Posted by
Raven on Sunday, February 10, 2008 3:14:58 AM
The feathered one has returned. ~listens to the crickets~
Its been a couple of months of highs and lows since my last ruffling. From having to help my 12 yo lab/husky get his fur-angel wings to learning I'm going to be a poppa for the first time this July it has been an .. interesting .. few months to say the least. Of course even with my attention elsewhere things have not slowed down in the 'real world', au contraire.
Of course the biggest issue, at least to a lot of people, is the consternation felt with the apparent 'inevitability' of a John McCain nomination. {I am nominating the inevitable' concept as the over-used term of the last 12 months. After all I seem to recall the inevitability of a Hilary Clinton 'coronation' and a 19-0 Patriots season, but I digress.}
There has been a lot of talk of Conservatives staying home, a 3rd party vote or horror of horrors casting a vote for either head of the two-headed Socialist party.
We are bearing witness to a momentous event in history, and not a pretty one. We are witnessing a concerted effort, consciously or otherwise, to denigrate, suppress, belittle and in general try to relegate Conservative thought, principles and those who have them into irrelevancy. This assault is not a recent development; the signs have been there for some time. It's just been a matter of noticing them. It has been slowly building, just under the radar as it were. It is just now coming to a head. It is as if those seek such a thing are smelling blood in the water and see this as their opportunity to strike one final blow.
There have always been the expected attacks from the media and the Democrats, but it is this recent, and not so subtle, attempt by some to 're-brand' the GOP, to shift it 'towards the center' i.e. become Democrat-lite that I think is assisting in bringing this all to a head.
Living in Minnesota I have seen this first hand with our governor Pawlenty. He is on the front lines of those leading this shift. He along with Arnold and others seem intent on dragging the GOP leftward. Is it really a surprise that Pawlenty is so solidly in McCain's camp?
There are dark clouds on the horizon for those of us who consider ourselves Conservative. With the attacks from within now as well as from with out it leaves only one question. What is going to become of the Republican party?
As things are right now we soon wont have two parties anyway. We have the Demublicans and the Repocrats. They are getting to the point where they are interchangeable. Oh sure one candidate will say something to one group, but then they will say something to another group. Witness the recent John "Really I am a Conservative" McCain. I have a term for such people, those who say what is needed but then do something completely different. Ideological transvestites.
Ok so it is looking like we won't have a choice of Candidate that can be considered a Conservative. Now what? Do we hang our heads down, tuck our tails between our legs and stand in line like everyone else waiting for our next check from the Kingdom of D.C.? Or are we actually going to do something?
I myself vote for the latter. Once I get into the voting booth in November if I still am not comfortable voting for the Republican candidate then I won't. Plain and simple. I will however definitely vote for the rest of the ballot. As important as who becomes President so to is it just as important what the make up of Congress is. I stick by my initial reaction a few days after the election of 2006. The Dems do not retain control after 2008. One house? Maybe. Both? No. In a lot of ways the President is like a NFL quarterback. Too much blame when things go bad, and too much credit when things go good.
We get a 'socialist' in the White House? Fine. As long as we have a Republican Congress. We have McCain in there? Then a Republican Congress is also a must. Whereas neither of the Dems would 'ever' consider having a Conservative thought at least with McCain there is at least the chance of a stray Conservative thought.
Of course this would mean we would have to work towards getting Republicans in office who are not ideological cross-dressers, but one step at a time.
It will take a lot of work to survive the upcoming dark days for the GOP but it will be work well worth the effort. As for myself I am getting more involved at the local level. The level where everything begins and where change has to start. I went to my very first caucus, am now the Chairman of my Precinct, a Delegate to our upcoming nominating convention and am on the committee that will be questioning the candidates seeking the nomination of the party for state Representative from our House District. I think that is a good start.