Balko: GOP needs a good, purgative thrashing

This administration believes that on any issue that can remotely be tied to foreign policy or national security (and on quite a few other issues as well), the president has boundless, limitless, unchecked power to do anything he wants. They believe that on these matters, neither Congress nor the courts can restrain him.

And he has stacked, with Senate approval, the Supreme Court with those who believe just like him. Those who think we need to vote Republican because of possible Supreme Court nominees need to consider that Bush's appointees couldn't find the right to Habeas Corpus in the Constitution. It would interfere with the right of the "unitary executive", you see.

Well, he's right that the Republicans have botched things horribly and do deserve to be kicked out. The problem is, to do that we have to give even more power to Chris Dodd and Barney Frank and the rest of their crew, who are even more corrupt, more responsible for the financial meltdown, and more big government/high tax oriented.

The lesser of evils is at least to have a divided government, which is maybe the best we can do in the sad state of our Republic with neither party representing a true, constitional option.

The GOP no more has a 'right to govern' than do I have a 'right to be employed'.

If I do good work at my job, I get to stay employed. If the GOP had done good work running the country, they would have gotten to stay governing.

Problem was that they got caught up in the idea of a 'Permanent Republican Majority'. Didn't work out like they planned, eh?

I can't believe Mr. Crunchy Con would in any way support the Moloch Obama presidency. Say it isn't so!!! I'm not that fond of John McCain, but he doesn't think it's A-OK to partially deliver a baby (at 8.5 months gestation) stick a tool into it's brain, crush the brain and skull, and then deliver a tortured DEAD human being!!! Mr. Obama has said that one of the 1st things he will do as president is sign the FREEDOM of CHOICE ACT, which will shove this barbaric act down the throats of all 50 states, regardless if they wish it or not. He also will not allow states to decide if 13 year olds need to tell their parents that they are having surgery (ear piercing yes, surgery not!)

If Mr. Obama is SOOO wrong on this, how can he be right on ANYTHING else. Yes, this is a litmus test of his integrity as a human being.

Colleen

When it was over, my wife and I agreed that Ralph was talking more sense than either of the two major party candidates, which was actually a bit scary.

Ralph Nader always talks sense. A good deal of sense. That, of course, does not excuse the fact is he unwilling to work inside the system, preferring to operate outside where he gets free PR, and additionally sabotages the system at every opportunity by attacking his allies instead of his enemies.

He's not only the reason we get Republicans like Bush in office, he's the reason we get DLC Democrats like Clinton in office...because he's off pulling away the votes of people who would be picking Democrats farther to the left. He has staked out, on many issues, the farther-left sane position that exists, and thus politicians who would take that position, or a close one, in the Democratic party end up losing the election.

I'm convinced the reason that Obama is doing so well is that Nader finally just shut up, probably because several million Democrats were threatening to lynch him if he screwed this one up.

OTOH, I find it very surreal to hear that a Republican is going to vote for him. Exactly where do you agree with Nader and disagree with Obama?

If the GOP has no "right to govern", it means that in the opinion of the writer, the DNC does - because ONE of the two will.

I have absolutely NO use for anyone who claims to be a conservative, but wants the DNC to have free hand to do what they want. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who so turns on conservatism that way deserves "traitor" after their name.

Rawlins: clever, but you forgot to blame the media for something and everything.

"honest liberal"???? What the bloody hell are you talking about? Obama's honest? What kind of idiocy is that? There's not a shred of honesty, integrity, wisdom, or sobriety to be found in the rabid leftist arrogance and vengeance of the Democrat party.

I can tell you what it is... The same kind of dishonest tripe you're arguing. I didn't say that EITHER party "deserves" to rule. Neither should, EVER. The GOP is not "conservatism", nor will it ever be. It is simply a political party. It is, at least, semi-friendly to conservatives, while the Democrats are flagrantly hostile to conservatives.

Given those options, the course of action is OBVIOUS. Conservatives need to take over the party. duhh. Control it. Get conservatives elected. Get into party leadership. Political parties are chameleons, they simply resemble who pulls the strings.

To simply turn your back on your friends, in a juvenile fit of anger... Like the kid who says "if you don't let me do whatever I want, I'm talking my ball and going home" the rest just say "ok, whatever" and take someone else's ball and play away.

"The lesser of two evils" is suspect? Perhaps. But there is going to be ONE OR THE OTHER in the driver's seat.

And since it is MY life, MY future, MY business, MY family who has to suffer the results of a liberal government. And you wanting to play a personal game against a political party, ignoring the consequences to millions of Americans, is just infuriating to me. Not to mention, just plain arrogant. To think that vengeance against party leadership is more important, or even slightly important, in comparison to at least trying to affect a better than 'default' outcome is inexcuseable, in my opinion.

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with "blind support" or even "grudging support", or anything else, for the GOP as a party. It is simply recognition that there's two choices for who's going to govern, and one's better than the other, by a LONG ways.

Playing petty vengeance games is absurd, in my view. If you want to "teach the party a lesson", then get yourself in charge. Displace the faithfless or spineless, or WHATEVER the people are that are in charge and do something.

But to pretend that you, and everyone else, deserves the wrongness and evil to be perpetrated on the country by an unrestrained bunch of Democrats, for the purpose of personal revenge against party leadership, is as I stated... traitorous. Put the country first, not your emotions.

And you do it yet again.

It seems no matter what I say, you're going to invent a straw man and argue against it. Even if it completely contradicts what I say, you just keep on repeating the same nonsense.

You keep arguing about the GOP, as if I'm advocating the "party" as some kind of solution.

Absolutely NOWHERE do I say anything even faintly like that notion.

I argued that your argument that the GOP needs to be defeated is absurd. That means you want Democrats. Which you deny. Talk about cognitive dissonance!

You WILL have one or the other. The time has come to choose one or the other. Voting Democrat or not voting, WILL NEVER CHANGE THE GOP. It will help Democrats. That's all that will happen. Oh, and the leadership will "understand" that you are preferring Democrat policies and the party will move left some more.

I happen to wholeheartedly agree with the faults of the GOP leadership. But that's the problem. It's the leadership. Parties are chameleons, they simply resemble those who lead it.

You will NOT change the GOP by trying to banish them to the wilderness of minority status. You WILL by getting involved and taking leadership away from the quasi-conservatives that run it.

Of course, if you're small minded, can't envision anything productive, and consider the indulgence of voting to punish people you don't know and don't know you... Then you're my enemy.

The choices DO matter. It matters to my life, it matters to yours. Socialization of all medicine is a fait acompli if Obama wins. And you WILL BE JOBLESS. His intention is to basically kill all private insurance and force all into a single government pay program. And he very well will have the votes to do it. I need not explain to you how you will become irrelevant when you find that all prices, procedures, compensation, etc, are controlled by Congress.

He is intending to do to medicine, what Fannie and Freddie did to mortgage lending. The plan is to force all employers to provide medical benefits, or face a fine - a fine much smaller than the cost of insurance. This will result in near immediate loss of private insurance coverage that is not contractually secured. It's quite simple. The cost of the fine will be approximately 1/4 - 1/5 of the cost of insurance, and those whose employers pay it will be covered by federal "insurance". Employers who choose to pay private insurance over goverment will be so rare that the health care insurance industry as we know it will be gone. Period.

And when the insurance companies leave the health care market (or go bankrupt) then voluntary non-employee insurance will vanish as well. When Congress finds that it has taken on a 1-1.5 trillion dollar annual liability and has only 20% of the revenue to pay it, you will find that compensation will be so reduced that private health care firms will simply have to close the doors - or become subsidized by the state or federal goverment.

Within 2 years, Obama could entirely socialize medicine without EVER having Congress declare it, and he would be claiming to be 'saving' the industry. And you will be jobless.

When that happens, if Obama is elected, please post here how it was so important to spite your anger at GOP party leadership that you really did need to do this to yourself and your country. Please. And then, please describe how attacking the GOP saved you and me.

Or, you could use your God given brain and forget about vengeance and anger, and instead, TAKE OVER the party, and turn it conservative, rather than whatever the heck it is now.

Oh, and please, don't insult my intelligence with "we'll make a new party" gibberish. You'll simply do to it what you're doing to the GOP, determined to punish it into conformity with whatever your view is, and have absolutely NO success at all.