Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 4:16am

Ryan’s Speech at the GOP Convention

College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life.

Paul Ryan

 

 

 

I have been a connoisseur of oratory, especially political oratory, since I became old enough to understand that a speech was being given.  Last night’s speech by Paul Ryan was truly remarkable.   How was it remarkable?  Let me count the ways.

1.  It is difficult to deliver an attack speech with pleasant good humor, and Ryan did just that, and the good nature in which the indictment of the Obama administration was delivered made it all the more effective.

2.  The speech was delivered in a low-key style with Ryan hardly raising his voice.  The temptation, when you get in front of a vast live audience, like a convention, full of partisans, is to go “hot” and deliver a full-throated roaring speech.  Ryan did not make that mistake.  He understood who his real audience was:  uncommitted voters watching on television or the internet, and he presented his arguments coolly and non-confrontationally.

3.  He allowed his personal affability to shine through.  Many politicians find this difficult to do.  Rick Santorum, who I supported in the primaries, is a very likable and witty man off the stump.  He often found this hard to convey in his speeches.  Ryan does this effortlessly.

4.  Ryan dealt deftly with the issue of Romney being a Mormon:

Mitt and I also go to different churches. But in any church, the best kind of preaching is done by example. And I’ve been watching that example. The man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he’s a fine man, worthy of leading this optimistic and good-hearted country.

Our different faiths come together in the same moral creed. We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope. Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life.

Note the reference to “Lord of Life”.  This is not a man who is a sunshine pro-lifer.

5.  Ryan got nicely to what this election is truly about on a philosophical level:   sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government.

6.   Ryan hammered away at the poor economy and asked a question that Obama simply can’t answer:  Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?

 

 

Here is the text of the speech:

Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the United States.

I accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity – and I know we can do this.

I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old – and I know that we are ready.

Our nominee is sure ready. His whole life has prepared him for this moment – to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words. After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney.

I’m the newcomer to the campaign, so let me share a first impression. I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power.

They’ve run out of ideas. Their moment came and went. Fear and division are all they’ve got left.

With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money – and he’s pretty experienced at that. You see, some people can’t be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics, because their ability, character, and plain decency are so obvious – and ladies and gentlemen, that is Mitt Romney.

For my part, your nomination is an unexpected turn. It certainly came as news to my family, and I’d like you to meet them: My wife Janna, our daughter Liza, and our boys Charlie and Sam.

The kids are happy to see their grandma, who lives in Florida. There she is – my Mom, Betty.

My Dad, a small-town lawyer, was also named Paul. Until we lost him when I was 16, he was a gentle presence in my life. I like to think he’d be proud of me and my sister and brothers, because I’m sure proud of him and of where I come from, Janesville, Wisconsin.

I live on the same block where I grew up. We belong to the same parish where I was baptized. Janesville is that kind of place.

The people of Wisconsin have been good to me. I’ve tried to live up to their trust. And now I ask those hardworking men and women, and millions like them across America, to join our cause and get this country working again.

When Governor Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, “Let’s get this done” – and that isexactly, what we’re going to do.

President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory.

A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: “I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.” That’s what he said in 2008.

Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.

Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work. Twenty-three million people, unemployed or underemployed. Nearly one in six Americans is living in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can’t find the work they studied for, or any work at all.

So here’s the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?

The first troubling sign came with the stimulus. It was President Obama’s first and best shot at fixing the economy, at a time when he got everything he wanted under one-party rule. It cost $831 billion – the largest one-time expenditure ever by our federal government.

It went to companies like Solyndra, with their gold-plated connections, subsidized jobs, and make-believe markets. The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal.

What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn’t just spent and wasted – it was borrowed, spent, and wasted.

Maybe the greatest waste of all was time. Here we were, faced with a massive job crisis – so deep that if everyone out of work stood in single file, that unemployment line would stretch the length of the entire American continent. You would think that any president, whatever his party, would make job creation, and nothing else, his first order of economic business.

But this president didn’t do that. Instead, we got a long, divisive, all-or-nothing attempt to put the federal government in charge of health care.

Obamacare comes to more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country.

The president has declared that the debate over government-controlled health care is over. That will come as news to the millions of Americans who will elect Mitt Romney so we can repeal Obamacare.

And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly.

You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in Washington still didn’t have enough money. They needed more. They needed hundreds of billions more. So, they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we’re going to stop it.

In Congress, when they take out the heavy books and wall charts about Medicare, my thoughts go back to a house on Garfield Street in Janesville. My wonderful grandma, Janet, had Alzheimer’s and moved in with Mom and me. Though she felt lost at times, we did all the little things that made her feel loved.

We had help from Medicare, and it was there, just like it’s there for my Mom today. Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it. A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom’s generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours.

So our opponents can consider themselves on notice. In this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the Left isn’t going to work. Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate.

Obamacare, as much as anything else, explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation now comes to such a disappointing close.

It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis.

It began with a housing crisis they alone didn’t cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn’t correct.

It began with a perfect Triple-A credit rating for the United States; it ends with a downgraded America.

It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new. Now all that’s left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind.

President Obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. He said, well, “I haven’t communicated enough.” He said his job is to “tell a story to the American people” – as if that’s the whole problem here? He needs to talk more, and we need to be better listeners?

Ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House. What’s missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago – isn’t it about time he assumed responsibility?

In this generation, a defining responsibility of government is to steer our nation clear of a debt crisis while there is still time. Back in 2008, candidate Obama called a $10 trillion national debt “unpatriotic” – serious talk from what looked to be a serious reformer.

Yet by his own decisions, President Obama has added more debt than any other president before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined. One president, one term, $5 trillion in new debt.

He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.

Republicans stepped up with good-faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems. How did the president respond? By doing nothing – nothing except to dodge and demagogue the issue.

So here we are, $16 trillion in debt and still he does nothing. In Europe, massive debts have put entire governments at risk of collapse, and still he does nothing. And all we have heard from this president and his team are attacks on anyone who dares to point out the obvious.

They have no answer to this simple reality: We need to stop spending money we don’t have.

My Dad used to say to me: “Son. You have a choice: You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution.” The present administration has made its choices. And Mitt Romney and I have made ours: Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation’s economic problems.

And I’m going to level with you: We don’t have that much time. But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this.

After four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get America creating wealth again. With tax fairness and regulatory reform, we’ll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs, and the men and women who need jobs.

My Mom started a small business, and I’ve seen what it takes. Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn’t just a new livelihood. It was a new life. And it transformed my Mom from a widow in grief to a small businesswoman whose happiness wasn’t just in the past. Her work gave her hope. It made our family proud. And to this day, my Mom is my role model.

Behind every small business, there’s a story worth knowing. All the corner shops in our towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons, hardware stores – these didn’t come out of nowhere. A lot of heart goes into each one. And if small businesspeople say they made it on their own, all they are saying is that nobody else worked seven days a week in their place. Nobody showed up in their place to open the door at five in the morning. Nobody did their thinking, and worrying, and sweating for them. After all that work, and in a bad economy, it sure doesn’t help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. What they deserve to hear is the truth: Yes, you did build that.

We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years.

In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government.

I learned a good deal about economics, and about America, from the author of the Reagan tax reforms – the great Jack Kemp. What gave Jack that incredible enthusiasm was his belief in the possibilities of free people, in the power of free enterprise and strong communities to overcome poverty and despair. We need that same optimism right now.

And in our dealings with other nations, a Romney-Ryan administration will speak with confidence and clarity. Wherever men and women rise up for their own freedom, they will know that the American president is on their side. Instead of managing American decline, leaving allies to doubt us and adversaries to test us, we will act in the conviction that the United States is still the greatest force for peace and liberty that this world has ever known.

President Obama is the kind of politician who puts promises on the record, and then calls that the record. But we are four years into this presidency. The issue is not the economy as Barack Obama inherited it, not the economy as he envisions it, but this economy as we are living it.

College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too, if you’re feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed, your leaders have failed you.

None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers – a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.

Listen to the way we’re spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate.

It’s the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio. When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. That’s what we do in this country. That’s the American Dream. That’s freedom, and I’ll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.

By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration. A challenger must stand on his own merits. He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president.

We’re a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we’re a little different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I’ve heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it’s not a deal-breaker Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC, and ends with Zeppelin.

A generation apart. That makes us different, but not in any of the things that matter. Mitt Romney and I both grew up in the heartland, and we know what places like Wisconsin and Michigan look like when times are good, when people are working, when families are doing more than just getting by. And we both know it can be that way again.

We’ve had very different careers – mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. He helped start businesses and turn around failing ones. By the way, being successful in business – that’s a good thing.

Mitt has not only succeeded, but succeeded where others could not. He turned around the Olympics at a time when a great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending, and corruption – sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

He was the Republican governor of a state where almost nine in ten legislators are Democrats, and yet he balanced the budget without raising taxes. Unemployment went down, household incomes went up, and Massachusetts, under Mitt Romney, saw its credit rating upgraded.

Mitt and I also go to different churches. But in any church, the best kind of preaching is done by example. And I’ve been watching that example. The man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he’s a fine man, worthy of leading this optimistic and good-hearted country.

Our different faiths come together in the same moral creed. We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope. Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life.

We have responsibilities, one to another – we do not each face the world alone. And the greatest of all responsibilities, is that of the strong to protect the weak. The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves.

Each of these great moral ideas is essential to democratic government – to the rule of law, to life in a humane and decent society. They are the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America’s founding. They are self-evident and unchanging, and sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government.

The founding generation secured those rights for us, and in every generation since, the best among us have defended our freedoms. They are protecting us right now. We honor them and all our veterans, and we thank them.

The right that makes all the difference now, is the right to choose our own leaders. And you are entitled to the clearest possible choice, because the time for choosing is drawing near. So here is our pledge.

We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead.

We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility.

We will not try to replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles.

The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us – all of us, but we can do this. Together, we can do this.

We can get this country working again. We can get this economy growing again. We can make the safety net safe again. We can do this.

Whatever your political party, let’s come together for the sake of our country. Join Mitt Romney and me. Let’s give this effort everything we have. Let’s see this through all the way. Let’s get this done.

Thank you, and God bless.

 

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G-Veg
G-Veg
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 7:32am

I am anxious to see how Romney follows Ryan and Christie. What, in your opinion, does he need to say and how does he need to deliver it?

Mary M.
Mary M.
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 9:00am

It was amazing and it made me cry (in a good way). It had everything in it that I needed to hear. It made me proud to be an American and a Catholic. For here is a man who speaks to my heart and shares in the same values that are important to me as an American and as a Catholic. At no time in recent history is an election so important. May God bless Paul Ryan and bring to completion what He has began.

Smiter the Archdeacon
Smiter the Archdeacon
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 9:02am

I agree with your assessment of Ryan’s speech last night. I was impressed with most of it, and I did appreciate the “Lord of life” paragraph, but I was hoping for something a little more explicit about the life issues. It seems that all the big speeches so far have really downplayed the life issues. I noted particularly Rice’s line about school choice for underprivileged neighborhoods being THE social justice issue of our generation. (I’m completely in favor of school choice, and I think vouchers are the way to do it, but c’mon, this issue, important as it is, is not on the same level of significance as abortion, ESCR, and same-sex “marriage.”)

Mary De Voe
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 10:08am

The atheist has removed God’s name “I AM” from the vocabulary of American citizens but the atheist has not and cannot remove God’s Name from “WE, the people…”
Paul Ryan did emphasize “our founding principles”
Now, I am weeping tears of joy.

Tony H
Tony H
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 1:46pm

I liked the comment “This is not a man who is a sundhine pro-lifer”. I agree with the comment. I wish it also applied to the man at the top of the ticket, but it doesn’t. Romney was not pro-life prior to 2008. I would be happy if only half the things the NARAL crowd were accusing him of were true. I will be voting for a third party this election.

Paul W. Primavera
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 4:03pm

Good speech by Paul Ryan. Pity the third party purist voters – just like the Abolitionists of yester-century, they won’t work for the common good no matter what.

Pinky
Pinky
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 4:14pm

Don – I don’t know if that last sentence is true. Being nominated increased his profile already, but would it be raised more by a win than a loss? My bet is yes, but I wouldn’t bet too much. Anyway, at his age, he could be VP for two terms, head of the RNC for four years, go back and get his law degree, then put in six years in the Senate and he’d still be younger than Biden is today. Of course by then we’ll be governed by telepathic dolphins and a giant computer. I hate making political predictions.

Kyle Miller
Kyle Miller
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 4:33pm

5. Ryan got nicely to what this election is truly about on a philosophical level: sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government.

Something you would think every American would embrace. It’s right there in the Declaration! Would you believe there are some who are actually offended by such a notion?
http://www.therightscoop.com/toure-paul-ryans-comment-that-our-rights-come-from-god-and-nature-is-offensive/

Liberalism is truly a mental disorder.

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 4:34pm

We are certain that Obama will nominate abortion-fanatic justices.

If Obama is re-elected it could be by third party votes, which will have proven equivalent to voting for abortion and Obama.

I am not convinced that Romney is lying. Let’s give him a chance. He won’t get a second term if he, uncertain, stabs us in the back.

Again, why are we making the perfect the enemy of the good? There is nobody that is perfect in the World. God alone is good and perfect. Jesus says as much in the Gospels. [Matt. 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:19-30.]

Eight years for Romney; eight years for Ryan!

Jay Anderson
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 5:48pm

“Pity the third party purist voters – just like the Abolitionists of yester-century, they won’t work for the common good no matter what.”

Absolutely untrue.

Unless you’d like to explain to me how my decision this year not to support Mitt Romney is translated into a an overall refusal on my part to “work for the common good no matter what.” Be prepared to discuss the entirety of my 25+ year political history, including the time I served in elective office.

I’m anxious to hear all about my falure to work for the common good “no matter what”.

Jay Anderson
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 5:50pm

I suppose there’s that one adjective in your assessment – “purist” – that might exclude me from your calculus. I don’t believe myself to be a “purist” voter, although I consider myself “pure” enough that I’m not about to vote for Mitt Romney.

I will give that reading to your statement and assume that it therefore doesn’t apply to my decision to vote 3rd party this year.

Paul W. Primavera
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 6:05pm

Jay, I know nothing about you and so won’t judge. But the fact that you got so offended says much about the truth of my statement. And I won’t argue the point other than to say that if Obama wins, it will be because of purists like you. But maybe that has to happen in order to teach this country a lesson.

Paul W. Primavera
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 6:08pm

BTW, interesting focus on alcohol in the right side margin of Pro Ecclessia.

Bonchamps
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 6:42pm

Don,

“I have called Romney the weathervane for his switches on issues. However, I have no doubt that if he is elected he will oppose abortion in his actions. To do otherwise would be political suicide.”

I concur with this analysis. Romney has no choice but to govern as a pro-life president. He would stand no chance of reelection if he failed to do so.

I wish more people would realize that personal feelings and even personal positions must always take a backseat to broader political considerations.

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 6:54pm

How does allowing Obama to wield four more years advance the “common good”?

If Obama wins because of third party votes splitting away from Romney, Obama will have four years to destroy everything. Do you think he is inept? No. This economic malaise is part of the conscious wrecking of the private economy.

Because desperate, hungry people are easier to control.

Is that this what mean by “common good”? Equality of destitution.

Pinky
Pinky
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 7:07pm

I wish that this convention had been more pro-life too. But Romney is a moderate on the issue, so the convention probably reflects him accurately. Moderates don’t like to talk about abortion. Now, the interesting thing is that the Democratic convention is going to talk about abortion a lot, from the looks of the speakers. That’s probably going to scare off moderates, who don’t like any strong views about the subject. A chant of “my body, my choice” led by a NARAL representative would only make Obama look extreme, and it would turn off some of the very people who wouldn’t vote for an “extreme” pro-lifer. The Republican convention makes the “war on women” a harder sell.

Yeah, I know, in a better world pro-lifers wouldn’t have to worry about such tactics.

Don the Kiwi
Don the Kiwi
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 7:24pm

Completely agree with your summation Don.
The last few afternoons around 2 pm. our time, I have been going around to a mate’s place (also a staunch catholic) and watching the RNC – he has Sky TV, I don’t :-).
Ryan was very impressive – he continued with his style that I have come to recognise in the few speaches I have seen him make. Just can’t wait till he debates with Joe “the clown” Biden – Ryan will wipe the floor with him.
I have been very impressed with all the speaches i have watched – the strong oratory of Chris Christie, and the beauty and eloquence of Anne Romney. Also watched Condaleeza Rice yesterday – what a woman. In fact all the women have been most impressive, including the Hispanic govenor? from New Mexico, and just watched Mia Love’s video clip. What a way to defeat Obama’s claim that the Repubs hate women.
So I’m off to Chas Kirkham’s place in an hour or so – I believe Clint Eastwood is speaking (have always like Clint) and then for Mitt Romney to give his speach. I haven’t heard enough of him to make a comment on his oratorical skills, but he certainly has that resonating type of voice which tends to demand attention. Hope he does well.
Also hope he romps into the White House, with Ryan to keep him on the right path. 🙂

Tony H
Tony H
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 8:04pm

I guess I most be a third party purist. I voted for Mccain in ’08 and had an overwhelming urge to take a long, hot shower when I got home from the poll.
Seriously, though, I get the whole lesser of two evils, perfect the enemy of the good, thing. Living in Wisconsin, an evenly split swing state, makes my decision that much more important.
I think that abortion is the great evil of our time. I could handle a “moderate” on the issue (how you hold a moderate view on the killing of children is beyond my ken) like Mccain who at least has been consistant over time. I could handle a candidate who has had a true change of heart. Reagan was such a man. He changed his tune on economic issues and would gladly tell all who would listen why he changed them. What I can’t tolerate is a candidate and a party that plays lip service to the pro-life community because they know that we won’t vote for the alternative.
Romney has given no explanation for his changing abortion views other than “I made a mistake”. I have changed my views on abortion, and I could talk to you till your ears fell off about that and the other changes that Christ has wrought in my life.
I will vote Republican for the state and local officials this election, but not for Romney.
The re-election of Obama is a very bad thing, but it is not the worst thing. The changes that this country needs will not come from its politicians. It must come from God, through the people.
May God raise a Wilburforce to lead our nation to true repentance, not the politically expedient kind.

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 9:45pm

JA and Tony H,

The crowd in control is destroying everything.

I plan to act accordingly: drink heavily and fire up a stinky, cheap cigar.

Your nation is about to feel the wrath of the gods of the copy book. Forget repentance. It ain’t happening if you don’t vote Romney/Ryan.

I’m emigrating to Chile. Pinochet saved Chile in 1973. Nothing can save America if Obama gets re-elected.

Tony H
Tony H
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 9:45pm

Concerning Wilberforce (sorry about the spelling earlier):
It would be one thing if Romney’s problem was cutting deals with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to further the pro-life cause. In some atlernate universe where Romney reaches a compromise with Democrats to allow abortions only in the case of rape and incest, I would sing his praises. I would keep fighting for complete abolition, but it would be a great victory won.
But this isn’t my problem with Romney. I can’t square his stance when he signed a pro-abort pledge to Planned Parenthood, or gave them a personal check, to the timing of his switch to pro-life. This doesn’t even take into consideration all his other stances on social and economic issues on which he has done an about-face.
I didn’t read anything in the Wilberforce bios about a sudden switch in his stance on slavery when it was politically advantagious. He did start off with the abolition of the slave trade before he won the final victory of abolition of slavery in the British Empire.

Tony H
Tony H
Thursday, August 30, AD 2012 11:43pm

T. Shaw-
Despite what the man himself may think, God is bigger than Obama.
I fully expect the copybook heading gods to have their way with us eventually. If past administrations are a guide, voting in Republicans only slows the rush to doom, it doesn’t stop it.
Don-
I totally agree with the last sentence you wrote. I disagree as to how to go about that. Think of the hard left turn the democratic party took after Nader kept Gore from winning in 2000. I think the GOP needs a Nader moment. If pro-lifers keep giving auto-allegience to the Republicans, they will keep the boiler-plate pro-life platform statements while not doing anything of substance to actually force change.
This may be a cynical viewpoint, but I believe it’s true: The GOP, like the Democratic Party, are election machines. They each have the goal of getting as many of their guys elected as possible. The platforms are the means to an end, not the end themselves. Each panders to constituencies. The worst thing in this system is to be a constituency that your political party thinks is totally in the bag for them. The best thing is to be a constituency that could go either way. Think hispanics and how both parties actively woo them and how this has made immigration enforcement a non-issue.
If the Republicans win the WH in November, no thanks to me, they will be stuck in “economy, stupid” mode and my prediction is that little head way will be made in the pro-life fight. The repeal of Obamacare is not a sure thing barring a supermajority sweep in the Senate, which I think is very unlikely. After the Roberts fiasco I’ve just about written off the Supreme Court. That laid the ax to the last great argument for voting in Republican presidents, no matter what.

Jay Anderson
Friday, August 31, AD 2012 3:15am

What Tony H has said above speaks for me as well. I couldn’t have expressed my views any more eloquently.

And Tony H has it exactly right re: Roberts. His flip in the ObamaCare decision has single-handedly destroyed the Supreme Court argument in favor of voting for Republican presidents.

Bonchamps
Friday, August 31, AD 2012 3:54am

Well, one thing is certain: the abortion status quo isn’t going to improve if the election is handed to Obama. And it is pretty pessimistic in my view to write off what may be accomplished with a GOP-controlled White House, Congress and possibly Supreme Court. Of course the party machine and the politicians themselves will not – and will never, ever, on any important issue – move quickly enough. But with the GOP in power, the government is far more sensitive to and receptive to grassroots pro-life efforts. It is far more susceptible to intense pressure tactics. The Democrats don’t have to placate pro-life voters; the Republicans do. How far the Republicans go depends entirely upon how far and how hard we are willing to push them.

Abortion is not a political issue, in the end. It is a cultural issue. Change comes from the war of ideas and feelings on the ground, fought out between groups of activists. The most government will do is respond to the tectonic shifts we create. So I would suggest that some people revise their understanding of what governments and political parties are and do.

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Friday, August 31, AD 2012 5:32am

“Abandon all hope, . . . ” Dante

Mary De Voe
Friday, August 31, AD 2012 6:40am

And Tony H has it exactly right re: Roberts. His flip in the ObamaCare decision has single-handedly destroyed the Supreme Court argument in favor of voting for Republican presidents.
Roberts claimed that it wasn’t the Supreme Court’s job to judge legislation from Congress, so he abdicated his job. Obama told the Department of Justice to enforce his-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President. Roberts turned Obama on us and refused to judge the Affordable Healthcare Act and did as he was told by Obama. Vote Republican and Hope for FREEDOM and Change tyranny.

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