tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364980587788164382.post4284996204015604885..comments2023-07-09T05:59:26.077-04:00Comments on Falstaff: SubstanceFalstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01543557291381143262noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364980587788164382.post-34699673487860611222009-02-03T17:25:00.000-05:002009-02-03T17:25:00.000-05:00Look! Cows! :)Look! Cows! :)David Bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02119352010664154733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364980587788164382.post-13270087305940527952009-02-03T17:19:00.000-05:002009-02-03T17:19:00.000-05:00We've had this debate for awhile, and I guess we'l...We've had this debate for awhile, and I guess we'll have it for awhile longer. :) What I'm posting isn't that the GOP is permanently dead, but that there's a generation-long (more or less) pendulum, and it's swung away from them. <BR/><BR/>Each of us thinks the other is missing the forest for the trees -- but we're seeing different forests.Falstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01543557291381143262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364980587788164382.post-86519095012986250902009-02-03T11:58:00.000-05:002009-02-03T11:58:00.000-05:00I know you're fond of declaring the death of t...I know you're fond of declaring the death of the Republican Party, and it's sure easy to say that now, but I'd simply remind you that things can change in a hurry. After Goldwater's 1964 wipeout America was essentially a one-party country; four years later it elected a Republican president. In Canada, the Conservatives were essentially wiped off the map in 1993 and disappeared as a party; less than 10 years later it reconstituted and took power. <BR/><BR/>In other words, things can change far more quickly than you think. While I'd agree it's hard to see a scenario where the Republicans could become the majority party in Congress any time soon, they very easily can win the presidency again, with the right kind of national candidate. And beneath the surface, there's some very interesting rumblings... America generally thinks the "stimulus" is a giant boondoggle, but still clings to the hope that it MIGHT work; Pelosi & Co. are clearly paying off their interest groups in the party pretty transparently; the tax issues have now reached the general consciousness; i.e. late-night comedy (now Killefer,) etc. <BR/><BR/>In many ways, a conservative party operates much more naturally in opposition, and I think the Republicans are maximizing the hand that's being dealt to them.<BR/><BR/>If Obama would stand up and declare that the money should be spent on short-term stimulus AND long-term investments, he'd tower above the stage like Colossus. But right now, he shows all the signs of getting rolled by his own congressional leaders. In other words, the problem in my view isn't that he's reaching too far out to his right - it's that he's not exerting some discipline to his left. And anyone who's studied him shouldn't be surprised by that.David Bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02119352010664154733noreply@blogger.com