COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Hewitt tells Rush Limbaugh to Shut-Up, sort of.


Hugh Hewitt, not Jennifer Love Hewitt, but this is better to look at.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Seven Reasons To Support The GOP's Nominee
Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 10:10 AM
As of this morning, McCain has earned 615 delegates and 4,220,296 votes; Romney 268 delegates and 3,497,341 votes, and Huckabee 169 delegates and 2,232,530 votes.

(If we were using West Virginia rules, we'd get the Huck folks to revote right now and get one of the GOP candidates to 50%.)

Senator McCain has a clear path to the nomination, Romney a very uphill battle, and Huck is fighting for 2012 at this point and for a win in a major vote outside of the south. Certainly they should all stay in through the primaries ahead because it isn't over and because our side needs the excitement of a campaign in such key falls states as Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania to keep the MSM from turning 100% of its attention on to growing the Obama phenomenon. They ought to be scheduling three man debates in every state, making their points and taking every opportunity to look ahead to the fall.

At the same time, Romney and Huckabee ought to begin to note Senator McCain's lead and urge their followers to recognize that if they cannot come back they and their followers will have to come in and join the party's eventual nominee. Senator McCain would do well to make a similar statement though his lead is significant and his collapse unlikely. Putting Humpty Dumpty together again cannot wait for St. Paul. Each of the three need to strike some common chords again and again, beginning with why the GOP needs to retain the White House, regardless of who its nominee is.

There are seven reasons for anyone to support the eventual nominee no matter who it is: The war and six Supreme Court justices over the age of 68.

Folks who want to take their ball and go home have to realize that even three SCOTUS appointments could revolutionize the way elections are handled in this country in a stroke, mandating the submission of redistricting lines to court scrutiny for "fairness."

"It is undeniable that political sophisticates understand such fairness and how to go about destroying it," Justice Souter announced in his diseent in Veith v. Jubilerer, the Pennsylvania redistricting case in which the Court declined by a vote of 5 to 4 to immerse itself in the details of the partisan redistricting of Pennsylvania.

If Democrats control the White House and gain even one of the five seats held by the center-right majority of current justices, this and many other crucial issues are up for legal grabs. When activist judges are more than willing to rewrite rules of long-standing, periods of exile should never be self-imposed "for the good of the party." Exiles can go on a very long time indeed. Ask the Whigs.

They can go on indefinitely when enforced by courts.

The GOP as well is the party committed to victory in Iraq and the wider war. A four year time-out would be a disaster, a period of time in which al Qaeda and its jihadist off-shoots would regroup in some places and continue to spread in others. Iran, even if punished in the months before November, would certainly continue and accelerate its plans under the soft pleadings of a President Obama or Clinton 2.0.

These aren't the years to wish a pox on your primary opponents' heads beyond June.

I don't expect the principals to let up on each other in the two months ahead, and I am especially looking forward to the Ohio and Texas votes.

But it is very possible to play full contact politics without the threat of going home if your team loses. The stakes in the fall are far too high for that


21 comments:

  1. Folks who want to take their ball and go home have to realize that even three SCOTUS appointments could revolutionize the way elections are handled in this country in a stroke, mandating the submission of redistricting lines to court scrutiny for "fairness."

    ..
    A fair system would have a final two way race for the nomination based on proportional votes. As it is, the "Mavericks" split the votes 3 or 4 ways and buy their way to win elections. Play the machine, and the machine plays you.

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  2. I just got up, having suffered a night of nightmares over this, then I just told my wife all the bad news.

    I second the nomination of Sam to Oak Leaf Silver.

    I, too, hope Rat is just having a river trip or something.

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  3. The answer to the question of where the accusatory video would be posted if Romney had been the accused is in the New York Times and my local newspaper.

    I'm not saying it is true, but it might be.

    I recall when the law of evidence for rape in Idaho was changed so that a woman's testimony alone could convict. I recall dad pacing around one day, saying shit, you got to have at least one other piece of evidence of some kind.

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  4. I'm pinching myself to see if it is really true I'm actually hoping Hillary beats out Obama, but it seems to be true: for the good of the country!

    News says the Clintons are digging into their own pocketbooks to fund their campaign.

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  5. In case you missed it, deuce==

    I second the nomination of Sam to Oak Leaf Silver.

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  6. Got to talk to the bankers today. Later.

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  7. Duly noted, and we all welcome Sam for his consistent
    interesting commentary and sourced material.

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  8. I second myself at the nomination for Maple Leaf Platinum fsck cluster.

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  9. ...and a Petrified Woody for Mat!
    ---
    Hewitt was wrong on Arnold, wrong on Harriet, and he can't remake reality:

    Conservatives did not vote for Shamnesty.
    REPUBLICANS DID NOT VOTE!

    Any suggestions how that FACT can be neutralized?

    Yeah, the anti-Hillary vote, BUT:

    As Rush pointed out, at that point the entire MSM will start working on the age issue.
    That combined with his history of telling conservatives to get fucked...

    Let's just say the prospects for a GOP Meltdown at the Polls is rather prohibitively high.

    Magic Wands are few and far between.

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  10. That's a good point, Albob, the Clintons now not only have a Large personal stash, but unlimited funds from the ME and the communists, foreign and domestic.
    (care to outbid the Saudis and the Chi-coms?)

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  11. Is McCaine limited to federal funds?

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  12. 02:04:00 PM EST - left out Soros and Moveon.

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  13. I don't like McCain but I think if Hillary wins the nomination she'll have the same problems motivating her base as does McCain.

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  14. Yeah, I thot of that too, Charles...
    But if you just give the Dems the numbers that voted for Hill, and the Pubs the number that voted for McCain...
    (I haven't done it yet, but I'll bet Hillary wins. Obama, well we know what the outcome would be there)

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  15. Rush's last caller had the only idea that seems remotely viable:
    Forget the WH, elect conservatives to Congress.

    He didn't say it this way, but in practice, that would mean decoupling the two.

    ...something else Hugh (and Buddy) were wrong about was going along with W as he REGULARLY threw conservative candidates under the bus in preference for the more "moderate" (liberal)
    Spector being the shining, but not the only example, by far.
    You can't expect conservatives to get kicked in the nuts for 8yrs straight, and then willingly "bite the bullet" and volunteer for 8 more.

    ...but rallying folks to VOTE for Conservatives in Congress in the face of negative coatails from the presidential candidate...

    Not sure how you would go about doing that, unless talk radio was united, but Bill Bennet Medved, and Hewitt are on one side, Ingraham, Savage, Limbaugh, the other.
    ...not sure where the rest will end up.

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  16. The modern traveler in a distant land
    The Independent's lengthy and serious article on British and EU attempts to bribe the Taliban, to the extent of offering to build a training camp for 2,000 fighters in Southern Afghanistan should be read in conjunction with this tabloid article from the Sun: Army Runs Out of Machine Guns.
    By "Army" is meant the British Army. And while the Tommy Atkins goes without, the supplier is making express deliveries of weapons to Saudi Arabia.

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  17. This just in from Monica:

    I'm voting republican...
    The democrats left a bad taste in my mouth.

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  18. Doug, 2164th, Bob,

    Thanks for the promotion but Mat and Cutler deserve it far more than me.

    Interesting commentary? C'mon, I think we all know that applies to Mat and Cutler more so.

    I really am here to increase my knowledge. As 2164th said, 'I learn something new here every day.'

    And I thank you for that.

    But the 'Maple Leaf Platinum Fuck Cluster'. Now that sounds exciting! I'll have one of those, please!

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  19. Does the fuck cluster come with a case of beer?

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  20. Sam,

    You do understand that with this promotion we expect you to work that much harder.

    And no drinking on the Job! :)

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