I haven't written too much about politics lately...Some of it is exhaustion and some of it is just circumstantial. I'm unhappy with the GOP and haven't written them any checks. The source of my unhappiness isn't the economy (sub-prime, high gas prices, inflation, and/or the dollar) or Iraq. The economy is cyclical and will emerge from it's funk (UNLESS the politicos interfere with it). According to the mainstream media we've been living in Hooverville anyway since day three of the Bush Administration so we've known nothing BUT economic misery for 7+ years!

History will judge Iraq and when you separate your emotion and consider the facts (if you can find them) a different picture emerges.

[UPDATE: This doesn't fit the DEM talking points -- World praises progress in Iraq as Baghdad seeks debt relief]

I was watching a documentary on Harry Truman on PBS and it was Truman who went and asked a Republican Congress for buckets of money to aggressively fight communism in Turkey and Greece (what a damn war monger).

My real unhappiness with the GOP has to do with corruption and a reckless abandonment of core principles. This has been done, in my opinion, for the purpose of appeasing the leftward lurch of the mob and for selfish gain. I would much rather the party remain true to the principles of limited government, private property, individual responsibility (devoid in any lefty dictionary) and free markets AND re-trench in the minority. It is, and has always been, our responsibility to take punishment for defending history, protecting the permanent things, respecting tradition, and promoting the individual over the collective. We're destined to lose (to be bloodied) but so it goes.

The party of course has tried to scare me straight. I receive solicitations from the GOP saying things like "stop the Democratic takeover." But from what? What are you offering that isn't a little less left than Pelosi/Obama/Reid? Quite frankly I'm exhausted and would much rather make some pop-corn and watch Jimmy Carter Part II. I gaily look forward to the morning in February when the mainstream media realize that, with the ghosts of Bush exhausted, that there's no one left to blame.

Sure. The mainstream media may find the 1 or 2 remaining Republicans in the House to blame but it won't sell on Main Street forever. Obama's honeymoon will be short and if his policies (open borders, naked appeasement, nationalization, higher taxes, tariffs, and BIGGER government) doesn't yield quick results, his friends in the mainstream media will struggle to find enough polish for that turd. Nancy took over as Speaker of the House in 2006 and less than two-years removed Congressional approval ratings are lower than the President's. Nancy is blaming "obstructionist" Republicans for now but soon that smokescreen will be gone. If the federal government is run like the People's Republic of California there will be enough economic pain to remind voters that socialism has failed from time immemorial. Whether or not voters do anything about it (and if the GOP can find their virgin soul) is the subject of another post.

Update
A list for the GOP:

• Reform (and cut) entitlements
• Cut spending
• Tort reform
• Lower taxes (and tax reform - flat tax)
• More trade agreements
• Treat lobbying as a criminal activity (eh, it's 6:00 AM)
• Marriage amendment
• Fight judicial activism
• Help the UN relocate
• School vouchers
• Immigration reform (beginning with border security)
• Fight (not prosecute) the global war on terror
• Privatize mass transit
• Promote private property as best means of protecting the environment and promoting conservation
• Broad incentives to industry for exploring alternative fuels (cut spending and "re-invest" those tax dollars here)
• Eliminate earmarks/pork barrel spending
• Re-introduce compulsory civil service
• Drill in ANWR (drill in the 48 states), build refineries, and build nuclear facilities (environmentalists be damned)

Labels: democrats, left-wing media, obama, the good guys