Wednesday, November 30, 2005

01: "What makes ‘Denny Democrat’ tick?"

In this essay, we will endeavor to plumb the depths of the liberal strategy for the 21st century. In an effort to fathom what it is that makes ‘Denny Democrat’ tick, we must define who (or what) ‘Denny Democrat’ is. ‘Denny Democrat”, or DD for short, is, typically, an urban-centric, progressive individual who clings to the liberal side of things because they espouse a certain distaste and distrust for free market ideology. Now, before you go off half-cocked, understand this: we need DD in this world. ‘Denny Democrat’ provides political balance, and without political balance from DD, we would slide inexorably to the right, and into the extreme. Conversely, DD needs the Republicans for political balance because without that balance, we would slide inexorably to the left.

This is a basic tenet of political philosophy that, unfortunately, has been totally subverted by the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party. Starting during the 2004 primary campaigns, the leading Democratic candidates took their lead from “Hollerin’ Howard Dean”. His screaming rants against President Bush, and all Republicans became a daily rallying cry of the Democrats, and the liberal media. Before you knew it, Hollerin’ Howard was serving as a role model for such Progressive luminaries as “Jivin’ John Kerry”, and ‘Jovial John Edwards’.

State of the Union by Carl Moore ©2005 Creators Syndicate

For the past twenty-two months, we have been subjected to daily, nightly and sometimes hourly rants from leading Democrats like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, Teddy Kennedy, and an assortment of lesser lights, all eager to get face time on the tube, and sound-bites on the radio. This highly orchestrated campaign is based on the old adage that if you throw enough crap against the wall, some of it is going to stick.

It took about three months of nightly coverage by the networks for the media and the press to jump on the bandwagon. Suddenly, they were a part of it. Here was their opportunity to reprise their role from the Vietnam era. Nightly pictures of bombings and their results, major coverage of kidnappings and beheadings, and a strict and highly visible accounting of U.S. war dead, and suddenly, the blue-thumbs of the Iraqi voters last winter are forgotten. No longer do we hear about the Iraqi businesses that have reopened, or started up, nor do we hear of the schools that are in operation, power plants, water supplies - in short, we no longer hear of the return to normal life. Welcome to the re-Vietnamization of our national will.

This shrill assault on the President, is patently false, baseless, and replete with lies after lie. So, why are we forced to go through this? The answer is simple: The Democratic Party is bankrupt of ideas, ideals, and integrity. They have nothing positive to offer to the nation. Thus they commit to the negativism and defeatism of what is, in reality, a national success.

Success? Yes, indeed – success. By far, the greatest majority of people in Iraq want nothing more than to get on with the rebuilding of their country. They are satisfied with their march toward democracy, and the liberty they have experienced since the fall of Saddam Hussein has proved to be very heady stuff. They are not happy with the insurgency. They recognize that it is the insurgency keeping American troops in Iraq, not a wish to remain as controlling occupiers.

In Afghanistan, democracy has taken hold, and the Taliban is testing its grip. Meanwhile, the hunt of Bin Laden continues.

Being sandwiched between two Arab democracies has Iran flexing its muscle as a warning to the world, keep your hands off. What they fail to realize is that the world will not allow them to become a nuclear power.

Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison and Monroe were faced with the daunting task of seeing the brand new experiment in democracy through its first generation. Jackson saw the first threat of disunion, and faced it down with his personal strengths. No president can match Abraham Lincoln for what he accomplished in just over one term, when faced with secession in the months before his inauguration. Franklin Roosevelt served extra terms in the Whitehouse to see us through the great economic depression of the 1930s and the great war of the 1940s. Ronald Reagan rescued the nation’s psyche, and restored that nation to its rightful place of preeminence. Lincoln said,

“When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really a good one.”


George W. Bush was faced with a disastrous attack on this nation by the evil purveyors of terrorism. Since then, he has guided the nation through the liberation of Afghanistan, the acquiescence of former terrorist state Libya, and the liberation of Iraq. During his administration the settlement of the Palestinian question has moved closer to peaceful resolution than it has ever been. He has faced down natural disasters from forest fires to the horrible hurricane season that will not die. He has faced economic crises, yet our economy today is healthier, and stronger than it has been in decades.

Through it all, President Bush, and his wonderful First Lady Laura, have remained upbeat, confident, and focused. He is as determined to defeat terrorism today as he was on September 11, 2001.

Yet these braying jackasses call him a liar. They call him weak. They call him ineffective and ineffectual. They (most of them) stop just short of accusing him of committing a crime over the start of the Iraq war. They take his words out of context and slam him by making those words mean something else.

They do this not because any of it is true – it isn’t, not a word of it. They do it because they have nothing of their own to offer the nation. They are fresh out of ideas. Their desperation has forced them from the dignified, respectful role of loyal opposition, into a carping, braying collection of weak-kneed politicians with nothing to offer.

I have no pity for them, I have no respect for them, only scorn that in their weakness, they can offer no solutions, no ideas, no ideals to which to cling, only callous and venomous attacks.

When I begin to hear alternatives, ideas, and such, that are legitimate, and not the same rhetoric of divisiveness that their party created in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when they come forward with a realistic alternative to the current set of policies, and that alternative reserves and preserves the nation’s honor, and restores respect to national politics once again, I will listen. I may not agree, but I will listen. When I note Denny Democrat has once again embraced the good sense embodied in Lincoln’s quote above, I will listen again. Until then, I will continue to tune out the lies.

THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2005, "THE CENTRIST" . All Rights Reserved.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Welcome to THE CENTRIST

We are getting things ready for our debut on Wednesday, November 30, 2005. We plan to introduce a blog that discusses Pennsylvania and National politics, and political people.

While we are essentially conservatives, we do believe we are middle of the road, or centered politically, probably close to the center stripe in our web address. Nevertheless, this IS a conservative blog, and we will likely have much to say about the Democrats that will disturb any liberal/progressive readers. On the hther hand, we are not going to be complete cheerleaders for the Republican Party, either. Indeed, in Pennsylvania at least, the Republicans have much to answer for and we intend to keep the heat on. We will call them as we see them. We will not apologize for that. We will stand by what we write, as it is opinion. If we discover that our opinion is ill-informed opinion, we are not above writing retractions. If we have presented facts we will at least document where we obtained verification of those facts. Finally, we may from time to time, receive information from confidential sources. In such cases, we will identify it as such.

To quote the late, great Bette Davis, in her film All About Eve, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

Here is our official address: http://centristatheart.blogspot.com

Please bookmark/save to favorites. Stop back often. The political season for 2006 will be on us shortly.

Thanks!

THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " Albert Einstein


Copyright © 2005, "THE CENTRIST" . All Rights Reserved.