Moderate Republicans must take action

[ClusterFreak]

Far be it from me to offer aid and comfort to the enemy as it were, but, for the good of the American Republic, moderate repubs everywhere must rally and unite to reclaim their party from the neo-con/evangelical cabal which has hijacked it these last five years.

There are good people serving their country under the Republican party banner, and it is now up to them to assert themselves. Democrats and moderate repubs can have honest disagreements about who these elected officials are, but I think a safe place to start looking for them is - quite literally - any place neo-cons and evangelicals ain't(!) Hopefully, these officials, these Congressmen and women and Senators, will begin to distinuish themselves - even further in some cases - as the days, weeks, months, and years go by.

The Democrats need a worthy political adversary, a Republican party which has 'cleaned house'. I don't think it serves America well at all to have a Republican party (or a Democratic party, for argument's sake) with such wretchedly corrupt leadership. Doesn't a greater opponent make us better? It should, at least.

In my country of Canada, my party of choice - the Liberal party - has been in power in Ottawa for 12 years now. And as far as I'm concerned, this government has become a fat, lazy and corrupt bunch. I blame that on them having been in power too long (yes, too long). The old adage about absolute power. They have no real opposition. Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative party died, a long slow, painful death, after he governed with supreme arrogance for nine years. This, by the way, is the same party of Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald: Canada's first prime minister in 1867. The Canadian conservative movement then fractured, and gave rise to a right of right of centre party. It over several years underwent a pair of name changes, and then merged with the skeletal remains of Mulroney's old party. Our federal political right is now simply known as the Conservative Party.

But the Conservatives are basically the same, too far right for Canada opposition party, as they were under their precursors the Reform and then the Canadian Alliance. Prime Minister Martin's Liberals barely won re-election a year and a half ago, and are in fact in power with only a parliamentary minority (they won the most seats, but fewer than the total of all opposition parties). The Liberals are bogged down in corruption (not 'Bushian' corruption mind you, but when you get a chance maybe type "Sponsorship Scandal" into Google Canada and see what comes up). However, even with the muck the Liberals seem to be stuck in, Canadians don't seem to want to turf them out of office. They don't like the alternative: the Conservatives under Stephen Harper are too far right, and frankly, people still have bad memories of Mulroney. Canada needs a strong conservative opposition, one that is more centrist. Without one, the Liberals will likely just get fatter, lazier and perhaps even more corrupt.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I hope you all don't take offence at what I've said here. The last thing I want to do is come off as some smug, know-it-all Canuck telling you Yanks how to run your country!! Honestly, it's not my intention at all.

So for now, let me just finish by saying: Patrick Fitzgerald rocks my ass.

Good night.

[baltlib]

1. this is why the US pres can only do 2 terms

and some times i think the house and the senate should have limits too, change can be good

[ClusterFreak]

2. I'm not sure how I feel about the two term limit for presidents....

....on the one hand, can you imagine three terms of Reagan? Of Chimpy? Well, the latter could never happen I believe, but Reagan could have been easily re-elected a third time. A third term of Clinton? America would almost certainly not be in Iraq, that's for damn sure. Scandals? Yeah, probably. Lying his country into an illegal and immoral war? No chance.

Anyhow....nice to have you on board baltlib. Welcome to DU!

[KnaveRupe]

4. Reagan third term?

...impossible. They were barely able to conceal Reagan's advancing Alzheimers there at the end. There's no way they could have even attempted to pull it off for another 4 years.

Actually, how far back would you have to go to find a Republican who would have even had a shot at getting re-elected to a third term? Eisenhower? Before that, who?

At any rate, your point is well taken. Apart from the stupid Clinton witch-hunt, the setup we had during the 90's worked pretty well for us. Congress and the President shouldn't ever be TOO cozy - that's what got us in trouble lately.

And thanks for the analysis from North of the Border - personally, I think more Americans SHOULD care about the opinions of the rest of the world. And Canada probably has a clearer view of their neighbor to the south than any other country in the world.

Oh, and thanks for Tim Hortons as well! :)

[AndyTiedye]

3. Moderate Republicans? All Four of Them? (And That's Stretching It)

There are no moderate Republicans. The handful that are not
fire-breathing Fundies are considered "moderate" by comparison,
but even they support every loonie theocrat that Bush**ler appoints
to the Federal judiciary.

[Domitan]

5. I hear you

that's why I'll vote NDP for the next federal election.

Here in Ontario where the Liberals rule for now, we have a "sane" Conservative party in the opposition. John Tory was chosen to replace Ernie Els(who took over when neocon Mike Harris bailed out). In the Conservative primaries, Tory (an old fashioned Davis Con...economically conservative but moderate socially) was running against two of Harris' ilk (extreme right) and won handily. I predict that the Ontario Liberals will lose the next election, but at least Tory and his Cons will not go extreme like Harris did in the 90's (fingers crossed).

[glarius]

6. I can't agree about term limits.

I agree with some of what you've said, although the so called "sponsorship scandals" are small potatoes compared to the scandal of lying to take your country to war....Canada has always been a left of center country and for the most part electing the Liberals has worked pretty well for us....I do not agree with term limits though....We should have the right to vote someone in as often as we feel they are serving us, I believe...Under this Liberal government, Canada was named by the United Nations, the number one country for quality of life for 7 years in a row...I think right now we are third or fouth, so we can't really complain....The house cleaning (Gomery Inquiry) that is going on right now is a good thing and I think will straighten things out...With term limits, the second term can be used to do mischief, since the President or Prime Minister does not have to worry about re-election IMO....
I certainly agree with you about Patrick Fitzgerald though....I watched him yesterday and found him to be an extremely impressive young man...He seems absolutely honest and straightforward....I'm a grandmother so that's all I'll say...:)