Redstate

Posted at 9:56am on May 30, 2008 Yonder stands your orphan,with his gun.

By Paul J Cella

Men who have forgotten more about the earthy rough-n-tumble of politics than I shall ever know assure me that the device of “email blasts” — occasional notifications, sent out to a self-selected list, of the need for action on specific issues of consequence — is a highly useful one. “We're already having an impact with our Redstate Action Emails,” one of these political savants tells me. “But the bigger the list, the more impact we have.”

It has long been a lament of political operatives that Conservatives, traditionalists, libertarians, reactionaries, populists — all the raucous panoply of the American Right — are peculiarly resistant to the kind of organization that lends itself to success in democratic politics. Some of the reasons for this are plain enough: Conservatives are more likely than Liberals to be busy with private life — families, businesses, churches — and to hold public life in a certain disdain. They are much better at stopping bad things, than they are at organizing to achieve good things. But all this is only true as a generality. In specific cases it does not apply; and I venture to speculate that there are quite a few Conservatives out there who, though busy indeed, would not be averse to occasional activism which is focused and effective. Even the rough-n-tumble of politics, and all its frustrations and indignities, may now and then be necessary to vindicate a just cause.

The fact is — whatever we may think of the GOP’s failings — we face the real possibility of a party winning control of both the Legislative and the Executive branches, which, to saying nothing more, does not inspire confidence as to its judgment, its patriotism, its fortitude in the face of the Republic’s enemies. Very likely Conservatives are going to be called on again to do what they are genuinely good at: stopping bad things— resisting folly, fraud and utopian delusion.

Take heart, friend: this we can do. Contemplate the noble work that a disparate coalition of Conservatives has accomplished, in the teeth of the zealous craving of the elites of virtually every sector of our society, against the project to dispossess America by another massive, disingenuously promoted immigration amnesty. We have triumphed, many times. But the other side is regrouping, and shall hurl themselves against our ramparts again soon enough.

With all that in mind, I invite you to sign up for the Redstate Action Email list. There is no cause for despair, but there is cause for alarm. My language may be extravagant and antiquated, even comical; but the future of the Republic is no laughing matter. If by this small effort of organization we can do our part to secure that future from Socialism, from Degeneracy, from Jihad and Sharia, and a dozen other menaces, we shall have done well.

We shall have avoided the taunt that the Left is preparing for us — a taunt which, though it misuses the material, would heap scorn upon us with the famous lines of Bob Dylan:

Posted in action alerts | Bob Dylan | Conservatives | Miscellanea — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:02am on May 3, 2008 How The Mighty Have Fallen

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

For the past eleven years, the Labour Party dominated the political landscape in Great Britain. And now . . . things are different:

Gordon Brown's first electoral test turned into a nightmare last night as Labour lost an astonishing 331 council seats.

In London, Boris Johnson appeared to be ending the eight-year reign of Ken Livingstone, delivering one more body blow to the Prime Minister as Labour lost a quarter of the councillors who stood for the party on Thursday.

The bloodbath consumed victims across the country, including the North and Wales, leaving Labour's local government and campaigning base severely weakened.

Ministers now fear for their chances of surviving the next general election and Mr Brown's authority was further damaged.

He promised to "listen and lead" and will launch a fightback this weekend, hoping to prove to the country that he, rather than David Cameron, has the experience and stature to take it through difficult times. It had been a "bad night", he accepted.

Yesterday's huge reverses make it almost certain that the next general election will take place in 2010 rather than next year. Mr Brown has an electoral mountain to climb to get his party into a position to win it.

Personal criticism of Mr Brown from the Labour side was muted. Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, told him that the message was to "get a grip"; one MP said that he had suffered a "John Major moment"; and his closest ally Ed Balls said that the results could not be dismissed as a traditional midterm kick to the governing party.

The electorate was cross with Labour, Mr Balls said.

I am no fan of David Cameron and my fondest hope is that he wounds Gordon Brown without being able to become Prime Minister himself; perhaps that way, the Tories will opt for William Hague--my favorite candidate as a future Tory leader--to reclaim his leadership position and potentially become Prime Minister (Hague is currently the Shadow Foreign Secretary). But it is increasingly looking as if Cameron will indeed succeed Brown the next time a general election is called. Fate is fickle, to be sure, and at the beginning of his premiership, Brown looked unassailable. Perhaps he will regain his momentum. But ever since backing away from calling a snap election last year--and then claiming fatuously that Labour could have won the election (if so, why didn't Labour call the election?)--Brown has been all thumbs politically. His party has suffered accordingly.

And one day after May Day, the fact that "Red Ken" Livingstone has lost the mayoralty of London is nothing short of delightful. Ah, schadenfreude.

Posted in Boris Johnson | Britain | Conservatives | David Cameron | Foreign Affairs | Gordon Brown | Ken Livingstone | Labour — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:30pm on Mar. 4, 2008 For McCain or Against the Dem? We need provocation!

By Mark Kilmer

I watched last night's episode of Hannity and Colmes on FNC, and I was eager to hear why Frank Luntz said the lines of his focus groups went where. He had a focus group of Texas Republicans, most of whom disliked John McCain but less so than they despised the former First Lady and Barry Obama. A few were going to vote for either Hillary or McCain in today's primary, presumably because some radio talk show host had told them that the GOP would be better off facing this one particular candidate or that. However, almost all of them said that they would vote for McCain.

Is it a vote for McCain or a vote against Obama or Clinton? Most of those in the room said that they would be voting against the Dem. How could McCain change that? Those whom Mr. Luntz asked personally said that McCain had to make his case to conservatives. Luntz asked the entire audience about this, and most of them grunted in assent.

Well, back when many conservatives were angrily disappointed that McCain would be the Republican nominee, and were very vocal about it, I took encouragement from John McCain's line on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows (February 3) that he had a lot of hard work to do in order to make his case to the party's conservatives.

Read On…

Posted in 2008 | Conservatives | grassroots | John McCain — Comments (135)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:16pm on Feb. 14, 2008 Over 130 House Republicans sign letter asking conservative stalwart Shadegg not to retire

Hear our call - Don't Give Up the Fight

By The Directors

Earlier this week, we reacted to the announcement that John Shadegg was resigning from Congress with surprise and dismay. We have in the past endorsed Shadegg for the position of majority leader, and we consider him a leading voice for conservatism on Capitol Hill and in America.

Tonight, we were not surprised to learn that our high opinion of John Shadegg is shared by many on the Hill. According to multiple news reports, over half of the Republicans in the House signed the following letter in just the first two hours of its distribution, urging Shadegg to reconsider. We at Redstate wholeheartedly concur with those who circulated the letter - Reps. Pence, Hensarling, and Hoekstra - and with the other 130+ House GOPers' call for Mr. Shadegg to run for reelection and to remain in office. These are critical times for our nation, and Washington needs leaders of his caliber.

The text of the letter is below the fold. We encourage our readers to add their comments in support of John Shadegg, urging him to stay the course.

Read on.

Posted in Congress | Conservatives | John Shadegg | Republicans — Comments (19)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:34am on Feb. 11, 2008 The Wages of Being John McCain

Should Conservatives Work for McCain?

By Brad Smith

Last week, columnist Mona Charen wrote this column, noting Senator McCain’s problems with conservatives, and concluding by discussing me, writing, “Smith, a soft-spoken scholar, ardent patriot and lifelong conservative Republican, cannot, as a matter of honor, pull the lever for McCain.” Although I did say this to Ms. Charen, in fact I have not definitely made up my mind not to vote for McCain. But since Ms. Charen’s column, I have received a surprising number of calls from other conservatives feeling much the same. These are not insignificant people. They include a leading conservative philanthropist; a prominent conservative think tank denizen; a local GOP officeholder; a former appointee in Governor George Voinovich’s administration in Ohio, and others of similar rank – all lifelong Republicans. So it is perhaps appropriate for me to add a few words as to why Senator McCain will not find it easy to reconcile many conservatives to his candidacy.

Read on...

Posted in 2008 | Conservatives | John McCain — Comments (177)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:02pm on Feb. 9, 2008 Why every conservative should vote for John McCain in November

Assuming he's the Republican nominee, of course

By Neil Stevens

Our vote is the first way we express our political will in this Republic. Our money and our time are so important as well, but without a vote, it is all for nothing.

Choosing a candidate to back in the 2008 Presidential election is therefore a big deal. And so, with full knowledge of how weighty this decision is, I present the case for Republican nominee John McCain to be the conservative choice for President this year.

Read On...

Posted in 2008 | Conservatives | John McCain — Comments (76)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:20pm on Feb. 7, 2008 A Challenge.

NO, this has nothing to do with the presidential campaign.

By Paul J Cella

When Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn delivered a brief address to a town hall meeting in Cavendish, Vermont, where he had lived for eighteen years with his family, in exile from Communist Russia, he paid poignant homage to “the sensible and sure process of grassroots democracy, in which the local population solves most of its problems on its own, not waiting for the decisions of higher authorities.” He declared also that, while “exile is always difficult,” he “could not imagine a better place to live, and wait, and wait for my return home,” than that little town. He expressed his gratitude for its respect for his privacy, and spoke warmly of its neighborliness. For his children, “Vermont is home,” for they have grown up “alongside your children.”

With a “God bless you all,” the great Russian finished — to a hearty ovation from those snowbound New Englanders.

Calm down and Read on.

Posted in abstractions | American political tradition | Conservatives | Culture | Solzhenitsyn — Comments (17)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:58pm on Feb. 6, 2008 Basic Instructions for conservatives

By Neil Stevens

How to deal with someone who doesn't like you should fit the bill. Particularly that first panel.

Posted at 12:27pm on Feb. 6, 2008 And they said WE were bitter.

By Paul J Cella

According to Noemie Emery, in a brief but muddled piece over at The Weekly Standard, it seems that “the ideological right is filled with a vast, free-floating fury that can't find a target upon which to dump all this ire,” because . . . well, basically because some of us are still suspicious of McCain.

It is a bizarre polemic which, in order to appeal for unity behind a shaky candidate, calls upon hackneyed Leftist smears to disparage whole chunks of that candidate’s party. Thanks for that. Thanks, also, for the rehearsal of exactly the same tissue of mendacities and ill will that greeted Reagan and the 1994 Revolution from our beloved Liberals. Angry irrational bigots, those Reagan and Gingrich voters: cretins and fire-eaters and coddlers of fascists — how many times have we heard this innuendo from the Left?

Well it rings even more hollow and false from someone on the Right.

As my friend Leon noted, Ms. Emery once announced that she would sooner vote for Joe Lieberman than Sam Brownback; now she presumes to lecture Conservatives on what Republican unity should look like — and even hauls poor Sam Brownback into the train of her shoddy argument!

The answer to this is really quite simple: This is the primary season; McCain has a commanding lead, but he is not yet the assured nominee; there is no inherent dishonor or disloyalty in still opposing him, voting against him, even working for his defeat. I repeat: we are talking about the GOP primary race. This is precisely the time to hash this stuff out.

Most of this pack of bigots possessed by “vast, free-floating fury,” looking for a sensitive soul like Johnny Mac upon which to “dump all [its] ire” — a group which those of us less agitated and embittered call “Conservatives” — will certainly come around and support McCain in November. You know that. I know that. Even Ms. Emery probably knows that.

There is no question but that the air is filled with hyperbole. Tension, excitement and genuine uncertainty tend to invite that. But few things are more dispiriting, and more suggestive of a fundamental pettiness, than the spectacle of right-wingers opportunistically embracing some of the worst rhetorical conceits of the Left.

Posted in 2008 | Conservatives | primaries | Republicans — Comments (40)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:06am on Feb. 1, 2008 The Agony of Victory

Or the Thrill of Defeat?

By Mark I

Sen. John McCain’s Florida primary victory has made the likelihood of a McCain nomination a virtual certainty; and has focused the choice for conservatives vexed by this state of affairs. Just as the primary has become a binary choice between two conservative credential-challenged men, so have conservatives and Republicans suddenly been presented with a choice between two equally bad options.

It boils down to this: Do we conservatives want to win ugly, or lose pretty?

Read on…

Posted in 2008 | Conservatives | Endorsements | Hillary Clinton | John McCain | The Presidential Race — Comments (55)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:16pm on Jan. 25, 2008 I am no longer a RiNO

By Neil Stevens

For the record, I no longer consider myself a RiNO. I will vote for the nominees of the Republican party* all the way down the ticket automatically. That's my new policy.

This is a major change for me. I've always considered voting for another party to be a reasonable message-sending approach. but I was misguided: my thought processes hinged on the assumption that the Republican party is truly and rightfully Reaganite. But that is not the case, so I have to adapt.

Posted in conservatism | Conservatives | Republicans | RINOs | Ronald Reagan — Comments (152) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:45pm on Jan. 13, 2008 The Schizophrenia Of Modern Conservativism

In which Goldberg channels haystack-sorta

By haystack

I JUST opined the other day that the "word" Conservatism has been mis-used and abused by all these political opportunists running for President, and along comes a person the world DOES seem to listen to who suggests nearly the same thing. Now, this Goldberg piece smells awfully pro-Huckabee...but, I've been rightly accused of late of being overly sensitive to these matters:

Today the American public seems deeply schizophrenic: It hates the government -- Washington, Congress and public institutions are more unpopular than at any time since Watergate -- but it wants more of it. Conservative arguments about limited government have little purchase among independents and swing voters.

I swear I'm being channeled...

Among the GOP POTUS wannabes, I honestly believe each (less one in my opinion... who I shall not name because this would then be considered a "pimping" essay) espouse one or more policy positions that completely contradict the Reagan Conservatism some of us still pine for 20 years on. And, for those who are absolutely convinced that our political heroes are the root of all our collective evils (read Congress REALLY sucks), be reminded of THIS speech (Reagan's first inaugural) and what he said then and whether the same might be said today:

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.

From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

We hear much of special interest groups. Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick—professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truckdrivers. They are, in short, "We the people," this breed called Americans.

More below the fold...

Posted in Conservatives | Republicans — Comments (30)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:54pm on Jan. 11, 2008 Conservatism: Top Party Favor For 2008

By haystack

Let's get it said up front...the word Conservative has been thrown around, bit, kicked, beat up, trampled, spit on, dragged through horse puckey, and left generally tattered and abused beyond recognition. Really. It's become the biggest beating stick (for both parties) since...well... since as far back as I can remember.

"I'm the true Conservative" - no... "I'm the true Conservative" - nuh uh... "I'm the true Conservative."

And from the left? Well, I'll shelve that for a sec...except to remind everyone of the extent to which they have gone to actually convince their shirt-tearing screamers that Conservatism is what has CAUSED all the problems we face.

Our Field of Dreams™ POTUS wannabes on the GOP ticket (like the herd of geldings some of them are) is doing a lot of fluffing and primping to impress a brood mare they can do nothing FOR, while telling any fairy tale they see fit to tell hoping to distinguish themselves as the "true Conservative" in this race.

Sorry folks...of those in the "statistically likely Primary winner" pool, not a one of them is a "true Conservative"...well-oiled machine of political opportunism, perhaps...but Conservative? Please.

And if I see ONE more freaking essay decrying an ONLY answer to anything... I swear my hair is going to spontaneously combust.

More below the stinking fold...

Posted in Conservatives | Democrats | Liberals | Republicans | The Parties — Comments (7) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:23pm on Nov. 18, 2007 A fragment on Conservatism and Progress

By Paul J Cella

Here is a Sunday question: what is the status of the idea of PROGRESS in Conservative thought? Read on.

Posted in Communism | Conservatives | History | Nazism | progress — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »