What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. – The Preacher
The statement from Ecclesiastes 1:9 is quite possibly the most conservative sentence ever written. I guess the former Governor of Florida together with the vast majority of elected Republicans over the past 13 years never heeded its wisdom.
Yet, in the wake of our past two election year losses self-identified “fiscal conservatives”, moderates and mavericks inside the beltway have sought to pin those losses Big Spending, Iraq War and Economic bailout/recession-driven losses on their favorite religious right/social conservative bogeymen, including Ronald Reagan.
The latest to join the gratuitous “insult conservatives lecture circuit” now known as the “National Council For A New America” (NCNA) – sounds a lot like President Obama’s “fundamentally change” and “re-make” America, doesn’t it, but I digress – is Jeb Bush:
My reason for being here is that I think ideas have consequences and we that ought to have a thoughtful discussion about those ideas. And from the conservative side, it’s time for us to listen first, to learn a little bit, to upgrade our message a little bit, to not be nostalgic about the past — because, you know, things do ebb and flow, and it’s nice to remember the good old days when the good guys, if you’re a conservative, were in power. If you’re a liberal, you remember nostalgically when they were in power. None of that matters right now. What we need to do is to listen, to learn, and then there will be a new generation of leaders that will lead. Listen, learn, lead.
Ok, so what doesn’t matter are lessons from how conservatives won power? What does matter is that we “listen, learn and lead”? It competes for vagueness with Obama’s “hope and change”, but unfortunately, the concrete result of the NCNA’s three l’s would be a surrender to Obama.
Heck, they can’t stop praising the President in public. Our Minority “Whip” never misses a chance to flog Obama with his feather-made lash every chance he gets, and now his Sunshine State partner in Reagan nostalgia-killing offers his obeisance:
The context that I was talking about the past was really candidates running for office that have kind of a nostalgic view of the world. That’s a perilous thing. And I think to President Obama, candidate Obama’s credit, he waged a 2008 campaign that was relevant for people’s aspirations, whether you agreed with him or not, it was not a look back, it was a look forward, and so our ideas need to be forward looking and relevant. I felt like there was a lot of nostalgia for the good old days in the messaging and, you know, it’s great, but it doesn’t draw people towards your cause.
Obama looked back for two years in full public view as he trashed the framers of the Constitution for not empowering government to re-distribute wealth; President Reagan for “giving” tax cuts to the rich; and Jeb’s brother for every wrong thing under the sun.
Guess Jeb was too busy listening and learning elsewhere so he could lead us to a non-Reagan influenced democratic-lite future as seekers of complimentary Bob Michaelism passes for the congressional tennis courts.
Let’s look at some recent past learning and listenings that didn’t consult Reagan’s conservative principles and policies, shall we?
Bush 41 listened and learned from congressional democrats and led lip readers to higher taxes. Newt Gingrich listened and learned from President Clinton and led JC Watts to the woodshed for daring to call Rev. Jesse Jackson (The First lady’s guest at the State of the Union) a race pimp hustler and shakedown artist.
Bush 43 and Tom DeLay listened and learned from Senator Kennedy and led us to spend like Democrats. Eric Cantor listened and learned to who knows what (Obama and Geithner?) and led scores of Republicans to vote for a 90% tax on AIG employee insurance commission compensation.
Finally, Governor Bush himself listened and learned and opposed drilling for oil off his state’s coast. Yet, Jeb has the audacity to say:
“You can’t beat something with nothing. And the other side has something. I don’t like it, but they have it, and we have to be respectful and mindful of that.”
The “it” the Democrats have that you demand we respect, while seeking new things under the sun, is the oldest evil thing in the history of man. One that Whittaker Chambers (pictured above) noted as a “Witness” against that evil when he thought he was joining the losing side against communism:
It is not new. It is, in fact, man’s second oldest faith. Its promise was whispered in the first days of the Creation under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: “Ye shall be as gods.” It is the great alternative faith of mankind. Like all great faiths, its force derives from a simple vision. Other ages have had great visions. They have always been different versions of the same vision: the vision of God and man’s relationship to God. The Communist vision is the vision of Man without God.
Afterwards, then Democrat Ronald Reagan looked back and listened to Whittaker Chambers. Aren’t we glad he didn’t eschew the wisdom of the past like Jeb Bush want’s to?
No Jeb, YOU certainly can’t beat something with nothing. So get out of our way. We have something all right, and it is what Reagan handed down: conservative principles and policies that work and when advocated in an unabashed and unapologetic way, lead to conservative Republican majorities.
There have been some suggestions in some circles that the outrage being expressed by many conservatives at the NCNA approach and statements by Jeb and others is misplaced, that Jeb doesn’t mean the same insults to Reagan’s legacy as the Frums and Brooks did, despite using the same words or that we have been fooled by misleading Drive-by headlines.
Poppycock!
I denounced this beltway concoction on the first day I learned of it and read their mission statement, one of the most gross of which was this adoption of the entitlement language of the left:
Healthcare: Building a 21st Century, Patient-Centered System
No one doubts that our nation’s health care system is in need of reform, but we must strike the right balance that builds on what works and fixes what is broken. All Americans deserve access to high-quality, affordable care.
Yeah, just like we all “deserved” to own homes we couldn’t afford.
No, we aren’t fooled by liberal media and we aren’t pining for some reincarnation of Reagan, Regan and Baker either. What we want is for our center-right nation to be governed by like-minded conservatives like we once were, for too brief of a moment. We want policies that don’t destroy the currency and threaten our prosperity and that of the next generations. We want policies that don’t invite aggression against weakness and we want courts that umpire rather than insist on pitching.
Yes, we need new ideas and policies to address health care and other issues, we don’t get any that will work without listening and learning to the likes of Reagan.
Postscript
I have been writing Minority Reports since 2006 and if we listen to the voices of Jeb and and the NCNA, I will be writing them the rest of my life.
Adam Graham recently said it best when he suggested that the dangerous voices in the GOP are those of the “good ole boys” rather than the grassroots. I just wonder if some recent grass roots have become too chummy inside the beltway. Rush Limbaugh has said that one reason he never considered broadcasting from The District is so that he would not be inhibited in Truth Detection due to friendships with those he covered.
I found it interesting today that Rush, a long-time friend of the Bush family (after they reached out to him after he backed Pat Buchanan soon after Bush 41′s tax hike broken promise) started out the show defending Jeb over the misleading headline, but then went on to refute everything Jeb said.
[Richard "Pilgrim" Lucy contributed to this article.]
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Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer, Examiner.com and Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Originally published @ The Minority Report, where all for verification links may be accessed
May 4th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
If you think Cantor, Jeb, and the others that wanted to see if they could help the party reach out and connect are the problem we will be in the minority a LONG time. Good luck eating your own. What a loead of tripe.
And if you think Amercians don’t want to address health care–you’re crazy.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Great article Gamecock. I think that conservative grass roots opinion is starting to coalesce that the NCNA rebranding/listening tour is little more than the establishment pushing back against the tea party movement and a vehicle for John McCain and other D.C. establishment types to recast the GOP in their image of moderation and bipartisanship. Governor Palin would be wise to stay away from this group who is trying to be the “DLC” of the center right, moving the Party more towards the middle. In 2011, Sarah will be able to define her campaign in opposition to this think tank and cast herself as the outsider and true conservative. If Rush jumps on board the Sarah bandwagon early then all bets are off and she will essentially be inevitable.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Great point Pruce, I hadn’t thought to say that the real listening and learning took place recently over tea!
bravo JA
May 4th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
#1 Brent is right. We have a section of the conservative movement who are perpetual malcontents. Nothing ever makes them unhappy except complaining.
Cantor, Mitt and Jeb are at least trying. More than can be said for others who won’t even give them a chance.
Conservative have to come up with viable solutions on healthcare and the environment. Have you noticed we lost power in a big way? The fact we need to change our strategy is obvious. Of course that doesn’t mean we change our values which is what the critics assume.
BTW, the conservative’s Obama, Sarah Palin, has joined the new group. Will you throw her under the bus now too?
May 4th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
first paragraph unhappy should read happy.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
C of D – so true. At least they are doing something! The whole point of this is to rebuild the party with grassroots support. Why on earth is Rush against that?
The truth is that he is blind to Palin. He cannot see that Romney fits his ideology far better than Palin. And he isn’t willing to even hear that Palin is not ready for POTUS.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Good points, Brent and C of D. If Palin had been out there on Sat with Romney, Bush and Cantor, Rush would have praised her to high heaven, and played her quotes. But Romney had some great quotes that Rush just ignored.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books in the Bible. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Simply gorgeous.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
“We have a section of the conservative movement who are perpetual malcontents.” Oh no, the real malcontents are on the Left, the one who are malcontented with our country and those who defend it.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
If we are too fast to jump on this group before we know anything about it. The Republican party is over. Instead we will have 40 different political party’s like they have in Italy.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Hanging out with Cantor/Bush and being flip about Palin….big mistake Mitt.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Did you even watch the group’s launch? I thought it was a very realistic and agreeable discussion and I don’t see why “conservatives” are attacking it. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it and am behind it.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Brian, I watched it. I think it’s a good way to start rebuilding the party from the ground up. Get out and there and actually talk to people.
May 4th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
**The whole point of this is to rebuild the party with grassroots support. Why on earth is Rush against that?**
Ratings and money. If we lived in a conservative nirvana what would the media talk about? It’s so much more profitable to stir up trouble where trouble doesn’t exist, sabotage all efforts to improve, then write a book to draw attention to yourself and make lots of money.
The media on all sides doesn’t care about us. They care about their wallets.
May 4th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
**If Palin had been out there on Sat with Romney, Bush and Cantor, Rush would have praised her to high heaven, and played her quotes. But Romney had some great quotes that Rush just ignored.**
Since Sarah has joined up, Rush and the others have backed themselves into a corner. Do they throw her under the bus or praise her and look like hypocrites?
Tough call, but they reap what they sow.
Just wait til she praises Mitt and agrees with the others. God help her.
May 4th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
If flipflopper Mitt is going to be rebuilding the party, count me out.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
#16, ok
May 4th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Tommy B will be hoping for an Obama victory everyone. He must have gotten lost to find his way here.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Tommy, for a guy who loves data, you should know better than to buy into the flip-flopper label of Romney. I still can’t figure why you support Palin.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
My two cents…
I watched and listened intently and I have to admit that Jeb and Cantor sounded like they were trying too hard to appeal to all by mincing words and hiding their true intent of this tour. Sure, it’s about listening but what was lost in what they were saying was the teaching. Of the three only Romney was pointing out differences and articulating conservative principles. He stayed on message and the others didn’t and it came back to bite them in the a__. I think Jeb and Cantor’s way of articulating conservatism (or lack thereof) is like tying their strong arm behind their backs and using their weak arms to attack. Conservatives are hungry for someone to express their views forcefully so there is no question about what we believe. I believe that Rush and the others believe that Palin at the very least puts the Dems through their paces even if she isn’t strong on policy she brings out something in them that makes them act like who they really are. She gets a rise out of them that the others don’t.
Jeb like his brother tries too hard to soften their “conservative” tone almost as if they believe some of the things they hear. It hurts your stomach to listen to it. I also find it amazing how many conservatives were crying for Jeb to at least make his voice heard and the first time to bat he gets pimp-slapped upside his head by talk radio and in turn everyone else follows suit.
There’s no doubt about the influence of Rush and talk radio and I have to say that while I understand their feelings about Sarah Palin we should all be very careful about going in that direction. I hope they don’t feel like they have to be the Mainstream Media of the Republican Party trying to “push” their candidate like the Mainstream Media of the Democrat Party did for Barrack Obama. Sarah Palin the and the Republican machine is not Barrack Obama and the Democrat machine and in a General Election he will destroy her. For the Democrats elections are becoming easier and easier because of all the pieces that they have in place (legal and illegal). We can only depend on ideas and articulating, and framing them in a way to overcome the machine, it is not going to be easy but it can be done. If Sarah can do it she would be ideal but for now it’s still Romney for me.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Martha,
I’m not Tommy B.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Oops, sorry Tommy Boy!
May 5th, 2009 at 1:23 am
As much as I love and respect Rush, this is just a ridiculous rant… Jeb Bush was not saying that we shuld abandon Ronald Reagan’s/conservative principles; he was just saying that in 1980 we faced different problems than we do in 2009 and so we must address those problems with principles of Reagan conservatism. To do so, we can’t just say “we’te gonna be the next Reagan”, period end of conversation with the voters. The voters care about kitchen-table issues and that should be our focus, not by moving to the left on those issues, but by providing bold conservative solutions to those issues. Principled outreach, you could say. I’m all for it.
“I think it’s a good way to start rebuilding the party from the ground up. Get out and there and actually talk to people.”
AGREE, Martha. We can all disagree on who the best candidate is for 2012, but we should all be able to agree that conservatism needs to be brought to the people and communicated effectively. That is the true “big-tent” I am for. The late great Jack Kemp would be proud.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:25 am
BTW, Sarah Palin joined the group over the weekend before Rush went on his rant about them not including Gov. Palin in the group.