Comments Posted By Jim
Displaying 41 To 50 Of 116 Comments
THE INCREDIBLY STUPID THOUGHTS OF DEEPAK CHOPRA
Rick:
Your piece reinforced my feeling about one reason the hatred of President Bush and America runs so deep among these folksand it is pathological.
I believe a major cause of the hatred of the president is that President Bush represents an implicit rejection of core New Age beliefs. It is not merely that he doesn't share their beliefs, or even merely reject them on a personal level. The issue is really that his presidency challenges their notion of what reality actually is.
They want a world where everything is relative and you "create your own reality." In their world wishing for peace should be the same as attaining it. Putting a "Free Tibet" bumper sticker on your car is the only struggle you need engage in, having a "wage peace" bumper sticker is all the pain you need to suffer to create peace. If you say it is so, it is so. If you deny the existence of terror, there is none.
The idea that someone could want to hurt you even though you are so "evolved" is completely foreign to them. They have no understanding of random evil(they missed a main point of "Othello" or likely never read it).
Since 9/11 President Bush has forced them to discuss and deal with evil and they don't like doing so because they think that they can make their molecules happy and it will go away. It hasn't gone away so it must be President Bush that has caused the problem. I would expect that they are in for sore disappointment because I doubt President Obama can make reality go away either. But then their ability to rationalize and build excuses is almost limitless. Expect more irrationality as the Politics of the Oprahnation continue.
Comment Posted By Jim On 1.12.2008 @ 14:12
WILL NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE KILL CONSERVATISM?
Thank you, Rick.
As a nation we are still making too many assumptions about the shape of an Obama administration based on too much supposition and too little information. The fact that Obama has not been transparent and has shapeshifted doesn't help, I know. Add to that the natural cast of punditry and Chicken Littleism and you have a recipe for what you are seeing across the board - fevered rhetoric. I didn't think it was possible but Obama managed to turn this election into a referendum on Bush and was largely effecive at marginalizing McCain - who seems to have helped Obama by becoming Captain Bailout. Of course having $700 million would help elect Randy Rodent. I have Obama supporter friends and EVERY conversation still turns from Obama to Bush. As if he was on the ballot. It is WAY too premature to hold a wake for conservative values. We need to do two things: work to develop sound economic proposals to help solve this mess - which, like it or not, is a creation of all Americans (though the Dems had a big hand in it) AND decide how we want to approach 2010 with a consistent message and sound candidates.
Jim
Comment Posted By Jim On 22.11.2008 @ 13:29
Just a brief response to Dr. Luv
We didn't lose the senate or the house, that is overstatement.
As for Israel there should be a Jewish homeland in the MidEast. More than a million Arabs are citizens of Israel. The sticking point is the repeated calls for annihilation of all Jews by their Arab neighbors and their refusal to let them live. Side by side nation states have been offered since 1947 and rejected by Palestinians.
You are right that we must make choices about our priorities and goals and decide what our international role will be. That choice may have been made for us by the international economy and the collapse of our own. If Joe Biden is right Obama will abandon Israel early in his term. Than we will see what the conservative voters who failed to vote in this cycle think about the choice they have made. Same with the Jews who have voted straight Democratic as their party has moved to the left.
Comment Posted By Jim On 5.11.2008 @ 18:14
I think Rick is right about picking and choosing the fights and getting back to being "For" things rather than "against" them. Like what are we going to do about Social Security? I think it should be phased out and ended and Conservatives should be the ones putting the plans together before the inevitable collapse. Remember that our opponents are driven by feelings and emotions and should be defeated by reason...
Comment Posted By Jim On 5.11.2008 @ 17:03
Hi Rick
I have been "lurking" on your site for some months, after being directed here while hoping that Chicago politics would forestall last night's result. I am posting now because I agree that now more than ever it is important for conservatives to speak up and work together more closely and work hard to direct the changes our president will try to make. We did not lose the Senate, and we did not get as badly drubbed in the house as you correctly feared. What we need to do is take a leaf from the Democrats and be more inclined to build issues based coalitions and not so focused on litmus tests defining whether or not someone is conservative enough or the "proper" kind of conservatives. They didn't do a test at the door to prove you were a Maoist or a PLP member to "let" you support Obama. We shouldn't either. If an atheist opposes abortion for whatever reason we should be open to their support. We also need to be proactive. Today is a good day to begin working to save the coal industry - even before he tries the inevitable cap and trades. We should look carefully at his record and predict some of the most dangerous things he will attempt and start a pre-emptive campaign to "prepare the battlefield" before he makes a move.
Comment Posted By Jim On 5.11.2008 @ 12:13
Wow. Great philosophical pro-conservative arguments on a comments talkback. May it continue. And I say this as a left of center guy.
Please, smart conservatives. Come back. You're the ying to our yang; we need the rise of an intelligent conservative movement to hold us back from our worst instincts. I look forward to the next William Buckley. And make a good enough intellectual argument, and I could see myself voting (R) next time.
But, psst, do me a favor: kindly jettison the Dobsons and the Brent Bozells from your coalition. 'Kay, thanks.
Comment Posted By Jim On 5.11.2008 @ 12:22
Regarding "Old Paws"'s comment: Ding-Ding-Ding! You sir, have hit upon it. As an independent voter, I will be ready to vote Republican again when they stop running on a morality-Red State values platform. I don't often agree with Bill Maher, but he was right when he said on his show last week that Republicans are supposed to be sober, boring, steady guys who tread cautiously abroad and are good with your money at home. Nobody wants a moral scold as a President. Keep small government as a philosophy not only as related to taxes, but also, keep government's nose out of my bedroom, local pub, doctor's office and (Greek Orthodox) church.
Comment Posted By Jim On 4.11.2008 @ 14:07
Great post Rick. I'm a huge fan of your site, though I'm not a conservative; I have a mish-mosh of liberal, libertarian and conservative views.
The biggest change, one of which you hit upon, is globalization and its effects on our labor market in this country. The reason many people are struggling with that change is that it isn't just manufacturing jobs that are going offshore to Asia; it's also increasing numbers of white collar jobs in accounting, financial services, engineering and scientific research. The job market rules seem to be changing on a yearly basis. Many people can't deal with that kind of hyper flux and change in their existence.
The biggest thing that could help people to adjust is to radically change our educational system. Those that need retraining aren't young people in their twenties. It's individuals in their forties and fifties who have been downsized or had their jobs outsourced. Right now, college or a trade school isn't very practical for most of these people (think Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania).
Government can assist in this matter without being a crutch.Maybe we can implement some kind of educational GI Bill, but which is intended for all citizens who need retraining in today's job market. This answer of mine is based on conservative principles about not giving a man a fish, but teaching him to fish for a lifetime (? not sure if I have the saying right). This is more important now than ever given the situation in the credit markets, as student loans for most people are very hard to come by.
Comment Posted By Jim On 3.11.2008 @ 14:09
Rick, I think you missed one of the reasons that the Progressives and Democrats have migrated more to the internet as opposed to emulating the conservative movement and talk radio: those left of center largely tend to be younger. People in their late teens in college, in their twenties and thirties, are more comfortable communicating via technology, i.e. online blogs, being addicted to Facebook and through that organizing parties and get-togethers,and texting on their cells constantly, than are older citizens.
The older Republican crowd prefers radio, as that's a traditional form of media that they can understand.
It isn't a knock against conservatives. But I know that for myself and my friends, I barely remember the last time I listened to the radio for anything.
(I have my ipod hooked up to my car radio for music and podcasts along with alternately connecting my Asus Eee laptop. It's great as a portable jukebox along with popping into a Starbucks or Barnes and Noble to go online, after a day of work.)
Comment Posted By Jim On 30.10.2008 @ 19:13
TIME TO FORGET MCCAIN AND FIGHT FOR THE FILIBUSTER IN THE SENATE
Great post Rick and thank you for your honest opinion.
I've decided to vote for Obama this year, not because I'm crazy about the guy. I honestly think he'll be a one term President, if elected, who'll be hamstrung by the huge financial crisis which looks to continue on for the next couple of years.The reason I won't vote for the GOP anymore, at least on the national level, is that they've shown that they've grown to be inhospitable to centrists and moderates. If you're a foreign policy and fiscal conservative, but socially liberal or an agnostic, the modern GOP does not want you. See: Joe Lieberman, and the revolt that would have occurred among a segment of the right wing fringe, if McCain picked him for VP. Right now, the Republican party seems to have been taken over by neo-conservatives and religious fundamentalists.
I only hope that conservatives either remodel the Republican Party or form a third party, modeled after the British Tories. Look at the success of David Cameron in Great Britain. He realized that times have changed, a different generation of voters had other concerns and that their party had to change as well.
Comment Posted By Jim On 16.10.2008 @ 16:42
