8 February 2008
Rejecting the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Constitution in Peril; Presidential Election 2008 .
To encourage a diversity of ideas and opinions, we will guest blog any who would like to present their thoughts on who to vote for in November. Rorin did not volunteer his comments for a blog but the response to his comments made me decide to offer the microphone. Although Terrie, Roy and I will likely write in Mitt Romney’s name, we understand there are other options out there and encourage people to make their own choices.
Guest Blog by Rorin
I think most of us agree that the choices we are being left with aren’t very palatable so for me it is coming to to a choice of someone I don’t think should be president or, as many have suggested they will do, to write in the name of the candidate I support. My first inclination when it seemed as though McCain was likely to win the nomination was to not vote or to write in a candidate, but as I thought about it it seemed to me that either way I was simply sidestepping things and not really making a choice.
Right now it is almost inevitable that either McCain, Clinton, or Obama will be our next president which to me is a choice between three evils but of different types. All true conservatives easily recognize the dangers that Clinton and Obama present to our country but many are shutting their eyes to the dangers of McCain. I believe his agenda his as damaging as the democratic candidates agendas but his is more subtle and hidden behind his war hero and patriot rhetoric. As I’ve considered this I am leaning a lot more towards voting Democratic because they are so obviously socialist and radical that I believe conservatives will unite against them if they are in office and we can stop much of the harm they would cause. On the other hand McCain could cause more damage because he proclaims himself a conservative which would confuse the conservative base enough to prevent solid opposition to his agendas.
I was asked recently if an election was between Hitler and Stalin would I vote for either of them or would a refuse to vote. As I thought about it I decided I would vote for Stalin because Hitler was more dangerous and subtle. With Stalin it was obvious what he wanted so he would be easier to stop because the people would rally against him. Obviously that example is overly simplified but I hope you get my point. In this election I am not going to vote for who I think will do the best job but rather for the candidate I think we can most easily prevent from doing too much damage.
I would like to add a thought to Rorin’s blog. I would encourage all of us to jump into the fray that is before us right now. To hold a liberal president accountable, to keep him/her from doing too much damage, let’s do everything in our power to give congress back to conservative Republicans. We don’t have time to wait, November is not that far off.
25 Comments so far...
Carrie Says:
8 February 2008 at 4:04 pm.
This makes sense but so do a lot of others things people are saying. I have decided to take awhile to think about this. It is good to have people writing their opinions and giving us all sides. I guess what we should be doing is finding out who the candidates in our state are for next November so we can help the conservative ones.
Chuck C Says:
8 February 2008 at 4:24 pm.
Where we can make a difference is in getting active NOW in the congressional election process. This is where the rubber meets the road in the struggle to confront the evils described above. No matter who the president is, congress can hold him/her accountable to us.
Representatives and senators who represent the people will hold the president accountable for Supreme Court nominees, tax and military policies, social policies, etc. We haven’t lost, we have only just begun! There is exciting work to do!
Ghost Says:
8 February 2008 at 4:42 pm.
Chuck, I like your enthusiasm. I’d forgotten about that. We have real work to do. No time to sit around and mope because Mitt lost. No matter what we decide to do about November, that should be something we can all agree on. And we also need to let those candidates know how we feel about things. If we get involved in their campaigns then they will be more likely to listen to us.
Nalvy Says:
8 February 2008 at 5:12 pm.
I agree with Rorin…it makes perfect sense to me and it goes along with what i was thinking.
Pickles Says:
8 February 2008 at 5:36 pm.
Me too Nalvy. I talked to friends about it a lot and we all are going to do that.
Cavetrollhead Says:
8 February 2008 at 6:57 pm.
Well,
I totally understand the lesser of two evils idea. But we aren’t electing a permanent president (like Stalin or Hitler.)
In my mind, it is worth 4 years of bad to save our Party. The republican party is going around the bend. If it were something in my fridge I would throw it out(or maybe feed it to the dogs.) I know I have said it here several times, but if constitution- conservatives lose the party, the damage will be much worse than 4 years under a pacifist Democrat. If we lose the party, our values have no place in the politics of our country. Traditional values will become a fringe, and powerless element of our society and our culture, and government will be “the france of the future.” Conservatives will be looked at like quakers or Amish, or well . . . like Mormons. 
OK the Mormon thing is a joke. (I can joke cause I am Mormon.)
The second point. How did John McCain win this primary (assuming the inevitability it?) He colluded with Huckabee to high-jack the process. From ganging up with Huckabee, purposely splitting the conservative vote and spreading lying Anti-Romney propaganda, (like Romney was for a timetable for pull-out) to actually choosing the winner of West Virginia instead of letting the voters decide (think about that- he actually made the choice in lieu of the people by instructing his delegates to go for Huckabee. This isn’t representative democracy! Plus, it very likely swung the momentum of the California primary to make Romney supporters stay home. Please challenge me on this if you doubt and I will unfold my argument.)
Democracy, and in the case of West Virginia, Representative democracy has been damaged by this precedent. Therefore I will not vote for McCain. I would rather lose to the left for four or more years than reward these spoilers of our sacred elective rights. If we reward McCain, and/or Huckabee for the assumptive sake of short term national security, we lose far more precious ground to the enemies within-those enemies being McCain and his ilk.
Iffer Says:
8 February 2008 at 7:41 pm.
I think you have a good point Rorin. And you put it really eloquently.
I really understand where you are coming from, Although i will probably just write in Mitt Romney’s name. But its a long time till November so i have time to think and study about it.
Jesse Says:
8 February 2008 at 7:57 pm.
Freak! I just came on here to make a great comment and CTH stole it. Glad to see we are thinking the same and of course in my case it is a little different since I am “wasting” my vote on Ron Paul. Anyway, great logic.
S.J. Says:
8 February 2008 at 8:04 pm.
Hard decisions. I don’t know. I’m confused.
Cavetrollhead Says:
8 February 2008 at 8:08 pm.
High five Jesse
Cavetrollhead Says:
8 February 2008 at 8:28 pm.
I have changed my mind, If the republican party were something in my fridge, I would chop it up into little pieces, burn it, feed it to the dogs - and then beat the dogs.
(I would never advocate actually beating dogs in any other case)
Chuck C Says:
8 February 2008 at 9:04 pm.
Hey Cavetrollhead, I was just reading Glenn Beck’s Inconvenient Book and he talks about how good Muslims need to stand up and take back their religion that has been hijacked by extremists. The extremists have the money, guns and bombs. So the good guys have to be smarter… Anything for us to learn from that? (Substitute Republican Party for religion and liberals for extremists)
Bryon Says:
8 February 2008 at 9:27 pm.
I Really think voting against John whatever we do is the right choice. If we just vote for him because we don’t want the democrats to win then this hijacking of power from the republican regulars to the republican powers will go through. Then it is no longer our party. If we don’t get fair politics from our party then why would we support that party? I wouldn’t. It may become necessary to abandon this corruption filled party before it sinks into the power hungry hands. I would like to see my party win. If John McCain it nominated it isn’t my party anymore.
Jesse Says:
9 February 2008 at 10:33 am.
I like your use of hijacking but it seems like you are starting to talk about leaving the party. You may be right but I hope not.
Hank Says:
9 February 2008 at 12:48 pm.
He probably means party in name only isn’t really the party. It is about substance.
Pickles Says:
9 February 2008 at 12:52 pm.
You all are so smart. I learn from everyone here. I specially liked CTH and Chuck and Bryon. Keep it up everybody.
Cavetrollhead Says:
9 February 2008 at 1:31 pm.
Hi Chuck,
Long time no see, Your post are infrequent yet pithy.
I think the analogy is apt in that both religious extremist and liberals want to take away our freedoms for our own good. One good being in this life and the other in the life to come. Liberals want a Nanny state and Extremist Muslims want a Patriarchal state. I would have to say that liberals are more reasonable than the Muslim extremists. Many Liberals can be persuaded. They just need to learn to revere the constitution, and trust us with our own money. Conservatives need to set an example of kindness, and generosity to insure liberals that power in the people’s hands is a good thing.
E.E. Says:
9 February 2008 at 2:10 pm.
I agree with Hank.
Jan W. Says:
9 February 2008 at 3:17 pm.
I feel so sorry for regular Muslims. I’ve known some and they are good moral people. They are so embarrassed by the extremists and the whole hijacking problem.
It is an interesting point about showing liberals that we can handle the power. I guess when so much of the public acts like selfish two year olds then the people who see themselves as the bosses decide they have to treat us like two year olds. So we act more mature and reasonable and not so angry and hateful and it will make it easier to be taken more seriously. Not that they will like what we have to say but our words will have more power and influence.
Cavetrollhead Says:
9 February 2008 at 5:43 pm.
Jan, you are so right on on both points (in my humble opinion) - 1 there are a vast many more good Muslims and 2 we need to be good examples. But remember that the silence of good Muslims has allowed evil in their midst to go unchecked- their big failing (in my humble opinion) Let’s not do the same!
I think being a good example in word and deed is SO important. Let’s be Bold without overbearing or contentious. It is a shame that many pundits on the right have made it easy to stick the label “Hate radio” on them. I would HIGHLY recommend Dennis Prager. I don’t agree with everything he says but he is so gentle, fair minded and logical. Go to http://www.pragerradio.com. You can listen to his shows free. Tell me what you think. (His only major failing is that he is for voting for McCain as the lesser of evils.)
Cavetrollhead Says:
9 February 2008 at 6:04 pm.
By the way Rorin, congratulations on a good and thought provoking blog.
rorin Says:
9 February 2008 at 6:45 pm.
Hey everyone thanks for the comments. I wasn’t expecting this to be put up as a blog but I’m glad everyone is really thinking about what we are going to do about our next president. I loved chuck’s first comment; we really do have to get involved now regardless of who becomes our next president.
Matt Says:
9 February 2008 at 7:00 pm.
One of the first things that drew me to this place was the suggestion that talk show hosts tone it down sounding hateful to liberals or republicans who disagreed with even a single point of the platform. When you label someone like that a liberal, then after awhile they’ll believe it and adopt more liberal ideas and identify with them. They will resent the close minded republicans. I love my party and will work to bring it back to good sense.
Cavetrollhead Says:
9 February 2008 at 8:24 pm.
That is a good point Matt. I think when you label someone a bigot, it tends to make them bigoted by the same process. Maybe labeling McCain a liberal has had the same effect on him. In talking to our friends we maybe should find a euphemism, like “less conservative.” Maybe that would sound silly when talking to Rosie O’Donnell but you get the point.
Bryon Says:
10 February 2008 at 1:53 am.
More love and less hate equals a stronger party. You all are saying it: we want a strong united party. In my comment above I said I think you should stick to the republican party only as long as it represents your views. If it does, stick with it and give your support. Sorry if it is a little confused.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.