Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Contact
Ace:aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com Recent Entries
"Person of Interest" In Health Care CEO Assassination Caught in Altoona, PA, Identified as Luigi Mangione, "Former Ivy League Student"
NYT: He Carried a Manifesto Decrying Health Care Corporations' Greed Verdict: Daniel Penny Is Not Guilty of Anything Daniel Penny Found NOT GUILTY! THE MORNING RANT: Texas Republicans Defeat the Uniparty and Will Finally Elect a Conservative House Speaker Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 12/9/24 Daily Tech News 9 December 2024 Sunday Overnight Open Thread (12/8/24) - Doof Gun Thread: Less Than Robust Content Edition! Food Thread: No Blood For Rib Roasts! Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Straw Poll: Three Way Race Between Giuliani, Romney, & Gingrich |
Main
| Long Excerpt Of South Park Truther Episode »
October 12, 2006
Why Are Conservatives So Down On The GOP?The reasons offered, usually, are immigration, overspending, corruption, and general political ineptness. But I wonder about that. At least, I wonder about the first three. One that's not mentioned as frequently is the War in Iraq. Which I think is more of a factor in conservative disatisfaction that many conservative war-supporters are willing to admit, perhaps even to themselves. The GOP was willing, it seemed at first, to go along with Bush's amnesty plan. Although the plan has supporters in Congress (like, for example, John McCain), no one would be suggesting such a plan were the President himself not pushing it, putting his own political capital and political muscle behind it. It seems, then, wrong to blame congressional Republicans for Bush's political misadventure. Furthermore, of course, the congressional Republicans actuallly listened to their angry constituents and wounded Bush by refusing to support his plan, voting for a fence-first plan. On overspending, the GOP has much to answer for, but at least they again listened and began, however slightly, to reform the corrupt and wasteful earmark system. And on corruption: I think most conservatives believe government is inherently corrupt, which is one of the reasons we seek to limit it. (Actually, being realists, we believe humanity is inherently corrupt.) And while there has been corruption, it is not unexpected, it is not rampant, it is not being covered up. And of course the Democrats are more corrupt. (See Reid, Harry.) And it's just not true that the GOP-controlled Congress hasn't managed anything positive. They voted through Bush's plan for detainees. They voted through quite a few acceptable constitutionalist judges (maybe the second biggest agenda-item after winning the war on terror). They've cut taxes and seek to make the cuts permanent (the third biggest agenda-item) and even talk of cutting them more. So why so down? I wonder if the last answer -- political ineptness -- is the driving reason. It's more fun to root for a winning team, isn't it? As a Giants fan, I know that when the Giants lose badly, not only am I depressed, but I actively wish them to lose all their games, partly to punish them for disappointing me, and a bit to force changes to the team (fire Coughlin!) and get better draft picks the following year. Although a dispirited fanbase can hurt a team when it gets no cheers at home, the effects are fairly limited. But in politics, of course, it's not really "the team" -- the candidates themselves -- who decide the outcome of "the game." It's the fans. The fans decide, by voting. The dark mood of conservatives is part of a vicious cycle -- the GOP is perceived to be doing poorly at the polls, prone to make mistakes, failing to capitize on Democratic missteps, and just generally getting in their own way. This breeds resentment, which leads to conservatives declaring they won't vote for the GOP, which pushes the GOP down further in the polls, etc. How much of the dextrosphere funk is due to objective policy failures of the GOP, and how much is due to the feeling they're losing, which disappoints us, and so we vent by wishing further failure on them? I also wonder if the War in Iraq has an effect. The war isn't going well. We expected a fairly quick war and a fairly quick occupation; we got the former, but definitely not the latter. Conservatives were, by a majority of perhaps 90%, in favor of the War in Iraq, most of us strongly so. (I know I was.) I wonder if criticizing the GOP on other issues is a way of expressing a disatisfaction with the War in Iraq which seems, somehow, forbidden. We pushed it, after all; we can hardly blame Bush for it. Myself, I savaged Bush online when he seemed to be backing away from a commitment to remove Saddam Hussein, or to be overly concerned with the UN and diplomacy and giving inspectors a chance and all that rot. So I wonder if there's a bit of buyer's remorse here, magnifying the GOP's failings on other issues due to a possibly-unconscious need to lash out at Bush for the continuing chaos and violence in Iraq. As Andrew Sullivan says -- I'm not endorsing this, I'm just airing it. Actually, that's bullshit; I'm endorsing it, although tentatively. The conservative backlash against the GOP seems disproportionate to its sins, real and perceived. There has to be something else going on here, I think -- partly the sports fans' perpetual cry of "Fire all the bums," and partly a disatisfaction with the War on Iraq, which we feel has to be supported, and has to be won. Which it does. It's just not as easy to do so as it once was, and it's beginning to look quite possible we will, in some ways, actually wind up losing a war we can't afford to lose, and no one from Bush on down seems to have any miracle solutions to reverse the state of things.
| Recent Comments
Cicero (@cicero43):
"[i]I thought manifestos had to be hand written to ..."
BlackOrchid: "[I]495 Actually, now I'm betting that something su ..." MAGA_Ken: ""Imagine a society that subjects people to conditi ..." These fish sticks are hard as tits: "Ivy League continues to be resume poison. Can't e ..." t-bird: "Let's see, oven's off, got my keys, fake ID... whe ..." ShainS -- Deus Ex Muskina [h/t Mike Benz] [/b][/i][/s][/u] : "Didn't Hunter wipe his own ass and then try to cal ..." Tex Lovera: "Actually, now I'm betting that something suddenly ..." BlackOrchid: "[I]481 Luigi Mangione is 26 years old. What a wast ..." AltonJackson: " [i]Perhaps you are thinking of 'Theses'. Post ..." redridinghood: "Clara Winslow @clara_winslow Big advocate for gr ..." one hour sober: ">The standard for detaining someone is "reasonable ..." Nelly: "I heard Taylor's s*x toys just want to be friends ..." Recent Entries
"Person of Interest" In Health Care CEO Assassination Caught in Altoona, PA, Identified as Luigi Mangione, "Former Ivy League Student"
NYT: He Carried a Manifesto Decrying Health Care Corporations' Greed Verdict: Daniel Penny Is Not Guilty of Anything Daniel Penny Found NOT GUILTY! THE MORNING RANT: Texas Republicans Defeat the Uniparty and Will Finally Elect a Conservative House Speaker Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 12/9/24 Daily Tech News 9 December 2024 Sunday Overnight Open Thread (12/8/24) - Doof Gun Thread: Less Than Robust Content Edition! Food Thread: No Blood For Rib Roasts! Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |