administration has failed to move as aggressively as I would like on certain issues. That said, I also understand how difficult it is to make genuine changes to entrenched institutions. And I cannot agree that there are no significant differences between the parties. You can find areas where that is true–and you’ve alluded to some of those–but there are also areas of significant difference, from the hot-button social issues to their approaches to economics and the need for a social safety net.

]]> By: Mike Kole http://sheilakennedy.net/2010/01/the-sad-demise-of-the-gop/comment-page-1/#comment-709 Mike Kole Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:57:29 +0000 http://sheilakennedy.net/?p=966#comment-709 I don't know, Sheila. At the federal level, the two parties look awfully similar to me. Oh, for a GOP 6 years ago who, with the majorities and WH, would have really been for gov't doing nothing in, say, education (think: No Child Left Behind), and might have cut budgets and the size of government rather than growing them faster than LBJ ever did. Then, I look at Iraq, Afghanistan, perhpas Yemen, and Pakistan, and don't see a dime's worth of substantive difference between Bush and Obama. Stylistic difference aplenty, but the policy is essentially the same- war. War on drugs? Same. Patriot Act? Same. Presidential power? Same. Indefinite detention? Same. Wiretapping US citizens? Same. Corporate bailouts? Same. Printing money to hide the cost of war? Same. Those aren't small items. They are major policy issues. Now, when you look at the kind of folks who were protesting the war under Bush (where are they now?), one found every bit as many signs comparing the president to Hitler, and profuse use of swastikas and Hitler moustaches drawn on Bush. Just stepping foot inside DC became offensive to me, seeing so many swastikas (every Washington Times newspaper box had several, for instance). I was at anti-war rallies, and at tea parties, so I have a basis for comparison. My opinion is that the fringes get the ink, but the centrists and compromisers- not the idealogues- of both the Ds and Rs, are bringing us exactly the lamentable sameness I cited above: A desire always to grow the size and scope of government; always an interventionist foreign policy; and always civil rights come a distant second, especially in light of 'national security'. How about Obama 'reaching across the aisle' to pass that military funding? Rah-rah compromise and moderation! These are the 'grown-ups' at work! I don’t know, Sheila. At the federal level, the two parties look awfully similar to me. Oh, for a GOP 6 years ago who, with the majorities and WH, would have really been for gov’t doing nothing in, say, education (think: No Child Left Behind), and might have cut budgets and the size of government rather than growing them faster than LBJ ever did.

Then, I look at Iraq, Afghanistan, perhpas Yemen, and Pakistan, and don’t see a dime’s worth of substantive difference between Bush and Obama. Stylistic difference aplenty, but the policy is essentially the same- war.

War on drugs? Same. Patriot Act? Same. Presidential power? Same. Indefinite detention? Same. Wiretapping US citizens? Same. Corporate bailouts? Same. Printing money to hide the cost of war? Same. Those aren’t small items. They are major policy issues.

Now, when you look at the kind of folks who were protesting the war under Bush (where are they now?), one found every bit as many signs comparing the president to Hitler, and profuse use of swastikas and Hitler moustaches drawn on Bush. Just stepping foot inside DC became offensive to me, seeing so many swastikas (every Washington Times newspaper box had several, for instance). I was at anti-war rallies, and at tea parties, so I have a basis for comparison. My opinion is that the fringes get the ink, but the centrists and compromisers- not the idealogues- of both the Ds and Rs, are bringing us exactly the lamentable sameness I cited above: A desire always to grow the size and scope of government; always an interventionist foreign policy; and always civil rights come a distant second, especially in light of ‘national security’. How about Obama ‘reaching across the aisle’ to pass that military funding? Rah-rah compromise and moderation! These are the ‘grown-ups’ at work!

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