by: the Common Constitutionalist
For the first time I had to switch off the Rush Limbaugh radio show. I can’t recall ever having to do that, and I’ve been listening since George H.W. Bush was president. He was positively schizophrenic.
The topic was a Politico article regarding a potential Republican victory and the impact of the establishment Republicans on the party. The piece by Alexander Burns begins with him stating: “For the Republican Party’s leadership, taking control of the U.S. Senate might not even be the sweetest part of a victory in 2014.”
And what could be sweeter than that? What could be sweeter than ousting Harry Reid? Well, blowing up the conservatives in the party. He quoted GOP Senate Whip John Cornyn: “Where we ran into problems was that small sliver of the party insisted on nominating people who could win the primary but couldn’t win the general,” Cornyn said of the past two election cycles. Of the party’s successful 2014 course correction, Cornyn said: “I promise you it’s a lesson we will not forget.”
In other words, conservative Republicans need not apply. We don’t want you to run. What they do want is for us to just vote for these hacks, then sit down, shut up and let them govern.
It seems all the Republicans squishes have suddenly grown a spine – but only when dealing with conservatives and the Tea Party.
On October 17, liberal Republican Bill Cassidy, running for Senate in Louisiana, said of conservatives, “They’re going to vote, they’ll hold their nose, t
hey will do whatever. They will vote. We will win.”
An unnamed Republican strategist told Politico regarding 2016, that, “If we get a nominee like Ted Cruz, will have a Todd Akin-level disaster on an even bigger stage.”
So now there is finally no doubt where we stand. They don’t want us. But Rush says it’s not about voting for the Republicans. He says it’s about “Stopping Obama”. Okay I get that. Then he says: “The establishment openly tries to defeat them [Tea Party conservatives], and harm them, their reputations and so forth. And yet the same establishment demands that the Tea Party – which has just been disrespected and impugned – turnaround, out of party loyalty, and support all of the establishment candidates. It’s a one-way street. I know. I know full well.”
If he knows that they hate us, and they do, why does Rush insist we still vote for them? Well again, “It’s to stop the Obama wave.”
Yet he admits, in his very next thought, that the only way to stop Obama, the Republicans took off the table long ago: Impeachment.
Now we all know Obama will not be stopped. He’ll use his pen and his phone and just rule as a dictator, if he must. Rush knows this – he said so.
Yet Limbaugh insists we will go out and cast our votes for the establishment because we have “character” and are the “adults”.
Well, that’s not good enough this time and frankly makes no sense. Someone of true character doesn’t compromise his or her beliefs and values. That’s antithetical to character.
Why don’t we vote for the Democrat? Easy – they are aligned with our core beliefs and stance on the issues. That makes perfect sense, but somehow it’s illogical to refuse to vote for the Republican for the exact same reason.
Rush’s character argument is idiotic. I’m sorry – I love the guy – but it’s absurd.
Think of these candidates as products. You wouldn’t purchase a product you are unhappy with.
Let’s put it this way. I go to an auto dealership looking for a car. They only have two models left that might fit my needs. One is a hideous color and has a bunch of options I neither need nor want. The other is not quite as hideous and has not quite as many extra options – but I’m not happy with either. I know I’ll be stuck with it for two, four or possibly six years.
Am I going to compromise on such a large and important purchase? Heck no I’m not. Maybe I’ve done it before and got burned. Maybe at the time of my last ill-fated purchase I promised myself – never again to make that mistake. And now here I am – years later – faced with the same issue.
Well – not this time.
Personally, my non-vote is not in protest of the establishment. It’s not sour grapes. I’m simply not satisfied with Democrat or Republican candidate (the product), so I won’t vote for either this time around and my “character” will remain intact.