tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post6057553118340843358..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Newt and the Mitchell ReportJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-3595605755319971212011-12-16T09:53:17.718-06:002011-12-16T09:53:17.718-06:00@ModeratePoli:
Yes. I definitely agree conservat...@ModeratePoli:<br /><br />Yes. I definitely agree conservatives are clinging to stubborn, willful beliefs that are preventing the country from dealing with its severe problems.<br /><br />However, that's different from claiming all conservatives inherently don't believe in the concept of ethics, which is what the previous poster said. It's a blanket attack on their integrity, which is wrongheaded.<br /><br />Some people are disingenuous, but not everyone. While I believe the conservatives' worldview is destructive, I'm not cynical enough to doubt their sincere belief in it. <br /><br />On the other hand, I do think questioning their motives on regressive tax policy is fair game, but if you do, you have bring more to the discussion than "because they don't care/crave power/are dumb etc." (and that's not directed towards you, ModeratePoli)Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-16052072617302656992011-12-15T12:48:31.770-06:002011-12-15T12:48:31.770-06:00@Thomas, I agree that it's wrong to label or s...@Thomas, I agree that it's wrong to label or suspect everything conservatives do as sinister (just as it is wrong for conservatives to do that to liberals, which also happens a lot). <br /><br />However, I think it's quite reasonable to question the motivation of conservatives and their wealthy business patrons on tax issues. <br /><br />In my case, I'm a very open-minded moderate (for example I realized this year that <b><a href="http://moderatepoli.blogspot.com/2011/09/tax-fairness.html" rel="nofollow">flat taxes</a></b> are preferable). <br /><br />But I look at our deficit/debt and our tax structure, and who is struggling in this country, and I have to say that tax cuts for the wealthy don't make any sense! You can't get there deductively, so it has to be an axiom or a corrupt position that caters to a powerful group. Or maybe a habit that they won't break, even in this near-crisis. <br /><br />At this point, the conservatives have some stubborn, willful beliefs that are preventing the country from dealing with its severe problems. @Thomas, do you see this too?<br /><br />My attempt to understand the tea party beliefs <b><a href="http://moderatepoli.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-political-empathy-fail.html" rel="nofollow">here</a></b>.ModeratePolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01721945380057992971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-68680088276497498062011-12-15T11:20:01.678-06:002011-12-15T11:20:01.678-06:00This is for Ron E., and the numerous other comment...This is for Ron E., and the numerous other commenters who keep doing this:<br /><br />Can we please stop applying sinister motives to everything conservatives do? Every day someone tries to explain away the GOP mindset with something insidious. It's not malice, it's not ignorance, it's not apathy, and it's not pure evil driving them. They have a worldview that they truly believe is correct. You're not helping the discourse by oversimplifying it. If you do, you're no better than Anonymous Prime was.Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-28137321217459053402011-12-15T08:50:40.976-06:002011-12-15T08:50:40.976-06:00I think there's a simpler explanation. Conserv...I think there's a simpler explanation. Conservatives don't believe in the entire concept of "ethics" when it comes to politicians except as a tool to bring down members of the opposing party. Conservatives expect their politicians to use their office to enrich themselves and their financial backers. That's the whole point of gaining public office for a conservative: to increase your power and wealth. So when Mitt Romney or the media raises Gingrich's ethics problems, your typical conservative voter just doesn't care because he doesn't see using political office for financial gain as anything wrong.Ron E.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-53422434585742695692011-12-14T20:05:56.520-06:002011-12-14T20:05:56.520-06:00Where is your biography?
What grade are you in?Where is your biography?<br /><br />What grade are you in?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-3882427626326847312011-12-14T19:00:28.049-06:002011-12-14T19:00:28.049-06:00To the extent that Jonathan is right about the ran...To the extent that Jonathan is right about the rank-and-file conservatives not recalling chapter and verse of Gingrich's transgressions, there's an "overpromise and underdeliver" danger here for Team Gingrich, no? Riding high on the tailwinds of a boomlet, Gingrich should therefore be more vulnerable to accelerating negative momentum if his equity turns south.<br /><br />I'm likely a bit more agnostic about the impact of these revelations on the average conservative voter, but this certainly seems like it would play out in the opposite direction from Clinton's 1992 "comeback kid" narrative. As a result, Gingrich at 28% for the nomination is way too high on Intrade, and by default, Perry's 2% must be way too low.CSHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-73801530491675913062011-12-14T15:33:02.735-06:002011-12-14T15:33:02.735-06:00It's probable that Fox and all the other opini...It's probable that Fox and all the other opinion makers were confident that they'd have a simple Romney vs Perry match-up that they could waver on and play out across a fairly conventional primary season, but then no one knew what the hell to do once Perry proved to be a laughingstock almost immediately, and the cynical elites among the GOP likewise sensed that it was way too early to come around to Romney in such a way that the rest of the party would follow.<br /><br />Whatever the specifics, I think the key unexpected part for GOP actors was how *weak* Perry has been -- he was supposed to be the minimally respectable opposition to Romney within the moderate-extreme dynamic of normal GOP primaries, not Cain or Gingrich or Paul.PFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00263515090451316188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-90055877274391372302011-12-14T15:16:26.185-06:002011-12-14T15:16:26.185-06:00But reporting on Newt's train car full of bagg...But reporting on Newt's train car full of baggage is (as you say) something that FOX 'News' Channel hasn't been doing, even as Gingrich rose to nominal frontrunner status. Certainly Rush hasn't been doing it.<br /><br />Among the conservative punditry, it's been hit-or-miss, but I think it's fair to say that the overall conservative media narrative to date has been in general support of the "Anyone but Romney" story.<br /><br />If FOX 'News' had ethics, it would have done a better job of educating their target audience of the ethical concerns about, and the strengths and weaknesses of candidates for the GOP nomination.<br /><br />The Republican party may have caught the tiger in the 2010 elections, but like many others before them, the GOP can't figure out how to safely let the tiger go.JSnoreply@blogger.com