The Definition Of Being Conservative: Don't Do Anything New Or Different
Ace of Base
The only time the Bush gang does anything differentis when is secures them more power, authority, influence or lines the pockets of their friends (i.e. oli companies, Halliburton, or the government of Israel).
Once again the GOP is counting on the Christian Right to provide them with electoral resources to dominate the election turnout with 13-15% of all the registered voters across our nation. Oddly enough, that is all it takes to create a "base" for any political party in the United States of America.
While we will reach a population of 300 million sometime in this month (October, 2006), it is strange that George W. Bush won his second terms with approximately 55.6 million votes. While the number of eligible voters in our country is estimated to be about two-thirds of our population, we barely seem to get more than half of those eligible to register. Given that the folks in Afghanistan and Iraq walked miles (often tens of miles) to get to their polls, facing armed opposition in doing so, and turned out almost 97% of the eligible voters (including the facilitation of voting by ex-patriots living in the US and UK), it is rather bizarre that we cannot register 100% of those eligible to vote, never mind get a consistent turnout of more than 50% of registered voters.
While we talk about election fraud in other nations, our own fraud went so far as to include the nine sitting justices of SCOTUS, who were so bent on not living up to the provisions of the Constitution under the leadership of Rehnquist that we now suffer fools in office.
But there is a problem for most Americans. While most Americans are extremely tired of the scandals coming out of Washington, most of which seem to involve the GOP and its ultra-conservative base, most voters are concerned that voting for the Democrats will not produce any different results. Since neither party is producing the kind of leadership we need, and neither party is putting forth candidates that do not embroil themselves in one scandal or another, it is hard to find anyone who is not totally disengaged from politics, totally digusted with politics, or totally disenfranchised.
Contrary to the prevailing wisdom of the pundits, pollsters and leaders of the Democratic Party, merely bashing the GOP, President Bush and his gang of thugs, and citing the failures under the current GOP-dominated government will not provide us with leaders that have integrity, charisma, effective planning, fiscal responsibility or the support of the voters. As long as campaign reform remains an untouched mater before congress, the voters will not endorse either party with a clear majority at the polls. As long as greed, influence peddling, power-brokering and self/party promotion remain first and foremost on the part of both major political parties, the electorate will remain largely unconvinced... and largely untrusting of all politicians.
We really need to see some real leaders emerge from both parties before we will regain our status as a world leader, a super power, and the bedrock of democracy in the world.
BILL and Hillary Clinton have been known to cite a quip widely attributed to Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” George W. Bush and Karl Rove live by an alternative dictum: Why do things differently when you like the results you have been getting?
The only time the Bush gang does anything differentis when is secures them more power, authority, influence or lines the pockets of their friends (i.e. oli companies, Halliburton, or the government of Israel).
In the 2002 and 2004 national elections, the president and his top political adviser won by margins provided by conservative voters who shared the White House’s view that the country should continue to move right. Although the president is not on the ballot in November, the Bush-Rove model animates the Republican Party’s election strategy for 2006.
Once again the GOP is counting on the Christian Right to provide them with electoral resources to dominate the election turnout with 13-15% of all the registered voters across our nation. Oddly enough, that is all it takes to create a "base" for any political party in the United States of America.
While we will reach a population of 300 million sometime in this month (October, 2006), it is strange that George W. Bush won his second terms with approximately 55.6 million votes. While the number of eligible voters in our country is estimated to be about two-thirds of our population, we barely seem to get more than half of those eligible to register. Given that the folks in Afghanistan and Iraq walked miles (often tens of miles) to get to their polls, facing armed opposition in doing so, and turned out almost 97% of the eligible voters (including the facilitation of voting by ex-patriots living in the US and UK), it is rather bizarre that we cannot register 100% of those eligible to vote, never mind get a consistent turnout of more than 50% of registered voters.
While we talk about election fraud in other nations, our own fraud went so far as to include the nine sitting justices of SCOTUS, who were so bent on not living up to the provisions of the Constitution under the leadership of Rehnquist that we now suffer fools in office.
Yet two years of controversy over the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina, and the perils of high gas prices and low poll numbers, have led many to believe that the Republicans’ strategy of fighting from the base has worn out its welcome. Therefore, this view holds, a campaign that appeals to moderates, one waged from the center, is the only way for the party to maintain control of the House and Senate.
But there is a problem for most Americans. While most Americans are extremely tired of the scandals coming out of Washington, most of which seem to involve the GOP and its ultra-conservative base, most voters are concerned that voting for the Democrats will not produce any different results. Since neither party is producing the kind of leadership we need, and neither party is putting forth candidates that do not embroil themselves in one scandal or another, it is hard to find anyone who is not totally disengaged from politics, totally digusted with politics, or totally disenfranchised.
Contrary to the prevailing wisdom of the pundits, pollsters and leaders of the Democratic Party, merely bashing the GOP, President Bush and his gang of thugs, and citing the failures under the current GOP-dominated government will not provide us with leaders that have integrity, charisma, effective planning, fiscal responsibility or the support of the voters. As long as campaign reform remains an untouched mater before congress, the voters will not endorse either party with a clear majority at the polls. As long as greed, influence peddling, power-brokering and self/party promotion remain first and foremost on the part of both major political parties, the electorate will remain largely unconvinced... and largely untrusting of all politicians.
We really need to see some real leaders emerge from both parties before we will regain our status as a world leader, a super power, and the bedrock of democracy in the world.
posted by Jim Downey at 9:47 AM
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