Friday, May 13, 2016

A Party Means A Team (updated)

Ain't it Grand

"Don't be deceived because you are not hearing the sound of gunfire, because even so you are fighting for your lives."--Ronald Reagan in a real commencement address that would make today's Chalky Ponies run for the barn screaming. Or neighing and whinnying. whatever.

Former Reagan Advisor Jeffrey Lord:

"Dear Fellow Conservative:

With the withdrawals of Senator Cruz and Governor Kasich, the Republican primary and state convention selection process is at an end. The voters have spoken — and they have chosen Donald Trump. ...

So. What we have here is a realization that on issue after issue (and yes, this includes abortion) Donald Trump is not only in the mainstream of conservatism, he is on a number of key issues exactly where those left-wing radicals Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower were before him. And on another issue, religious freedom Speaker Ryan and others appear to be making up a constitutional right to enter the U.S. out of whole cloth. Not to mention breezily coasting along refusing to fund a fence on the southern border in that Ryan Omnibus while making sure that they personally have a fence to protect their own family — illustrating exactly why so many millions believe GOP elites have double-standards.

Here’s my concern. I have often quoted in this space Ronald Reagan’s December, 1976 interview with the New York Times in which he stated that in the post-Gerald Ford era he intended to rebuild the GOP by bringing in likeminded Democrats and Independents as well as conservative Republicans. He also accused the GOP Establishment of the day of being a “fraternal order” — a private club of insiders — instead of a political party.

I am concerned that the modern conservative movement is in danger of following that fateful path. An awful lot of Democrats and Independents have flooded the GOP open primaries this year to vote for Donald Trump — just as Ronald Reagan invited them to do in 1980. Not to mention that a lot of evangelicals — a key component of the Reagan coalition — have supported Trump as well. It is nothing but bad news if in fact the conservative movement is, unintentionally to be sure, drifting into the “fraternal order” category. Becoming not a movement but a private club where we all know the secret handshake and the code words — but, like the GOP Establishment, begin to routinely lose elections because we are unable to win the argument with the larger electorate.".................................

My guy Ted Cruz lost. His guy Donald Trump won. That's how it goes. If my guy had won, I would expect his support. It's only fair. Even if we say Trump forfeited that support by saying he would not support the nominee or by his over-the-top personal attacks, the thing is, it's not about Trump.

Honestly, I don't think this country can take another four years of full-throated leftism. A lot of people are just hanging on. They feel like their own government has declared war on them.

My bottom line is that I cannot give our military members another anti-American leader. Not to mention our law-enforcement officers. And a Democratic win would be spun as a historical affirmation of Obama, the thought of which is revolting.

Everybody's emotions are still high right now. But we don't need sore winners or sore losers. We need to think about our country first.

I'm still going fight the good fight for the Constitution and try to push policy rightward. Like the old man said:

"It's up to us in our time to choose and choose wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day."

"Us".  "In our time".

It's time to team up and win.

Yes, I'm saying it; win one for the Gipper.

I'm in.

(hat-tip: Cold Fury]

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